PAOMBONG HIGH SCHOOL, INC.

School Year 2021-2022

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS
(GRADE 12)

Mrs. Ana Lyn D. De Leon

Subject Teacher

LESSON 2: Concept, Aspects and Changes in/of Culture and Society

CULTURE AND SOCIETY DEFINED

Culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members
of a particular group or society. Through culture, people and groups define themselves, conform to society's
shared values, and contribute to society. Thus, culture includes many societal aspects: language, customs,
values, norms, mores, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations, and institutions. This latter
term institution refers to clusters of rules and cultural meanings associated with specific social activities.
Common institutions are the family, education, religion, work, and
health care.

Popularly speaking, being cultured means being well‐

educated, knowledgeable of the arts, stylish, and well‐
mannered. High culture—generally pursued by the upper class—
refers to classical music, theater, fine arts, and other sophisticated
pursuits. Members of the upper class can pursue high art because
they have cultural capital, which means the professional credentials,
education, knowledge, and verbal and social skills necessary to attain
the “property, power, and prestige” to “get ahead” socially. Low
culture, or popular culture—generally pursued by the working and
middle classes—refers to sports, movies, television sitcoms and soaps, and rock music. Remember that
sociologists define culture differently than they do cultured, high culture, low culture, and popular culture.

Sociologists define society as the people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture.
The cultural bond may be ethnic or racial, based on gender, or due to shared beliefs, values, and activities.
The term society can also have a geographic meaning and refer to people who share a common culture in a
particular location. For example, people living in arctic climates developed different cultures from those living
in desert cultures. In time, a large variety of human cultures arose around the world.

Culture and society are intricately related. A culture consists of the “objects” of a society, whereas a
society consists of the people who share a common culture. When the terms culture and society first
acquired their current meanings, most people in the world worked and lived in small groups in the same
locale. In today's world of 6 billion people, these terms have lost some of their usefulness because increasing
numbers of people interact and share resources globally.

SOURCE:
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/culture-and-societies/culture-and-society-
defined#:~:text=Through%20culture%2C%20people%20and%20groups,products%2C%20organizations%2C%20and%20institutio
ns.
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MEANING AND DEFINITION OF SOCIETY
• The roots of the term society can be traced to the Latin word socius which means companionship or
friendship.
• We can sum up the definitions of society into two types:
o FUNCTIONAL POINT OF VIEW - society is defined as a complex group in reciprocal relationships,
interacting upon one another, enabling human organisms to carry on their life-activities and helping
each person to fulfil his wishes and accomplish his interests in association with his fellows.
o STRUCTURAL POINT OF VIEW - society is the total social heritage of folkways, mores and
institutions; of habits, sentiments and ideals.
o Ginsberg, Giddings, Cole and Cuber take a structural view of society while McIver, Parsons, Lapiere,
Cooley and Leacock have given functional definition of society.
• Society is a group of people who share a common culture, occupy a particular territorial area and feel
themselves to constitute a unified and distinct entity. It is the mutual interactions and interrelations of
individuals and groups. Society is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations in
terms of social status, roles and social networks. By extension, society denotes the people of a region or
country, sometimes even the world, taken as a whole. Used in the sense of an association, a society is a
body of individuals outlined by the bounds of functional interdependence, possibly comprising
characteristics such as national or cultural identity, social solidarity, language or hierarchical organisation.

SOURCE: http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/41246/1/Unit-1.pdf

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIETY

1. Society is a complex whole. As a complex whole, it is a social system consisting of individuals socially
interacting with each other. A change in one group of individuals will affect the stability of the other parts of
the whole system.

2. Society is relatively large. Being a complex whole, the people must be socially integrated to be considered
relatively large than if the people are individually scattered. Thus, the people in a family, clan, tribe,
neighborhood, community are socially integrated to be relatively large in scope.

3. Society socializes its members and from those from without. Since most of society’s members are born to
it, they are taught the basic norms and expectations. Those who come from other societies, before being
accepted as functioning members, are socialized and taught the basic norms and expectations of such
society.

4. Society endures, produces and restrains its members for generations. For society to survive, it must have
the ability to produce, endure and sustain its new members for at least several generations. For instance,
if a society cannot assist its members, during their extreme conditions of hunger and poverty, that society
will not survive long.

