Due03/20 Chapter Learning Objectives: To read these particular portions of the chapter, please click on the links below and you
Due03/20
Chapter Learning Objectives:
To read these particular portions of the chapter, please click on the links below and you will be taken to that section of the book.
5.1 Theories of Self-Development
- Understand the difference between psychological and sociological theories of self-development
- Explain the process of moral development
- Understand the importance of socialization both for individuals and society
- Explain the nature versus nurture debate
- Learn the roles of families and peer groups in socialization
- Understand how we are socialized through formal institutions like schools, workplaces, and the government
5.4 Socialization Across the Life Course
- Explain how socialization occurs and recurs throughout life
- Understand how people are socialized into new roles at age-related transition points
- Describe when and how resocialization occurs
Instructions:
For this week, you should review each section in the chapter reading and complete your chapter recap assignment and/or discussion board. You should also review all supplemental readings and/or videos that are provided for you in the module. Please remember that your responses for the chapter recap assignment should be approximately 5 to 7 sentences in length per question set (not individual questions). You should only upload word or pdf files (please DO NOT upload .pages files). Additionally, your discussion board responses are due on Friday (initial response to the discussion prompt) and Sunday (respond to at least TWO of your classmates posts). Your posts should also be approximately 5 to 7 sentences in length per question set (not individual questions). Please let me know if you have any questions concerns about the assignments.
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video:
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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
Chapter 5: SOCIALIZATION
College Physics
Chapter # Chapter Title
PowerPoint Image Slideshow
Socialization and Interaction
These phenomena are instrumental in shaping people as individuals.
The analysis of these issues is the most basic unit of sociological analysis.
Sociologists are interested in the micro-macro continuum.
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Socialization is the process through which people are taught to be proficient members of a society.
What does socialization facilitate:
Understand social norms and expectations
Cultural and ethnic beliefs and social values
Not socializing, but the process that occurs through socializing
It almost always involves a process of interaction as those with knowledge and experience teach those with a need to acquire that knowledge.
Socialization starts in childhood (when children develop a self) and continues over the life span (as adults learn how to function within a changing society).
It illustrates how completely intertwined human beings and their social worlds are.
Through the teaching of culture to new members, society perpetuates itself. (material and non-material culture)
Social interaction provides the means via which we gradually become able to see ourselves through the eyes of others, learning who we are and how we fit into the world around us.
THE CONTEXT OF SOCIALIZATION: Socialization occurs within biological, psychological, and social contexts. Each of these offers possibilities and limitations that may influence socialization.
***The Biological Context
Biological features are regularly suggested as sources of human behavior. Sociobiologists suggest that some human capacities may be "wired into" our biological makeup. For example, even newborn babies seem to strive for maximum social interaction. They move their heads back and forth in burrowing or "rooting" motions looking for milk; they have powerful, grasping fingers that cling tightly to other human fingers or bodies; and they move so as to maximize body contact with their caregivers. These facts suggest that infants are born wanting human contact.
Sociobiologists argue that traits which aid survival and reproduction (like learning not to eat things that induce vomiting) will survive, whereas others (like unusual whiteness in certain animals, which makes them easier prey) will tend to die out. Although this evidence suggests that biological factors clearly play a role in development, it does not show that all human behavior is biologically determined. Biology sets the stage, on which a very broad range of human behavior occurs. Most or all of the important differences between societies are due to social rather than biological factors.
As educators have become more aware of children with "learning disabilities," they have begun to wonder if some conditions, such as those labeled "dyslexia" (that is, the inability to grasp the meaning of something one reads) are due to the incomplete development of certain nerve pathways in the brain that may scramble signals on the way to the brain, making it likely that children will "see" bs instead of ds, qs rather than ps, and so forth. Such problems may be part of the biological context of socialization. They may interact in significant ways with psychological and social factors during socialization and have important effects on the outcomes– for example, if children are labeled retarded or develop a sense of worthlessness, they may be less likely to learn.
In short, biology provides rich potential for becoming human and may present general tendencies, such as the tendency to seek out social interaction or to use language, but it does not determine the particular form such social development takes.
