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Richard’s Commentary

 

RELIGION

 

SOCIOLOGICAL MANIFESTATIONS

Rites of Passage

Births

Location
Taboos
Participants

 

 

Marriages

Location
Taboos
Participants

 

 

Deaths

Location
Taboos
Participants

 

 

Circumcisions

Location
Taboos
Participants

 

   

Other

Location
Taboos
Participants
Cults & Societies Sacrifices
Festivals
Common vs Special
Individual vs. Corporate
Dance
Music
Arts
Storying

 

PRACTITIONERS

 

 

Priest
Prophet
Shaman
Medium
Witch
Sorcerer
Missionary (How he/she is perceived in terms of existing categories)

 

DIVINATION

   

Uses of Divination

Charting a Course of Action Ascertaining the Cause of Misfortune Determining Ways to Avoid Danger Selecting Leaders for Office Discovering the Guilty Party

 

 

Methods of Divination

Interpretation of Omens
Astrology
Ritual Techniques
Employment of Ordeals
Reliance on the Dead
Interpretation of Dreams and Visions
Possession
Oracles

 

PERSONAL SPIRITUAL BEINGS

   

Benevolent Spiritual Beings God

Animistic Views of God: A distant, unapproachable Creator The Supreme Being who reflects his nature in lower spiritual beings The impersonal power that permeates all of nature.
Angels
Saints
Totemic Spirits
Ambivalent Spiritual Beings
Gods
Spirits
Ancestors
Ghosts

 

Malevolent Spiritual Beings

   

 

Satan
Demons
Impersonal Spiritual Forces Benevolent Impersonal Forces (e.g. Animistic Baraka & Berakah; Universal Life Energy) Impersonal Spiritual Forces Used for Both Good and Evil (Mana) Malevolent Impersonal Spiritual Forces Witchcraft An internal psychic act Used either consciously or unconsciously Done with malicious intent Inherited

 

Uses superhuman power

   

Sorcery

An external use of magic Used consciously Done with malicious intent Learned

 

Uses magical power

   

Magic:

The Manipulation of Spiritual Power Uses of Magic
Productive magic
Protective magic
Destructive magic

 

Types of Magic

   

 

Contagious magic
Imitative magic
Means of Magical Manipulation
Curses
Oaths
Mantras
Amulets and charms
Evil eye

 

Sin and Salvation

   

Concepts of Sin

Socially Defined Sins and the Social Concepts of their Ramifications (including social problems)
Theologically Defined Sins
Steps in Learning the Cultural Conceptions of Sin
Contrast the moral behavior of host culture with American standards;
Learn the specific cultural rationale for moral behavior;
Relate the cultural rationale to biblical principles:
Present the holiness of God so that people grasp a perspective of morality beyond themselves;
Work with the developing national church to formulate how God's perception of sin must be understood in terms of cultural definitions.

 

   

Concepts of Salvation

Sin and Salvation (Theological vs. Social Salvation)
Salvation and Sacrifice
Meaning of sacrifice--"I give so that you may give"

 

Types of sacrifice

   

 

personal
communal
categorized according to type of spirit being worshipped

 

Religious Motifs Emphasized in Sacrifice

   

 

Sacrifice as homage to deity
Sacrifice as reciprocal gift-giving
Sacrifice as restitution, expiation, or propitiation
Sacrifice as communion
Sacrifice as rejuvenation

 

EDUCATION


FORMAL

 

 

History
Structure
Curriculum
Apprenticeship

 

INFORMAL

 


Roles
Teacher
Student
Goals
Apprenticeship
Observation and Repetition
Storying
Tales of wonder
Stories to discuss and Argue About
Tales to entertain
Stories to watn and instruct
Myths (epic in particular)


RITES OF TRANSITION

 

 

RECREATION

 

 

 

SPORTS
GAMES
STORYING
DANCE
MUSIC
MEDIA
FRATERNIZATION

 

   

TECHNOLOGY

   

MEDICINE

Healing
Maintenance

 

 

FOOD GATHERING

 

Crop Cultivation
Plowing
Planting
Harvesting
Fertilization
Livestock
Hunting
Fishing

 

INFRASTRUCTURE

   

House/Compound Building
Public Facilities
Roads
Paths

 

HIGH TECHNOLOGY

 

COMMUNICATION

 

Drums
Other

 
 

FINE ARTS

   

ARTISANS

 

DANCE

 

 

Festivals
Ceremonies
Invocations

 

MUSIC

   

 

Instruments
Styles
Songs

 

VISUAL ARTS

   

 

Images/statues
Tapistries
Painting
Body Decoration
Weaving
Pottery

 

VERBAL ARTS

   

 

 

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

 

FAMILY

 

Sexual Relations
Sexual Taboos
Kinship Patterns
In-Group/Out-Group Levels
Consanguineal
Affinial
Fictive
Patri/Matrilineal
Kindreds (network of meaningful relationships of one person)

Appelations (relationship titles)
Linage Individual Responsibilities
Nature of (Economic, Nurture, Protection)
Husband/Wife Relationship
Parent/Children Relationship
Living Location
Compound
Farm
Extended Family & Coresidency
Residence Rules
Patri/Matrilocal
Gender Divisions

 

Marriage

   

 

Definition & Purpose
Officiating
Mate Selection
Divorce
Gift Giving
Marriage Forms (Monogamy, Polygamy, etc.)

