Our learning about culture is centred on ourselves and what is socially expected of us as individuals - how members are expected to behave, think and believe. Members of a culture having internalised the norms, feel a strong need to conform. Deviance from norms in society such as crime include negative sanctions such as imprisonment. Hence, cultural norms entrenched through socialisation help control society. It is fundamental when studying culture that sociologists recognise that culture is learned.
Culture is learned through generation and transmitted to the next.
It is the learning of one culture that results in differences among different groups of people. Individuals subsequently learn how they are similar to and different from others and subsequently internalise this information as part of their identity. The intrinsic relationship of language to culture is recognised as important in understanding human society. Language - is a sign system in which the signifiers are words. The very concept of the evolution of culture is dependent on the capacity of humans to use language for purposes of organising social cooperation.