Revision Notes - Culture and Socialisation Notes | Study Sociology Class 11 - Humanities/Arts

PointsTo Remember

• Culture is learnt and developed through social interaction with others in society.
• According to Tylor — "Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."
• Culture is
  (i) a way of thinking, feeling, believing.
  (ii) total way of life of people.
  (iii) an abstraction from behavior.
  (iv) learnt behaviour.
  (v) a storehouse of pooled learning
  (vi) social legacy the individual acquires from his group
  (vii) set of standardised orientations to recurrent problems.
  (viii) normative regulation of behaviour.
   
• Emergence of diverse ways of life or culture is because of different settings.
•  Having access to modern science and technology does not make modern cultures superior to the tribal cultures.

Culture Lag:- Material culture changes at a faster pace whereas the nonmaterial culture like beliefs and values changes at a slower pace. The gap which emerges between material and non-material culture is called as cultural lag.

Great Tradition:- It comprises of the cultural traits or traditions which are written and widely accepted by the elites of a society who are educated and learned.These are in forms of epics and books.

Little Tradition:- It comprises of the cultural traits or traditions which is oral and operates at the village level. It is a tradition of common masses and is passed orally from generation to generation.

• Dimension of culture
  (i) Cognitive aspect of culture : refers to understanding, how we make sense of all the information coming to us from our environment.
  (ii) Normative aspects : consists of folkways, mores, customs, conventions and laws. There are values that guide social behaviour in different contexts. Social norms are accompanied by sanctions that promote conformity.
  (iii) Material aspects of culture : refers to tools, technologies, machines, buildings and modes of transportation as well as instruments of production and communication.
   
• Difference between law and norms
  (i) Norms are implicit rules, laws are explicit rules.
  (ii) Law is a formal sanction defined by government as a rule.
  (iii) Laws are applicable to the whole society and violation of the law attracts penalties and punishment.
  (iv) Laws are universally accepted while norms vary according to status.

Identity & Culture

• Identities are not inherited but fashioned both by the individual and the group through their relationship with others.
• Every person in modern society plays multiple roles.
• In a culture, there are many sub-cultures, for e.g. elite, working class youth. Sub cultures are marked by style, taste and association.
• Ethnocentrism : is the application of one's own cultural values in evaluating the behaviour and beliefs of people from other cultures. Ethnocentrism is the opposite of cosmopolitanism, which values other cultures for their difference.
  (i) Cosmopolitanism celebrates and accommodates different cultural propensities within its fold and promotes cultural exchange.
  (ii) A modern society appreciates cultural difference.
  (iii) In a global world, communication is shrinking distances between cultures.
  (iv) Cosmopolitan outlook allows diverse influence to enrich between cultures.

Cultural Change 

• Cultural change is the way in which societies change their patterns of culture.
• Sources of change can be internal and external.
  (a) Internal: New methods of farming boosting agricultural production.
  (b) External: Intervention in the form of conquest or colonisation.
• Cultural change can occur through changes in the natural environment, contact with other cultures or processes of adaptation.
• Culture is also transformed by revolutionary change Radical changes can be initiated through political intervention technological innovation or ecological transformation, for e.g. French Revolution abolishing monarchy, expansion of media both print and electronic.
  
  Socialisation
• A process by which we learn and internalise socially acceptable behaviour.
• It is a life long process.
• Every individual performs multiple roles simultaneously. The process of learning the norms, attitudes, values or behavioural pattens of different groups begin early in life and continues throughout one's life. Norms and values may differ within a society in different families belonging to different castes, regions, social classes etc.
  
  The two agencies of socialisation are
  (i) Primary Socialisation and
  (ii) Secondary Socialisation.
   
• Agencies of socilaisation

• A child is socialised by several agencies and institutions.

A. Family 
(i) Nuclear Family: parents are the key socialising agents.
(ii) Joint and Extended Family : grandparents, parents, uncle, cousin plays significant role in socialisation.

• Children pick up ways of behavior characteristics of their parents or others in their neighborhood or community.
• Diversity of socialising agencies leads to many differences between the outlooks of children, adolescents and parental generation.

B. Peer Groups 

• are friendship groups of children of a similar age.
• In small and traditional societies, peer groups are formalised as age grades
• In a peergroup, a child discovers a different kind of interaction within which rules of behavior can be tested out and explored.
• Peer relationships remain important throughout a person's life.
• shape individual's attitudes and behavior.

C. Schools

• Schooling is a formal process.
• There is both a formal curriculum and a hidden curriculum.

D. Mass Media

• An essential part of oureveryday lives.
• Both electronic and print media are of great importance.
• Disseminates information and also influences people by giving exposure to areas of distant from one's own.

E. Other Socialising Agencies 

• Work is, in all cultures, an important setting within which socialisation processes operate.
• Religion, social caste/class etc.