Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of chapter 4, Culture and Socialization: NBSE Class 11 Sociology textbook, which is part of the syllabus for students studying under the Nagaland Board. These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
Culture is the way of life in a society. People learn it and share it with others. It is not something we are born with. Culture includes everything that makes up a way of life. It changes slowly over time. Sociologists and anthropologists explain culture in different ways. E.B. Tylor says culture includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, and customs. Bronislaw Malinowski calls it the work of humans to achieve their goals. Ralph Linton describes it as the way of life passed from generation to generation.
Culture has small parts called culture traits. These are simple acts or objects. They only make sense when connected to other parts. For example, exchanging rings in marriage or rules in a football game are culture traits. When these traits come together, they form a culture complex. A culture complex is a system of traits working as one unit. Examples include the joint family, monogamy, schools, and cars.
Cultural diversity means having many cultures in one society. Early societies were similar and had one culture. Modern societies have many cultures because of migration, globalization, and colonialism. India is known for its cultural diversity. It has many tribes, castes, religions, and languages.
Culture has key features. It is learned through socialization. It is shared by group members. Culture is passed down through generations. It includes ideas, both abstract and concrete. Culture fulfills human needs. It is an integrated system where all parts work together. Changes in one part affect others. Culture keeps changing over time.
Culture is divided into material and non-material types. Material culture includes physical objects made by humans. These are tools, buildings, clothing, and machines. Non-material culture includes values, ideas, and knowledge. These are customs, traditions, and laws. Both types are connected and depend on each other.
When material culture changes faster than non-material culture, it creates a gap called cultural lag. This happens because non-material culture takes longer to adapt.
Socialization is the process of becoming a social being. A baby is born as a biological individual but learns to live in society. This process starts in the family and continues throughout life. Socialization helps individuals learn roles, norms, and values. From the societal view, it passes on culture to new members.
Scholars like C.H. Cooley, George Herbert Mead, and Sigmund Freud explain socialization differently. Freud divides socialization into four stages. These are oral, anal, Oedipal, and adolescent stages. Each stage has specific tasks and challenges. Adolescence is a time of change and learning adult roles.
Agents of socialization are groups or individuals who help in this process. Family is the first agent. Parents introduce children to culture. Peer groups influence behavior and choices. Schools teach discipline and social roles. Religious groups pass on spiritual values. Mass media shapes ideas and opinions. The state also plays a role in guiding behavior through laws.
Textbook solutions
Very Short Answer Type Questions
1. Define culture. (’06, ’14)
Answer : Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society. It refers to the way of life found in a society, which is learned and not biologically inherited, and is shared by the members of a society.
2. Explain culture traits.
Answer : Culture traits are the simplest identifiable units of a culture. According to Linton, they are the “individual acts and objects, which constitute the overt expression of a culture.” Culture traits do not hold significance by themselves but become meaningful only in relationship with other units. For example, exchange of rings in marriage, or rules of kicking the ball in a football game, are culture traits that have significance only in the context of marriage or a football ceremony.
3. What is meant by material culture?
Answer : Material culture refers to physical objects which are man-made and found external to man. It includes aspects such as tools, machineries, instruments, buildings, dams, radio, clothing, schools, factories, tools, cities, furniture, books, roads, bridges, etc. Material culture consists of technical and material equipment like printing presses, telephones, and televisions.
4. Give one example of material culture.
Answer : One example of material culture is buildings.
5. What is non-material culture?
Answer : Non-material culture consists of non-physical abstract ideas, values, and knowledge. It means ‘what we are’ and is internal to man. It includes customs, traditions, morals, ideas, values, religion, laws, etc. Non-material culture cannot be easily understood, measured, or transferred, and its nature is inexhaustible.
6. What is socialization? (’14)
Answer : Socialization is the process of moulding an individual into a social being. It makes a human individual a social being by teaching ways of behaving in society. It involves owning, adopting, and initiating the newborn stage by stage in the family, community, and society. From the individual’s viewpoint, it consists in developing human and social potentialities, learning roles, norms, and values, and essentially learning the culture of one’s society. From the societal point of view, socialization consists in transmitting culture and inducting new members into society.
