Page 111 - Sociology and You

Section 3
Chapter 3 Culture 81 Norms and Values
Key Terms
• norms
• folkways
• mores
• taboo
• law
• sanctions
• formal sanctions
• informal sanctions • values
Norms: The Rules We Live By
I
Norms are rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior. A Hindu peasant in India can be found lying dead of starvation beside per- fectly healthy cattle. In order to strengthen bonds between clans, a young Basarwa girl in Africa might become engaged to a man she has not met. Roman emperors routinely exiled relatives to small isolated islands for “dis- gracing” the family. Each of these instances reflects cultural norms—ways of behaving in specific situations. Norms help to explain why people in a soci- ety or group behave similarly in similar circumstances.
William Graham Sumner (1906) was an early sociologist who wrote about norms. Anything, he stated, can be considered appropriate when norms approve of it. This is because once norms are learned, members of a society
Section
f you wanted to describe your culture, what would you look for? How
could you begin to classify the elements of the American way of life? Sociologists begin with the defining components of a culture: its norms, its values and beliefs, and its use of material objects.
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wo essential components
of culture are norms and values. There are several types of norms—folkways, mores, and laws. Sanctions are used to encourage conformity to norms. Values, the broadest cultural ideas, form the basis for norms.
All cultures have norms relating to marriage and family life; weddings are always impor- tant occasions. This Hindu couple is celebrating their marriage with a garland ritual.
norms
rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior