Chapter 4 - Socialization

Socialization

The lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire a self-identity and the physical, mental and social skills needed for survival in society

-Why is it Important?:

• Essential for the individual’s survival and growth

• Essential for survival and stability of society

• Kind of human we become is linked to the time and kind of society we live in

Human Development - Biology and Society

We are products of biology, society and personal experience

-Two Contrasts;

• Sociologists focus on nurture, culture and society

• Sociobiologists focus on biology and how it affects social behaviours

-Combined View; both nature and nurture shapes us

Problems with Isolation and Maltreatment

Nonhuman primates and isolation; the Harlow studies

-Nonhuman primates were extremely social with each other, causing isolation will result in behaviour and cognitive changes

Isolated children (or feral children), e.g., Anna, Genie, Isabelle

-Kept isolated by their mother, suffered from severe cognitive deformities, only Isabelle survived

Agents of Socialization

-Family

-The School

-Peer Groups

-Mass Media

Family - Functionalist Perspective

The most important and foundational agent of socialization.

Family is the primary agent because it forms the foundation of other agents

-psychologists believe that other agents are equal in influence, but sociologists disagree

-Families are the source of procreation and socialization of children

-Source of emotional support and social status

-Informal socialization, intimate, small, enduring, role models are parents

Family - Social Conflict Perspective

Socialization reproduces class in children from the class of the parents 

Family - Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Through interactions with our parents, kin, and siblings we are socialized to be come who we are 

School - Functionalist Perspective

Significant agent, we spend much of our lives here. Schools are miniature societies, we learn skills, punctuality and obedience

-Teaching students to be productive members of society

-Transmissions of culture

-Social control (rules of behaviour) and personal development

-Selection, training, and placement of individual in social ranks

Formal socialization, large, nonintimate, not enduring, role models; teachers

School - Social Conflict Perspective

-Children have varied experiences depending on class, race, gender and ethnicity

-Hidden Curriculum - Children learn the ideals of the capitalist system in school including;

• To value curriculum, materialism, work over play, obedience to authority, and attentiveness

School - Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Socialization is a result of daily interactions in the school setting

-Students learn about their culture, the nation, aggression, and compliance and gender/identity roles

Peer Groups

Group of people linked by common interest, equal social position, and similar age

Functions to;

-Provide links to the larger culture

-Contribute to the sense of belonging

-Give some sense of freedom from family

-Teach and reinforce cultural norms

Peer groups teach “taboo topics”; sex, booze, drugs, etc

Peer Pressure

When we conform we are rewarded but when we rebel we are punished

-Conflict between conformity to peers and conformity to parents

-Strong pressure to have things that other children have is passed onto parents 

Mass Media

Functions to;

-Inform us about events

-Introduce us to a wide variety of people

-Provide a variety of viewpoints of the world around us

-Make us aware of products and services

-Entertain us

Mass media is the only agent without feedback

-In other words, we cannot tell if whatever we’re consuming is either good or bad

Issues/Problems of Mass Media

-Children know more about media figures than current events

-Reading skills of kids decrease

• Leads to lower grades, more overweight due to less exercise

Digital Divide - Knowledge divide between those with/without computers

Meaning of Self

Self-Concept - The totality of our beliefs and feelings about ourselves
-Physical, active, social and psychological factors create our unique self

Self-Identity - Perception about what kind of person we are

-Humanness is our self identity, isolated people lack a self-identity because of a lack of humanness

Charles Horton Cooley

Looking-glass Self - We reflect the idea that people have about us

-We imagine how we look to others

-We imagine how others judge our appearance

-We develop a self-concept by evaluating if others are positive we feel good, if we think they are negative judgements

George Mead

Central Concepts;

-Role Taking - Process by which a person mentally assumes the role of another person in order to understand the world from that person’s POV

-Significant Others - Most influential, those who care, affection, and approval are desired and who are most important in development of self

Psychological Theories of Human Development

-Piaget and Cognitive Development

-Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development

-Gilligan’s View on Gender and Moral Development

Piaget and Cognitive Development

Theory on development of cognitive skills, as we age we change how we thinkk

-Sensorimotor (Birth - 2)

-Preoperational (2-7)

-Concrete Operational (7-11)

-Formal Operational (12-through adolescence)

Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development

Theory on how our moral and ethical skills develop; as we age we change our moral behaviours

-Preconventional (7-10)

-Conventional (10-Adulthood)

-Postconventional (adult life but few attain it)

Gilligan’s View of Gender and Moral Development

We develop morally depending on our genders

-Her theory was a criticism of Kohlberg/Piaget, the idea that we develop differently

-Males;

• More concerned about justice, law, and order

• Abstract standards of right and wrong

-Females;

• More focused on relationships

• More compassionated and holistic because they focus on consequences of their actions

• Concerned about the consequences of wrong-doing such as stealing might have on persons and their relationships

-Women Moral Developmental Stages

• Motivated by selfish concerns

• Motivated by some responsibility for others

• Motivated to do the best both for herself and for others

Gender Socialization

Aspect of socialization that contains specific messages and practices concerning the nature of being male/female in a group of society

-Sources of gender socialization; family, social class, schools, peers and the media

Socialization Through the Life Course

-Infancy and Childhood

-Adolescence

-Adulthood

Anticipatory Socialization; Process by which knowledge and skills are learned for future roles

-Unique events that we go through prepares uf for a future role (divorce, wedding, graduation ceremony, etc)

Resocialization

Process of learning a new and different set of attitudes, values and behaviours from those in one’s previous background

-Total Institution - Place where people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period of time and come under control of the officials who run the institution

Types of Resocialization

Voluntary - When we receive a new status of our own freewill

• Religions conversion, joining the army, etc

Involuntary - When we receive a new status not of our own freewill

• Conscription, imprisonment, etc

Socialization in the Future

-The family will continue to be the foundational sources of socialization

-Increased use of computer technology may further impact socialization