***The Psychological Context
Emotional States and the Unconscious
The primary factor in the psychological context of socialization is the psychological state of the person being socialized. Psychological states include feelings such as fear, anger, grief, love, and happiness or a sense of emotional deprivation. Strongly feeling one or more of these emotions might very well inhibit or promote socialization of a particular kind. Fear may make it difficult for young children to be socialized in school, whereas people in love may leant very quickly what makes their loved ones happy. Emotions can also influence how individuals perceive the content of socialization, whether in becoming a member of a family group or a religious sect. Knowing something about the feelings of the people involved (the psychological context) helps explain the results of the socialization process.
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Agents of Socialization
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION: The Family
Parents are called primary agents of socialization because children acquire their first knowledge of language, norms, and values from them.
Parents also engage in anticipatory socialization with their children, teaching them what will be expected of them in the future.
Social factors also impact how family raises their children.
Race, gender, religion, government, social class etc.
THE FAMILY.
Family is the most important agent of socialization in all societies. Family is where we acquire our specific social position in society, where ethnic, class, economic, religious, subcultural and gender factors all impact the individual for the first time.
In rural societies, children have most of their early social contact with the family. Today, however, the family's importance in the child's life is changing. The American family no longer necessarily conforms to the stereotypical nuclear family with two parents and two or more dependent children. Fewer than one family in five consists of a working father, full-time homemaker mother, and at least one child. There are more and more single-parent families, and 56 percent of all mothers with children under 6 years old are working. More and more children are receiving their early and primary care from others in addition to their parents. What are the effects on young children of having only one parent in the home? Of having a mother who works outside the home? One study suggests that single parents with adequate financial and emotional support are able to raise their children quite effectively.
Although most children growing up in America today will spend a great deal of time with people other than members of their families, this does not mean that the participation of families in socialization has ended.
On the contrary, the family continues to be a major means of passing on values, attitudes, and behaviors. Different social positions may be related to different socialization for children even when they live in the same society. Melvin Kohn’s studies suggest ethnicity and class strongly influence what and how parents teach their children. Working class parents focus on conformity and obedience from children. They may be taught ambitions cannot be met. Upper class children are given more freedom and flexibility, and instilled with ideas of monetary and social success
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Agents of socialization: Peers
A good deal of socialization at school takes place informally through interaction with fellow schoolmates.
As children mature they spend an increasing amount of time in the company of friends.
Peer socialization is increasingly likely to conflict with what is being taught at home and in the schools.
PEERS.
A peer group consists of friends and associates who are about the same age and social status. As children get older, going to school brings them into regular contact with other children of their age. As early as first or second grade, children form social groups. In these early peer groups, children learn to share toys and other scarce resources (such as the teacher's attention). Peers may reinforce behaviors that are stressed by parents and schools–for example, whether it is all right to hit someone else and what are acceptable behaviors for boys and girls. As children move through school, the interests of peer groups may diverge more and more from those of adults. This is particularly true of the United States but seems also to be the case in certain socialist societies today. Youthful concerns may center on popular music and movies, sports, sex, or illegal activities. Parents and teachers, on the other hand, want children to do schoolwork, help at home, and "stay out of trouble." Peer groups may provide social rewards–praise, prestige, and attention–to individuals for doing things adults disapprove of.
When the Soviet Union existed, the peer group was used by authorities to reinforce the behaviors and attitudes they desire. For example, if a child comes to school late, it is not only the teacher who notes this (perhaps by praising children who are on time) but also those in the child's row in the classroom, who may be enlisted to urge the child to come to school on time. Peer sanctions (punishments) are particularly effective. In Israel, for instance, in a collective farm group, a child who breaks a rule such as using a tractor when it is not allowed and damaging the machine in the process may be formally ostracized for some time. During this period the other children will not speak to or play with the child. Although effective in achieving social goals, the united effect of peer and official authority is more powerful and painful than official authority alone for the individual who does not conform. In our society, adolescents are heavily influenced by their peers when it comes to dress, musical fads, cheating, and drug use. In making their future life plans, however, they are influenced more by their parents than by their peers. Girls seem to be somewhat more influenced in their future life plans by peers than are boys.
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INSTITUTIONAL AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION: Schools and Teachers
As children mature, other people and organizations become socializing forces.
