Cultural Health and

Society
Rizwan Anjum
Lecturer at NCS
Objectives
At the end of this unit the learner will be able to:
• Discus sociology as a science, its knowledge and methods.
• Discus the importance of socio cultural anthropology and its relation
to health.
• Explain the concept of culture.
• Explain the concept of society at micro and macro levels.
• Sociology can be defined as the scientific study of human groups,
their origin, structure, function and the behaviors of individuals in
these groups.

OR
• Sociology, a social science that studies human societies, their
interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them.
• The word ‘‘Science’’ has been derived from a Latin word ‘‘Scientia’’
which means knowledge.

• A knowledge or information which we gain or get from experiments

and observations is called science.
OR
• The search for knowledge and understanding the natural phenomena
is called science.
A: Science as a knowledge
Because:
• Explanation of phenomena
• Classification of phenomena
• Prediction
B: Science as a method of investigation
• Description: (Observation, collection of data and explanation).
• Co-relation: (Links with other things).
• Experiment: (Observation under standard condition controlled by
experimenter).
Sociology as a Science
Because:
• Sociology itself is knowledge.
• Use method of science in the investigation of social condition.
• Sociological knowledge has been store in the form of principles,
theories, concepts and facts.
Importance of Sociology in Nursing
Sociology leads Nurses to understand:
• Human nature.
• Human groups.
• Society.
• Social institution.
• People react health problem according to their own norm. A Nurse
learn how to interact with people individually and in group according
to their norms.
Cont,,,,
• Social conditions plays an important role in causing and preventing
the disease.
• The relationship of sociology with psychology make it even more
important regarding its utilization in the field of Nursing.
• Social factors affects the duration and intensity of disease. Nurses are
required to know the group behaviors of the people.
Cont,,,,
• The nurse is the first person who receive patient in the emergency
who is suffer with stress and anxiety. It is the knowledge of sociology
that guide her how to calm them down and to ease their tense
nerves.
• Sociology is the study of group behaviors while nursing is the
application of health services to change or restore those behaviors.
Cont,,,,
• Sociology facilitates the provision of health education by the Nurse to
family, community and society.
Anthropology
• Combination of two Greek words i.e.
‘Anthropos’ means human and
‘Logos, means to study.
So simple meanings of anthropology is
‘‘To study human beings or study of man’’.
Technical definition:
• ‘‘Anthropology is the study of man’s biological and cultural development’’
OR
• Anthropology is the study of humans, their origins, physical characteristics,
institutions, religious beliefs, social relationships, etc.
Socio-Cultural Anthropology and its
Importance
• This is also often called social anthropology or cultural
anthropology.
• It is concerned with the social and cultural dimensions of the
living people and with the description and analysis of people
lives and traditions.
Cont,,,,
• Specialized Fields of Study in Social or Cultural
Anthropology:
• Anthropology of art.
• Medical anthropology.
• Urban, rural, economic anthropology.
• Political anthropology.
• Developmental anthropology.
• Anthropology of religion etc.
Cont,,,,
• Sociocultural anthropology and sociology share modern interests in
agency, power;
• The relative role of social structures and individual action in culture
change;
• The intersections of ethnicity, class, and gender; and the historical
shaping of modern institutions and cultural representations.
Culture is:
• Culture includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
(Edward Tylor, 1871)
• Culture is the learned behavior of people, including their languages,
belief systems, social structures, institutions, and material goods.

• A way of perceiving, believing, evaluating, and behaving.

(Gollnick and Chinn, 1994)

• Society relies on culture which has unwritten rules and guidelines.

Culture cont…
• "The total, generally organized way of life, including values, norms,
institutions, and items, that is passed on from generation to
generation by learning alone" (Dictionary of Modern Sociology ).

• Cultures and traditions are forms of social interaction accepted by

particular communities at particular times, according to their
worldviews and historical experiences (Akinjogbin, 1990).
What culture is made up of?
• Culture is made up of four main components:
1. Language (how I speak).
2. Cognition (how I think).
3. Behavior (how I act).
4. Materials (how I own).
or
• Culture consists of a complex whole that includes knowledge, idea,
belief, customs, religion, law, art, folkway and material etc.
Types of Culture
1: Material culture:
• Material culture consists of man-made physical objects (tangible) e.g.
building, furniture, books and tools.

2: Non-Material culture:
• The part of the culture that we can not observe / the nonphysical
ideas that people have about their culture. (intangible) e.g. law, belief,
gestures, language and folk way etc.
Cont….
3: Ideal culture:
• It is the goal of a particular society which is explained in books. e.g.
cheating and stealing are prohibited in our society.

4: Real culture:
• Real culture is the actual practice done by the people in their social
life. e.g. practice of cheating and stealing.
Cont,,,,
5: Simple culture:
• Simple culture is the culture which is based on simple, natural and
non industrial social life. e.g. culture in rural areas of Pakistan.

6: Complex culture:
• complex culture is that in which education, technology and industries
are in progress stage. e.g. western culture.
Cont,,,,
7: Organic culture :
• The study of biological sciences. e.g. zoology, botany etc.

8: Inorganic culture:
• The study of physical sciences. e.g. physics, mathematics etc.
Elements of Culture
• Culture traits: The simplest indivisible unit of culture; whether
material or non-material.
e.g. pen, black board, chair etc.
• Culture complex: When two or more culture traits are organized
together it is called culture complex.
e.g. political party, television set, classroom etc.
Cont,,,,
• Cultural pattern: When two or more cultural complexes are
combined together, they form a cultural pattern. Due to patterns we
found uniformity in human behavior.
e.g. wedding pattern, transport pattern.
• Cultural theme: The combination of two or more cultural
patterns results in cultural theme.
e.g. All human being are equal.
Cont,,,,
• Cultural Configuration: The combination of two or more cultural
themes results in cultural configuration. It indicates proper order of
cultural elements in the society.
e.g. The marriage system, Political system.
• Cultural Ethos: It is the philosophy of culture or the central point
of a culture around which the entire society rests.
e.g. Pakistani culture is attributed as religious.
Society
• A human society, is a group of people related to each other through
persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same
geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political
authority and dominant cultural expectations.
Cont,,,,
• Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social
relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and
institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such
relationships among its constituent members.
Concept of Culture
• Culture determines how we view the world around us.
• Culture includes the traditions we inherit and pass on to the next
generation.
• Culture: Totality of our shared language, knowledge, material objects,
and behavior.
• "Culture is learned behavior" A person is not born with a culture.
Marvin Harris
Culture and Society
• A society is a group of people involved in social interactions.

• A group sharing the same geographical or social values.

• Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social

relations) between individuals.
Culture and Society
The concept of culture (a shared way of life) must be distinguished
from those of nation (a political entity) or society (the organized
interaction of people in a nation or within some other boundary).

Many modern societies are multicultural---their people follow various

ways of life that blend and sometimes clash.
Levels of Society
• Micro-society level
• Macro-society level
Micro Level Society
• As the name suggests this is the smallest levels of society.
• Micro level groupings are more intimate societies.
• Micro level societies are families, Masjids groups, schools and the
like.
• The micro level deals with the daily actions and interactions of
people in society.
• It examines the social roles within society.
Macro Level Society
• The Macro level is the largest of the society groupings. Macros
society is a term describing the study of largest societies and
populations.
• The macro level looks at how the institutions within a large
population affect Things like the economy, government structure,
religion and more.
• These institutions are interrelated and tend to be closely linked in
their values giving off an overall feel of the culture that the society
practice.
THANK YOU !