CHAPTER 5 Socializing the Individual Sociology 4/9/2017 CHAPTER 5 Socializing the Individual Section 1: Personality Development Section 2: The Social Self Section 3: Agents of Socialization Chapter 5

Objectives: Section 1: Personality Development Identify the four main factors that affect the development of personality. Explain how isolation in childhood affects development.

What is Personality?? Personality: The sum total of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values that are characteristic of an individual. At an older age, personality traits change at a slower rate. However, development varies from individual to individual.

Can a person’s personality contribute to eating disorders?????

Can a person’s personality contribute to eating disorders????? "Patients with personality disorders exhibit feelings of ineffectiveness, a strong need to control one's environment, inflexible thinking, perfectionism, and overly restrained initiative and emotional expression ... Bulimics show a greater tendency to have impulse-control problems, abuse alcohol or other drugs, and have a greater frequency of suicide attempts.“ (Sam Vankin)

The current view of orthodoxy is that the eating disordered patient is attempting to reassert control over her life by ritually regulating her food intake and her body weight. In this respect, eating disorders resemble obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Nature vs. Nurture: Nature: Heredity: the transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children. Instinct: unchanging, biologically inherited behavior pattern. EX: birds migrating

Nurture: Behavior is result of social environment. EX: Your friends can shape your personality.

Sociobiology: The systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior. They believe that most of behavior is determined by biological factors.

What do most sociologists believe???? Assume that personality and social behavior result from a blending of hereditary and social environmental influences.

Factors That Shape Personality Development Section 1: Personality Development Factors That Shape Personality Development Heredity – physical traits, aptitudes (capacity to learn a particular skill), inherited characteristics, biological drives. Parents – parental characteristics, such as age, education, religion, and economic status. Birth order – personalities are shaped by whether one has siblings. (1st born: goal-oriented/last-born: more social oriented; risk-takers). Cultural environment – determines the basic personality types found in a society. (EX: male vs. female)

Are you a product of your cultural environment?? Does the term Dalai Lama best describe a spiritual leader or an Eastern religion? If someone gave you some Lapsang souchong, would you spread it on bread or drink it? Is Lhasa a type of dog or a capital city? In which country do you think yak butter is an important part of the people’s diet- India, Russia, or Tibet? The English translation for the word Chomolungma is “Goddess Mother of the World.” What do you think Chomolungma is?

Are you a product of your cultural environment?? Turn to page 104 in textbook!! Tibet: A historical region of central Asia between the Himalaya and Kunlun mountains. A center of Lamaist Buddhism, Tibet first flourished as an independent kingdom in the seventh century. It fell under Mongol influence from the 13th to the 18th century and later came under Chinese control (1720).

Isolation in Childhood: Feral children: Wild or untamed children. Children isolated in their homes by parents/family members Children had not reasoning ability or no manners, and no ability to control their bodily functions.

Anna and Isabelle Anna: Confined to an attic at 6 months old. Result: (age 6) Could not walk, talk, feed herself, expressionless face. Later on: could eventually talk, feed herself, could talk in phrases…died at 10 years old.

Isabelle: She and her deaf mother confined to a dark closet. Result: Used gestures to communicate Did not learn to speak Crawled on her hands and knees Made grunting, animal-like sounds Ate with hands Later On…: Able to overcome her early social deprivation due to the constant contact with her mother.

Genie: Confined at age of 20 months to a small bedroom. Tied to an infant's potty-chair and nights wrapped in a sleeping bag. Totally silent world!! Toys: 2 plastic raincoats; empty cottage cheese container!

Result of Genie: Discovered at 13 years old. Could not stand straight!! Social/Psychological skills of one-year-old. At 21 years of age, still could not function as a social being.

Institutionalization: Children in orphanages and hospitals: Children wasted away from lack of love and attention. After Psychologist Rene Spitz studied an orphanage in 1945… Fewer than 25% could walk by themselves, dress themselves, or use a spoon.

Isolation in Childhood and Development Section 1: Personality Development Isolation in Childhood and Development Research shows that a healthy cultural environment is essential for a child’s full development. Isolation can lead to severe effects such as causing children to waste away and die or to have stunted development.

End of Chapter 5: Section1

Chapter 5:2 The Social Self

Objectives: Section 2: The Social Self Explain how a person’s sense of self emerges. Identify and describe the theories that have been put forth to explain the process of socialization.

