Socialization and the Construction of Reality Chapter 4 Socialization and the Construction of Reality

What Is Socialization? Socialization is the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as a member of that society. As we mentioned previously, socialization begins very early – some say even before the baby comes out of the womb! (For instance, what usually happens when the parents find out if the baby is going to be a boy or a girl?)

Limits of Socialization However, socialization cannot explain everything about a person’s development and personality. Biology is also a very important component. It is a combination of biology and social interactions that makes us who we are. Ask your students if they have ever been compared to a relative (“You act just like your father when you’re angry!”). Ask them to speculate to whether they learned this trait or if they believe it is biological. Some may talk about acting like an aunt that they have never met. Others may give examples of acting just like a sister even though they were adopted from different biological families. Hopefully this will illustrate how difficult it is to tell which factor influences the behavior.

Charles Horton Cooley Theorized that the “self” emerges from our ability to assume the point of view of others and imagine how those others see us. In other words, we like getting a positive response from people, so we try to replicate our actions when the response we received was positive. We use others as a “mirror.” In this example, when we style our hair and look in the “mirror,” we wait for the person looking back to say “that looks good,” and then we determine that we like our style.

George Herbert Mead Mead developed a theory about how the social self develops over the course of childhood. Infants know only the “I,” but through social interaction they learn about “me” and the “other.” They develop a concept of the “generalized other,” which allows them to apply norms and behaviors learned in specific situations to new situations. Mead believed that children begin to develop a sense of self at about the same time that they begin to learn language.

George Herbert Mead Mead stressed the importance of imitation, play, and games in helping children recognize one another, distinguish between self and other, and grasp the idea that other people can have multiple roles.

Eric Erikson Eric Erikson He established a theory of psychosocial development that identifies eight stages that span a person’s lifetime. Each stage involves a specific conflict that a person must resolve in order to move on to the next stage. It is important to note that socialization lasts throughout the lifespan.

Agents of Socialization Families, school, peers, the media, and total institutions are all important socializing agents or environments. A total institution is an institution in which one is totally immersed that controls all the basics of day-to-day life. Each of these agents of socialization (sometimes referred to as agencies of socialization) has a different impact on us depending on where we are in the life span. For instance, the family is very influential on young children, but older children and adults are heavily influences by peers. We’ll talk more about each of these agents of socialization.

Resocialization a change in values, beliefs, or norms through an intense social process This happens often – when we get new jobs, enter or leave the military, or take on a new role (like becoming a spouse or parent).

Social Interaction Robert Merton’s role theory provides a way to describe social interaction. Some of Merton’s key ideas are on the slides that follow.

Statuses and Roles A status is a position in society that comes with a set of expectations. An ascribed status is one we are born with that is unlikely to change. An achieved status is one we have earned through individual effort or that is imposed by others. An ascribed status could be race or sex. An achieved status could be a professional position like manager or chief executive officer (CEO).

Statuses and Roles One’s master status is a status that seems to override all others and affects all other statuses that one possesses. Roles are the behaviors expected from a particular status. Often times, you will hear a person being called by their master status. For instance, you may hear people talking about “that black man.” In that example, the description black came before describing the person as a man. Black is likely to be the master status. You also hear things like “disabled individual” or “stupid kid.” The first word is usually the master status – it tends to be the status that people notice above all others. Roles are just the behaviors of individuals in that status.

Statuses and Roles Role conflict occurs when the roles associated with one status clash with the roles associated with a different status. Role strain occurs when roles associated with a single status clash. Either of these may lead to role exit. Role conflict happens when a person has two different roles to perform and they conflict with one another. For example, if you are a mother and a student, you might have class today and your child might have a soccer game at the same time. You have to choose between your two roles because they are conflicting with one another. With role strain, you have only one role, which conflicts with itself. For example, you are a student, so you know you are supposed to study tonight. However, there is also a party tonight. Your roommates pressure you to go to the party because “that’s what college students are supposed to do,” so you have to choose because the single role (college student) is pulling you in two different directions.

