Cultural Sanctions Can Also Be Viewed as Ways That Society:

Learning Objectives

• Empathise how values and beliefs differ from norms
• Explicate the significance of symbols and language to a culture
• Explain the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
• Discuss the role of social control inside culture

Values and Beliefs

The first, and perhaps about crucial, elements of culture we volition discuss are its values and behavior. Values are a culture's standard for discerning what is good and just in gild. Values are securely embedded and critical for transmitting and teaching a culture'southward behavior. Beliefs are the tenets or convictions that people agree to be true. Individuals in a gild have specific beliefs, but they likewise share commonage values. To illustrate the difference, Americans normally believe in the American Dream—that anyone who works difficult enough will be successful and wealthy. Underlying this belief is the American value that wealth is proficient and important.

Values help shape a club by suggesting what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, sought or avoided. Consider the value that the United states places upon youth. Children correspond innocence and purity, while a youthful developed appearance signifies sexuality. Shaped by this value, individuals spend millions of dollars each yr on cosmetic products and surgeries to wait young and beautiful. The United States besides has an individualistic civilization, meaning people place a high value on individuality and independence. In contrast, many other cultures are collectivist, significant the welfare of the group and group relationships are a principal value.

Living upwards to a culture's values tin can be difficult. It's easy to value skillful health, but it's hard to quit smoking. Marital monogamy is valued, simply many spouses engage in adultery. Cultural diversity and equal opportunities for all people are valued in the United States, nonetheless the country's highest political offices take been dominated by white men.

Values often suggest how people should behave, but they don't accurately reflect how people do behave. Values portray an ideal culture, the standards society would like to embrace and live up to. Only ideal culture differs from real civilization, the way society actually is, based on what occurs and exists. In an ideal civilisation, at that place would be no traffic accidents, murders, poverty, or racial tension. But in real culture, police officers, lawmakers, educators, and social workers constantly strive to prevent or repair those accidents, crimes, and injustices. American teenagers are encouraged to value celibacy. However, the number of unplanned pregnancies amid teens reveals that not only is the ideal hard to live up to, but the value alone is not enough to spare teenagers the potential consequences of having sex.

One way societies strive to put values into activity is through rewards, sanctions, and punishments. When people observe the norms of society and uphold its values, they are frequently rewarded. A boy who helps an elderly adult female lath a bus may receive a grinning and a "cheers." A concern manager who raises profit margins may receive a quarterly bonus. People sanction certain behaviors by giving their support, blessing, or permission, or by instilling formal actions of disapproval and nonsupport. Sanctions are a form of social command, a way to encourage conformity to cultural norms. Sometimes people conform to norms in apprehension or expectation of positive sanctions: good grades, for instance, may mean praise from parents and teachers. From a criminal justice perspective, properly used social control is also inexpensive crime control. Utilizing social control approaches pushes virtually people to conform to societal rules, regardless of whether authority figures (such as law enforcement) are present.

When people become confronting a society's values, they are punished. A boy who shoves an elderly adult female aside to board the bus first may receive frowns or even a scolding from other passengers. A business director who drives abroad customers will probable exist fired. Breaking norms and rejecting values can lead to cultural sanctions such as earning a negative label—lazy, no-good bum—or to legal sanctions, such every bit traffic tickets, fines, or imprisonment.

Values are not static; they vary beyond time and between groups as people evaluate, debate, and change collective societal beliefs. Values also vary from culture to culture. For example, cultures differ in their values virtually what kinds of physical closeness are advisable in public. It's rare to see ii male friends or coworkers holding hands in the U.s. where that behavior frequently symbolizes romantic feelings. But in many nations, masculine physical intimacy is considered natural in public. This difference in cultural values came to lite when people reacted to photos of former president George W. Bush holding easily with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in 2005. A simple gesture, such as hand-holding, carries not bad symbolic differences beyond cultures.

In many parts of Africa and the Middle East, information technology is considered normal for men to hold hands in friendship. How would Americans react to these ii soldiers? (Photograph courtesy of Geordie Mott/Wikimedia Eatables)

Norms

So far, the examples in this chapter have often described how people are expected to behave in certain situations—for case, when buying nutrient or boarding a bus. These examples describe the visible and invisible rules of acquit through which societies are structured, or what sociologists telephone call norms. Norms define how to deport in accord with what a society has divers as expert, right, and important, and most members of the order adhere to them.

