Chapter 3 Socialization

Chapter Outline Social Isolation and Socialization Theories of Childhood Socialization Agents of Socialization Socialization Across the Life Course

Socialization The process by which people learn their culture. They do so by: entering and disengaging from a succession of roles (behaviors expected of a person occupying a particular position in society). becoming aware of themselves as they interact with others.

Sense of Self Social interaction enables infants to begin developing a self-image or sense of self—a set of ideas and attitudes about who they are as independent beings. This process continues into adolescence

Freud Proposed the first social-scientific interpretation of emergence of the self Noted that only through social interaction can a person’s sense of self emerge

Cooley: “looking-glass self” When we interact with others, they gesture and react to us. We can imagine how we appear to them. We judge how others evaluate us. From these judgments we develop a self-concept.

Mead: 4 Stages of Role Taking Children learn to use language and other symbols by imitating significant others Children pretend to be other people. Around age 7, children play games that require them to take the role of other people. Once a child can think in this way, she can begin the fourth stage which involves taking the role of the generalized other.

Gilligan: Gender Differences Demonstrated that sociological factors help explain differences in the sense of self that boys and girls usually develop. Parents and teachers pass on different cultural standards to boys and girls. Research shows that girls develop lower self-esteem than boys.

Approaches to Socialization Functionalists emphasize how it helps to maintain orderly relations Conflict and Feminist Theorists stress the discord based on class, gender, etc. Symbolic Interactionists highlight the creativity of individuals in attaching meaning to their social surroundings

Kinds of Socialization Primary socialization The process of acquiring the basic skills needed to function in society during childhood. Usually takes place in a family. Secondary socialization Socialization outside the family after childhood.

Family as socialization The family is the most important agent of primary socialization A small group providing careful, intimate attention Teaches children everything from language to their place in the world

Schools as socialization Schools train children in the hidden curriculum: what will be expected of them in the larger society once they graduate Schools teach children to be good citizens Students are led to believe that they are evaluated solely on the basis of their performance on impersonal, standardized tests.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy An expectation that helps bring about what it predicts. Thomas theorem “Situations we define as real become real in their consequences.”

Peer group Composed of people who are not necessarily friends but are about the same age and of similar status as the individual. Status refers to a recognized social position that an individual can occupy.

Mass Media People are more likely to choose influences from the mass media that fit existing cultural standards An example is gender roles: widely shared expectations about how males and females are supposed to act that we learn in part through consuming mass media

Polling Question Which media source do you think has the strongest impact on attitudes and behaviors of your generation? Advertising Television Music and music videos The Internet Magazines

Resocialization Occurs when powerful socializing agents deliberately cause rapid change in one’s values, roles, and self-conception. Three-stage ceremony: 1) separation from one’s old status and identity (ritual rejection) 2) degradation, disorientation and stress (ritual death) 3) acceptance of the new group culture and status (ritual rebirth)

Total Institutions Settings where people are isolated and under the control and supervision whereby participants abandon old self-perceptions and assume new identities Examples: asylums and prisons Resocialization is often rapid and thorough, even in the absence of initiation rites

Adult Socialization The development of our self is a lifelong process as we enter new roles and learn new expectations To help us learn new roles, we often engage in anticipatory socialization whereby we begin to take on the norms and behaviors of the roles to which we aspire

The Flexible Self: Factors Globalization- people are less obliged to accept the culture into which they are born. The ability to change one’s body if you can afford it. The internet allows people to create virtual communities that allow interaction using concealed identities.

Dilemmas of Childhood and Adolescent Socialization Declining adult supervision and guidance. Increasing media influence. Declining extracurricular activities and increasing adult responsibilities. Vanishing Adolescent: are childhood and adolescence disappearing as their experience and meanings are changing so radically

Quick Quiz

1. The process by which people learn their culture by entering and disengaging from a succession of roles and becoming aware of themselves as they interact with others is: a. roles b. socialization c. identity development d. maturity

Answer: b Socialization is the process by which people learn their culture

Charles Horton Cooley introduced the idea that when we interact with others, they gesture and react to us, which allows us to imagine how we appear to them. This concept is called: a. resocialization b. relating with others c. looking-glass self d. development of “me”

Answer: c Looking-glass self is Cooley’s description of the way our feelings about who we are depend largely on how we see ourselves evaluated by others.

3. Which of the following do sociologists not regard as agents of socialization? the family schools peer groups the generalized other

Answer: d Sociologists do not regard the generalized other as agents of socialization.

4. Resocialization occurs when: powerful socializing agents deliberately cause rapid change in one’s self-conception teachers develop expectations that turn into self-fulfilling prophecies peer groups help adolescents develop independent sources of identity the process of mastering the basic skills required to function in society is complete

Answer: a. Resocialization occurs when powerful socializing agents deliberately cause rapid change in one’s self-conception.