The notion of society is intimately bound up with that of culture. No society could exist without culture, but equally no culture could exist without society. A society's culture embraces the whole way of life shared by group members and includes modes of dress, customs and traditions, language , patterns of work, family life, religious beliefs and ceremonies, and leisure pursuits. Culture also includes norms and values . Values are shared abstract ideas about what is desirable, proper, good and bad.
Norms are definite principles and rules which group members are excepted to observe.
For example, in Western societies a prominent value is being faithful to a single partner. In many other cultures a person may be permitted to have several wives or husbands simultaneously. It is the cultural variations between human groups which distinguishes different types of society. The culture of a given society is passed on from generation to generation through the process of socialization . The main agencies of childhood socialization are the family, the school and peer groups.