Sociology – Chapter 3 - Socialization

1. Sociology – Chapter 3 - Socialization Miss Hickey Hilliard Davidson High School Sociology

2. What is Human Nature? • social environment: entire human environment, including direct contact with others • socialization: process by which people learn the characteristics of their croup • self: unique human capacity of being able to se ourselves “from the outside” • significant other: an individual who influences someone else’s life • generalized other: norms, values, attitudes, and expectations of people in general

3. What is Human Nature? • People have always wondered how much of peoples characteristics come for “nature” (heredity) and “nurture” (contact with others). • Best way to find out is to examine those who have had not social contact: feral children

4. Feral Children • Feral children: raised by animals; can’t speak or do any normal human behavior; raised in the wilderness (language and human bonding = needed) • Isolated children: have no natural language  no shared way of life  no connection to others: culture is key to what people become • without language there is no culture • without interaction/shared ideas… no image of self

5. Feral Children: Textbook Example • In 1798 in France in a forest, they found a boy that walked on all fours and pounced on animals devouring them uncooked. • Most social scientists have take the position that children can not be raised by animals, and that the reason they were abandoned was because of mental disability

6. Oxana Malaya • In 1991, Oxana was found at age eight, in Ukraine, living among dogs. • unable to speak a language • had many dog-like traits (bark, howl, scratch, and dig) • tightly knit with the dogs • was hard to learn language and behavior (was able to do it with time)

7. Institutionalized Children • Institutionalized children: intelligence and ability to establish close bonds with others depends on early interaction; period of time where intelligence and bonds must occur in order for humans to develop • 1930s – shorter lifespan, children that lived in orphanages had less than a third grade education • difficulty establishing relationships • lower IQs

8. Deprived Animals • Harry and Margaret Harlow perform experiment to show how important early interaction is • In 1962 they raised baby monkey’s with artificial mothers • wire mother (food) • terry cloth mother (comfort) – clung to when frightened “intimate human contact” • Deprived animals: monkeys in isolation never able to adjust to normal monkey life; could not enjoy or engage in normal monkey play • infant-mother bonding is due not to feeding, but cuddling

9. Cooley and the Looking Glass Self • Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) • symbolic interactionist • self is socially created: “our sense of self develops form interaction with others” • We imagine how we appear to those around us • We interpret others reaction • We develop self concept

10. Looking-Glass Self

11. George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) • George Mead: thought that play was crucial to the development of self • Take the role of other: putting self in other person's shoes • imitation – acting like someone else/significant others with gestures • play – pretend to take roles of specific peple • games – learn to take multiple roles • Initially significant others (parents, police officers)  eventually “generalized other” (role of a whole group)

12. Piaget and the Development of Reasoning • How do we come to answers? How do we reason? • Believed the mind was a social product • Piaget and the States of Reasoning: • The sensorimotor stage (infants; understanding is limited) • The preoperational stage (develop the ability to use symbols) • Concrete operational stage (remain concrete • Formal operational stage (capable of abstract thinking) • reasoning moves from concrete and moves to more abstract • can talk about concepts and come to conclusions

13. A SHORT Time to Ponder • How do you think you appear to those who are around you? • Which stage in “taking the role” do you think is the most important? Why?

14. Learning Personality, Morality and Emotions • Sigmund Freud: physician who founded psychoanalysis • believed that your personality consists of three elements: • id: term for inborn basic drives • ego: term for balancing force between the id and the demands of society • superego: term of the conscience, the internalized norms and values of our societal groups

15. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory • Lawrence Kohlberg: concluded that we go through a sequence of stages as we develop morality • amoral stage: no right or wrong, personal needs need to be satisfied • preconventional stage: learned rules and follow them to stay out of trouble • conventional stage: morality means to follow norms and values they have learned • postconventional stage: most people don’t reach, people reflect on abstract principles of right and wrong and judge a behavior according to these principles

16. Carol Gilligan • Didn’t agree with Kohlbergs conclusions because he only used males in his studies • Interviewed 200 men and women to conduct her own research • Conclusions: • women evaluate morality of personal relationships and want to know how and action affects others • Men evaluate morality of abstract principles and see whether an act matches or violets a code of ethics

17. Paul Ekman • everyone experiences six basic emotions: • anger • disgust • fear • happiness • sadness • surprise • expressing emotions is different between genders, cultures, social class and relationships • what people feel also changes between different cultures

18. Socializing Emotions • global emotions • existence of universal facial expressions for 6 basic emotions does NOT mean socialization has no effect on how express them • people in one culture may learn to experience feelings that are unknown in another culture

19. Gender Messages • gender role: behaviors and attitudes considered appropriate because one if female or male • Social inequality – a social condition in which privileges and obligations are given to some but denied to others • gender = primary basis • gender socialization: the ways in which society sets children into different courses of life because they are male or female • family: unconsciously send gender messages through toys and color choices for various things • Goldberg and Lewis introduced the idea that mothers subconsciously reward daughters for being passive and dependent and sons for being active and independent

