Common Ground: Individual Rights vs. the Common Good
While they're an essential element in any culture, shared values differ from one society to another. One of the most cherished American values, woven deep within the fabric of U.S. culture, is the importance of individual rights. Still, there is a l...
Face to Face: Social Interaction and Technology
Technology has had a significant impact on social interaction. While conventional wisdom suggests that technology in general and the Internet in particular undermine social interaction, there are many who contend that just the opposite is true.
Common Ground: Society of Consumers, A
With its emphasis on financial accomplishment, culture in the United States often seems to revolve around consumerism. When America's love affair with consumption began in earnest in the 1940s and 50s, some likened it to a revolution.
Common Ground: Opportunity and Social Class
As part of its emphasis on personal freedom and responsibility, U.S. culture promotes the notion that every American has the opportunity to achieve success...especially in the financial arena. Most Americans believe that theirs is a classless societ...
Common Ground: Connected by Culture
Despite differences among subcultures, groups, and individuals, all members of a society are connected by a vast array of shared cultural components such as values, beliefs, traditions, and language.
Fitting In: Socialization Within the Family
Socialization is the lifelong process by which people develop their personalities and learn about their culture. For virtually everyone, that process begins within the family, during the earliest days of life.
Changing Families: Impact of the Family
An Arab-American family in Dearborn, Michigan, a lesbian couple and their daughter in San Francisco, California, and a family living among the Amish in Pennsylvania are profiled. They illustrate how living in a family has an enormous impact on nea...