After parents and family, schools and teachers are the most important agents of socialization.
Hidden curriculum.
SCHOOLS and the HIDDEN CURRICULUM
As societies become more complex and there is a greater division of labor, family members cannot spend all day every day teaching children what they need to know to function effectively as adults in society. Therefore, most societies have established schools to teach youngsters certain skills. Schools teach values and attitudes as well. These values and attitudes include, for example, competitiveness or cooperation, conformity or innovation.
Schools try to impress upon children the importance of working for rewards, and they try to teach neatness, punctuality, orderliness, and respect for authority. Teachers are called upon to evaluate how well children perform a particular task or how much skill they have. Thus, in school, children's relationships with adults move from nurture and behavioral concerns to performance of tasks and skills determined by others.
7
Agents of Socialization: Mass Media and the New Media
Until recently, much of the emphasis on the role of the media in socialization focused on television.
As children mature, more of their socialization takes place via the computer, smartphones, video games, and other new emerging technologies.
Mass Media (click for video)
Porn before puberty (click for video)
Mass media (TV, internet, radio) acts as a socializing agent by informing us about events, people, products, viewpoints on current issues, and entertaining us .
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Theories of Socialization
Nature vs. Nurture
An ongoing debate among social and biological scientists is, “ What makes us who we are?”
Nurture: the relationships and caring that surrounds us shapes our ‘self’
Nature: who we are is based entirely on genetics.
Linda and Doreen (Click for video)
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Psychological Theories of Self Development
Psychological Perspectives on Self-Development
Sigmund Freud
Personality and Sexual Development were closely linked
Disengagement from a specific stage results in emotional and psychological consequences throughout adulthood.
Emotional States and the Unconscious
The primary factor in the psychological context of socialization is the psychological state of the person being socialized. Psychological states include feelings such as fear, anger, grief, love, and happiness or a sense of emotional deprivation. Strongly feeling one or more of these emotions might very well inhibit or promote socialization of a particular kind. Fear may make it difficult for young children to be socialized in school, whereas people in love may leant very quickly what makes their loved ones happy. Emotions can also influence how individuals perceive the content of socialization, whether in becoming a member of a family group or a religious sect. Knowing something about the feelings of the people involved (the psychological context) helps explain the results of the socialization process.
Freud
Human behavior and personality originate from unconscious forces within the individual.
In Freud’s time, biological explanations for human behavior were prevalent.
Freud’s theory is based on the notion that people have two basic tendencies.
The urge to survive
The urge to procreate
Human development occurs in three states that reflect different levels of personality.
The id is the component of personality that includes all of the individual’s basic biological drives and needs that demand immediate gratification. Does not consider what is realistic, moral or right. Sexuality and aggression. (this is considered the pleasure principle)
The ego is the rational, reality-oriented component of personality that imposes restrictions on the innate pleasure-seeking drives of the id. Observes reality and what is reasonable. (this is considered the rational principle)
The superego, or conscience, consists of the moral and ethical aspects of personality. A collection of moral lessons. Id and superego are in contention with one another. (this is considered the moral principle)
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Sociological Theories of Self Development
George H. Mead: self: a person’s distinct identity that is developed through social interaction.
Mead also distinguished between the I – and the Me –
An individual has to be able to view him or herself through the eyes of others- a process called taking the role of the other.
Mead’s 3 Stages of development of the self:
Preparatory/imitation Stage
Play Stage (interactions)
Game Stage
Generalized Other: The common behavioral expectations of general society.
George Herbert Mead:
While establishing the idea of self, Mead introduces a distinction between the "I" and the "me", respectively, the active and socialized aspects of the person. The "me" is a similar concept to Cooley's looking-glass self. An example of these concepts is the Pygmalion (the phenomenon whereby the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform) effect whereby a person (I) behaves to match the sense of self (me) they derive from others, in a form of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Being able to view ourselves through the eyes of others is not something we are born with. Mead believed that there is a specific path of development that all people go through. During the preparatory stage, children are only capable of imitation: they have no ability to imagine how others see things. They copy the actions of people with whom they regularly interact, such as their mothers and fathers. This is followed by the play stage, during which children begin to take on the role that one other person might have. Thus, children might try on a parent’s point of view by acting out “grownup” behavior, like playing “dress up” and acting out the “mom” role, or talking on a toy telephone the way they see their father do. During the game stage, children learn to consider several roles at the same time and how those roles interact with each other. They learn to understand interactions involving different people with a variety of purposes. For example, a child at this is likely to be aware of the different responsibilities of people in a restaurant who together make for a smooth dining experience (someone seats you, another takes your order, someone else cooks the food, while yet another clears away dirty dishes).