 

Birthing

   

 

Naming
Persons Present
Procedure
Religious Ritual

 

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

   

Status Systems

Closed (ascribed status)
Open (achieved status/social mobility)
Ideology which Undergirds the System

   

VOCATIONAL GUILDS

   

SECRET SOCIETIES

   

ROYALTY/COURT

   

SOCIAL INTEGRATION

 

Poor
Disabled
Rebellious
Misfits

 

   

GOVERNMENT

   

KINGDOM

TRADITIONAL

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

 


 

(political, social,& spiritual roles)
National
Provincial
Departmental
City/Village

 

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

   

Social Control

Internalized
External (Sanctions)

 

Types (matrix)

positive vs negative
formal vs informal

 

Processes (matrix)

organized vs diffused
primary (whole society) vs secondary (sub group)

 

Crime

 

Punishment

 
   
   

MILITARY

 

History
Structure
Function

 

POLITICS

 

 

Organization
Power
Source of Legitimacy

   
   

ECONOMY

   

OFFICIAL

 

Goods and Services
Financing
Taxes
Resources
International Aid
Distribution
Wealth
Reciprocity
Redistribution
Market Exchange
Bartering
Money

   

COMMON

 

 

Bargaining
Goods and Services
Financing
Resources
International Aid
Subsistence
Tools
Clothing
Shelter
Transportation
Distribution
Wealth
Reciprocity
Redistribution
Market exchange
Bartering
Money

 

 

METHODS OF PAYMENT

 

Salary
Wage
Barter
Other
TAXES
FAMILY
RESOURCES

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE

 

 

RELATED
LANGUAGES
LANGUAGE LEVELS
ORTHOGRAPHY
BILINGUALISM
DIALECTS
PARALANGUAGE
LINGUISTIC TABOOS
FAMILY

 

 

 

INDUSTRY

CRAFTSMEN

 

 

Commercial
Domestic

 

 

FARMERS (see IV-B)

 

 

 

Domestication of Animals
Taboos of Animals
Work Roles of Animal Keepers
Cultivation of Crops
Hunting and Fishing

 

 

INDIVIDUAL VENDORS

BUSINESSMEN

CIVIL SERVANTS

LABORERS

 

 

 

 

PERSONALITY / CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

 

 

CULTURAL IDEALS AND STIGMAS
HEROS
GROUP PERSONALITY
MODAL PERSONALITY
IDENTITY CONFUSION
THOUGHT PATTERNS

 

 

 

 

ELEMENTS OF DIFFUSION

 

 

NETWORK ANALYSES

 

Sociometric Analysis
Mapping Analysis

Matrix Analysis

 

COMMUNICATOR ROLES

 

 

Change Agent
Professional (from outside the system)
Paraprofessional (from inside or close to the system)
Opinion Leader (from inside the system)
Advocates (from inside the system)

 

 

 

ADOPTER TYPES (in order)

 

 

Innovators
Early Adopters
Early Majority
Late Majority
Laggards

 

 

 

INNOVATION PROCESS

 

 

Impetus
Analyze
Strategize
Create Readiness
Implement
Analyze Consequences
Evaluate Readjust or Reinvent or Reinforce

 

 

TIME & SPACE

 

TIME PROGRESSION

 

 

Linear
Circular

 

VALUE OF TIME

SPACE TABOOS

TIME,SPACE & RESPECT

DIVISIONS OF TIME AND SPACE

 

 

Body Zones
Near vs. Far

Soon vs. Distant Time

 

 

 

COMMUNICATION

 

RHETORICAL STYLES (e.g. Parables vs. Questions vs. Lecture, etc.)

TOPICS OF CONVERSATION (and taboos)

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

DECISION MAKING

FEUDING

KINESICS

 

Eye Contact
Gesturing
Physical Language
Sign Language
Action Language
Object Language

 

MASS COMMUNICATION

LEADERSHIP STYLES

 

 

 

MACRO-CULTURE

 

 

LEVELS OF CULTURE (source: THE SILENT LANGUAGE by E.T. Hall)

 

 

Technical Culture
Formal Culture
Informal Culture

   

LOCI OF CONTROL

 

 

Over Time
Over Nature
Over Fate
Over Relationships
Over Choices

   

CULTURAL VARIABILITY

 

 

Stable vs Unstable
Predictable vs. Unpredictable

   

CULTURAL COMPLEXITY (ie. high vs low context)

CULTURAL HOSTILITY

 

 

Toward Outsiders
Toward Change

   

CULTURAL DEPENDENCE/INTERDEPENDENCE

(e.g. the extent of connectedness between the host culture and other cultures) Culture Study Guide

 

Readiness
Implement
Analyze Consequences
Evaluate
Readjust or Reinvent or Reinforce

 

 

 

 

 

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