© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 1 Richard T. Schaefer.

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 1

Richard T. Schaefer


Socialization

• The Role of Socialization• The Self and Socialization• Agents of Socialization• Socialization Throughout the Life Course• Social Policy and Socialization: Child Care Aroun

d the World

4


█ How much of a person’s personality is shaped by culture as opposed to inborn traits?

A Look Ahead

█ In what ways does socialization continue into adulthood?

█ Who are the most powerful agents of socialization?


The Role of Socialization

█ Socialization: Lifelong process in which people learn appropriate attitudes, values, and behaviors

█ Personality: Person’s typical patterns of attitudes, needs, characteristics, and behavior


Social Environment:The Impact of Isolation

█ Interaction of heredity and environment shape human development

– Cases of Isabelle and Genie• Importance of earliest socialization

experiences for children

– Primate Studies• Harlow showed isolation had

damaging effect on monkeys


Figure 4-1: Genie’s Sketch

Source: Curtiss 1977:274.


The Influence of Heredity

█ Minnesota Twin Family Study

– Twins have similar intelligence test scores when reared apart in roughly similar social settings

– Different results when reared in different social settings


The Self and Socialization

█ Self: Distinct identity that sets us apart from others

The self is not a static phenomenon

It continues to develop and change


Cooley: Looking-Glass Self

█ View of ourselves comes from contemplation of personal qualities and impressions of how others perceive us

Looking-glass self: The self is product of social interactions with other people


Mead: Stages of the Self

█ Preparatory Stage: Children imitate people around them

– As they grow older, children become more adept at using symbols



█ Play Stage: Children develop skill in communicating through symbols and role taking occurs

– Role taking: Process of mentally assuming perspective of another and responding from that imagined viewpoint



█ Game Stage: Children of about 8 or 9 consider several actual tasks and relationships simultaneously

Generalized other: Attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of

society as a whole that a child takes into account in his or her behavior


Mead: Theory of the Self

█ Self begins as privileged, central position in a person’s world

█ As the person matures, the self changes and begins to reflect greater concern about reactions of others

Significant others: Individuals most important in the development of the self


Table 4-1: Mead’s Stages of the Self


Goffman: Presentationof the Self

█ Impression management: Individuals learn to slant presentation of self to create distinctive appearances and satisfy particular audiences

– Also known as dramaturgical approach

Face-work: Need to maintain proper image of self to continue social interaction


Sociology on Campus

█ 4.1: Impression Management by Students

– How do you react to those who have received higher or lower grades than you? Do you engage in impression management? How would you like others to react to your grades?

– What social norms govern students’ impression management strategies?


Psychological Approaches to the Self

█ Freud

– Self is a social product– Natural impulsive instincts

in constant conflict with societal constraints

– Personality influenced by others (especially one’s parents)

– Self has components that work in opposition to each other

Art to come


Psychological Approaches to the Self

█ Piaget

– Cognitive theory of development: four stages in development of children’s thought processes

Social interaction key to development


Table 4-2: Theoretical Approaches to Development of the Self


Agents of Socialization

█ Family█ Cultural Influences█ The Impact of Race and Gender

Gender role: Expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females


Research Today

█ 4.2: Rum Springa: Raising Children Amish Style

– Do you or anyone you know come from a subculture that rejects mainstream American culture? If so, describe the community’s norms and values.

– Why do you think so many Amish youths return to their families’ way of life after rebelling against it?



█ School

– Teaches values andcustoms of larger society

– Schools can reinforce the divisive aspects of society

█ Peer Group– As children grow older, peer

groups increasingly assume role of Mead’s significant others



█ Mass Media and Technology

– Technology socializes families into multitasking as social norm

– 68% of U.S. children have television in their bedrooms

– Nearly half of youths ages 8 to 18 use the Internet every day



█ Workplace

– Learning to behave appropriately within occupational setting is a fundamental aspect of human socialization

█ Religion and State– Government and organized

religion impact life course by reinstituting some rites of passage


Table 4-3: High School Popularity

Note: Students at the following universities were asked in which ways adolescents in their high schools had gained prestige with their peers: Cornell University, Louisiana State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, State University of New York at Albany, State University of New York at Stony Brook, University of Georgia, and University of New Hampshire.

Source: Suitor et al. 2001:445.


Figure 4-2: How Young People Use the Media on a Typical Day

Source: Rideout et al. 2010.


Research Today

█ 4.2: Online Socializing: A New Agent of Socialization

– Do you list your “friends” on an online social networking site? If so, what is your motivation for doing so?

– Do you think the advantages of online social networking outweigh the disadvantages?


The Life Course

█ Rites of Passage: Means of dramatizing and validating changes in a person’s status

█ Life Course Approach: Looking closely at social factors that influence people throughout their lives

Staggered steps to independence in U.S. means no clear dividing line

between adolescence and adulthood


Table 4-4: Milestones in the Transition to Adulthood

Note: Based on the 2002 General Social Survey of 1,398 people.

Source: T. Smith 2003.


Anticipatory Socializationand Resocialization

█ Anticipatory socialization: Person “rehearses” future occupations and social relationships

█ Resocialization: Discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones during transitions in one’s life


Anticipatory Socializationand Resocialization

█ Total institution: Regulates all aspects of a person’s life under a single authority

Degradation ceremony: Ritual where individual becomes

secondary and rather invisible in overbearing social environment


Child Care Around the World

█ Looking at the Issue

– In the U.S., 73% of employed mothers depend on others to care for their children

– 30% of mothers who aren’t employed have regular care arrangements

– Few in U.S. can afford to have a parent stay at home



█ Applying Sociology

– Interactionists favor studies onquality of child care outside of home; microlevel of analysis

– Conflict perspective notes child care costs are burden for lower-class families

– Feminist perspective questions low status and wages of day-care workers



█ Initiating Policy

– Policies vary throughout the world

– When policymakers decide child care is desirable, must determine degree taxpayers subsidize it

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 1 Richard T. Schaefer.

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Transcript of © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 1 Richard T. Schaefer.