Finally, children develop, understand, and learn the idea of the generalized other, the common
behavioral expectations of general society. By this stage of development, an individual is able to
imagine how he or she is viewed by one or many others—and thus, from a sociological perspective, to have a “self”
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Sociological Theories of Self Development
Charles Cooley: “The looking glass self”
How people shape their self concepts based on their understanding of how others perceive them.
We only develop a self-concept by interacting with others.
Cooley’s looking-glass self, self-concept is derived from a 3 step process:
We imagine how our personality and appearance will look to others.
We imagine how other people judge the appearance and personality
We develop a self-concept. If the evaluation is positive, our self-concept is enhanced. If the evaluation is negative, our self-concept is diminished.
In hypothesizing the framework for the looking glass self, Cooley said, “the mind is mental” because “the human mind is social. ” In other words, the mind’s mental ability is a direct result of human social interaction. Beginning as children, humans begin to define themselves within the context of their socializations. The child learns that the symbol of his/her crying will elicit a response from his/her parents, not only when they are in need of necessities, such as food, but also as a symbol to receive their attention. George Herbert Mead described the self as “taking the role of the other,” the premise for which the self is actualized. Through interaction with others, we begin to develop an identity about who we are, as well as empathy for others.
An example of the looking-self concept is computer technology. Using computer technology, people can create an avatar, a customized symbol that represents the computer user. For example, in the virtual world Second Life, the computer-user can create a human-like avatar that reflects the user in regard to race, age, physical makeup, status, and the like. By selecting certain physical characteristics or symbols, the avatar reflects how the creator seeks to be perceived in the virtual world and how the symbols used in the creation of the avatar influence others’ actions toward the computer user.
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Erving Goffman: Dramaturgy
Viewed social life (society) in terms of a theatrical performance.
Dependent upon time, place and audience.
Role performance: the expression of a role
Impression Management: when people interact with others they use a variety of techniques to control the image that they want to project.
Goffman believed that when we are born, we are thrust onto a stage called everyday life, and that our socialization consists of learning how to play our assigned roles from other people. We enact our roles in the company of others, who are in turn enacting their roles in interaction with us. He believed that whatever we do, we are playing out some role on the stage of life.
Goffman coined the term Impression Management to refer to our desire to manipulate others’ impressions of us on the front stage. According to Goffman, we use various mechanisms, called Sign Vehicles, to present ourselves to others. The most commonly employed sign vehicles are the following:
Social Setting
The social setting is the physical place where interaction occurs. It could be a doctor’s examination room, a hallway, someone’s home, or a professor’s office. How we arrange our spaces, and what we put in them, conveys a lot of information about us. A person who lives in a huge home with security guards, attack dogs, and motion detectors conveys the message that he or she is very important, wealthy, and powerful, and probably that uninvited visitors should stay away. On the other hand, the owner of a house with no fence, lots of lights, and a welcome mat would seem much more inviting but perhaps not as rich or powerful.
How we decorate our settings, or what Props we use, also gives clues to how we want people to think of us. A businesswoman with a photo of her family on her desk communicates that things outside of work are important in her life. When a professor displays her degrees and certificates on the wall of her office, she communicates that she wants to be viewed as a credible authority in her chosen field. When people decorate offices, hang pictures in clinics, or display artwork in their homes, they are using props to convey information about how they want others to see them.
Appearance
Our appearance also speaks volumes about us. People’s first impressions are based almost exclusively on appearance.
Clothing: The clothing we wear tells others whether we are rich or poor, whether we take care of ourselves, whether we have a job, and whether we take it seriously. Props such as a wedding band, a doctor’s stethoscope, or a briefcase tell others even more about us.
