Socialization and Society

Socialization

• Socialization is the process of teaching people to be functioning members of society.
• It involves understanding social norms, expectations, and beliefs.
• Socialization also involves learning societal values.
• Social interaction with others, like family and coworkers, plays a role in socialization.
• Social isolation, in contrast to socialization, lacks interaction.

Bodies...

• Images show people in various situations.

Spectacle of Fighting Children

• Images show children fighting with boxing gloves in a public square.

Nearly 36 Million People Currently Live in Slavery

• Approximately 36 million people are currently enslaved.
• An image showing people in suggestive clothing with signs displays this.

Social Experience

• Socialization teaches individuals to become proficient members of society, including an understanding of societal norms and expectations.
• It emphasizes accepting social beliefs and awareness of societal values.
• This contrasts with socializing, which focuses on interacting directly with others like family, friends, and colleagues.
• Socialization is a sociological process rather than the more casual act of socializing.
• Danielle's story highlights the absence of social interaction and its implications, emphasizing the lack of social interaction and related cultural elements like family, norms, and societal expectations for behaviour and self-awareness. She had no concept of modesty, family, or language.

Theories of Self-Development

• Human development, including self-development is a combination of genetic makeup and biological traits and social interaction.
• Psychosexual development theory proposed by Freud (1856-1939) suggested that personality and sexual development are interconnected and that development occurs through psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital).
• Freud's theory is linked to early stages of development (like breastfeeding and toilet training), which influence self-development.
• Various outcomes related to fixation on particular stages (like oral fixation or anal fixation).
• Empirical evidence supporting Freud's theory is limited but it has been influential.

Psychologist Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

• Erikson's theory, based in part on Freud's work, postulates that personality changes over the eight stages of development, which span from birth to death.
• He emphasizes the negotiation between an individual's desires and socially accepted norms.

Jean Piaget (1896–1980)

• Piaget explored child development and the role of social interaction in shaping individuals' self-evolution.
• He noted self-development through negotiation between one's personal understanding of the world and the socially experienced one.

Sociological Theories of Self-development

• Charles Cooley (1864-1929) proposed the "looking-glass self" theory, where self-understanding is derived from perceptions of how others view an individual.
• George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) emphasized the development of self through social interaction.
• He explained the process of developing a self concept through understanding others.

The Preparatory Stage

• Children in the preparatory stage primarily imitate others.
• This stage often involves mimicking the actions and behaviours of parents and other adults.

The Play Stage

• Children begin to take on roles in the play stage.
• This entails assuming the roles of significant figures in their lives, such as parents, teachers, or siblings.

The Game Stage

• During the game stage, children understand and consider multiple roles simultaneously.
• They may consider how these roles interact and the responsibilities associated with them.
• They engage with a more complex understanding of the world around them, and the societal roles and patterns within it.

Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

• Kohlberg explored moral development, investigating how individuals learn what is considered "good" and "bad" in society.
• The theory distinguishes preconventional morality (focused on immediate experience), conventional morality (focused on the opinions of others), and postconventional morality (focused on abstract principles).
• Early understanding of morality is primarily based on sensory experiences, unlike a more sophisticated understanding later in life.

Carol Gilligan's Theory of Moral Development and Gender

• Gilligan critiqued Kohlberg's theory, which she observed was biased by focusing solely on male subjects.
• Gilligan proposed differences in understanding morality in the context of gender with boys focusing more on justice and fairness and girls with care and responsibility.
• She argued that neither perspective is superior, and they have different social applications.

Why Socialization Matters - Nature versus Nurture

• Nature and nurture are interwoven factors impacting human behaviour.
• Naturalistic explanations focus on biological factors like instincts and genes in shaping human behaviour, including familiar traits like economic competitiveness, emotional expression in men and women, and perceptions in Western culture.
• Nature-versus-nurture models can be overly simplistic or lead to damaging conclusions, particularly concerning cultural and developmental differences.
• Ultimately, nature and nurture are inseparable.

Agents of Socialization

• Socialization is a learning process driven by interactions with various agents.
• Family is the primary socializing agent, introducing children to their culture.
• Socialization agents help shape individuals' beliefs and values, leading to a deeper understanding of material and non-material cultures.

Peer Groups

• Similar-aged people with shared interests form peer groups in the course of social development.
• Peer groups further influence individual development by introducing norms about behaviours and expectations in social contexts.
• Peer groups are a critical element in adolescent identity development, often leading to independence from family structures.

Institutional Agents

• Formal institutions, such as schools, teach individuals social behaviours and how to navigate social systems.
• Schools, and other institutions like temples and factories, contribute to the process of developing a comprehensive societal understanding.
• These environments foster essential social skills.

The Workplace

• Work environments provide a significant context for socialization, introducing new cultural norms and practices related to work and interactions.
• Job types and career paths can affect the type of socialization an individual experiences.
• Religious settings, such as synagogues, temples, mosques, and churches, are considered informal institutions that teach people about the beliefs, practices, and customs of a particular religious tradition.

Government

• Government roles, and laws create new categories among people resulting in new social norms and processes based on social roles and regulations.
• The government shapes individuals through roles and rules.

Mass Media

• Mass media (like television, newspapers, and the internet) profoundly influence cultural norms, spreading material and non-material information and establishing behaviours across populations.
• Spending significant amounts of time using mass media influences societal expectations and values.

Socialization Across the Life Course

• Socialization encompasses the entire lifespan, shaping individuals throughout their experiences.
• This is also applicable to transitions throughout life, such as retirement or resocialization situations.

"Civilizing" Machine

• An image, presumably a cartoon, portrays a machine, symbolizing the process of civilizing, which may involve altering behaviours or norms in individuals. This is likely connected to cultural shifts or historical contexts, but the direct meaning cannot be fully ascertained due to a lack of supplementary detailed context provided.

This quiz explores the concept of socialization, emphasizing its role in shaping individuals into functioning members of society. It touches on social norms, values, and the contrast between socialization and isolation, along with images that depict societal situations. Immerse yourself in understanding how social experiences define our interactions.