Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Definition of Culture

Culture is everything that is made, learned, or shared by the members of a society, including values, beliefs, behaviors,
and material objects.
Two parts of Culture
1. Material culture is the visible part. It may be the food we eat, your cars, your houses or anything that members of
society make, use and share.
2. Non-material culture is intangible but this influences our behavior like our language, beliefs, values, rules of behavior,
family patterns and political system

Five Components of Culture

1. Technology is one component that makes our life easier. We can have volume production of goods that can be used
by us through this component.
2. Symbols are cultural representations of reality. They give meanings to events and things like a statue, handshake,
college ring, flag etc.
3. Language is the most powerful of all human symbols as it allows us to communicate with one another. It also conveys
our beliefs and culture.
4. Values are ideas. They determine our character. They are the standards by which we assess goodness, acceptability,
beauty or desirability.
5. The fifth component is norm. Norm is a rule that guides our behavior. It gives concrete terms how we should behave
– what we should do and what we should not do.

Classification of Norms:
1. Mores distinguish right from wrong
2. Folkways distinguish between right and rude. They are referred as customs. They are measurements of behavior but
not approved by society.
3. Laws are written rules of conduct enacted and enforced by government
4. Taboo is an activity that is forbidden or sacred based on religious beliefs or morals. Breaking a taboo is extremely
objectionable in society as a whole. Around the world, an act may be taboo in one culture and not in another.
Examples are:
1. Mores laws: child abuse, rape, car napping, etc.
2. Folkway laws: jaywalking, counter flowing,
3. Law: Driving while drunk, theft, murder, and trespassing are all examples of laws. If violated, the person violating the
law could get reprimanded, pay a fine, or go to jail.
4. Taboos: abortion, addiction, cannibalism, offensive language, slavery, etc.

Difference between Culture and Society

Society – consists of people who interact to share a common culture
Culture – consists of beliefs, behaviors, objects and other characteristics common to a particular group or society.

Where did culture originate? Biological or Societal? Nature or nurture?

Nature refers to your innate qualities or nativism while nurture is your personal experiences. Nature is your genes, the
physical and personality traits determined by your genes which stays with you wherever you were born or raised.
Nurture refers to your childhood, or how you were brought up. Nature is built from your biological and family factors
while nurture from your societal or environmental factor.

Cultural Change
We can say that culture is learned – from our families, peers, institutions and media. As we absorb other’s culture, we
change ours. It is shared as we share it with our group members. It is based on symbols because these symbols give
meaning to people either to agree or not on their use.

Culture is integrated because if we learn culture, we should be ready to relate all of the aspects, not only a part or a few.
It is also dynamic because of interaction and change. These changes may be in the form of discoveries, inventions or
cultural borrowings. However, cultural diversity is also present in society. Because of the existence of multiple cultures,
it creates differences within the society.
Sub-cultures
You must also be informed about subcultures. Subcultures exist in small cultural groups but differ in some way.
Examples of subcultures include: “heavy metal” music devotees, tattoo enthusiasts, gangs, skinheads, etc. When you
oppose to the norms and values of a dominant culture, you possess a counterculture. Examples of this are: protest
groups, hippies, etc. When your culture is dominant, and it absorbs subcultural and countercultural groups, the process
is called assimilation. If culture respects cultural variations, we call this multiculturalism. To end this session, we add
ethnocentrism which involves judging other cultures against the standards of one’s culture; and cultural relativism
which says that a culture should be sociologically evaluated according to its standards, and not those of any other
culture. This lesson might have presented you with important concepts to improve your behavior and ways of dealing
with other people like your parents, siblings, peers and play groups.

Social Groups and Organization

This lesson deals with how man needs other members of society to survive and to enjoy life. The issue here is how to
organize ourselves to for alliance into groups and organizations.

Classification of People
“No man is an island” goes the saying. Man cannot thrive without the presence of other men. There is a natural
tendency for man to live with others in a group, to look for a companion or group of companions in order to fulfill the
need to belong and to experience some form of comfort. People are usually classified based on the group he or she is an
aggregate of. This group may be something he consciously chose for himself or something he was born into.

GROUP
A group serves many functions like giving an individual a sense of identity as well as emotional intimacy. It consists of
two or more people who are distinct in the following three ways:
a. Interact overtime
b. Have a sense of identity or belonging
c. Have norms that non-members don’t have.
For example: A class of students is a group who meet a few times in a week for an entire semester and identify
themselves on the basis of what classes they are taking. Students in a class must follow their professor’s class and test
schedule, as well as rules for behavior and contribution in class.

