Sociology Chapter 3

Cultural Conformity and Adaptation

PreviewSection 1: The American Value System

Section 2: Social Control

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

Read to Discover

• What are the basic values that form the foundation of American culture?

• What new values have developed in the United States since the 1970s?

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

Question

What basic values form the foundation of American culture?

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

Traditional American Values(explanation follows)

• Personal achievement• Individualism• Work• Morality and humanitarianism• Efficiency and practicality• Progress and material comfort• Equality and democracy• Freedom

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

• Personal Achievement - nation built primarily by people valued individual achievement. Most evident in the area of employment

• Individualism - success comes through hard work and initiative

• Work - discipline, dedication, and hard work are viewed as signs of virtue

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

• Morality and Humanitarianism - high value is placed on morality and the world is viewed in terms of right and wrong; quick to help the less fortunate

• Efficiency and Practicality - practical and inventive; every problem has a solution; objects are judged on their usefulness and people on their ability to get things done

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

• Progress and Material Comfort - through hard work and determination, living standards will continue to improve

• Equality and Democracy - to have human equality, there must be an equality of opportunity; success must be earned

• Freedom - freedoms of choice such as religion, speech, and press must be protected from government interference

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

Other Core Values

• Nationalism and Patriotism

• Science and Rationality

• Racial and Group Superiority

• Education

• Religious Values

• Romantic Love

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

Question

What new values have developed in the United States since the 1970s?

Section 1: The American Value System

Sociology Chapter 3

• Commitment to the full development of one’s personality, talents, and potential; self-fulfillment includes leisure, physical fitness, and youthfulness (narcissism, “ME Generation”)

• Environmental protection

• Education and religion were deemed important by students who were polled

End Section 1. HW - p. 48, #1, 2, 4a

Section 1: The American Value SystemOur Changing Values

Sociology Chapter 3

Read to Discover

• How are the norms of society enforced?

• What are the differences between positive and negative sanctions and between formal and informal sanctions?

Section 2: Social Control

Sociology Chapter 3

Question

How are the norms of society enforced, and what are

the four types of sanctions?

Section 2: Social Control

Sociology Chapter 3

• Internalization—process by which a norm becomes a part of an individual’s personality, thus conditioning that individual to conform to society’s expectations (waiting in line)

• Sanctions—rewards and punishments used to enforce conformity to the norms

Section 2: Social Control

Enforcing the Norms of Society

Sociology Chapter 3

ENFORCEMENT OF SOCIAL NORMS

Negative:punishment or the threat of

punishment to enforce

conformity

Formal: reward or punishment

by a formal organization or

regulatory agency, such as a school

Informal:spontaneous expression of approval or

disapproval by an individual or group

Positive:action that rewards a particular

kind of behavior

Internalization: how a norm becomes part of a person’s personality, causing them to conform to society’s expectations

Sanctions: rewards or punishments used to enforce conformity to norms

Section 2: Social Control

Sociology Chapter 3

Question

What are the differences between positive and negative sanctions

and between formal and informal sanctions?

Section 2: Social Control

Sociology Chapter 3

• Positive Sanction—action that rewards a particular kind of behavior such as good grades or a pay raise

• Negative Sanction—punishment or the threat of punishment to enforce conformity such as frowns, detention, imprisonment, and even death

Section 2: Social Control

Sociology Chapter 3

• Formal Sanction - rewards or punishments by a formal organization or regulatory agency such as the government; includes promotions, awards, fines, or low grades

• Informal Sanction - spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval by an individual or group such as a standing ovation, gifts, gossip, or ridicule

Section 2: Social Control

Sociology Chapter 3

• Principal means of social control is self-control, learned through internalization.

• Agents of social control include family, church, school, police, courts, public opinion

• No society can survive long without an effective means of social control.

End Section 2. HW – p. 53, #1-3.

Section 2: Social Control

Sociology Chapter 3

Read to Discover• What are the main sources of social change?• What factors lead people to resist social

change?

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

Question

What are the main sources of social change?

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

• Values and Beliefs - changes in values and beliefs are often caused by ideology and spread through social movements (prohibition, women's’ rights, civil rights, gay rights, environmental movement)

• Technology - new knowledge and tools people use to manipulate their environment (atomic fusion, cell phones, political movements)

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

• Population - change in size and characteristics of population may bring about changes in the culture (new foods, crowding in cities, migrations change regions, age of population – older US)

• Diffusion - process of spreading culture traits from society to society. Technology and material traits diffuse faster than beliefs and ideas. (foods, movies, music, electronics) Many societies adapt, or reformulate, traits to own needs.

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

• Physical Environment - the environment may provide conditions that encourage or discourage cultural change (importing of foods, natural disasters, change in resource supplies)

• Wars and Conquests – (causes quick changes) exposure to new cultures; changes in politics, economy, population, property, technology, medicine

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

Values and Beliefs

Technology

Population

Diffusion

Physical Environment

Wars and Conquests

Section 3: Social ChangeSocial

ConsequenceSource of

Social Change Example

Sociology Chapter 3

See “The 100% American”Page 59

Question

What factors lead people to resist social change?

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

• Ethnocentrism - tendency to view one’s own culture or group as superior, which can lead to segregation (resistance to Japanese cars)

• Cultural Lag - a delay in cultural change, such as in the introduction and use of computers (180 day school year - developed for rural society of 1800s, not needed in today’s society but doesn’t change)

Section 3: Social Change

Sociology Chapter 3

• Vested Interests—satisfaction with the status quo, which can lead to such things as a focus on maintaining budgets over a focus on providing a quality education (big business resist change –automobile, oil industries)

End Section 3 and Chapter 3. HW – p. 61, #1, 3b and p. 62, I.P.I.; U.M.I., #3,4,7,8; T.C., #3,5

Section 3: Social Change