Socialization
the lifelong process through which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of a particular culture
-internalize culture
-transforms biological organisms into social beings
-occurs over life course
enculturation
internalize culture; culture becomes a part of your identity, shapes your behaviors, takes raw material that you are born with and shapes you into a social being
Rites of Passage
rituals that mark the symbolic transition from one social position to another
ex) quinceanera, Bar Mitzvah, wedding
Basic functions of socialization
1)develop a social self (instead of personality)
2)understand and learn societal rules
3)Transmit culture from one generation to the next
Self
Our sense of who we are, distinct from others, and shaped by the unique combination of our social interactions
-collection of unique attributes (quirks) and normative responses (how you respond) that makes you who you are
-how we define ourselves
Degradation Ceremony
an aspect of the socialization process within some total institutions, in which people are subjected to humiliating rituals
deprive people of their former identities and dignity in order make them more accepting of external control.
(shaving head, giving
Nature v. nurture debate
to what extent is human nature biologically or socially determined?
nature - biology
nuture-clean slate when you are born and transforms over time
*who you are=heredity+environment
sociobiologists-more nurture; not born with instincts to act like social b
Research on Nature/Nurture
Harlow's study of Rhesus monkeys
twin research
Kingsley Davis cases of Extreme isolation (Anna and Isabelle, Genie)
Harlow's study of Rhesus monkeys
NURTURE
what happens when you take out the nurture component of a developmental monkey (raised away from their mothers)
result: monkeys behaved poorly as adults; fearful and easily frightened, did not mate; females became abusive mothers;
conclusion: earl
Twin research (Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research)
NATURE AND NURTURE
studies personality trait, behavior,and intelligence similarities between twins (with genetics similarities) raised apart
Result: genetic factors AND socialization experiences are influential in human development
genetic factors-certain
Kingsley Davis, Studies on Extreme Isolation
Anna and Isabelle, Genie
-isolated children (feral children)
-demonstrated importance of of the earliest interactions for children (critical for emotional growth)
-suggest we need early intimacy and interaction with others
Anna and Isabelle (H13)
...
Genie(wild child video)
1970's
-14 y.o. locked in room since she was 20 m.o.
-never achieved full language ability
-father thought she was mentally ill
-supported and refuted critical theory hypothesis
Sociological Theories of Sociolization
-self not present at birth
-self is a social product developed through interaction with others
Cooley: Looking glass self
Mead Stages of the Self
Goffman Presentation of the Self
cooley and mead symbolic interactionists
Charles Cooley's Looking Glass Self
(microlevel)
look at the audience around us as a mirror for approval or disapproval of our behavior
self development requires references to other people
How We:
(1)see ourselves as we think other people see us
(2) think we apear to other people
(3) think
Self-fulfilling prophecy
prediction-act-fulfillment of prediction
-prediction causes person to act as if prediction is true
-leads to act in fulfillment of prediction
-fulfillment of prediction
Examples: bank going under, placebo effect (told that pill is going to do something, y
George Herbert Mead's Mind, Self, Society
wrote Mind, Self, and Society (1934)
(microlevel)
-focus on language and symbols
-see how well a child's sense of self is developed by looking at their language
Stages of Development
(1) Prepatory Stage
(2) Play Stage
(3) Game Stage
Theoretical division o
Prepatory Stage
(1) Prepatory Stage (birth-3 years)
-social interaction (Anna, Isabelle and Genie did not have this)
-preverbal communication (kids attempts to communicate with people around them. i.e. crying, gestures)
-language (initial difficulties with perspective) (
Play Stage
(2) Play stage (3-7 years old)
-role taking (playing, assuming role of someone else...ie mom, dad, teacher, doctor)
-significant other (people children have direct contact w/)
*children begin to understand how to interact with significant others- showing
Game Stage
(3) Game Stage (8-9 years old)
-simultaneously understand own role, role of others, and rules of the game
ex) children and board games- making up rules; soccer and baseball games
-generalized others- culturally defined expectations of anyone in a role and
Significant other v. Generalized other
significant other- those whose opinions matter the most to us (i.e. parents, siblings, and caregivers)
generalized other: roles of others in society
(i.e bus drivers,teachers...)
Mead's Theoretical division of self
I-active, not self conscious, unorganized tendencies of self, spontaneous (Born with)
Me- concerned with society's expectations, sees itself as social object (others around who are judging); internalized social attitudes (developed Perspective)
-well deve
Freud's idea of self
Id-drives, what you need to have fulfilled
ego mediates b/w id and superego
superego-social norms that you're aware of
Erving Goffman's dramaturgical sociology
wrote The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959)
-we use the language of the theater to describe microlevel interactions (all the world's a stage)
-impression management-altering performance in order to make the impression we want to make (face savi
Anticipatory Socialization
person rehearses for future positions, occupations, and social relationships
Resocialization
abandon one self concept for another radically different one (following a major break)
ex) Goffman's Total institutions- remove and rebuild identity; wiping slate clean and rebuilding into a new self (mortification of self)- death of original identity so
Agents of Socialization
who's responsibe for helping us become socialized
1) Family
2)Schools
3)Peer Groups
4) Mass media
Family
Primary agent (most important)
reciprocal socialization (child teaches parent)
Cross-cultural (ex. letting 5 y.o. in China walk to school)
heirarchy
Schools
skills and values
loosen ties with family
strengthen ties with community through system of common heritage
ex)pledge of allegiance
heirarchy
Peer Groups
1st group of own choosing
equal power throughout group (equal age, status,)
Mass Media
reaches most people in the shortest amt of time
supports/ validates what we already know
shapes the way we see reality
in the workplace and religion and the Tate
h 13 extreme Isolation
Anna deprived of normal contact for 6 years