Culture And Society: The Influence Of Culture And Society

Culture and society, while important terms to the field of anthropology, are often misunderstood or misused by new students. They are frequently used in daily life, but with a somewhat different context and meaning than those used in anthropological discussions, hence the misunderstanding. They refer to concepts which act as foundations of this field, and it is difficult to make sense of both old and new studies or ideas without them.
Before enrolling in this class, I probably had a similarly vague idea of the meaning of these terms and their use. I likely would have defined culture as the foods, dances, clothes, languages, and other obvious aspects of a group of people. The things which immediately come to mind when thinking of the group;

It helps a community find a shared sense of identity and gives them a common lens through which to view and make sense of the world. It gives them a settled place and role within that world. This is not to say culture is static or that a person can belong only to one culture. Rather, culture is a changing product of experience and reaction, and human beings may belong to a myriad of different cultures and societies based on factors such as ethnicity, age, occupation, and

In culture there may be more of a choice as to whether one takes certain actions. In society there are guidelines for all behavior, and consequences when one does not follow the accepted patterns. These patterns, which are laid out, learned, and willingly obeyed by the participating members of a society, provide smoothness of interaction and common translations of certain situations. When issues arise, they can also provide accepted formats for resolution. Society is no more static than culture, and may evolve drastically in response to new environments and ideals of what is