Define culture. What are the types of culture ?

I. Definition of Culture.

(a) According to Ralph Linton, “The culture of a society is a way of life of its members, the collection of ideas and habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation to generation.”

(b) Clyde Kluckohn says that culture is a ‘design for living : held by members of a particular society.

II. Types of Culture :

1. Individual Culture : It is the first form of culture. Everyone follows a mode of behaviour and also a way of life. In social life, every individual behaves according to expectations of other persons in the group. These expectations are based on norms and values of the group.

Social norms determine individual’s overt acts, which therefore, reflect values of culture.

2. Group Cultrue : The art and artifacts, tools and techniques, and other physical conditions which are used in the act as a matter of habit also form the culture of the group. Two very important characteristics of culture are : (a) that culture is learnt, that it is not inherited and that it is a behavioural pattern shared by members of a group or society. (b) It also refers to the ways of acting of people in the context of different social of relationships in the day-to-day life.