The document discusses key elements of culture including norms, sanctions, and values. It defines norms as standards of behavior maintained by a society, and classifies norms as either formal/informal or mores/folkways. Sanctions are penalties for violating norms, while values represent collective concepts of what is good, desirable, or proper in a society. Together, norms, sanctions, and values shape behavior and social order within a culture.
1. Elements of Culture 2
Norms, Sanctions, Values
What are your feelings when you see these graduates
hanging around at the beachside park?
2. Objectives
• To gain a deeper understanding of how norms,
sanctions and values maintain behavior within a
society.
• Degrees of seriousness: mores vs folkways
• A deeper understanding of societal change.
• Cultural Integration and Variation (part 3)
3. Preview: Topics of Discussion
• Cultural Norms
Formal (Mores) & Informal (Folkways)
• Acceptance of Norms
Norms in conflict / exceptions / change
• Sanctions and Rewards
• Values
• Cultural Integration (in part 3)
• Cultural Variation (in part 3)
4. Norms
• Deeply established standards of behavior
maintained by a society.
N. America – Young people make life decisions (study / career path)
Japan – Respect for the elderly.
China – Criticizing the gov’t is rare.
• The intricacies of norms are widely shared and
understood by all members of a society.
N. America – People are expected to remain quiet in a theatre.
Therefore an Usher can enforce this and are expected to.
Depends on film and audience though (not in Rocky Horror!)
Serious films and plays this norm is insisted upon.
5. Make noise in this serious, political
In N. America, break the quiet film with historical significance and
norm in this fun Teenage movie it strangers will verbally tell you to
is doubtful that anyone will say adjust you behavior.
much. Maybe “shhhhh”.
6. Classification of Norms: Formal vs. Informal
1. Formal Norms
Norms that have been formally written down and
offenders face strict punishment.
Formalized norms in many countries become law
and have very precise definitions of what is
considered proper and improper behavior.
ex. Guidelines for meeting a Major at university
and rules for card games are other examples of
formalized norms. They are written down with
precise regulations.
7. Classification of Norms: Formal vs. Informal
2. Informal Norms
Generally understood norms, but not precisely
recorded.
Standards of proper dress
Taboo subject matter
Attitude towards being late
Deviating from these norms will not get you thrown in
jail, but may lead a to a bad reputation or in being
talked about by others.
Social Norms & Impression Management
8. Classification of Norms: Mores vs. Folkways
3. Mores
Mores are norms that are regarded as being highly
necessary to the well being of the overall society.
They are the most cherished principles of a people. They
demand obedience and breaking them will result in
severe penalties.
murder, treason, theft, fraud, corruption, abuse
Mores are most likely to be formalized and become laws.
9. Classification of Norms: Mores vs. Folkways
4. Folkways
Norms that govern everyday behavior amongst members
of a society. They shape daily life of a culture's people.
Japan: ‘Meishi’ is central to the introduction process and
essential in business. Recipient is expected to take time
to examine the info and make a comment proves this
examination has occurred. Given out even in social
situations
A breach – stuffing it in the pocket quickly, or not
concluding with ‘meishi’ is insulting.
Folkways are synonymous with behavior etiquette
10. Meishi exchange in Japan. Very important for foreigners
engaged in international business.
Must take time to look – and make comment.
11. Folkways: reinforcing patterns of behavior
Many societies have and use folkways to reinforce patterns
of dominance: male dominance or dominance of a social
class.
In traditional Buddhist regions of South East Asia, for example,
Women do not sleep above men on sleeper trains
Women are not on higher hospital floors than men
On clothe lines, women's clothes are hung lower than men’s.
(Bulle, 1987)
12. The darker brown countries are likely to have Folkways
that reinforce male dominance.
Countries of light shade will have folkways and mores that
facilitate gender equality. In N.A., they do not indicate gender (or
any person details) on their CVs and hiring, or firing cannot be
based on gender (or race) or heavy sanctions are enforced.
13. Acceptance of Norms: weak enforcement
Norms (mores & folkways) are not followed in all
situations, nor by all members of a society. Some evade
a norm because they know it is weakly enforced.
Ex. In the N.A. teen drinking is a major social issue.
The pressure from a peer group to
conform is far
outweighed by the
insignificant sanction
if caught.
14. Can you think of a formal norm (a More) that
is evaded in this region daily because we all
know that enforcement is minimal?
Illegal parking. It should receive a fine.
It is against the law. So, it is a more, not a norm.
15. Acceptance of Norms: conflict
Norms are often violated when they conflict.
Situation: You hear a screams of panic coming from you
neighbors' flat. Someone is being assaulted.
Norm #1 – The norm of privacy and minding one’s own
business.
Norm #2 – Assisting a victim of violence by intervening or
calling the police.
What would you do?
Either way you are evading one norm and
accepting the other.
16. Acceptance of Norms: exceptions
Regardless of a norm’s enforcement, sanctions
or presence of conflict there can be an
acceptable exception.
This means under differing circumstances, the
same action can make someone a hero or a
villain. In clip – is 69 yr old Herlan McQuearry a
hero or a villain for murdering someone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfQc8-
NyXZw&feature=related
17. Acceptance of Norms: widely accepted
• Some norms are so widely accepted that there
is no need to enforce them or reinforce them.
The best example of this is - Cannibalism
Unless one is mentally deranged, or part of an
extremely exotic Cult, one is not going to eat
people. There is no need to tell people
not to do this as this sins so widely accepted.
18. Norms: Acceptance of Change
A culture’s Norms may change as societal conditions
change, such as with,
Political situations, Economic climate, Social conditions
The modern feminist movement in the West is a good
example of social change that has led to a change in
cultural norms that reinforce increased gender equality.