7. What is meant by agency of socialization? (’09)
Answer : Agencies of socialization refer to the individuals and groups involved in the socialization of an individual. These include the family and parents, peer group and playmates, school and teachers, the church or one’s religious group, mass media and literature, and the state.
8. What is oedipal stage?
Answer : The Oedipal stage is the third stage of socialization according to Sigmund Freud. It begins at the end of the third year and usually concludes at puberty. During this stage, a boy develops the Oedipal complex, which consists of feelings of love towards the mother and feelings of jealousy towards the father. A girl, on the other hand, develops the Electra complex, which includes feelings of love for the father and jealousy for the mother. An important element at this stage is the development of sex consciousness, and children begin to associate with others of the same sex and learn roles proper to their gender.
9. What is Electra stage?
Answer : The Electra stage is part of the Oedipal stage during the third stage of socialization as described by Sigmund Freud. In this stage, a girl develops the Electra complex, which consists of feelings of love for the father and jealousy for the mother. This stage occurs alongside the development of sex consciousness and the learning of gender-appropriate roles.
10. What are the four stages of socialization according to Sigmund Freud? (’10)
Answer : According to Sigmund Freud, the four stages of socialization are:
(i) The oral stage, which begins at birth and continues till about the end of the first year.
(ii) The anal stage, which begins at the end of the first year and goes on till the end of the third year.
(iii) The Oedipal stage, which begins at the end of the third year and usually concludes at puberty.
(iv) The adolescent stage, which begins with puberty and ends with the assumption of adult roles.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Define culture. What are the two types of culture?
Answer : Culture is defined as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society. The two types of culture are material culture and non-material culture.
12. Explain briefly why adolescent stage is a difficult stage?
Answer : Adolescence begins with puberty and ends with the assumption of adult roles. Puberty brings about several biological and psychological changes in the individual. Adolescents experience various tensions. They want to be independent of parental control, but they continue to depend on their parents. Hence there is often rebelliousness. Boys and girls begin to show interest in persons of the opposite sex. At first this is a general interest, but in course of time, it narrows down to one individual of the opposite sex. The individual also learns the roles he or she will have to play in adult life and internalises the norms related to those roles.
Essay Type Questions
1. What is culture? Explain the characteristics of culture. (’13)
Answer : Culture is defined as the way of life found in a society. It includes everything that constitutes the way of life in a society and is learned, not biologically inherited. It is shared by the members of a society and undergoes changes, though such changes may be slow.
The characteristics of culture are:
- Culture is acquired: Culture is not innate but learned through the process of socialization. Man internalizes cultural contents and develops his personality.
- Culture is social: Culture is the social heritage of man and is inclusive of the expectations of the members of the group. It is shared by the group members and is a social product rather than an individual product.
- Culture is transmissive: Culture is transmitted from generation to generation. Parents pass on cultural traits to their children, and language plays an important role in transmitting these traits.
- Culture consists of ideas: Culture includes ideas that are abstract or concrete, such as the concept of God (abstract) or the manufacture of an aeroplane (concrete).
- Fulfilment of needs: Culture fulfils human needs, whether social or personal. Human needs, urges, desires, and aspirations are satisfied according to culture.
- Integrated system: Culture is an integrated system where diverse elements like knowledge, ideas, beliefs, norms, values, and institutions are found in a unified system. Changes in one element bring changes in other elements.
- Dynamic: Culture is always changing. The direction and rate of change vary from society to society and from time to time, leading to cultural growth and development.
4. Discuss the stages of socialization.
Answer : Sigmund Freud distinguishes four stages in the process of socialization. These stages begin at birth and continue till adulthood.