Gender Roles set of behavioral norms associated primarily with males or females in a given social group or system Gender theorists argue that gender roles can be more powerful and influential than other roles that people fill. As mentioned previously, as soon as a baby is born, we start socializing him or her into specific roles. (Ask your class if they can think of some of the ways that little boys and girls are treated differently, which could lead to an interesting discussion on gender roles and culture including beliefs, values, and norms.)

The Social Construction of Reality People give meaning or value to ideas or objects through social interactions. It’s an ongoing process that is embedded in our everyday interactions. For example, suppose you’re walking down the street and you witness a woman slapping a man in public. What are the possible meanings of that situation? It could be a fight or spousal abuse; it could be a joke or a friendly greeting, depending on how hard the slap is. It could be that he has just passed out and she is hoping to revive him. The participants could be actors shooting a scene from a film. Each of these definitions leads to a different set of potential consequences – you might intervene, call the police, stand by and laugh, ignore them, summon paramedics, or ask for an autograph, depending on which meaning you act upon. Each definition of the situation lends itself to a different approach, and the consequences are significant.

The Social Construction of Reality Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory based on the idea that people act in accordance with shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions. Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory views social life as a theatrical performance in which we are all actors on metaphysical stages with roles, scripts, costumes, and sets. We all know that we “act” a certain way depending on the context. In a job interview, we “put our best foot forward.” When we are at a family dinner, we watch our language. Goffman suggests that every interaction we are part of works this way – that we’re always aware of our performance.

The Social Construction of Reality Ethnomethodology is an approach to studying human interaction that focuses on the ways in which we make sense of our world, convey this understanding to others, and produce a mutually shared social order.

The Social Construction of Reality Harold Garfinkel developed a method for studying social interactions, called breaching experiments, which involved having collaborators exhibit “abnormal” or “atypical” behaviors in social interactions in order to see how people would react. Garfinkel suggested that there are unwritten rules in place in society, and the best way to figure out how important those rules are is to break them. If you get a very harsh reaction from bystanders, you know that the rule must be fairly important. If people don’t notice or don’t pay too much attention, you will know that the rule that you broke isn’t highly valued by that group.

The Social Construction of Reality The Internet has created new types of social interaction that don’t incorporate verbal and visual cues people are accustomed to relying on. It has also changed society by creating new types of crimes and new ways of communicating. Relationships used to be based mainly on physical proximity (called territorial relationships), but we are now as likely to form non-territorial relationships based on common interests and access to technology that keep people together even when they are physically apart. Using new technologies like digital video webcams, we can interact with each other outside of physical copresence. How will these new technologies affect our interactions and identities? Do these technologies affect education?

The Social Construction of Reality Because our reality is socially constructed, an unexpected change in that reality can be upsetting, frustrating, or just plain incomprehensible. We all have a stake in maintaining consensus on shared meanings so that our society can continue to function smoothly. We do this very often by conforming to social norms.

Concept Quiz 1. In social development theory, the “self” can be defined as _______. the individual identity of a person as perceived by that same person one’s sense of agency, action, or power the identity of a person as perceived by others all of the above Answer: A

Concept Quiz 2. According to George Herbert Mead’s stages of development, children learn to recognize an “other” through _____. formal games imitation playing informally with other children none of the above Answer: B

Concept Quiz 3. ______ are common agents of socialization. Siblings Teachers Television programs all of the above none of the above Answer: D

Concept Quiz 4. Which of the following is an example of a total institution? elementary school sports team convent political party Answer: C

Concept Quiz 5. Which of the following theories argues that people’s choices about how to act are based on shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions? symbolic interactionism functionalism dramaturgical theory postmodernism Answer: A

Concept Quiz 6. Harold Garfinkel is well known for _______. developing the theory of impression management creating breaching experiments investigating the armed forces as a total institution his analysis of socialization agents Answer: B

Discussion Questions 1. Have you ever been told that you act like your parents? yes no 2. Are you adopted?

Discussion Questions 3. Do you have siblings? 4. Are you a twin? yes no 4. Are you a twin? 5. How similar do you think you are to your siblings? very similar somewhat similar not similar

Figure 4.1 Mead’s Stages of Social Development You May Ask Yourself, 2nd Edition Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company Figure 4.1 Mead’s Stages of Social Development

Chapter 4: Socialization and the Construction of Reality