Exam 3: Culture

Define culture and describe how it can be both a stabilizing force and a source of conflict in societies.

Culture shock is the disorientation that people feel when they encounter cultures radically different from their own and believe they cannot depend on their own taken-for-granted assumptions about life.

Some nations,such as the United States,are referred to as __________,meaning that they include people who are dissimilar in regard to social characteristics such as religion,income,or race/ethnicity.

Anthropologist George Murdock compiled a list of over seventy categories that included appearance (such as bodily adornment and hairstyles),activities (such as sports,dancing,games,joking,and visiting),social institutions (such as family,law,and religion),and customary practices (such as cooking,folklore,gift giving,and hospitality).These are all examples of:

Examples of __________ include the beatniks of the 1950s,the flower children of the 1960s,the drug enthusiasts of the 1970s,and members of nonmainstream religious sects or cults.

__________ are collective ideas about what is right or wrong,good or bad,and desirable or undesirable in a particular culture.

A college has a student handbook that has rules and regulations.There are written consequences for not following these rules.This would be an example of:

Because they may have less invested in the existing culture,____________ people are most likely to join subcultural groups.

__________ deals with public safety and well-being.When these types of law are violated,fines and prison sentences are the most likely negative sanctions,although in some states the death penalty is handed down for certain major offenses.

Jeffery was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for this offense.He also practiced cannibalism on his victims.In this situation,the act of murder could be described as the violation of a __________,while cannibalism could be described as the violation of a __________.

__________ consists of activities,products,and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to members of the middle and working classes.These include rock concerts,spectator sports,movies,and television soap operas and situation comedies.

A language-based predisposition to think about women in sexual terms reinforces the notion that women are sexual objects.

All societies,including the United States,have value contradictions.Define and provide an example of a value contradiction.

Norms are established rules of behavior or standards of conduct.

__________ are formal,standardized norms that have been enacted by legislatures and are enforced by formal sanctions.

Sociologist John Lofland divided fads into four major categories.Paris Hilton,Tiger Woods,50 Cent,and Brad Pitt are examples of a(n) __________ fad.

Explain the relationship between language and gender.Include a discussion on the cultural assumptions about women and men and the use of language.

Spiders do not learn to build webs.They build webs because of __________ that are triggered by basic biological needs such as protection and reproduction.

Language,beliefs,values,rules of behavior,family patterns,and political systems are examples of material culture.

__________ refers to the wide range of cultural differences found between and within nations.It may be the result of natural circumstances (such as climate and geography) or social circumstances (such as level of technology and composition of the population).