Ch 5 Socialization

Social structure

• An organized pattern of behavior that governs people’s relationships

• Makes life orderly and predictable

social interaction

• The process by which we act toward and react to people around us

What are 2 building blocks of social strucutre

statuses and roles

status

• A social position

• examples:Teacher, student, professor

status set

• a collection of social statuses that an individual occupies

role

• behavior that is expected of a person in a particular status

• example: student expected to read

Master status

Determines a person’s identity

• Highly visible'

• shapes a persons entire life

• ex: race, gender

Ascribed and Achieved status

• An ascribed status is a position that we are born into—female, African American.

• An achieved status is a position that we have through choice—friend, athlete.

doublespeak meaning and also types(2)

• language that pretends to communicate but really doesn’t

• examples: euhpenisms, gobbledygook

euphenism

unofficial words or phrases that avoid unpleasant reality

gobbledyegook

• overwhelms with big words

dramaturgical analysis

• examines social interaction as if it were a stage where people act out different scenes

• Impression management: suppressing unfavorable traits and stressing favorable ones

• Front stage: where the actual performance takes place

• Backstage: a place, concealed from the audience, where people can relax or prepare 

Ethnomethodology

• studies how people construct and learn to share definitions of reality that make interaction possible

  • People make sense of their everyday lives through observing conversations and general rules.

  • Ethnomethodologists study interaction by analyzing conversations and violating rules. 

Social exchange theory

assumes that social interaction is based on maximizing rewards and minimizing costs

•Interactions are most satisfying when there is a balance.

Symbolic interaction theory

examines how people communicate knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes and how they interpret situations.

 Includes double speak and self fulfilling prophecy

Self fulfilling prophecy

If we define something as real and act on it, it can, in fact, become real. For example, physical education teachers who publicly humiliate students may turn them off physical fitness for good.

Every society has a social structure that encompasses

statuses, roles, groups, organizations, and institutions