SOC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Cultural Relativism, Culture Shock, Incest

• School: St. John's University
• Department: SOC - SOCIOLOGY
• Course: SOC 1001
• Professor: Robert Mangione

Document Summary

Views on having more than one spouse, accepted in some areas, not others. You must have an open mind and understand other cultures: cultural relativism is used to avoid ethnocentrism. Sociologists find it helpful to break down culture into: Material culture: consists of human technology all the things humans make and use from small hand-held tools to skyscrapers. We change & adapt our surroundings & material culture. Nonmaterial culture: consists of the totality of knowledge, beliefs, values and rules for appropriate behavior, the nonmaterial culture is structured by such institutions as the family, religion, education, economy, and government. *wedding band is a physical item that reflects the idea of commitment material & nonmaterial overlap* A kiss or pda: mores, strongly held norms that usually have a moral connotation and are based on the central values of the culture, violations. Strong negative reactions: examples of mores in america.