Module 5

socialization

people learn to function in social life and become aware with themselves as they interact with others

role

is the behaviour expected of a person occupying a particular position in society

self

refers to your ideas and attitudes about who you are as an independent being.

sigmund freud

Through many such lessons in self-control, children learn to balance the pleasure-seeking and restraining components of the self, producing socially appropriate behaviour. Formerly, scholars believed that the self develops naturally like a seed germinates. In contrast, Freud argued that the self emerges only as a result of social interaction.

biological determinism - nature

who we are is determined by our genes

social determinism - nurture

any behaviour can be taught and learned

agency

the capacity to influence what happens to us

dennis wrong

we have power to critically and creatively engage with our environments

primary socialization

during childhood; the period in a persons life that takes place in a family and which they become self-aware and develop their sense of self through practising skills and engaging in the everyday activities of childhood.

secondary socialization

we’re not done socializing even after childhood; takes place outside the family like schools, friends, and media

anticipatory socialization

adopting values of groups we expect to join to prepare for future roles. taking on the norms and behaviours of a role to which we aspire.

resocialization

process of unlearning old ways and learning new ones upon moving into a significantly different social environment

total institution

resocializes by regulating all aspects of a person’s life, like physical isolation, breaking down someones identity, and rebuilding through positive and negative sanctions. In total institutions, people are isolated from the larger society and are under the strict control and constant supervision of a specialized staff

institutionalization

people become dependent on those institutional regulations

structural functionalism

socialization ensures social integration and societal stability

conflict theory socialization

socialization is top-down, society exercises power over the individual, and it contributes to conflictual power relations

symbolic interactionism socialization

individual agency and social interaction is emphasized, dennis wrong - we can resist socialization. we can imagine how we are perceived by others and can then judge how others evaluate us, and we use these judgments to develop a self-concept of who we are

the looking-glass self

we imagine how others see us, we imagine how others judge our appearance and actions, and we refine our appearance and actions as a result

george herbert mead

a subjective and impulsive aspect of the self is present from birth; social interaction leads to the emergence of a repository of culturally approved standards as part of the self. I is the impulsive, Me is the social component

role taking four stages

children begin to use language by imitating significant others in their life. children pretend to be other people by roleplaying in games. at 7, children learn to take the role of several people simultaneously while playing complex games. finally, children begin taking the role of generalized other; a person will understand that others consider them intelligent or funny, and realize that others reach this conclusion.

generalized other

a persons image of cultural standards and the ways which others apply them to their assessment

epigenetics

study of how gene expression is changed through behavioural and social forces

life course

the distinct stages of life through which people pass and that vary from one society and historical period to another

terrible twos

when toddlers visibly defy parental demands to gain autonomy

sociologists on adulthood

not as a process of attaining certain markets but as a subjective experience involving acquiring greater responsibility

subjective age

people might experience themselves as younger or older than their actual age

people are shaped by two factors

their cumulative experience as they move through each stage of the life course as uniquely defined by their culture and the slice of history in which they live; and

the age-specific norms and expectations in place when they reach each age threshold.

cohort

group of people who share one or more characteristics

generation

social categories of people of about the same age who share a collective identity and set of values

structural functionalists socialization

socializations help maintain orderly social relations when minimizing individual freedom

conflict and feminist theorists socialization

emphasize the discord that occurs during socialization based on class, gender, and other divisions

symbolic interactionists socialization

focus on how individual creativity allows individuals to attach meaning to their social surroundings, thus highlighting how individuals step outside of, and modify the values and role that authorities teach

gender roles

the set of behaviours associated with widely shared expectations of how girls and boys are expected to act

hidden curriculum

the unwritten, unofficial, and unintended norms, values, and perspectives students learn in school. conflic theorists first proposed the idea of this, as they are to the ongoing struggle between privileged and disadvantagd groups that occurs beneath the surface of social life

thomas theorem

proposed by symbolic interactionists; “situations we define as real become real in their consequences”.

self fulfilling prophecy

symbolic interactionists; an expectation that helps bring about what it predicts

peer groups

individuals who are the same age and similar status

status

recognized social position an individual can occupy

mass media

refer to technologies that facilitate communicating information to a large audience. They include television, radio, movies, videos, newspapers, magazines, books, and the Internet.

resocialization

the process in which powerful socializing agents deliberately cause rapid change in a person’s values, roles, and self-conception, sometimes against a person’s will

factors contributing to the growing flexibility of the self

globalization; they are freer to combine elements of culture from a wide variety of historical periods and geographical settings. growing ability to fashion new bodies from old. social interaction via the Internet profoundly affects how people think of themselves.