Process of Socialization

Goals to Be Met Goal 5: The learner will analyze the process of socialization. Objectives 5.01 Define socialization. 5.02 List the agents of socialization. 5.03 Describe how the process of socialization is culturally determined. 5.04 Explain the various theoretical perspectives on socialization. 5.05 Trace how socialization is a life-long process. 5.06 Evaluate the functions and roles of socializing agents.

Essential Questions What are the primary agents of socialization? How does socialization occur? Why is socialization important around the world? What are the theoretical perspectives of socialization?

Socialization shapes the development of personality through the interaction of biology and environment, but the relative roles of each are not fully understood.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Focuses on the intellectual part of personality Cognitive skills develop through a set of stages: Sensorimotor (Birth – 2 years) Children experience the world through movement and senses Preoperational (2 – 7 years) Thought processes are developing Egocentric (only able to see their point of view) Motor skills acquired Concrete Operational (7 – 11 years) Children begin to think logically, but are very concrete in their thinking No longer egocentric Formal Operational (11 – 16 years) Development of abstract reasoning Can easily conserve and think logically Example

Emotional Socialization Emotional Socialization: Learning how to identify feelings and how to manage them Gender roles and social classes exert a strong influence on emotional socialization

Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory of Personality Argued that personality is made up of the: Id Only component present from birth Irrational pleasure seeking Primary component of personality Ego: Conscious mind Responsible for dealing with reality Develops from the id and ensures that impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world Superego: Represents morality which sets limits for the id Acts to perfect and civilize our behavior

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Children go through 3 levels of moral development Preconvential: Obedience and Punishment: Children see rules as fixed and absolute; obedience is important Individualism and Exchange: Children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs Conventional: Interpersonal Relationships: Focused on living up to social expectations and roles; emphasis on conformity Maintaining Social Order: Begin to consider society as a whole when making judgments Post Conventional: Social Contract and Individual Rights: People begin to account for the differing values, opinions, and beliefs of other people Universal Principles: Based upon universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning

Gender Identities Feminist theory has studied how boys and girls learn to be “masculine” and “feminine” Gender Identities: People’s images of what they are socially expected to do based on their sex

Sociological Perspectives on Socialization Functional Socialization serves a number of functions for society and provides children with love and emotional support Conflict Sees socialization as harmful to children because too much power is placed in the hands of parents, leading to child abuse, treating infants as property, the use of physical punishment, and other problems. Symbolic Interaction Relied on to understand how the self-concept develops

Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self Looking-Glass Self: Interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves based on how we imagine we appear to others Others act as a mirror, reflecting back the image we project through their reactions to our behavior. Development is a 3-step process We imagine how we appear to others Based on reacts, we attempt to determine whether others view us as we view ourselves We use our perceptions of how others judge us to develop feelings about ourselves

Mead’s Role-Taking Role-taking: Taking or pretending to take the role of others Forms basis of socialization process by allowing us to anticipate what others expect of us We first internalize expectations of significant others Generalized Other: Internalized attitudes, expectations, and viewpoints of society We internalize generalized others through process of role-taking Role-taking is a 3-step process Imitation: (Birth – 3 years) Imitate others Play Stage: (3 years – school age) Play and act out roles of specific people Game Stage: (school age – older) Organized games; take on roles of their own but have to anticipate the actions and expectations of others

Mead’s “I” and “Me” According to Mead the self has 2 sides “Me”: Unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interested component of personality and self-identity “I”: Part of our self that is aware of expectations and attitudes of society’s socialized self In childhood, the “I” is more important than “me,” but through socialization it changes

Locke’s Tabula Rasa Locke believed that each newly born human being is a tabula rasa (clean slate) on which just about anything can be written We are born without a personality and we can be molded into any type of character

Social Diversity of Socialization Different groups socialize their children in different ways Native Americans Socialized through an extensive network of relatives who teach tribal values, beliefs, traditions, and rituals Little if any corporal punishment is used and praise is reserved for special occasions African Americans Grandparents or “informal adoptions” are often used to raise children Caregivers use strict discipline to discourage inappropriate behavior and to teach children to be strong and independent at an earlier age than other groups Hispanics Children occupy a central position and learn a strong sense of femilisim (family loyalty) and identification Male and female children are brought up differently Motherly love is stronger than wifely love Asian American Parents indulge their very young children, but older children have set limits and discipline Children are taught to identify with their family and to practice family duty Group-oriented

Adult Socialization Adult Socialization: Ongoing learning throughout one’s life Adults continue to learn new roles through: Anticipatory Socialization: Learning to assume roles in the future Development Socialization: Process of learning to be more competent in playing currently assumed roles Resocialization: Forceful abandonment of an old self and the development of a new identity and usually occurs in prisons and mental institutions Institutionalization (deep sense of helplessness) that some inmates can experience

Erikson’s Life Cycle Traces the emergence and resolution of several development crises during childhood and adulthood 2 Pre-Adult Stages: Childhood establishment of independence Adolescent determination of identity 3 Adult Stages: Early Adulthood resolution of demands for love and work Middle Adulthood where youthful dreams disappear and awareness of death appears Late Adulthood where persons must deal with integrity and despair

Kübler-Ross Stages of Dying Society does not fully prepare adults for aging and dying and it leads to the stages of dying: Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance Giraffe - Stages of Dying Stages of Grief

Daycare and Socialization This segment is about researchers’ findings regarding the relationship of early childhood development, individual attention or lack of it, and later criminal behavior. While viewing this segment: Identify the factors that are important to a child’s development Explain why children who did not receive enough personal attention during the first 5 years of life are more likely to commit crimes for which they feel no remorse Explain what can be done to help a child who did not receive the attention he or she needed in the critical earl years Describe the social implications of an expanding group of young people who did not receive enough personal attention during the first 5 years of life.