UTS

Feral Children

·         Are deprived of mental, physical and social growth because they are reared in total or nearly total isolation from other humans.

The Social Construction of Self

·         Self is a psychological construct that people create in order to assist themselves and the world better.

·         Without interaction with others a person cannot acquire physical, and mental development or worst he will not survive.

Looking Glass Self

·         A process by which a person develops his self-image based on how others treat him.

·         Charles Horton Cooley said that people change or develop their respective concept of self as they engage in social interaction.

·         Cooley suggested that the looking glass self is a life-long mental process that is characterized by three phases:

1.      First Phase, how one imagines how he appears to others.

2.      Second phase, one will imagine how others will judge his appearance.

3.      Third phase, the development of emotional reaction based on what one perceives others judgment to be such as pride or shame.

·         Looking glass self does not only provide description of who a person is, it is also responsible for the evaluation of one's self. The important dimensions of this evaluation are SELF-ESTEEM and PERSONAL EFFICACY.

1.      Self-esteem - is the belief that one is good and valuable to others.

Process of interaction - a person observes others behavior for pieces of information how they are appraising him.

Social Comparison - comparing his performance, ability or characteristic with others.

2.      Personal Efficacy - a person believes that he can rise above obstacles or challenges and eventually achieves his goal.

Theory of Social Behaviorism

·         George Herbert Mead developed the theory of social behaviorism in order to explain how social experience shapes a person's personality.

·         According to Mead, children develop their self-concept in three stages.

1.      Preparatory Stage (first stage)

Ø  Children learn by imitating the behavior and gestures of others.

Ø  During the initial two years of infants, they respond only through imitation. They mimic behavior without understanding the underlying intention.

2.      Play Stage (second stage)

Ø  Children begin to act out social roles observed in their environment.

Ø  At the age three, children begin to take the roles of significant others - people who are close and have a strong influence on them.

3.      Game Stage (third stage)

Ø  Children learn to relate others by participating in organized games and activities.

Ø  Based on this stage, children play the roles of the generalized others. Generalized others are those people who do not have close relationship with the children but influence the children's internalization of values in the society.

Dramaturgical Analysis

·         Erving Goffman has provided additional dimension to understand the self and socialization. According to him people in their everyday life are very much like actor performing in a stage.

·         Dramaturgical Analysis - the study of social interactions in terms of theatrical performance.

·         Frontage - people present their selves the way others expect them to be.

·         Backstage - where there is no audience, they reveal their true selves.

CHAPTER 3

Building Identity: The Self Embedded in Culture

The Anthropological Construction of the Self

·         Anthropology - a science and philosophical description of the life form "homo sapiens" the thinking man.

Culture

·         Edward Taylor who proposed that culture is a system of human behavior and thought.

·         He defined culture as referring to a complex whole, which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of the society.

Cultural Influences That Shape the Self

·         Three major components of culture:

1.      Material Component

Ø  Pertains to all tangible materials that are inherited from previous generation.

2.      Cognitive Component

Ø  Pertains to all body of knowledge, skills, and other capabilities handed down from one generation to another.

3.      Normative Component

Ø  Pertains to prescription or standards of behavior that govern the relationship of individuals in the society. This prescription or standard of behavior is popularly known as social norm.

The Normative Component

·         Insofar as the legal emphasis of culture is concerned, social norms are classified into two, namely: formal and informal social norms.

·         Formal social norms - refers to what has generally been written down and involves strict rules for punishments to offenders.

·         Informal social norms - refers to the generally understood customs or standards of behavior but is not precisely recorded nor has any specific punishment or sanction for the violators.

·         Social norms are also classified as folkways and mores.

·         Folkways - are general rules, of customary and habitual ways and patterns of expected behavior in the society.

·         Mores - refers to the special folkways that are generally emphasized because they are deemed necessary for the welfare of the society.

Mechanisms of Cultural Change

·         The change in culture may be due to the following mechanisms:

1.      First mechanism, a change in technology is a change in culture, and consequently a change in society.

2.      Second mechanism, cultural borrowing discovery or invention.

·         Cultural Borrowing - a situation where one society borrows the culture of another society and uses it as new part of the culture.

·         Discovery or invention - a situation where a particular item was discovered or invented which eventually becomes part of the culture.

3.      Third mechanism, it has something to do with the attributes of culture itself.

·         Cultural Lag – happens when there is a continuous practice of cultural goal even if there is no longer any social need.

·         Culture is universal in nature yet diverse in form.

Different Ways of Accepting Culture: Ethnocentrism, Xenocentrism and Culture Shock

·         Xenocentrism - the belief that one's own culture is relatively inferior compared to the culture of another society.

·         Ethnocentrism - the belief that one's own culture is relatively superior compared to the culture of another.

·         Culture Shock - is a situation where an individual encounters a culture very much different form his own, which leads to his own disorientation or disorganization.

The Social Process of Culture: Assimilation, Acculturation and Amalgamation

·         Assimilation - the process of embracing a new culture and regarding the same as part of the existing culture.

·         Acculturation - the social process of embracing the new culture, but this new culture does not necessarily replace the existing culture.

Amalgamation - a social process of culture pertains to the complete blending of two cultures, which lead