Concept about Culture – Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through the study of the past, controlled and naturalistic observation of the present and disciplined scientific experimentation and modeling.
It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation. Generally, behavior science deals primarily with human action and often seeks to generalize about human behavior as it relates to society.
Concept about Culture
Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Culture describes the many ways in which human beings express themselves for the purposes of uniting with others, forming a group, defining an identity, and even for distinguishing themselves as unique.
Cultural expression is highly sensual in that human beings often create activities, practices, symbols, and so on that can be easily consumed by our senses. For example, culturally distinct forms of dance or physical movement attract our senses of touch and sight; whereas culturally specific foods seek to activate our sense of taste and smell.
Definition of Culture
According to E.B. Tylorts
Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.
According to Edward Sapir says,
“Culture is any socially inherited element of the life of man, material and spiritual”.
According to Redfield
“Culture is an organized body of conventional understanding manifest in art and artifact which persisting through, characterizes a human group”.
According to MacIver
“Culture is the expression of our nature in our modes of living, and our thinking, intercourses in our literature, in religion, in recreation and enjoyment.
According to Lundberg,
Culture refers to “the social mechanisms of behavior and to the physical and symbolic products of these behaviors.”
According to H.T. Mazumdar,
“Culture is the sum total of human achievements material as well as non-material, capable of transmission, sociologically i.e. by tradition-and communication, vertically as well as horizontally.”
Types of Culture:
Sociologists describe two interrelated aspects of human culture: the physical objects of the culture and the ideas associated with these objects.
Material culture –
Material culture refers to the physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture. These include homes, neighborhoods, cities, schools, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, offices, factories and plants, tools, means of production, goods and products, stores, and so forth. All of these physical aspects of a culture help to define its members’ behaviors and perceptions.
Non-material culture –
Non-material culture refers to the nonphysical ideas that people have about their culture, including beliefs, values, rules, norms, morals, language, organizations, and institutions. For instance, the non- material cultural concept of religion consists of a set of ideas and beliefs about God, worship, morals, and ethics. These beliefs, then, determine how the culture responds to its religious topics, issues, and events.
Functions of Culture
- Culture makes man as a social being.
- To regulate the conduct and prepares the human being for group life.
- It defines the meaning of situation
- Provide situation to complicated situations as it provides traditional interpretation to certain situation
- Defines values, attitudes and goals.
- Broaden the vision of individuals.
- Provide behavior pattern and relationship with other.
- Keeps the individual behavior intact.
- Creates new needs and interests.
- Moulds national character.
- Defines myths, legends, supernatural beliefs.
- Culture decides our careers.
- Culture provides knowledge.
Characteristics of Culture
A. Culture is learnt:
- Culture is not inherited biologically, but learnt socially by man.
- It is not an inborn tendency.
- There is no cultural instinct as scull Culture is often called ‘learned ways of behavior’.
B. Culture is Social:
- Culture does not exist in isolation. Neither is it an individual phenomenon. It is a product of society.
- It originates and develops through social interactions.
- It is shared by the members of society.
C. Culture is shared:
- Culture in the sociological sense, is something shared.
- It is not something that an individual alone can possess.
D. Culture is Trans-missive:
- Culture is capable of being transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents pass on culture traits to their children and them in turn to their children, and so on.
- Culture is transmitted not through genes but by means of language. Language is the main vehicle of culture.
E. Culture is Continuous and Cumulative:
- Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth it tends to become cumulative.
- Culture is a ‘growing whole’ which includes in itself, the achievements of the past and the present and makes provision for the future achievements of mankind. “Culture may thus be conceived of as a kind of stream flowing down through the centuries from one generation to another”,
F. Culture is Consistent and Integrated:
- Culture, in its development has revealed a tendency to be consistenta
- At the same time different parts of culture are interconnected,
G. Culture is dynamic and Adaptive:
- Though culture is relatively stable it is not altogether static.
- It is subject to slow but constant changes.
- Change and growth are latent in culture.