Formal norms are established, written rules. They are behaviors worked out and agreed upon in order to conform and serve the most people. Laws are formal norms, just so are employee manuals, college entrance test requirements, and "no running" signs at pond pools. Formal norms are the most specific and clearly stated of the various types of norms, and they are the most strictly enforced. But even formal norms are enforced to varying degrees and are reflected in cultural values.

For example, money is highly valued in the United States, so monetary crimes are punished. Information technology's against the police force to rob a depository financial institution, and banks go to dandy lengths to prevent such crimes. People safeguard valuable possessions and install antitheft devices to protect homes and cars. A less strictly enforced social norm is driving while intoxicated. While information technology's against the police to bulldoze boozer, drinking is for the nigh part an acceptable social behavior. And though there are laws to punish drunk driving, there are few systems in identify to prevent the crime. These examples prove a range of enforcement in formal norms.

In that location are plenty of formal norms, merely the list of informal norms—coincidental behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to—is longer. People larn informal norms past observation, imitation, and full general socialization. Some informal norms are taught directly—"Kiss your Aunt Edna" or "Use your napkin"—while others are learned by observation, including observations of the consequences when someone else violates a norm. But although informal norms define personal interactions, they extend into other systems as well. In the The states, at that place are breezy norms regarding behavior at fast food restaurants. Customers line up to order their nutrient and exit when they are washed. They don't sit down down at a table with strangers, sing loudly as they gear up their condiments, or nap in a booth. Most people don't commit fifty-fifty benign breaches of informal norms. Informal norms dictate advisable behaviors without the need of written rules.

Breaching Experiments

Sociologist Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011) studied people'south community in order to notice out how societal rules and norms not but influenced behavior but also shaped social order. He believed that members of guild together create a social gild (Weber 2011). His resulting volume, Studies in Ethnomethodology, published in 1967, discusses people'south assumptions almost the social makeup of their communities.

One of Garfinkel'south research methods was known equally a "breaching experiment," in which the researcher behaves in a socially awkward manner in order to examination the sociological concepts of social norms and conformity. The participants are not aware an experiment is in progress. If the breach is successful, even so, these "innocent bystanders" volition reply in some style. For instance, if the experimenter is, say, a homo in a business accommodate, and he skips downwardly the sidewalk or hops on 1 foot, the passersby are likely to stare at him with surprised expressions on their faces. But the experimenter does not simply "act weird" in public. Rather, the point is to deviate from a specific social norm in a modest mode, to subtly break some grade of social etiquette, and see what happens.

To conduct his ethnomethodology, Garfinkel deliberately imposed strange behaviors on unknowing people. And so he observed their responses. He suspected that odd behaviors would shatter conventional expectations, merely he wasn't sure how. For example, he set upward a simple game of tic-tac-toe. One player was asked beforehand to mark Xs and Os non in the boxes only on the lines dividing the spaces instead. The other player, in the dark about the study, was flabbergasted and did not know how to continue. The 2nd role player's reactions of outrage, acrimony, puzzlement, or other emotions illustrated the existence of cultural norms that plant social life. These cultural norms play an important role. They let us know how to deport around each other and how to feel comfy in our community.

There are many rules virtually speaking with strangers in public. It'south OK to tell a woman you similar her shoes. Information technology'due south not OK to enquire if you tin try them on. It's OK to stand in line backside someone at the ATM. It'due south non OK to look over his shoulder as he makes his transaction. Information technology's OK to sit beside someone on a crowded bus. Information technology's weird to sit down abreast a stranger in a half-empty omnibus.

For some breaches, the researcher straight engages with innocent bystanders. An experimenter might strike upwards a conversation in a public bath, where it's common to respect each other's privacy so fiercely every bit to ignore other people'south presence. In a grocery store, an experimenter might take a food item out of another person's grocery cart, proverb, "That looks skillful! I remember I'll endeavour information technology." An experimenter might sit down at a table with others in a fast food eating house or follow someone around a museum and study the same paintings. In those cases, the bystanders are pressured to answer, and their discomfort illustrates how much we depend on social norms. Breaching experiments uncover and explore the many unwritten social rules we alive by.

