Socialization PDF

Socialization  Socialization Socialization is the process by which individuals learn attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to members of a particular culture. There has been a long-standing debate about the importance of heredity and environment on socializati...

Socialization  Socialization Socialization is the process by which individuals learn attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to members of a particular culture. There has been a long-standing debate about the importance of heredity and environment on socialization and development.  Nature vs. nurture  Supporters of the “nature” (or heredity) perspective argue that “we are who we are” due predominantly to heredity and genetics.  The key to understanding the process of socialization is understanding physical human development.  Supporters of the “nurture” (or environment) perspective argue that “we are who we are” due predominantly to our social environment and situations which we’ve encountered.  The key to understanding the process of socialization is understanding an individual’s surroundings and interactions.  David Remer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GhbVFjIa N0 Epi curve https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21171481/coro navirus-us-cases-quarantine-cancellation?fbclid =IwAR1f9Pzvofml5wuvQfWrmrEgh9kJeibLUyK9 tu876nu39woTA9Ne129VMp0  Nature vs. nurture Identical twins, separated early in life, provide scientists with two people with identical genetics and different environments.  Temper, voice pattern and sound and idiosyncratic behavior are affected strongly by nature.  Attitudes, values, habitual behaviors, and mate selection are affected strongly by nurture. Feral children are children raised outside the bounds of regular society.  These children are genetically human but have not been adequately socialized.  Genie: The Secret of the Wild Child Questions to consider: 1. Was the scientific research conducted on Genie of good quality? Why/why not?  How could the research have been improved? 2. Was the research conducted involving Genie ethical? Why/why not? 3. With respect to the “nature vs. nurture” debate, what do we learn from the Genie case? How do you arrive at this conclusion?  Piaget- Cognitive development Cognitive theory of development (Jean Piaget,1896-1980)- Bio-psychological theory concerned primarily with the development of cognitive abilities (thinking, knowing, perceiving, judging and reasoning). Piaget argued that children progress through a series of stages that indicates increasing ability of the child to engage in mental activity. By the mid-teen years all cognitive development is completed and the individual has all abilities necessary to be successful in society.  Piaget- Cognitive development Sociologists see Piaget’s work as somewhat limited (although it is empirically supported). Little focus on the environmental issues surrounding the development. Indicates socialization is complete by age 17 (just about the time the individual will begin to have a full social life). Piaget intended the theory to be only about cognitive development, other biologists/psychologists argued it explains the entire socialization process.  Genesis of the self (Mead, 1934) For Mead, the self cannot exist without a social.  Therefore the individual and the social are totally linked. Self is the ability to perceive oneself as both subject and object. The self exists because of reflexivity (the ability to put yourself in the position of others and view yourself through their eyes).  This allows an individual to understand the ways they are expected to behave.  Genesis of the self 3 stages in the genesis of the self: 1. Preparatory/imitation stage- Here the child begins to “mindlessly” imitate the behavior of those around the child. Child has no idea why they are doing the things they are doing. Child has no idea what the meanings are behind the behaviors.  Very early form of role taking and practice for future reflexive behaviors.  Genesis of the self 2. Play stage- In this stage the child takes on and attempts to perform the roles of others as the child understands them. The child does not actually believe they own this role but they are able to interpret the role and react as they believe the person they are portraying would react.  Early form of reflexivity- the child has the ability to “become” this person and behave as though s/he believes they would.  Genesis of the self  3. Game stage- In the final stage, children play games in which they must learn the rules to be successful.  Must be aware of their roles and the roles of everyone else in the game.  Child now actually has a role that they must play (the expectations for their behavior are set by the others in the game).  In order to be successful, they must know roles of everyone else in the game (be able to place themselves in the position of the other person and know how they will behave).  Genesis of the self As the child’s ability to take on the roles of others increases, they become reflexive and realize what is expected of them by viewing their behavior through the eyes of another player. Eventually the child is able to view their own behavior through the eyes of a collective group. Generalized other is the attitude of the entire community as a whole.  Genesis of the self Once developed, the self consists of two parts: 1.The “I” is the immediate, creative, unpredictable response to a stimulus. We never know what the reaction of the “I” will be. “I” is responsible for uniqueness and creativity.  Genesis of the self 2. The “me” is the organized set of attitudes of a society as a whole. “Me” is the result of socialization and is responsible for reflexivity and control of action. “Me” works to control the initial response of the “I” to allow the individual to conform to the rules of society and to fit into the patterns of behavior.  Without the “me” we would simply do whatever we felt like doing with no concern for others.  Without the “I” we would be conformists behaving only as we believe other want us to behave.  Agents of socialization Agents of socialization are people, groups, and organizations whose job is to assure that the culture is taught to each new member of the society. Alsoprovides the venues within which members of a society can interact with each other, learning and internalizing the norms and habits of people in that society.  Agents of socialization Social institutions are organized patterns of beliefs and behaviors centered on achieving basic social needs Institutions are seen as “pillars of society” as they are consistent throughout generations Functional requisites are major tasks that society must fulfill in order to survive and maintain order.  Agents of socialization/ Social Institutions Family- Primary agents of socialization. Education- Knowledge, skills, interaction rules.  Hidden curriculum also teaches conformity, respect for authority; manners; individual drive. Economy- Creation and distribution of goods; regulation of trade. Religion- Morality, values and system of beliefs. Media- Popular culture, filling in gaps of knowledge. Military- Protection of culture; spread of culture  Resocialization Resocialization is a process of discarding former behavioral patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in ones life and change in ones self-concept. New skills are learned with the change associated with the life events and old skills that are no longer useful are forgotten. Resocialization works perfectly in explaining entry into total institutions which are institutions that control every aspect of the person’s life (Goffman, 1966).  Life course perspective Life course perspective (Elder 2003))- Theory proposed that socialization be viewed as a life- long process, beginning at birth and ending at death. LCPcombines the idea that socialization is linked with normative ages (Piaget) and the importance placed on life events by resocialization.  Life course perspective LCP places an importance on social age grades or a customary sequence of age-related activity, typically accomplished during normative windows of “acceptable completion”. Social-age grades provide an order and window of opportunity during which a given life event should happen.  Life course perspective If an individual fails to complete a life event during the appropriate age-grade s/he faces a variety of sanctions. Most important is that s/he will lose contact with the birth cohort (those people born at the approximately the same time, in the same place, who will experience all socio-historical occurrences at the same point in their lives).