week 6: culture and socialization, transmission of culture, cultural lag, cultural variation

Socialization teaches us the cultural values and norms that provide the guidelines for our everyday life. Culture may be defined as the beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects shared by a particular group of people. ... Human culture is linked to the biological evolution of human beings.

Socialization is a learning process that begins shortly after birth. Early childhood is the period of the most intense and the most crucial socialization. It is then that we acquire language and learn the fundamentals of our culture. ... As we age, we enter new statuses and need to learn the appropriate roles for them.