5. Society holds its members through a common culture. The individuals in a society are held together
because that society has symbols, norms, values, and patterns of interaction, vision and mission that are
commonly shared by the members of such society.
6. Society has clearly-defined geographical territory. The members in a society must live in a certain specific
habitat or place and have a common belongingness and sense of purpose.

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 PAOMBONG HIGH SCHOOL, INC.
School Year 2021-2022
MEANING AND DEFINITION OF CULTURE
Culture is a dynamic medium through which societies create a collective way of life reflected in such
things as beliefs, values, music, literature, art, dance, science, religion, ritual, technology and others. Culture
is that “complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts,
symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of society” (Edward B.
Tylor, 18th century English anthropologist.

According to Allan G. Johnson, culture is the sum of symbols, ideas, forms of expressions and material
products associated with social system. Robert Redfield likewise states that culture is an organized body of
conventional understanding manifested in art and artifacts, which is persisting through tradition.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

1. Culture is learned and acquired. Culture is not instinctive nor a part of biological equipment of man. It is
acquired through the senses and experiences – from the neighbors, family, playmates, schools, churches
and other agents of socialization. The means of acquisition are imitation, conditioning, suggestion, formal
or informal instruction and mass media.

2. Culture is shared and transmitted. To continuously preserve culture, it is best to share to other people or to
transmit it to the next generation, or else it will die a natural death. Culture is transmitted through language
(oral, written, symbolic).

3. Culture is adaptive or dynamic. Culture is always changing, new ideas, procedures and techniques are
added, modified or discarded. People must be prepared and ready to conform to these changes. The
changes going on today is very rapid than in the primitive times due to fast advancement of science and
technology.

4. Culture is cumulative. Certain features of culture have been retained today and they are modified and
innovated to make them new and updated. Thus, man’s modification and innovation are learned from
already existing culture in the past.

5. Culture is ideational. Culture is an ideal pattern of behavior which the members are expected to follow.
Thus, the members of society are society from the standpoint of culture.

6. Culture gratifies human needs. Culture continues to exist if it satisfies human needs biologically and
psychologically. An individual is likely to follow and observe cultural techniques that satisfy his needs.

7. Culture is social. Culture is a group product developed by many individuals interacting in a group. The
habits and knowledge of the members in a group are shared by other members out of the sharing of ideas,
culture sprouts.

8. Culture is integration. By integration, it means that there is a tendency for individuals to fully appreciate
those elements in culture that are best for them and these are very often integrated in their personality and
become a part of their behavior. Most often, these bundles of traits or elements which are already rooted
in their behavior are very difficult to remove as they were already ingrained or were already integrated over
the years.

9. Culture is not usually known by people. The way people interact and do things in their everyday lives
seems “natural” to people. People are unaware of their culture because they are so close to it and know it
well. For most people, it is as if their learned behavior was biologically inherited. It is usually known only
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when they come into contact with people from another culture that they become aware that their patterns
of behavior are not universal.

10. No one knows everything about his/her culture. In all societies, there are bodies of specialized cultural
knowledge that are gender specific – they are known to men but not to women or vice versa. In many
societies there are also bodies of religious groups, or other special purpose associations. Gender-based
skills, knowledge and perception largely stem from the fact that boys and girls to some extent are treated
differently from each other in all societies.

11 Culture gives people a range of permissibly behavior patterns. Culture commonly allows a range of ways
in which men can be men and women can be women. Culture also tells people how different activities
should be conducted such as how one should act as a husband, wife, parent, child, etc. Then rules of
permissible behavior are usually flexible to a degree – there are some alternatives rather than hard rules.

12. Culture is learned through enculturation. Enculturation is the process through which we learn about then
culture we live in. Through enculturation, we learn what behavior, values, language, and morals are
acceptable in our society. We learn by observing other members of our society, including our parents,
friends, teachers and mentors. Enculturation provides a means for us to become functional members of
our society.

THE THREE LAYERS OF CULTURE IN SOCIETY:

1. Cultural Universals. These pertain to cultural elements, patterns, practices or activities that are common
and similar across cultures. American anthropologist, George Murdock (1897-1985) identified over 70
common denominators of cultures.

