1. Agents of Socialization

2. Aim: Students will be able to understand:
the 4 main agents of socialization, their specific characteristics, and how they contribute to shaping social identity
The characteristics of each stage of the life course and how socialization manifests in each
The concepts of: intentional and unintentional learning, hidden curriculum, anticipatory socialization, and hurried child syndrome
How class, race, ethnicity, and gender influence socialization
The concept of total institutions and the 2-part process of resocialization and its resulting effects
Aim:

3. Agents of Socialization
*Family
School
Peer Groups
Mass Media
Agents of Socialization

4. Family Teaches values, beliefs, skills
Confers social identity through:
Race
Social class
Economics ($ and expectations)
Lower social class =
obedience and conformity
Limited education; routine jobs
Higher social class =
Good judgment; creativity
Enrichment activities
Confidence building
More social networking opportunities
Identity
Gender roles
Family

5. How children see themselves is dependent upon the environment adults create:
Intentional Learning = direct
Unintentional Learning = indirect
Loving families create well-adjusted children
Family, continued …

6. School Broadens the social sphere
Encounters with different people (race; social class)
Children gravitate toward social groups comprised of a similar race, class, and gender
Gender socialization at school:
Boys/girls
Behavior
Hidden curriculum:
Winners/losers
Cooperation/competition
Bureaucracy (rules and schedules)
School

7. Peer Group = a social group whose members have common interests, social positions, and age
Peer groups share interests and activities outside those they share with their parents
There is no adult supervision in peer groups
Peer Groups

8. Peer Groups, Continued …
Peer Groups have strong influence
Influence is short term
As opposed to parental influence, which is long terms
Anticipatory Socialization = learning that helps people achieve desired positions
influence by peer groups we want to be associated with
Peer Groups, Continued …

9. “the means by which (impersonal) communications are delivered to a vast audience
“Mass” - refers to scale; “Media” - Latin for “middle”
Influences attitudes and behaviors
Vehicles:
Newpaper, radio, TV, Internet, movies
Mass Media

10. Mass Media, Continued … Negatives: Positives: Too much TV watching
Underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in TV/movies
Sex and Violence
Aggressive behavior linked to video games/amount of tv consumed
Positives:
Educational programming
Increase in exposure to different cutures
Mass Media, Continued …

11. Other areas of life that influence social learning …
Work
Church/religious organizations
Social clubs
Military
Other areas of life that influence social learning …

12. Socialization and the Life Course *a social construction
Our experiences with socialization depend upon:
Class
Race
Ethnicity
Gender
Socialization and the Life Course *a social construction

13. Childhood CHILDHOOD: Generalizations …
Different cultures define childhood differently
“hurried child” syndrome:
Responsible for the increase in childhood stress/anxiety
Family dynamics
Adult programming (TV)
Childhood

14. Adolescence Not yet a child or an adult … Characterized by:
Emotional turmoil
Social conflict
Inner confusion
Rebelliousness
Biological changes
Influence of social class:
Education
Work
Parenting
Adolescence

15. Adulthood Fully formed personal identity Settled into roles in life
Marriage
Career
Family
Adulthood

16. Early Adulthood Up to 40 yrs Managing daily affairs
Handling different responsibilities
Early Adulthood

17. Middle Adulthood 40-60 yrs Life is essentially in order
Assessment of life circumstances:
Some goals will go unachieved
Career changes
divorce
Children become adults
Physical changes/standards of beauty
Middle Adulthood

18. Old Age Mid 60’s and beyond Final stages of life
Different societies have different views of the elderly:
Traditional:
Wise; respected
Contemporary:
Irrelevant; experiences not valued
Leaving roles that provide satisfaction and social identity
Old Age

19. Death and Dying Kubler-Ross Stages: Denial Anger Negotiation
Resignation (depression)
acceptance
Death and Dying

20. Resocialization: Total Institutions
Total Institutions: a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff, for the purpose of resocialization
EX: prisons; mental institutions
Resocialization: an attempt to radically change an inmate’s personality by carefully controlling their environment
Resocialization: Total Institutions

21. Resocialization: Total Institutions Continued …
2 Part Process:
(1)Break the inmate’s existing identity:
Personal possessions
Physical grooming
Uniforms
Physical isolation
Limited communication
“mortifications of self”
# assignments
Privacy invasions:
Physical searches
Personal space searches
Resocialization: Total Institutions Continued …

22. Resocialization: Total Institutions Continued …
(2)Build the inmate’s new self:
Rewards and punishments
Privileges: TV
Communication - phone calls/visitors
Reading
Length of confinement
Resocialization: Total Institutions Continued …

23. Resocialization: Total Institutions Continued …
Result:
Left “institutionalized” – no capacity for independent living
Change for the better
Little or no change
Change for the worse
Resocialization: Total Institutions Continued …