Norms may be farther classified every bit either mores or folkways. Mores (mor-ays) are norms that embody the moral views and principles of a group. Violating them tin can have serious consequences. The strongest mores are legally protected with laws or other formal norms. In the United States, for example, murder is considered immoral, and it's punishable by police force (a formal norm). Only more than oft, mores are judged and guarded by public sentiment (an informal norm). People who violate mores are seen as shameful. They tin can even be shunned or banned from some groups. The mores of the U.S. school system require that a student's writing be in the student's own words or use special forms (such every bit quotation marks and a whole organization of citation) for crediting other writers. Writing some other person'southward words as if they are one'due south own has a proper name—plagiarism. The consequences for violating this norm are severe and ordinarily result in expulsion.

Unlike mores, folkways are norms without any moral underpinnings. Rather, folkways straight appropriate behavior in the solar day-to-24-hour interval practices and expressions of a culture. They indicate whether to shake hands or kiss on the cheek when greeting another person. They specify whether to wearable a necktie and blazer or a T-shirt and sandals to an event. In Canada, women tin smile and say hello to men on the street. In Egypt, that's not acceptable. In regions in the southern United States, bumping into an acquaintance means stopping to chat. It's considered rude not to, no matter how decorated 1 is. In other regions, people guard their privacy and value time efficiency. A simple nod of the caput is enough. Other accepted folkways in the United states of america may include holding the door open for a stranger or giving someone a gift on their birthday. The rules regarding these folkways may alter from culture to culture.

Many folkways are deportment we have for granted. People demand to deed without thinking in lodge to get seamlessly through daily routines; they can't stop and analyze every activity (Sumner 1906). Those who experience civilization shock may notice that it subsides as they learn the new culture's folkways and are able to move through their daily routines more smoothly. Folkways might be small manners, learned by observation and imitated, but they are past no means trivial. Like mores and laws, these norms aid people negotiate their daily lives within a given culture.

Symbols and Language

Humans, consciously and subconsciously, are e'er striving to make sense of their surrounding world. Symbols—such as gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words—help people understand that world. They provide clues to agreement experiences by conveying recognizable meanings that are shared past societies.

The world is filled with symbols. Sports uniforms, company logos, and traffic signs are symbols. In some cultures, a gold ring is a symbol of marriage. Some symbols are highly functional; cease signs, for instance, provide useful instruction. Every bit physical objects, they belong to material civilisation, merely considering they function as symbols, they as well convey nonmaterial cultural meanings. Some symbols are valuable simply in what they represent. Trophies, bluish ribbons, or gold medals, for example, serve no other purpose than to represent accomplishments. But many objects have both material and nonmaterial symbolic value.

A constabulary officeholder's bluecoat and compatible are symbols of authorization and police force enforcement. The sight of an officeholder in compatible or a squad car triggers reassurance in some citizens, and badgerer, fear, or anger in others.

Information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel to take symbols for granted. Few people challenge or even think about stick figure signs on the doors of public bathrooms. Simply those figures are more than only symbols that tell men and women which bathrooms to utilize. They also uphold the value, in the The states, that public restrooms should exist gender exclusive. Fifty-fifty though stalls are relatively private, most places don't offer unisex bathrooms.

Some road signs are universal. Just how would you translate the signage on the right? (Photo (a) courtesy of Andrew Bain/flickr; Photo (b) courtesy of HonzaSoukup/flickr)

Symbols ofttimes get noticed when they are out of context. Used unconventionally, they convey stiff messages. A finish sign on the door of a corporation makes a political statement, every bit does a camouflage military jacket worn in an antiwar protest. Together, the semaphore signals for "North" and "D" represent nuclear disarmament—and form the well-known peace sign (Westcott 2008). Today, some higher students accept taken to wearing pajamas and sleeping room slippers to course, clothing that was formerly associated only with privacy and bedtime. Though students might deny it, the outfit defies traditional cultural norms and makes a statement.

Even the devastation of symbols is symbolic. Effigies representing public figures are burned to demonstrate anger at certain leaders. In 1989, crowds tore down the Berlin Wall, a decades-old symbol of the division between Due east and West Germany, communism, and capitalism.

While different cultures have varying systems of symbols, i symbol is common to all: language. Linguistic communication is a symbolic system through which people communicate and through which culture is transmitted. Some languages comprise a organisation of symbols used for written communication, while others rely on merely spoken communication and nonverbal deportment.

Societies oftentimes share a single language, and many languages contain the same bones elements. An alphabet is a written organisation made of symbolic shapes that refer to spoken sound. Taken together, these symbols convey specific meanings. The English alphabet uses a combination of twenty-six letters to create words; these twenty-six letters make up over 600,000 recognized English words (OED Online 2011).

