Customs And Traditions: The Seven Elements Of Culture

Culture is a very vast and complicated term. As a result, it is extremely difficult to provide an all encompassing definition. In layman terms, culture is used to refer to symbolic markers used by societies to differentiate and distinguish themselves from other societies. These symbolic markers range from religion to customs and traditions to something as basic as language and clothes. Basically culture is a way of living. However, in sociological parlance, in the words of E.B.Tyler ‘Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’
Broadly, culture has seven elements. These are things that are common to each and every culture.
a. Social Organisation: Social organisation refers to patterns of social interaction. It involves breaking up of a society into small manageable groups with every person having different functions in different groups. Examples of these groups are family, friends, work colleagues, religious groups, interest groups, etc. These groups can be demarcated into primary groups and secondary groups. Primary groups such as family and friends are small, personal, intimate and permanent in nature in contrast to secondary groups like work colleagues and interest groups which are usually impersonal, large and are created for a specific purpose.
b. Customs and Traditions: Every culture has its own ideas of right and wrong which can be in the form