Physical Stature: American society is obsessed with thinness, especially for women, and people often equate thinness with attractiveness. People commonly make assumptions about a person’s personality and character based solely on his or her weight. The tendency to assume that a physically attractive person also possesses other good qualities is called the Halo Effect. For example, thin and attractive people are assumed to be smarter, funnier, and more self-controlled, honest, and efficient than their less thin and attractive peers. Conversely, we tend to think that heavier people lack self-discipline and are more disorganized than their thinner counterparts.
Side note on appearance:
Race: Anthropologically speaking, there are only three races: white, black, and Asian. Humans feel the need to assign every individual to one of the three races and then draw conclusions about their musical preferences, tastes in food, and home life based on that classification.
Stereotypes: Many of the assumptions we make about people based on physical characteristics are actually stereotypes. A Stereotype is an assumption we make about a person or group that is usually based on incomplete or inaccurate information. An individual or two may indeed fit a stereotype, but the danger is assuming that all people who share a particular characteristic are inherently the same.
Manner of Interacting
According to Goffman, our manner of interacting is also a sign vehicle. Our Manner Of Interacting consists of the attitudes we convey in an attempt to get others to form certain impressions about us. One of the most common ways to convey attitudes is through nonverbal communication, the ways we have of communicating that do not use spoken words. These consist of gestures, facial expressions, and body language.
Gestures: In our society, we often shake hands when we meet someone for the first time. The offer to shake hands signals that we want to meet the other individual, so when one person extends his or her right hand and the other person does not do likewise, the second person is insulting the first. Messages in gestures can be more subtle, as well. A person whose handshake is firm conveys confidence, but an individual with an intentionally crushing handshake is, in effect, claiming strength and domination over the other person.
Facial Expressions: Facial expressions also convey information. Humans can convey a surprising amount of information in a look or an expression: a smile, frown, grimace, raised eyebrows, and narrowed eyes all convey distinctly different messages.
Body Language: Our body language can also convey a wealth of meaning. Body language consists of the ways in which we use our bodies consciously and unconsciously to communicate. Most people are familiar with the body language that accompanies traditional mating rituals in our society. Sometimes body language gives clearer indications of a person’s thoughts or feelings than words do. For example, if a person claims not to be upset by a recent romantic breakup but his or her movements and facial expressions lack their usual animation and energy, the individual’s body language is contradicting his or her stated emotions.
Personal Space
The way we command space is also a function of how we choose to present ourselves. Personal Space refers to the area immediately around the body that a person can claim as his or her own. Like so many aspects of culture, the amount of personal space an individual claims differs from culture to culture. In general, residents of the West stand at least three or four feet away from the people they are speaking to. In parts of the Middle East, people tend to stand only about two feet away when conversing.
In general, the more intimate we are with a person, the closer we allow him or her to stand to us.
1–2 feet: Close friends, lovers, and family members
2–4 feet: Acquaintances and coworkers
4–12 feet: Formal acquaintances, such as a potential employer during a job interview
When someone stands closer than the culture deems appropriate, discomfort results because that person has invaded the accepted personal space. Powerful and prestigious people can command more personal space and in general are also more likely to invade others’ personal space.
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Erving Goffman: Dramaturgy
Front stage: the social performance is designed to define the situation for those observing it.
Back stage: people express themselves in ways that are suppressed in the front.
Resocialization
Old behaviors that were helpful in previous roles are removed because they are no longer of use.
Resocialization is the process of learning a new and different set of attitudes, values, and behaviours from those in one’s previous background and experience.
Voluntary Resocialization – enter of our own free will.
Involuntary resocialization occurs against one’s wishes and takes place within a total institution – a place where people are isolated from the rest of society for a period of time and come under control of officials. Strips individuals of former identity to build a new one. Questionable effectiveness.
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Theoretical Perspectives on Socialization
Structural functionalists: socialization is essential to society, both because it trains members to operate successfully within it and because it perpetuates culture by transmitting it to new generations.
Symbolic Interactionism: Socialization is concerned with face-to-face exchanges and symbolic communication.
Conflict theorist: Might argue that socialization reproduces inequality from generation to generation by conveying different expectations and norms to those with different social characteristics.
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