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NGSA Social Studies study materials
NGSA Social Studies study resources

NGSA Social Studies: Culture, Society and Social Institutions

NGSA Social Studies · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Culture, Society and Social Institutions

This domain examines how people live together: the family and other institutions that socialise the young, the meaning of culture, and the social issues and controls that hold a society together. Examples should come from Guyanese life.

Family and institutions

  • Family types: nuclear, extended, single-parent and blended. Functions include reproduction, socialisation, economic support, emotional security and protection.
  • Institutions include the family, school, religious bodies, government, the economy, the media and peer groups. Socialisation is the process of learning norms, values and skills.

Culture

  • Material culture is physical: food, clothing, buildings, tools. Non-material culture is invisible: beliefs, values, language, customs and norms.
  • Guyanese society is described as made up of six peoples - Indigenous, African, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese and other European - expressed in the motto 'One People, One Nation, One Destiny'.
  • Festivals include Mashramani (23 February), Phagwah, Diwali, Eid-ul-Fitr, Christmas, Emancipation Day (1 August), Arrival Day (5 May) and Indigenous Heritage Month in September.
  • Most Guyanese move between Guyanese Creole and Standard English depending on setting; Creole is a rule-governed variety, not simply 'bad English'.

Social issues and control

  • Issues include discrimination, domestic violence, substance abuse, child abuse and unemployment.
  • Formal social control comes from police, courts and laws; informal control comes from family disapproval, religious teaching and community opinion.
  • Voluntary bodies such as the Red Cross, YMCA/YWCA, religious organisations and community policing groups respond to social needs.

Worked example

Name two agents of socialisation and one lesson each teaches. Reasoning: the family teaches manners, language and respect for elders; the school teaches punctuality, rules and teamwork. The mark comes from naming the agent and a specific lesson, not from a general statement that they 'help children'.

Traps that cost marks

  • Treating culture as only festivals and food, ignoring beliefs and values.
  • Mixing up material and non-material culture.
  • Confusing formal with informal social control.