Secondary Socialisation & Identity Sociologists – Knowledge Organiser

Flashcards covering key sociological thinkers, concepts, and impacts related to socialisation, education, social class, gender, and identity construction.

According to Parsons (Primary Socialisation), what role does the family play as a "personality factory"?

Children are viewed as blank slates, with parents training them into the value consensus and giving them a sense of belonging.

According to Zaretsky, what values does the family instil, and what is their impact on the working class?

The family instils obedience and respect for authority, which are useful for the ruling class for exploitation later in life, leading the working class to believe power, authority, and inequality are normal.

How does education function as a bridge between family and society according to Parsons?

It facilitates a shift from particularistic standards in the family home to universalistic standards in education, teaching the individual that their status is achieved rather than ascribed.

What impact do secondary socialising agencies have according to Durkheim?

Education and religion act as secondary socialising agencies that foster value consensus, collective conscience, and social solidarity by creating a sense of shared collective identity and togetherness.

According to Althusser, how does education function as an Ideological State Apparatus?

Education socialises individuals into ruling class ideology and the acceptance of capitalism.

What is the impact of Bowles & Gintis's "Correspondence Principle"?

School mirrors the workplace to encourage conformity, obedience, and passivity, producing an uncritical, compliant workforce unaware of their exploitation.

How do cultural capital, habitus, and field explain educational inequality according to Bourdieu?

The education system is a middle-class field that reflects middle-class habitus; consequently, the middle classes succeed while the working class feel marginalized through symbolic violence.

What are "Nike Identities" according to Archer?

Working-class students use branded sportswear to provide symbolic capital when they lack cultural capital, expressing their identity through opposition to middle-class habitus.

According to Haidt (2024) in "The Anxious Generation," how is childhood changing and affecting socialisation?

There is less unsupervised, outdoor play and more time spent alone online, which reduces real-world problem solving as a part of socialisation.

What are the key ideas and impacts associated with De Beauvoir's "The Second Sex"?

Females are viewed by society as the 'second sex' behind men, and religion helps shape a submissive female identity.

How does Francis identify patriarchy operating within education?

Through teachers holding gendered expectations, boys dominating physical spaces, the use of gendered sexualized language, and the creation of hyper-sexualized female identities.

According to Wheatley, how do globalisation and media portrayals influence identity?

Media portrayals of age, class, gender, ethnicity, and nationality shape self-perception and identity, while social media blurs local and global cultures to create hybrid and fluid identities.

How does Goffman's Dramaturgical Model explain identity construction?

Individuals engage in impression management where identity is constructed frontstage through the presentation of self and active interaction with others.

What is Cooley's concept of the "Looking-Glass Self"?

We imagine how others see us, and our sense of self and identity develops from this reflection.

How does Giddens describe the Reflexive Self and Structuration Theory?

Structure and social action are interconnected; individuals reflect on their sense of self based on interactions with other individuals as well as institutions.

Why does Garfinkel use the term "Cultural Dopes"?

To criticise structural perspectives of socialisation for portraying the individual as overly passive.