Rules for speaking and writing vary fifty-fifty within cultures, most notably by region. Practice you lot refer to a can of carbonated liquid equally "soda," popular," or "Coke"? Is a household entertainment room a "family room," "rec room," or "den"? When leaving a restaurant, practise you enquire your server for a "check," the "ticket," or your "bill"?

Language is constantly evolving every bit societies create new ideas. In this age of technology, people have adapted almost instantly to new nouns such as "eastward-mail" and "Internet," and verbs such equally "downloading," "texting," and "blogging." Twenty years agone, the general public would accept considered these nonsense words.

Even while information technology constantly evolves, linguistic communication continues to shape our reality. This insight was established in the 1920s by 2 linguists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf. They believed that reality is culturally adamant, and that any estimation of reality is based on a society'southward language. To evidence this point, the sociologists argued that every language has words or expressions specific to that language. In the United States, for case, the number thirteen is associated with bad luck. In Japan, however, the number four is considered unlucky, since it is pronounced similarly to the Japanese word for "death."

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is based on the idea that people experience their world through their linguistic communication, and that they therefore understand their world through the culture embedded in their language. The hypothesis, which has likewise been called linguistic relativity, states that language shapes thought (Swoyer 2003). Studies accept shown, for instance, that unless people take access to the word "clashing," they don't recognize an experience of uncertainty from having conflicting positive and negative feelings most i issue. Essentially, the hypothesis argues, if a person can't describe the experience, the person is not having the feel.

In improver to using language, people communicate without words. Nonverbal communication is symbolic, and, as in the case of language, much of it is learned through i's culture. Some gestures are nearly universal: smiles often represent joy, and crying frequently represents sadness. Other nonverbal symbols vary across cultural contexts in their meaning. A thumbs-up, for example, indicates positive reinforcement in the United States, whereas in Russia and Australia, information technology is an offensive expletive (Passero 2002). Other gestures vary in meaning depending on the state of affairs and the person. A wave of the hand can hateful many things, depending on how it's done and for whom. Information technology may mean "hello," "good day," "no cheers," or "I'm royalty." Winks convey a variety of messages, including "We have a hole-and-corner," "I'g only kidding," or "I'm attracted to you." From a distance, a person tin can understand the emotional gist of two people in chat but by watching their body language and facial expressions. Furrowed brows and folded arms indicate a serious topic, perhaps an statement. Smiles, with heads lifted and arms open, advise a lighthearted, friendly chat.

Is the United States Bilingual?

In 1991, when she was 6 years former, Lucy Alvarez attended a school that allowed for the utilise of both English and Spanish. Lucy'due south teacher was bilingual, the librarian offered bilingual books, and many of the school staff spoke both Spanish and English. Lucy and many of her classmates who spoke only Castilian at home were lucky. According to the U.Southward. Demography, 13.8 percent of U.S. residents speak a not-English language language at habitation. That'due south a pregnant figure, but not enough to ensure that Lucy would be encouraged to use her native linguistic communication in schoolhouse (Mount 2010).

Lucy'south parents, who moved to Texas from Mexico, struggled under the pressure to speak English. Lucy might easily have gotten lost and left behind if she'd felt the same pressure in school. In 2008, researchers from Johns Hopkins University conducted a series of studies on the effects of bilingual instruction (Slavin et al. 2008). They establish that students taught in both their native tongue and English language make improve progress than those taught simply in English.

Technically, the United States has no official language. But many believe English language to be the rightful language of the U.s., and over xxx states accept passed laws specifying English as the official tongue. Proponents of English-only laws suggest that a national ruling will save money on translation, printing, and human being resource costs, including funding for bilingual teachers. They argue that setting English every bit the official language will encourage non-English language speakers to learn English faster and adjust to the civilization of the The states more than easily (Mount 2010).

Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Spousal relationship (ACLU) oppose making English language the official language and claim that it violates the rights of non-English speakers. English-only laws, they believe, deny the reality of our nation's diversity and unfairly target Latinos and Asians. They point to the fact that much of the debate on this topic has risen since 1970, a time when the United States experienced new waves of immigration from Asia and Mexico.

Today, a lot of product data gets written in multiple languages. Enter a store like Home Depot and you'll detect signs in both English and Spanish. Purchase a children's product, and the safe warnings could be presented in multiple languages. While marketers are financially motivated to reach the largest number of consumers possible, this tendency also may aid people acclimate to a culture of bilingualism.