(i) The oral stage : This stage begins at birth and continues till about the end of the first year. Before its birth, a child is warm and comfortable in its mother’s womb. At birth, the infant faces its first crisis. It must breathe and exert itself. It is susceptible to cold, hunger, and other discomforts. The infant cries a great deal to make its needs known. Thus, by means of crying, the infant establishes its oral dependency. In this stage, the infant is involved with its mother who satisfies its needs. For the other members of the family, the infant is only a ‘possession’. Some of them may satisfy its needs, but when they do so, they play the role of the ‘mother’. During this stage, the infant probably internalizes two roles: its own and that of its mother. The infant is passive in relation to its mother, except that it establishes dependency.
(ii) The anal stage : It begins at the end of the first year and goes on till the end of the third year. During this period, the child learns to take some care of itself in the form of toilet training. Hence, the term anal stage is applied to this stage. During this stage, the child internalizes two roles: its own role, and that of its mother. The child receives care and love from the mother or from the person who fulfills the role of the mother. In return, the child learns to give its love to the mother. The child also learns the distinction between ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ actions. It receives rewards for ‘correct’ actions and punishment for ‘incorrect’ actions. The child also learns to control itself, particularly with regard to toilet. It also begins to take care of its personal belongings.
(iii) The Oedipal stage : It begins at the end of the third year and usually concludes at puberty. According to Freud, during this stage, a boy develops the Oedipal complex. It consists of having feelings of love towards the mother and feelings of jealousy towards the father. During this stage, a girl develops the Electra complex which consists of feelings of love for the father and jealousy for the mother. Many do not accept this interpretation given by Freud because they say that a child is not capable of understanding the meaning of sex. However, an important element at this stage is the development of sex consciousness. During this stage, pressure is brought on a boy to behave like a ‘boy’ and on a girl to behave like a ‘girl’. Children begin to associate themselves with other children of the same sex and learn the roles that are considered proper to their sex. A boy imitates the father, and a girl imitates her mother.
(iv) The adolescent stage : It begins with puberty and ends with the assumption of adult roles. Puberty brings about several biological and psychological changes in the individual. Adolescents experience various tensions. They want to be independent of parental control, but they continue to depend on their parents. Hence, there is often rebelliousness. Boys and girls begin to show interest in persons of the opposite sex. At first, this is a general interest. In the course of time, it narrows down to one individual of the opposite sex. The individual also learns the roles he or she will have to play in adult life and internalizes the norms related to those roles. They learn to play the roles of parents, workers, and citizens.
Problem Solving
1. The School is an important agent of socialisation. But many children drop out of school or cannot go school. What suggestions do you have for helping them to have proper socialisation?
Answer: Children who drop out or cannot attend school may miss out on vital aspects of socialisation. To help them, alternative community-based learning centres can be set up to provide both basic education and social interaction. Vocational training programmes can be introduced to equip them with skills while encouraging teamwork and discipline. Involving them in youth clubs, sports, cultural activities and local organisations can also foster social values. The role of families, peer groups and media should be strengthened to provide positive influence and guidance. Providing financial assistance, flexible schooling options, and awareness campaigns can further encourage school participation and support proper socialisation.
Think and Answer
1. Culture is defined as the way of life found in a society. List some of the dimensions or aspects of social life and point out the elements of culture found in them.
Answer: Some key dimensions of social life and their cultural elements include:
- Family life: Customs, traditions, language, and values passed from parents to children.
- Religion: Beliefs, rituals, festivals, and moral values.
- Education: Knowledge, discipline, behaviour norms, and social roles.
- Recreation and leisure: Games, sports, music, dance, and other forms of entertainment.
- Economic activities: Occupations, tools, work ethics, and trade practices.
- Dress and food habits: Traditional clothing styles and cuisine.
- Communication: Language, gestures, symbols, and media usage.
These aspects reflect both material culture (e.g. tools, clothing, books) and non-material culture (e.g. beliefs, values, customs).
Ron’e Dutta is a journalist, teacher, aspiring novelist, and blogger who manages Online Free Notes. An avid reader of Victorian literature, his favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. He dreams of travelling the world. You can connect with him on social media. He does personal writing on ronism.
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