In an ideal society the fabric that holds people together is a system of shared values called culture. Such a society will have a unique culture that would have evolved over a period of time on the spheres of religion, family, education, daily activities and leadership and authority. Culture is a concept that been very common within sociological spheres especially since the turn of the century. Definition of the term has been relatively elusive with the most appropriate meaning used being one that considers what culture consists of. Loosely culture means a people’s way of life that involves their beliefs, practices, thinking and behavior. Culture is often studied alongside anthropology with anthropology being wider in scope. Culture is passed down from generation to generation through oral literature and its always unique to a specific society. Culture is usually formulated over a period of time by generally accepted ideas in the society. The purpose of culture in an ideal society is to maintain order within the society and preserve a standard regulated way of life. Without culture, harmony will be an unattainable concept with each individual conducting activities in their own way (Janssen, 2019). Adoption of culture is instinctive for human beings with each one having an inner drive to follow a popular idea within society.
Description of culture includes three main components; values, norms and beliefs which must be present in an ideal society. Values, norms and beliefs refer to the moral ideas, customs practiced and thoughts on different matters that the society has accepted and expects individuals to abide by. Application of these in the society can be done through use in daily lives of an individual, formal legal codes and unofficial social control system. Routines in daily lives such as when to wake up, what to do and what to eat is the most common example of application of values and norms. However, there are certain values and beliefs that are made into law that is to be enforced by law enforcement. A breech of these should lead to some form of negative and unpleasant consequence in an individual’s life. The society should have a written code against theft and murder with a parallel penal code incase the law is broken. There are also certain norms that are enforced unofficially in the society, for example requirements in religious doctrines to be abide by followers and expected behavior of different groups of family members. Breaking such value and norms does not necessarily lead to an official legal process but would lead to shunning by members of society.
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Cooley’s three-part theory of the looking-glass self emphasizes the fact that individuals in a society are the best expression of its culture. Such an expression of culture occurs after socialization of an individual by their peers, family and social circle. In an ideal society, Cooley’s three-part theory will emphasize this principle of cultural continuity by suggesting that an individual responds to other people’s perception of themselves through shaping their own image and appearance to align with a positive perception. Though this perception is often an imagined one it forms a concrete basis of how the individual will express their beliefs, values and norms. Arguably, Cooley’s theory illustrates conformity of an individual to opinion of others in the society.
Mead’s theory of formation of self in contract with Cooley’s three-part theory, suggests that the self develops through social experience and interaction with others. This interaction is majorly conducted through act of communication. Mead discuses that social behaviorism as the arising of the self through communication process. This theory observably focuses on concrete principles rather than perception and emotions in the process of socialization (Damon, 2017). The three main principles and activities that Mead mentions in development of the self are; language, play and games. Language plays the role in development of the self by giving individuals an avenue to express themselves through gestures, sounds and symbols. Play develops the self-consciousness of an individual by making the individual adopt different roles and expressions of other people. Internalization and understanding of the feelings of others occurs during play. Games emphasize to an individual that there are rules to be abide by for success in any activity.
Functionalism takes an approach beyond the individual in the process of socialization by viewing society as a system of many social parts such as morals, customs, beliefs and tradition that must function in harmony for a stable society. Conflict theory suggests that society is in competition for resources and ideas and the ideas, beliefs and norms of the dominant group between competing groups will prevail. Cultural conflict demonstrated through wars and conquest initiated the process of socialization leading to an identified culture being established. Symbolic interactionism in contrast with fundamentalism and conflict theory, is a micro theory which focuses on the relationship between individuals as a means of exchange of ideas and culture. The interaction with others creates perception on things that we observed or learned from those people.
An ideal society should have a concept of language that is uniquely attributed to it which will be the main channel through which different generations of people learn about their culture. Leaning of a culture usually takes form in three main way; observation, listening and asking questions. Observation as a skill can be subtle and subconscious in nature, with an individual taking in information without any active effort in their part. It is perhaps the most common and natural process of leaning about a culture. Children at a tender age use mostly observation to adopt certain norms from their families and social environment. Listening is part of communication that is useful in learning about a culture in the society. Information and knowledge on certain aspects of the culture can be passed through oral literature and daily conversations. Through listening an individual will be able to take in such cultural information and effectively conform to it through the process of socialization. Lastly, an individual can also ask questions regarding specific aspects of society that they need information on, for example marriage, courtship, mourning and religion. This may take the form of structured questions or in daily conversations and interaction among members of the society.
Ethnocentrism in an ideal culture will always lead to a sense of pride and superiority of an individual’s culture and will always manifest itself whenever that individual interacts with people with different culture. This is often emphasized by high levels of homogeneity in terms of race and genetics within the society. Additionally, ethnocentrism increases an individual sense of self by having intense impact on their identity and sense of belonging. Within the culture of an ideal society, there often arises subcultures that may be unique but mostly aligned with the general ideological framework of the mainstream culture (Berzano & Genova, 2015). There may also arise counter culture that usually in conflict with the dominant culture and comes about as a result of dissidence from the mainstream ideas.
In conclusion, an ideal society will have its foundation on strong cultural beliefs and norms that will be established from years of socialization process of both the individual and social groups. Cultural information in such as society will be passed down through communication and interactions. After years of evolution there will often arise subcultures within the dominant culture and subsequently counterculture that will threaten the dominance of the mainstream culture.
References
Berzano, L., & Genova, C. (2015). Subcultures and Deviance. Lifestyles and Subcultures , 89–109. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315692685-7
Damon, W. (2017). Socialization and Individuation*. Childhood Socialization , 3–10. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315081427-2
Janssen, P. T. (2019). Dynamic definition of culture. Intercultural Competences , 11–30. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003022411-2