How Sense of Self Emerges Section 2: The Social Self How Sense of Self Emerges Through interaction with social and cultural environments people are transformed into members of society The interactive process through which people learn the basic skills, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns of a society is called socialization Self: Your conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity that separates you and your environment from other members of society.

Three Theories of Socialization Section 2: The Social Self Three Theories of Socialization 1. John Locke – The Tabula Rosa 2. Charles Horton Cooley – The Looking Glass Self 3. George Herbert Mead – Role-Taking

John Locke – The Tabula Rosa Section 2: The Social Self John Locke – The Tabula Rosa Each person is a blank slate at birth (tabula rosa), with no personality. People develop personality as a result of their social experiences. Moreover, infants can be molded into any type of person.

Do you agree with Locke?????? Do you believe that socialization is a process by which individuals absorb the aspect of their culture with which they come into contact????

Charles Horton Cooley – The Looking Glass Self Section 2: The Social Self Charles Horton Cooley – The Looking Glass Self Infants have no sense of person or place. Children develop an image of themselves based on how others see them. Looking-glass self Other people act as a mirror, reflecting back the image a child projects through their reactions to the child’s behavior.

Need an Example???? A child will develop a sense of self by the way his/her primary group members act around them (EX: parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, etc….) If parents treat a child as capable and competent ….then will produce a capable and competent child.

George Herbert Mead – Role-Taking Section 2: The Social Self George Herbert Mead – Role-Taking People not only come to see themselves as others see them but also take on or pretend to take on the roles of others through imitation, play, and games. Role-taking: taking or pretending to take the role of others. This process enables people to anticipate what others expect of them.

George Mead (Cont’d) Significant others: Generalized other: Specific people, such as parents, brothers, sisters, other relatives, and friends, who have a direct influence on our socialization. Generalized other: Internalized attitudes, expectations, and viewpoints of society that we use to guide our behavior and reinforce our sense of self.

George Mead (Cont’d) He believes the self consists of 2 related parts: I: the unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interested component of personality and self-identity. Me: the part of yourself that is aware of the expectations and attitudes of society – the socialized self. ** To be a well-rounded member of society, a person needs BOTH aspects of the self!

Chapter 5: Section 3 Agents of Socialization

Objectives: Section 3: Agents of Socialization Identify the most important agents of socialization in the United States. Explain why family and education are important social institutions.

Agents of Socialization: The specific individuals, groups, and institutions that enable socialization to take place.

Agents of Socialization Section 3: Agents of Socialization Agents of Socialization 1. Family: – most important agent Principal socializer of young children. Intended vs. unintended socialization. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Agents of Socialization: 2. Peer group: – primary group composed of individuals of roughly equal age and social characteristics, particularly influential during pre-teenage and early teenage years. Peer-group goals are sometimes at odds with the goals of the larger society…can be alarming to family.

Agents of Socialization: 3. School: – plays a major role! Much of socialization is deliberate. Also, unintentional socialization EX: Teachers become models, such as manners of speech, styles of dress, etc….

Agents of Socialization: 4. Mass media: – books, films, the Internet, magazines and television, not face-to-face.

The Mass Media (Cont’d) 98% of homes in U.S. have TVs. (Average: More than 2 per home) 6-17 years old: TV is the primary after-school activity! Spend twice as much time watching TV than in school!

The Mass Media (Cont’d) Violence in the Media: By age 18… Witnessed 200,000 fictional acts of violence 16,000 murders Studies suggest that violence encourages viewers to act in aggressive ways and to see aggression as a valid way to solve problems.

The Mass Media (Cont’d) Positive Side: Television expands the viewers’ world. Educational tool.

Overall Importance of Family and Education Section 3: Agents of Socialization Overall Importance of Family and Education Teach children important life skills. Teach values, norms, and beliefs.

Resocialization: Total institution: A setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period of time and are subject to tight control. EX: Prisons, military boot camp, and psychiatric hospitals.

Resocialization: Involves a break with past experiences and the learning of new values and norms. Goal: To change an individuals personality and social behavior. Individual identity taken away! (EX: hair cut; uniforms; etc….) Once self is weakened, then easier to convince others to conform to new patterns of behavior.