H. Culture is Gratifying:
- Culture provides proper opportunities and prescribes means for the satisfaction of our needs and desires.
- These needs may be biological or social in nature.
I. Culture Varies from Society to Society:
- Every society has a culture of its own. It differs from society to society.
- Culture of every society is unique to itself.
- Cultures are not uniform. Cultural elements such as customs, traditions, morals, ideals, values, ideologies, beliefs, practices, philosophies, institutions, etc., are not uniform everywhere.
J. Culture is super organic and Ideational:
- Culture is sometimes called ‘the super organic’. By ‘super organic’ Herbert Spencer meant that culture is neither organic nor inorganic in nature but above these two.
Elements of Culture
According to H.M. Johnson, the main elements of culture are as follows:
1. Cognitive elements,
2. Beliefs,
3. Values and norms,
4. Signs,
5. Non-normative ways of behaving.
1. Cognitive Elements:
- Cultures of all societies whether pre-literate or literate include a vast amount of knowledge about the physical and social world.
- The possession of this knowledge is referred to as the cognitive element.
2. Beliefs:
- Beliefs constitute another element of culture. Beliefs in empirical terms are neither true nor false.
- Examples: (i) The Eskimo shaman uses fetishes and goes into a loud trance in order to drive out the evil spirits from the body of a sick person,
3. Values and Norms:
- It is very difficult to enlist values and norms for they are so numerous and diverse.
- They are inseparable from attitudes, except perhaps, analytically.
4. Signs:
- Signs include signals and symbols. “A signal (also means sign) indicates the existence -f past, present, or future of a thing, event, or conditions “.
- Example: A heap of half burnt particles of a house signalize that the house was caught by fire sometimes earlier.
5. Non-Normative Ways of Behaving:
- Certain ways of behaving are not compulsory and are often unconscious. Such patterns do exist.
- Non-normative behavior shades over into normative behavior and symbolic behavior.
Difference between Civilization and Culture
Culture
1. Culture includes religion, art philosophy, literature, music, dance, etc.
2. Culture is what we are.
3. Culture has no standard of measurement because it is an end in itself.
4. It cannot be asserted that the art, literature, thoughts are ideals of today’s and superior to those of past.seving
5. Culture is internal and an end. It is related to internal thoughts, feelings, ideals, values, etc. It is like the soul of individual.
6. Culture cannot be said to be advancing.
7. Culture is the body of thought and knowledge both theoretical and practical.
8. It is to be achieved of learnt
Civilization
1. Civilization includes all those things by means of which some other objective is attained. Type writers, motors, etc. come under this category.
2. Civilization is what we have.
3. Civilization has a précised standard of measurement.
4. The various constituents of civilizations namely machines, means of transportation, communication, etc. are constantly progressive.
5. Civilization is external and a means. It is the means for the expression and manifestation of the grandness, it is like but the body of an individual.
6. Civilization is always advancing.
7. Civilization is more complex and evolved from of culture
8. It may be inherited
Culture of Bangladesh
Bangladesh has a rich, diverse culture. Its deeply rooted heritage is thoroughly reflected in its architecture, dance, literature, music, painting and clothing. The three primary religions of Bangladesh (Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam) have had a great influence on its culture and history.
Cultural Factors of Bangladesh
➤ Capital: Dhaka
➤ Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India, W.O
➤ Climate: tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
➤ Population: 166,280,712 (July 2014 est.)
➤ Ethnic Make-up: Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims
➤ Religions: Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1%
➤ Languages in Bangladesh: The official language is Bangla, also known as Bengali.o
➤ Festivals
- Islam defines many of the festivals in Bangaldesh. These include two Eids (one after Ramadan and one after the Hajj) Shab-e-Qadr (the night of power), Milad un-Nabi (birth date of the Prophet Muhammad) and Shab-e-Barat (the night of the fortune).
- Hindu influences festivals include Durga Puja and Kali Puja (community worshipping of Goddess Durga and Kali).
- On the whole an entire community participates in each other’s religious ceremonies
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