20. Gender Messages, cont. • peers: teen girls talk to their girlfriends different than they talk to their guy friends and vice versa • girls: shopping, boys, clothing • boys: sex and violence • peer group: group of individuals of roughly the same age who are linked by common interests • mass media: forms of communication such as radio, newspapers, television that are directed at a mass audience • advertising, television, movies and video games are all directed to a certain gender (and reinforce stereotypes of sexes) • advertising: bombards people with things a certain gender would want • TV/movies: boys and girls watch certain shows and movies • videogames: directed at boys – use action and violence • reflect cutting edge changes in sex roles

21. A SHORT Time to Ponder • How does mass media impact your life indirectly? • How have your parents or guardians socialized you towards characteristics associated with one gender or another?

22. Agents of Socialization • family • neighborhood • religion • day care • school • peer groups • sports and competitive success • workplace

23. Agent of Socialization: Family • lay down our basic sense of self • establish our initial motivations values and beliefs • subtle socialization (study families in public) • The stroller effect (gender roles/gender messages) • Social Class (diff. classes raise children differently) • ways of discipline • middle class: instill values • working class: keep out of trouble • curiosity • self-control

24. Agent of Socialization: Neighborhood • poor neighborhoods vs. wealthy neighborhoods • poor neighborhoods: crime, less opportunity • more likely to be around negative influences • wealthy neighborhoods: more opportunity • neighbors more likely to keep an eye on children (children more likely to develop sense of community) • children socialize with immediate peers • disadvantage vs. advantages to both

25. Agent of Socialization: Religion • ideas of right and wrong • dress, speech, manners, etc. • morals of religious people effect everyone • influences extend to many areas of our lives

26. Agent of Socialization: Day Care • Pro: language skills, low income families • Con: increased hours in day care make children more likely to be mean and cruel, bad relationship with mother

27. Agent of Socialization: School • Manifest and latent functions • manifest functions (intended): transmit skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic • latent functions (unintended): social system, hidden and corridor curriculum • hidden curriculum: teach patriotism, democracy, justice, honesty • dysfunction: racism, sexism, coolness, reinforce social and economic and political standing • Kids born in higher class families attend better schools and therefore end up better off in life. The opposite holds true for the poor.

28. Agent of Socialization: Peer Groups • friends become more influential than family • conformity or rejection • influential (dominate one’s actions and thoughts) • male traits: athletic ability, coolness and toughness • female traits: family background, personal appearance and ability to attract boys

29. Agent of Socialization: Sport and Competitive Success • physical skills • team players • self image • gender roles • boys (what they get from sports): sports lead to a positive “masculine” identity for boys and facilitates their self-esteem • girls (relationships): sports construct meaningful relationships and positive identity

30. Agent of Socialization: Workplace • anticipatory socialization • Anticipating future role and learning parts of it now • helps self-concept • more you work in a certain line of work, the more it becomes a part of your self-concept • new perspective on world

31. A SHORT Time to Ponder • Which of these groups do you think have the greatest effect on people? You? • Do you think there is really a hidden curriculum in schools? • How do peer groups change allegiance from family to friends? • Do you think that there are other agents of socialization that should be added?

32. Resocialization • resocialization – the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes and behaviors • most resocialization is mild • total institutions – people are cut off from the rest of society • degradation ceremony – an attempt to remake the self by stripping away in individuals self-identity

33. Socialization Through Life Course life course: stages of life as we go from birth to death • childhood (birth-12) • adolescence (13-17) • young adulthood (18-29) • early middle (30-49) • later middle (50-65) • early older (65-75) • later Older (75-death)

34. Stages of Life • childhood (birth-12) • varies from culture to culture • very dependent (need others) • children go to school to become socialized • parents = major agent of socialization • increasing importance of technology • Ex. changed from middle ages to be more nurturing • adolescence* (13-17) • education becomes important for success • start to build an identity (partially socialize themselves) • leave younger world and move into the older world (transition) • Didn’t exist until after industrialization: unnatural stage* • young adulthood (18-29) • finish school, full-time job, develop serious relationships • some societies require rituals to become an adult

35. Stages of Life • Middle Years (30-65) • early middle (30-49) • starting families and working toward life goals • more sure of self (formed own opinions, but still experiences events that can change life) • later middle (50-65) • life is no longer stressful • start to feel mortality and start anticipations for next stage of life • Older Years (65-death) – people feel that time is closing in on them • early older (65-75) • could keep working or retirement • continue to do things they enjoy • less sexually active • later Older (75-death) • growing frailty and illness… death

36. Sociological Significance of Life Course • does not represent biology • social factors influence life course • social location • social class • gender • Race • major events can change life course • war • depression

37. A SHORT Time to Ponder • Which life stage do you find most desirable? Why? • Do you think that we are prisoners of socialization? Why? • Do you think degradation ceremonies are affective? Why?