AGGREGATE
An aggregate is a collection of people who happen to be at the same place at the same time but who have no other
connection to one another.
An example: the people in a restaurant on a particular evening are an example of an aggregate, not a group. Those
people do not know one another, and they will likely never see again in the same place and the same time.

CATEGORY
Third classification is category, which is a collection of people who share a particular characteristic. They do not
necessarily interact with one another and have nothing else in common.
Examples of categories may include people who have green eyes, or people who were born in the Philippines, or
women who gave birth to twins. One important characteristic of a group is for group members interact on a regular
basis through communication.

Social Group
Those who interact with one another and share similar characteristics and a sense of unity is called a social group.
Example: These groups may be families, companies, circles of friends, fraternities and sororities and local religious
congregations
Nature of Social Group
➢ The group provides specific form as to the nature of interaction in the society.
➢ Members should develop a structure where each member assumes a specific status and adopts a particular role.
➢ Certain orderly procedures and values are agreed upon.
➢ The members of the group feel a sense of identity.

Types of Social Group

1. Social Group according to Ties (This is considered a primary group)

 It is the most fundamental unit of human society
 A long-lasting group characterized by strong ties of love and affection
 Do’s and don’ts of behavior are learned in this group
Examples: families, gangs, cliques, play groups, friendship groups
2. Social Group according to Ties (A Secondary Group)
 Group with which the individual comes in contact later in life
 Characterized by impersonal business-like, contractual, formal and casual relationship.
 Usually large in size, not very enduring and limited relationships.
 People needed other people for the satisfaction of their complex needs.
Examples: Industrial Workers, business associates. Faculty staff, Company employees
3. Social Group to Form of Organization (Informal Group)
 Arises spontaneously out of the interactions of two or more persons
 It is unplanned
 Has no explicit rules for membership and does not have specific objectives to be attained
 members are bound by emotion and sentiments
4. Social Group according to Form of Organization (Formal Group)
 Social organization
 Deliberately formed and their purpose and objectives are explicitly defined.
 Their goals are clearly stated and the division of labor is based on member’s ability or merit
5. Social Group according to Self identification (In-Group) It is a social unit in which individuals feel at home and with
which they identify themselves
6. Social Group according to Self identification (Out-Group) It is a social unit to which individuals do not belong due to
differences in social categories and with which they do not identify.
7. Social Group according to Purpose (Special Interest Group) A group which is organized to meet the special interest of
the members
8. Social Group according to Purpose (Task Force) A group is assigned to accomplish jobs which cannot be done by one
person.
9. Social Group according to Geographical Location and Degree of Relationship (Gemeinschaft)
 A social system in which most relationships are personal and traditional
 It is a community of intimate, private and exclusive living and familism
 Culture is homogeneous and traditional-bound
10. Social Group according to Geographical Location and Degree of Relationship (Gesselschaft)
 A social system in which most relationships are impersonal, formal, sontractuaal or bargain-like
 Relationship is individualistic, business-like, secondary and rationalized
 Culture is heterogeneous and more advanced

Social Organization

The type of collectivity established for the pursuit of specific aims or goods. Characterized by a formal structure of rules,
authority relations, a division of labor and limited membership or admission
Organization is an orderly relationship or arrangement of parts. It is used to refer the interdependence and inter-related
of parts in groups.
Examples of social organization: Family, church, college, factory, a play group, a political party, a community

Types of Social Organization

1. Political Organization: State (Government)
2. Economic Organization: Factory
3. Religious Organization: Church
4. Financial organization: Bank
5. Educational organization: School and Colleges

Goal of Social organization

That member of an organization is inter-related to each other for the pursuit of a common goal
Preparedness to accept one’s role and status:
 Organization is an arrangement of persons and parts
 By arrangement, it is meant that every member of the organization has an assigned role, a position and a status

Norms and Mores of Social Organization: Every organization has its norms and mores which control its members, as a
result, an organization can function smoothly if its members follow the organization norms.

Sanctions: If a member does not follow the norms he is compelled to follow them through sanctions (conditions) which
may range from warning to physical punishment. For example; a member may be expelled, or dismissed. To end our
discussion on Social Groups and Organization, remember that a group is a major source of solidarity and cohesion in
society.