19. Norms: Acceptance of Change
As support for a culture’s traditional norms
weakens, people start to feel free to violate them
and when identified as doing so, these people are
less likely to receive serious negative sanctions,
which in turn creates a catch 22 (a snowball
effect), or in other words, momentum for change.
20. A Norm in Change: British Columbia
In Vancouver Canada judges no longer allow social marijuana
usage cases in their court rooms, police no longer feel it is
worth the paper work and the general public does not view
social use as an issue that requires stiff negative sanctions,
but they demand stiffer sanctions on drinking and
driving.
Vancouver
Vancouver Marijuana
Marijuana
protest against sanctions
Cafe
Use in public is not a rare sight as
sanctions are so insignificant.
21. Sanctions: Negative
Penalties for your conduct regarding a social norm
Sanctions are what happens when people are detected of
violating a culture’s shared norms. Such penalties as:
Fines
Threats
Imprisonment
Stares of Contempt
22. Sanctions: Positive (Rewards)
Rewards for conforming to a social norm
The label ‘sanction’ has highly negative connotations and
therefore positive sanctions has its own word – rewards
Rewards for being detected of conforming to a social norm
may include:
A pay raise
A promotion
A medal or an award
Words of praise
A pat on the back
24. Sanction and Norms: a connection
Norm infraction: You show up to a job interview in jeans
Sanction: You do not get the job. (and a funny look)
Norm infraction: You don’t put coins in your parking meter.
Sanction: You get a parking ticket (fine).
The Correlation
Sanctions associated with formal norms (written down /
codified) tend to be formalized and informal norms tend to
receive informal sanctions.
25. Sanctions: improper application
There is (as we all know) the possibility of a person
being levied with undeserved penalties and rewards.
Once, in Europe if a women
was merely called a witch,
Madonna's famous 1986 World Cup ‘Hand
she was
of God' Goal was rewarded through being
burned to death. So many
allowed and in helping Argentina win.
Were innocent.
26. Sanctions: Do they reflect Culture?
The United States has the most advanced fire prevention
technology and the best trained (and paid) fire fighters,
yet this society has the worst fire death rate in the
industrialized world. (McMillan, 1995)
How can this be?
27. Sanctions: Do they reflect Culture?
• In the US sanctions on unintentional negligence causing
fire/death is extremely low. ‘Accidents’ get almost nothing in the
way of sanctions!
2,000,000 unintentional severe burns per year (US)
5,000 deaths from unintentional fire per year (US)
All ‘accidents’ with little to no sanctions.
• In Japan and Europe, sanctions for unintentional fire-death are
severe. Up to life for smoking in bed, for leaving a pan on the
stove or for overloading electrical circuits if you cause fire and
mortally wound someone.
Why are sanctions so low for such serious cases of negligence ?
28. Sanctions: Do they reflect Culture?
US (and Western culture) has strong norms
surrounding privacy in the home – especially in the US
which was founded on liberty and freedom and with
high value on private property. Sanctions regarding
what is done in the privacy of one’s home seems to be
held in high regard even when one's actions in
private, (such as smoking in bed) endangers or kills
others.
YES! The entire fabric of norms and sanctions in a culture
reflects the culture’s values and priorities. The most
cherished values will have the strongest sanctions where
less critical values will have light and informal sanctions.
29. Values
Although we all have our own set of personal goals
and ambitions, one’s culture includes a general set
of objectives for its members
Values – collective conceptions for what
is considered good desirable or proper in
a society. As well as what is considered
bad, undesirable or improper.
You may have a goal to get a certain degree, but your culture influences you
in your opinion about weather an education s desirable or not.
30. Values
• Values can be specific
honoring one’s parents, owning a home
• Values can be general
health, democracy, love
• Values influence our behavior and serve as criteria
for evaluating the actions of others.
Health – unhealthy, educated - uneducated (etc.)
31. Norms – Sanctions - Values
There is usually a direct relationship between a
culture’s norms, sanctions and their values.
Example
A culture that places high value on marriage
Will have norms and high sanctions on adultery
A culture that places high value on private property
Will have norms and high sanctions against
Theft and vandalism
32. Values: Do they change?
• A culture’s values may change, but tend to
remain relatively stable during a person’s lifetime.
• As previously mentioned – a society's non-
material culture is difficult to change and change
in this area is far slower than with material
culture.
• A sway in a culture’s core values can be seen over
time, but the change is hard to observe while it is
in progress due to the slow pace of change.
33. Values: making similar societies unique
Lipset (1990) Continental Divide looked into value
differences between Canada and the US. – two seeming
very similar societies.
US more religious than Canadians
US more moralistic and conservative towards sex and marriage.
Canada greater concern for older society
Canada favor a stronger role of government
US more suspicious of ‘big’ business (& big gov’t)
These differing values of course lead to differing norms and sanctions
34. These values differences lead to unique US
norms/sanctions regarding gays in the military.
• In 993 Bill Clinton lifted this ban in the US Army to
strong opposition both inside and outside the military.
Today only concealed gays can serve – not open
• One year earlier (1992) Canada lifted this ban with
national applause and support.
• Out of all the US allies only three have such a ban;
Great Britain, Portugal and Greece.
35. US debate on
allowing
openly gay men and
lesbian women to
serve in the military.
When Denmark's Air Force
General (from another
‘Western’ country) was asked
about this debate in the US. He
said,
“I don’t understand why you
have to debate it….
Nobody cares about it”.
(Lancaster, 1992: 14) Intense US anti-gay military protest
Therefore, values shape societies!
36. In many countries personal profit and owning one’s
own property is a core value shaping society.
In Papua New Guinea
contribution to public
good is more valued than one’s
own profit and personal land.
Several people hold different rights to the same
piece of land, such as
Dwelling rights
Hunting rights
Fishing rights
Ceremonial rights
