Culture
Many times we hear concepts like ’Oriental culture’, ‘Italian culture’ or ‘Gothic Culture’. So we can understand and verify that it is an important concept related to the idea of the society where we live in. Culture, in Sociology, is a concept developed during XVIII and XIX centuries that has had various definitions.
One exhaustive definition is in Browne (2015, p. 31):
“Culture refers to the language, beliefs, values and norms, customs, dress, diet, roles, knowledge and skills, and all the other things that people learn that make up the ‘way of life’ of any society”
So when we use the expression ‘Italian culture’ we know that we are talking about the entire set of believes, knowledge and the whole way of life that characterise Italian people. Something connected to their country but that is with them wherever they go. If they are born in Italy or within an Italian group of people they will speak Italian, they will eat traditional Italian food when they are home, they will be probably Catholic etc.
While many concepts inside Browne definition are familiar and easy to identify like language and diet, three of them need a proper explanation for a better understanding of them.
Values, Norms, Roles
What are ‘values’?
The word ‘values’ is often used in our daily language. When we listen to someone that is talking about her or his values we understand that that person is talking about something that marks out what characterize her/his own concept of ‘what is important,
Values relate to our personal principles, morals, and ideals—that is, what we consider to be important.Each person is unique, with their own personal values and beliefs shaped by a number of factors that include culture, religion, and personal experiences.We value each person as an individual, respect their aspirations and commitments in life, and seek to understand their priorities, needs, abilities and limits.
Values help people determine what is right and wrong. They provide our moral compass in life.
Culture: Culture refers to values, languages, symbols, norms, beliefs, expectations that members of a group possess and the good things they produce and use in their life. Culture is the thing that all the members of a group or society follow.
Values can be a person’s ideal way on how to behave in certain places or their principles, just like ethics, beliefs, or standards (Henslin). Values can vary in cultures or religions as well. For example, when it comes to the LGBT community, which is also known as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, I believe that everyone deserves to be happy
Culture is a set of ideals and values about life that are widely shared among people and that guide specific behaviors. Differences, as well as similarities, can be seen when comparing world cultures. We communicate with each other, we feed ourselves with food, and when we sleep we often dream. However, we speak different languages, eat different types of foods, and dream different ways. We call these cultural differences. What causes them is not always obvious to the ordinary person (Nancy). I feel culture is what really sets us apart from each other and what makes us unique as individuals and families.
What are values and how do they relate to the other terms identified in the introduction? An investigation from multiple sources agrees that values are the motivations and behaviors used to determine priorities of what one sees as important in life and work (MindTools.com, 2017; Atkins, 2017; Value, n.d.). Applying this definition to the values I hold include a list of characteristics that define how I desire to represent myself. First, commitment to my principles, which my faith as a Christian
Anthropologists have always had their discrepancies with the word culture and its background significance. There have been numerous definitions that have filtered through the field, yet not one that everyone can accept or agree with. Franz Boas, an anthropologist in the early 20th Century, and his students, had a difficult time figuring out the objective of what culture is. Culture is about learning and shared ideas about behaviour. Although Boas and his students had a slightly different idea in mind. They ultimately reached a conclusion, a definition of culture in their view that is a contradiction in terms. Boas sates that, “ culture was expressed through the medium of language but was not reducible to it;
Culture by definition is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is part of a person's self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any type of social group that has its own distinct culture. To me that definition couldn't be more spot on but let's go more in depth over the past few months in my English class we have been trying to learn what our culture is and what part culture plays in our daily lives so in this essay I will be sharing with you what I think culture is what it means to me and how I think it impacts our way of living and the way we look at each other as human beings and how we treat each other and how all this makes up my culture
Values are the traditions, ideals, goals that are believed to be important individually, as well as specific to groups and organizations (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). They are standards of behavior and the principles that guide us personally and professionally in the way we conduct ourselves in our personal and professional lives.
A culture can be defined as a way of life of a group of people- their behaviors, beliefs, values that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. It also includes the customs, arts, literature, morals/values and traditions of a particular society or group (Virginia Encyclopedia). Culture can also be considered as a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in places or organizations. This topic is of huge importance to our society mainly in the state of
Culture is defined as “The ideas, attitudes, customs, beliefs, values and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society that are passed on from generation to generation” (Brentnall, A., n.d.).
Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).
Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. It includes ideas, values, and artifacts of groups of people (Schaefer, 2006). Understanding culture can be tricky, ever ask “why do people act the way they do?”, “what made me do that”, “what was I thinking?” Physical abilities, educational background, and social background of how I was raised are important aspects of my life. The environment in which I was raised is very important aspect of my life.
I believe that schools have hidden cultural agendas, stemming from their policy makers collective cultural backgrounds, which controls what curricula is used, and how knowledge is taught within the system. I further believe that not all students fit the cultural mold defined by our schools, and that those students that find themselves outside the established "norm" cannot fully benefit from their school experiences.