Studies prove that nigh U.Southward. immigrants eventually abandon their native tongues and become fluent in English. Bilingual education helps with that transition. Today, Lucy Alvarez is an ambitious and high-achieving higher pupil. Fluent in both English language and Castilian, Lucy is studying law enforcement—a field that seeks bilingual employees. The same bilingualism that contributed to her success in course school will help her thrive professionally as a constabulary officer serving her community.

Nowadays, many signs—on streets and in stores—include both English and Spanish. What effect does this have on members of club? What effect does information technology accept on our culture? (Photo courtesy of istolethetv/flickr)

Summary

A culture consists of many elements, such as the values and beliefs of its society. Culture is too governed by norms, including laws, mores, and folkways. The symbols and linguistic communication of a guild are fundamental to developing and carrying civilisation.

Section Quiz

A nation's flag is:

1. A symbol
2. A value
3. A civilisation
4. A folkway

The being of social norms, both formal and breezy, is one of the chief things that inform ___________, otherwise known as a way to encourage social conformity.

1. values
2. sanctions
3. social control
4. mores

The biggest difference betwixt mores and folkways is that

1. mores are primarily linked to morality, whereas folkways are primarily linked to being commonplace inside a culture
2. mores are absolute, whereas folkways are temporary
3. mores refer to fabric culture, whereas folkways refer to nonmaterial culture
4. mores refer to nonmaterial civilisation, whereas folkways refer to textile civilisation

The notion that people cannot experience or feel something that they practice not have a give-and-take for can be explained by:

1. linguistics
2. Sapir-Whorf
3. Ethnographic imagery
4. bilingualism

Cultural sanctions tin can also be viewed equally ways that society:

1. Establishes leaders
2. Determines language
3. Regulates behavior
4. Determines laws

Short Answer

What do you lot think of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? Exercise you agree or disagree with it? Cite examples or research to support your bespeak of view.

How do you think your culture would exist if there were no such thing as a social "norm"? Do you think anarchy would ensue or relative peace could exist kept? Explain.

Further Inquiry

The scientific discipline-fiction novel, Boom-boom-17, past Samuel R. Delaney was based upon the principles of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Read an extract from the novel hither: http://openstaxcollege.org/fifty/Boom-boom-17

References

Mount, Steve. 2010. "Ramble Topic: Official Linguistic communication." USConstitution.internet, last modified January 24. Retrieved Jan 3, 2012 (http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html).

OED Online. 2011. Oxford Academy Printing. Retrieved May 5, 2011 (http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/260911).

Passero, Kathy. 2002. "Global Travel Adept Roger Axtell Explains Why." Biography July:70–73,97–98.

Slavin, R. E., A. Cheung, C. Groff, and C. Lake. 2008. "Constructive Reading Programs for Middle and Loftier Schools: A Best-Show Synthesis." Reading Enquiry Quarterly 43(3):290–322.

Sumner, William G. 1906. Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Community, Mores, and Morals. New York: Ginn and Co.

Swoyer, Chris. 2003. "The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis." In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Due east. N. Zalta, Winter. Retrieved May v, 2011 (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2003/entries/relativism/supplement2.html).

Vaughan, R. M. 2007. "Cairo'due south Man Show." Utne Reader March–Apr:94–95.

Weber, Bruce. 2001. "Harold Garfinkel, a Common-Sense Sociologist, Dies at 93." The New York Times, May iii. Retrieved Feb 10, 2012 (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/us/04garfinkel.html?_r=2).

Westcott, Kathryn. 2008. "World's All-time-Known Protest Symbol Turns 50." BBC News, March 20. Retrieved January three, 2012 (http://news.bbc.co.britain/ii/hi/uk_news/mag/7292252.stm).

Glossary

beliefs

tenets or convictions that people hold to be true

folkways

directly, appropriate beliefs in the day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture

formal norms

established, written rules

ideal civilization

the standards a guild would like to embrace and live upwardly to

informal norms

casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to

language

a symbolic system of communication

mores

the moral views and principles of a group

norms

the visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured

real culture

the fashion society actually is based on what actually occurs and exists

sanctions

a way to authorize or formally disapprove of certain behaviors

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

the way that people understand the globe based on their course of language

social command

a way to encourage conformity to cultural norms

symbols

gestures or objects that have meanings associated with them that are recognized by people who share a civilization

values

a culture'due south standard for discerning what is proficient and just in society

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