Chapter 3 Socialization From Infancy to Old Age. Human Development: Nature And Nurture Is human...

Chapter 3

Socialization

From Infancy to Old Age

Human Development: Nature And Nurture

• Is human behavior the result of nature or nurture?

• Humans depend on others to provide care– Physical growth– Personality development

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Biological Sciences: The Role of Nature

• Charles Darwin– Human behavior was instinctive – our “nature”

• U.S. economic system reflects “instinctive human competitiveness”

• People are “born criminals”• Women are “naturally” emotional and men are

“naturally” more rational


The Social Sciences: The Role of Nurture

• John B. Watson (1878-1958)

• Behaviorism– Held that behavior is not instinctive but

learned– People are equally human, just culturally

different


Social Isolation

• Harry & Margaret Harlow (1962)– Studied rhesus monkeys– Found that complete isolation for even six

months seriously disturbed development


Studies of Isolated Children

• What do studies teach us about the importance of social experience?– Anna– Genie


• Socialization is a complex lifelong process

• Six researchers made lasting contributions to: – Our understanding of human development

Understanding Socialization


Sigmund Freud’s Elements of Personality

• 1856-1939

• Lived when most Europeans considered human behavior biologically fixed

• Studied personality and eventually developed the theory of psychoanalysis


Sigmund Freud’s Elements of Personality

• Freud’s Model of Personality– Id

• Basic drives• Unconscious and demands immediate satisfaction• Society opposes the id, which is why one of the

first words a child usually learns is “no”


Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

• (1896-1980)

• Studied human cognition– How people think and understand– Identified four stages of cognitive

development



• Sensorimotor Stage– The level of human development individuals

experience the world through their senses– First two years of life– “Knowing” to very young children amounts to

what their senses tell them



• The Preoperational Stage– The level of human development:

• At which individuals first use language and other symbols

– Lack abstract concepts• Cannot judge size, weight, or volume



• The Concrete Operational Stage– The level of human development at which

individuals first see: • Causal connections in their surroundings

– Attach more than one symbol to an event or object



• The Formal Operational Stage– The level of human development at which

individuals think abstractly and critically– Do you believe that everyone has the capacity

to think critically and abstractly? – What role does socialization play in achieving

this potential?


Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

• 1981

• Are humans born with an understanding between right and wrong?

• Studied moral reasoning

• Preconventional Level– Young children experience the world in terms

of pain and pleasure


Carol Gilligan’s Theory of Gender and Moral Development

• How do boys and girls differ in their approach to understanding right & wrong?– Girls have a care and responsibility

perspective– Impersonal rules have long governed men’s

lives


George Herbert Meade’s Theory of the Social Self

• George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)– Developed theory of social behaviorism

• The self– The part of an individual’s personality

composed of self-awareness and self-image– Are humans born with a sense of self?


George Herbert Meade’s Theory of the Social Self

• The “I” and the “Me”– By taking the role of the another, we become

self-aware• Two parts of self; Subject – Active and Objective

– What do you think? Do dogs or other animals have a sense of self?

– Why or why not?



Building on Social ExperienceGeorge Herbert Mead described the development of the self as a process of gaining social experience. That is, the self develops as we expand our capacity to take the role of the other.

Erik H. Erikson’s Eight Stages of Development

• Broader view of socialization

• Face challenges throughout the life course

• Stage 1– The challenge of trust versus mistrust

• Birth to about 18 months• Gain a sense of trust that the world is safe



• Stage 2– Toddlerhood – The challenge of autonomy

(versus doubt and shame)

• Stage 3– Preschool – The challenge of initiative (versus

guilt)



• Stage 4– Preadolescence – The challenge of

industriousness (versus inferiority)

• Stage 5– Adolescence – The challenge of gaining

identity (versus confusion)• Teen years



• Stage 6– Young adulthood – The challenge of intimacy

(versus isolation)

• Stage 7– Middle adulthood – The challenge of making a

difference (versus self-absorption)



• Stage 8– Old age – The challenge of integrity (versus

despair)• Near the end of life, people hope to look back on

accomplishments with a sense of integrity • For the self-absorbed, old age brings a sense of

despair over missed opportunities


Family

• Why might the family be considered the most important socializing agent?

