Chapter 3 Cultural Conformity and Adaptation

      No matter the society, there is always change. It is very hard for a society to remain without contact to the rest of the world and all cultures will always have influences from other cultures. Not all influences will be accepted and not all changes will be welcomed.

      All cultures have rules or norms that they have to follow if the society wants to prosper. People are expected to follow certain norms because they have internalized the norm. Internalization is when a norm becomes part of the individual’s personality. An example is when you are driving and immediately stop when you see a red light. You do this because you have internalized the fact that red means stop, not because you fear punishment. Most people follow the norms in their society but some need sanctions to keep them following the norms. There are different types of sanction and one of them is a positive sanction. A positive sanction is when one is rewarded because of positive behavior. An example is the positive reaction of parents when their children get good grades or behave well. Then we have a negative sanction, which is a punishment or threat of punishment to ensure positive behavior. For example, you will not park your car in a place that says, “No Parking” because you fear your car being towed. Sanctions can also be formal or informal. A formal sanction is a reward or punishment given by a formal organization like a business, school, government, etc. Finally, informal sanctions are a spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval.

      No matter how well structured a society is, there will always be changes over time. There are many sources of social change like values and beliefs. Changes in values or beliefs can cause consequences for the society especially if they were part of a larger ideology. An ideology is a system of beliefs and ideas that justify social, moral, religious or economical interests. They are often spread through social movements. These are long-term conscious efforts to promote or prevent social change. Then we have technology as a major source of social change. Changes occur when people recognize how to use the elements around them. An example is oil shale. After it was discovered it was used as a fuel that provided to America’s growing industrialization. A change in the size of a population brings a variety of cultural changes because of new groups and influences coming in. this can also be called diffusion which is when a culture borrows traits from other cultures. This occurs greatly when a society has contact with many societies. The physical environment affects societies in many ways. For example if a society has a low supply of food they can grow locally, they will need to import from other societies. New unknown foods or products can cause change. Natural disasters can change a community by destroying it and after that the members of that community will be more precautious in the future. The least common source of social change are wars and conquests yet they probably bring the greatest amount of social change.

(The Civil Rights movement is an example of a social movement demanding change.)

       With social change often comes resistance to that change. A change that comes from outside a society will probably be met with resistance moved by ethnocentrism, which is the belief that one’s own culture is superior to others. An example is the “Buy American” campaign I which some people refused to buy Japanese cars instead of American cars. Some traits may take more time to transform than others when change occurs. This is called cultural lag. An example is summer vacations. In the 1800’s when the US was a largely agricultural country, the children would be let out of school in summer because their parents needed help with the farms. Now that the US is a more urbanized country there is still summer vacations in schools. The agricultural trait has changed but the summer vacation trait has not. A person who is well off with the way that things are may resist change. If there is a change that threatens their security they will oppose it, they have a vested interest to protect. For example, workers may oppose new technology because it may cost them their jobs. The vested interest here is the worker’s job.

(Buy American campaign)

       All cultures have ways of internalizing their norms and expectations, yet these things can change over time. It is very hard for a society to not change or be influenced by other societies especially in the 21^st century. With change there will always be opposition whether it’s for the better or for the worse. The world is constantly changing and will keep on changing in all of its existence.