SOCI 200 Exam 3

Socialization

the process through which a society passes on its behaviour patterns, attitudes, values and knowledge to the next generation; emphasis on social learning/nurture

Influences/Socialization of Children depend on

• Parents’ identities (eg. race/ethnicity, social class)

• Child’s identities (eg. gender, age)

• Place and time (eg. societal norms)

Class-based socialization

• Middle class: children encouraged to solve problems, advocate for themselves, more assertive, parents are more active agents, aggressive socialization rewarded

• Working-class parents: children encouraged to be deferential to authority, less assertive, respect school policy

Parenting Ideologies today

• Mothers face expectations that childrearing should be child centred, expert guided, expensive, labour intensive

• Intensive parenthood, parenting becomes one’s full identity

Gender essentialist

idea that males and females are born with very different natures (ie. women are nurturing, suited for caregiving; men suited for paid work and labour

Separate spheres

ideology framing paid employment as “real” work mostly for men, housework as private activities mostly for women

Potential implications of devaluation of Unpaid work

• Lower self-esteem

• Lower decision-making power in relationship

• Stress and burnout

• Economic marginalization

Reasons for Women’s changing economic roles

• postwar economic growth —> expansion of service sector

• Higher costs of living —> need for dual income earners

• Birth control more widespread, trend for women to working after childbirth

Persistent and gendered labour market trends

• Men more likely to be in standard employment (continuous, stability, benefits)

• Men more likely to hold full-time jobs, women more likely to hold part time jobs

Motherhood penalties

women’s pay goes down after parenthood

Fatherhood bonuses

men’s pay often goes down after parenthood

The Second Shift

many employed mothers facing a double burden of both paid work and unpaid household labour

Reasons for the second shift

• Gender ideologies and expectations

• Social policies

• Networks and socialization

• Occupational differences

Effects of having children on gendered division of labour

transition to parenthood exacerbates gender differences much more than other transitions/family configurations

Cognitive labour

set of mental processes aimed at figuring out what family requires, what family owes to others and how best to ensure requirements and obligations are fulfilled

Four Stages of Cognitive Labour

• Anticipation: recognize upcoming need, problem or opportunity

• Identify options: determine possibilities for addressing anticipated issue

• Decision: choose among previously identified options

• Monitor: ensure decision was executed and need sufficiently addressed

Personal essentialism

couple’s cognitive labour patterns are function of individual traits rather than gender essentialism (ie. women more organized, uptight than men, therefore better at cognitive labour)

Issues of Personal Essentialism

• Women devote more time and energy to building relationships and gaining knowledge earlier, getting better, making it more ‘natural’

• Skills of being good cognitive labourer overlaps greatly with skills of paid jobs

Broader implications of inequality of cognitive labour

• Women very overwhelmed, taxed, tired

• Women make career decisions with expectation that they must continue being household manager

• Stronger negative effect on women

Birth order theory

Sequence that children are born into within a family influences their personality; distinct personalities developed with aim of increasing competition over parents’ attention and resources

• recent evidence that there is little support

Confluence model theory

intellectual environment children grow up in can change as members mature and/or new members are added, causing siblings to develop in different cognitive ways

• First-born children at advantage since cognitive environment is richer

• Not much empirical support

Resource dilution theory

there will be negative effect for every additional child born into the family since child will dilute the amount/quality of resources available for everyone

Differential treatment by parents theory

Emphasizes importance of children perceiving that they are being treated differently than a sibling, causing behavioural and emotional problems

Contagion

form of social interaction between siblings where behaviours of emotions pass on, often unconsciously from one person to another

Social learning

siblings consult one another for information, siblings serve as examples to look to or learn from, conscious, deliberate and goal-oriented ‘role-modelling’ (eg. younger siblings often look to older siblings for advice and modelling of behaviours)

Social comparison

humans seek out information about other people’s lives, feelings, and abilities and use this info to evaluate and develop our own, motivating siblings to behave similarly or differently

Deidentification/Differentiation theory

siblings might consciously or unconsciously take different paths to distinguish themselves from one another, asserting different identities or interests, reducing rivalry/comparison

Other factors shaping sibling interactions

• Gender: same-gender siblings show more similarities

• Age gaps: siblings of similar age can show more similarities

• Birth order: consecutive pairs of siblings may have higher levels of deidentification

Trends for Only Children

• no significant differences in cognitive abilities or well-being

• no statistically significant major personality differences

• Tend to have better relationships with parents

• Varies on context, place and time

Polyvictimization

experiencing multiple forms of harm at once

Child abuse and neglect

act or failure to act on part of a parent or caretaker that results in or puts children at imminent risk for physical or emotional harm

Who experiences abuse or neglect

• Many individuals experience some form of abuse or neglect in childhood

• Parents who have mental health problems or were also abused

• Those in poorer families

• Those with weak support networks

Sibling abuse

intentional harm inflicted on one child in family unit on another

Intimate partner violence

various forms of abuse occurring between romantic partners, cohabiting partners, or married partners that cause physical, psychological/emotional or sexual harm

Coercive controlling violence

where a partner tries to control and maintain dominance of other partner (eg. repeated acts of intimidation, isolation, manipulation)

Coercive control

Persistent abuse, intimidation and patterns of behaviour used to control, manipulate or frighten

Abuse Consequences on the Life Course

• Later health consequences

• Longer and more severe abuse, longer it take for recovery

• Later victimization

Intergenerational transmission

those abused in childhood may be more likely to perpetrate abuse later on in adulthood

Violence as individual pathology

biological or psychosocial mechanisms produce and characterize perpetrators (eg. genes, stress, mental health)

Critiques of ‘Violence as individual pathology’

• traits linked to perpetrators found in more general populations that do not become violent

• Oversimplifies, excuses behaviour

• Ignores context of relationship dynamics, power structures

Violence as learned behavioiur

violence is socialized, learned through interactions with others, especially families

Critiques of ‘violence as learned behaviour’

• those who grow up around violence do not always or often become perpetrators themselves

• Oversimplifies, takes away agency

Violence as by-product of environmental stressors

Environmental triggers or stressors leads to violence

Critiques of ‘violence as by-product of environmental stressors’

• Other structural and social conditions can trigger violence or abuse outside of stressors

Ecological perspective

No single factor can explain why some individuals/groups at higher risk of violence and others are more resilient/protected from it

• Violence results from combination of social structural conditions, institutional practices and individuals’ histories/traits

• Emphasizes deep-rooted systemic contributors

Feminist perspective

Emphasize show patriarchal gender norms establish men’s dominance and power, producing gender hierarchies and validating use of violence

Forms of preventing family violence and harm

• Structural change: reduce inequality, better safety nets, largescale change

• Primary prevention

• Secondary prevention

• Tertiary prevention

Primary prevention

attempts to prevent abuse from occurring at all (eg. educational programs and campaigns)

Secondary prevention

working with groups deemed at risk for abuse (eg. programs and campaigns to teach about nonviolence solutions, early intervention)

Tertiary prevention

treating those suffering from abuse, interventions to keep violence from recurring (eg. shelters, counselling)