2. Mainstream Culture. This is the “cultural stem” of society or the general prevailing culture which
differentiated societies apart such as Filipino values, Filipino traits, Filipino cuisine, national costume, etc.

3. Subculture. This is a culture unique to respective particular groups of people in society that identify and
distinguish them from the rest such as gothic culture, gender culture, political culture, etc.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Culture is composed of material and non-material cultural elements. Material culture consists of tangible
things such as technological tools, architectural structures, fashion and accessories, food, etc. Whereas,
non-material culture consists of intangible things such as ideas, language and symbols, religion, behavior,
gestures, habits, etc. The elements of culture that make up its totality are as follows:

1. Knowledge. It refers to any information received and perceived to be true. It does not necessarily mean
that all knowledge-based information is “gospel truth.” As long as one knows, then one has knowledge
even if what he knows is not correct which is why there is what we call false knowledge.

2. Beliefs. The perception of accepted reality. Reality refers to the existence of things whether material or
non-material but not imaginary. Imagination is only make-believe, a fantasy, a non-existing reality
contrary to the understanding of the concept of belief which is perceived in reality. On the other hand,
religion is not the same as belief. Belief is just one of the components of religion.

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 PAOMBONG HIGH SCHOOL, INC.
School Year 2021-2022
3. Social Norms. These are the established expectations of society as to how a person is supposed to act
depending on the requirements of
time, place or situation.

The following constitute

social norms which are sources or
basis of society’s behavioral
expectations:

3.1. Folkways. The patterns of

repetitive behavior which
become habitual and
conventional part of living.
Included therein are customs
and traditions.

3.2. Mores. the set of ethical

standards and moral
obligations as dictates of
reason that distinguishes
human acts as right or wrong
or good from bad.

3.3. Laws. These are sets of binding

rules or measures that induce
man to act or restrain him from acting. Law may be customary or written.

4. Values. Anything held to be relatively worthy, important, desirable or valuable. It does not confine itself to
morality, manners or conduct.

Values are not the same as ethics or morals. What is considered valuable is not necessarily
considered ethical or moral. On the other hand, morality is considered valuable. It is also incorrect to say
that people who are rude or immoral have no values. It just so happens that the rules they have are
considered undesirable and unacceptable to others.

5. Technology. The practical application of knowledge in converting raw materials into finished products.
Examples of which are structures, tools, equipment, clothes, etc.

SOURCES:
• Ariola, Mariano M., LL. B.; Ed. D. (2016). Understanding Culture, Society and Politics: K to 12 Basic
Education Curriculum Senior High School – Core Subject. Unlimited Books Library Services &
Publishing Inc.: Manila.
• Banaag, Lee Mark T. and Ma. Theresa M. Cruz. (2016). Socio-Anthro: An Integrated and
Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Society, Culture and Politics. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.:
Mandaluyong City.
• https://www.oh-i-see.com/blog/2013/09/12/culture-smart-3s-and-4s/

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 PAOMBONG HIGH SCHOOL, INC.
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Society and culture are closely related in such a way that culture defines a society
while it is society that creates its own culture. It is also notable that the characteristics
and aspects of both culture and society are highly connected to each other.
Examples:
• Culture is learned through enculturation while society socializes its members
making it possible for culture to be transmitted among members of the same group.
• Society holds its members through a common culture while culture gives people a
range of permissibly behavior patterns, specifically through social norms (element
of culture).
Thus, a change in society will reflect in its culture and a change in culture can change the
whole society itself.

Now that you have already explored the concepts, and aspects in/of culture and society, let us see
an example of its application.

During the Spanish era in the Philippines, it is uncommon to see women practicing a
profession (Culture is social). And members of society, themselves, sometimes did not even allow
women to be educated (Society holds its members through a common culture). But, with the
passage of time, women were finally allowed to take formal education and eventually practice
professions formerly held only by men (concept of cultural change, Culture is adaptive or
dynamic). Finally, in this day and age, it is very much normal for us to see professional women
working alongside their male counterparts (social norms) and society itself even support their
careers and aspirations (Values, social change).

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