• Nurture in early childhood– Intentional learning and the environment

• What is meant by cultural capital?

• What role does it play in shaping a child’s confidence?



Racially Mixed People across the United StatesThis map shows, for 2010, the county-by-county distribution of people who described themselves as racially mixed. How do you think growing up in an area with a high level of racially mixed people (such as Los Angeles or Miami) would be different from growing up in an area with few such people (for example, in upstate New York or the Plains States in the middle of the country)?

The School

• Enlarges children’s social world

• Encountering people who are different, children come to understand – Race– Social-class position


The School

• Gender– Schools socialize into gender roles– Continue right through to college

• What children learn– Schooling teaches a wide range of knowledge

and skills– Also teach informally


The Peer Group

• Allows children to escape the direct supervision of adults

• In a rapidly changing society, peer groups have great influence– Attitudinal difference might form a “generation

gap”


The Peer Group

– Are peers or parents more influential in shaping an adolescent?

– Peers affect short-term interests, but parental influence remains strong

– Any neighborhood or school is made up of many peer groups

– Anticipatory socialization



Television Ownership in Global PerspectiveTelevision is popular in high- and middle-income countries, where almostEvery household owns at least one TV.Sources: TVB (2011), World Bank (2011).

The Mass Media

• The means for delivering impersonal communications to a vast audience– Powerful; Influence is different from family,

school, or peers

• How glued are we to the TV?

• U.S. has highest rate of TV ownership in the world


The Mass Media

• Television and politics– Provokes much criticism– Liberal

• Racial and ethnic minorities have been invisible or stereotyped throughout most of TV history

• Recently, minorities have moved to center stage

– Conservative


Childhood

• Where were your shoes manufactured?

• Would it bother you to know that your shoes may have been made by children?

• Most North Americans view childhood as a carefree time of learning and play– This is a new idea



Child Labor in Global PerspectiveSources: UNICEF (2011).

Adolescence

• Emerged as a buffer between childhood and adulthood

• What is meant by the following statement? Give examples.– “Teenage turbulence comes from cultural

inconsistency.”

• Varies according to social background


Adulthood

• The time of life when most accomplishments take place

• Personalities are formed

• Dramatic changes cause significant change to the self

• Early adulthood – until age 40

• Middle adulthood – between 40 and 60


Old Age

• The later years of adulthood and the final stage of life

• Begins around the mid-sixties

• Elderly population is growing nearly as fast as the U.S. population as a whole

• Gerontology– The study of aging and the elderly



The Graying of U.S. SocietyThe proportion of the U.S. population over the age of sixty-five tripled during the last century. The median age of the U.S. population has now passed thirty-five years and will continue to rise.Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2010).

Old Age

• Aging and Biology– For most of our population, aging begins in

middle age– Most older people are not disabled nor

discouraged by their physical condition

• Aging and Culture– Gerontocracy


Old Age

– In industrial society– Ageism

• Prejudice and discrimination against older people

• Aging and Income– Old age means living with less income– Today, elderly population is doing better


Death and Dying

• Denial – expected in a culture that doesn’t talk about death

• Anger – a gross injustice to the one facing death

• Negotiation – bargaining with God


Death and Dying

• Resignation – accompanied by psychological depression

• Acceptance – complete adjustment to death

• Do you believe that people in the U.S. are comfortable with the idea of death?


The Life Course: Patterns and Variations

• Life course is largely a social construction

• Societies organize the life course according to age. – What other forces shape people’s lives?

• Cohort– A category of people with something in

common, usually age


Resocialization

• Total Institution– What are the three characteristics of a total

institution?• Supervision• Control and standardization• Formal rules and daily routines


Resocialization

• Radically changing an inmate’s personality by carefully controlling the environment– Prisons– Mental hospitals

• Two-part process– Break down existing identity


Chapter 3 Socialization From Infancy to Old Age. Human Development: Nature And Nurture Is human...

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