Socialisation Debate: Nature vs. Nurture

Socialisation Debate: Nature vs. Nurture

• The extent to which human behaviour is influenced by socialisation is debated.
• The role of socialisation in shaping behaviour has been overstated by some.

Main Arguments:

• Some sociologists suggest human behaviour is primarily driven by instincts (genetic determinism).
• Most sociologists believe that socialisation (nurture or cultural determinism) is the primary influence on behaviour.

Nurture Arguments:

• Sociologists firmly support nurture.
• Socialisation is more influential than instinct in shaping human behaviour.
• Evidence for nurture includes learned roles through socialisation, with sanctions motivating behaviour consistent with societal expectations.
• Gender roles are maintained through informal socialisation (e.g., name-calling, exclusion).
• Emile Durkheim saw socialisation as a one-way process where society dictates roles.
• Parsons suggests people internalize societal roles and values, shaping personalities.
• Different cultures demonstrate diverse behaviours, supporting the nurture argument.
• Interactionists (e.g., Mead) argue that self-awareness is learned through interaction, not innate.

Nature Arguments:

• Those who support the nature argument believe behaviour is conditioned by instinct.
• Instinctive behaviours are considered innate (e.g., mothering instinct).
• The environment plays a limited role in the development of these instincts, claiming that cultural influence is minimal.

Evidence of Socialisation's Importance:

• Feral children who are isolated and raised by animals display animalistic behaviours, highlighting the importance of socialisation to develop human traits like language.
• Oxana Malaya, a Ukrainian feral girl raised by dogs, developed behaviour patterns similar to the dogs.
• Tiger and Fox argued that gender roles are biologically pre-programmed through "biogramming".
• Murdock's study of 224 societies suggests societal differences in gender roles and tasks reflect biological differences, but this is debatable.
• Kibbutz experiment in Israel showed gender roles can be significantly influenced by socialisation, even when children are assigned roles different from their biological sex.