Transcript Socialization

Socialization
Chapter 4
Socialization Definition
• Process where people learn
attitudes, values, and actions
appropriate for members of a
particular culture
It occurs through human
interaction. We can’t stop or
control it!!
Socialization Definition
It shapes our personality & self
image
PERSONALITY – a person’s
typical pattern of attitudes, needs,
characteristics, & behavior
Effects of isolation – extreme
social deprivation
Harry Harlow Experiment & Feral
Children
Harry Harlow Experiment
Harry Harlow’s Monkey Experiment
– infant rhesus monkeys separated
from real mothers
Exposed to wire dummies – one
bare and one covered with soft terry
cloth
Even when wire “mothers” gave
food, babies preferred soft terry
cloth “mothers”
Harry Harlow’s Monkey
Experiment
Isolation
Anna and Isabelle – 2 girls who
were socially and emotionally
abused
Both girls were isolated by their
families for being born to unmarried
mothers
Learning disabled, physically
disabled, socially backward
More on these 2 later!!
The SELF
The total of people’s conscious
perceptions of their own identity
as distinct from others
It continues to DEVELOP and
CHANGE throughout one’s life
Cooley & Mead studied the SELF
THE “LOOKING GLASS SELF”
• Our Self is a product of our social
interactions with other people
Three phases of Developing Self
1. We imagine how we present
ourselves to others (friends,
family)
2. We imagine how others react
to our imagined appearance
(attractive, shy, smart)
THE “LOOKING GLASS SELF”
3. We develop some sort of feeling
about ourselves (such as shame
or respect) based on these
impressions
Not a conscious process
We can develop self-identities
based on incorrect perceptions of
how others see us!!
THE “LOOKING GLASS SELF”
EXAMPLE – If a student is
criticized by a teacher, they might
wrongly decide that the teacher
thinks he/she is stupid.
1. The teacher criticized me.
2. The teacher must think I’m
stupid.
3. I am stupid.
GEORGE MEAD
• Best known for his theory of the
SELF
The Self is the central position of
a person’s world
Young children picture
themselves as the focus of
everything
GEORGE MEAD
As people mature, the Self
changes & reflects greater concern
of the reactions of others
3 distinct Stages of Self – Role
Taking
1. IMITATION – children imitate the
people around them without
understanding (ages 1-2 yrs. old)
GEORGE MEAD
2. PLAY – child pretends/imagines
to be other people, acting &
thinking like them (age 3 or 4)
3. GAME – begins to consider
several tasks & relationships
simultaneously; understands rules
and expected roles (age 8 or 9)
GEORGE MEAD
GENERALIZED OTHER – when
an individual acts he/she takes
into account an entire group of
people, i.e. society, community
SIGNIFICANT OTHER – people
who are most important in the
development of the Self & whose
judgments matter the most to us
ERVING GOFFMAN
• Believed our daily activities
attempt to convey impressions of
who we are (called the
dramaturgical approach)
IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT –
we may change our Self to please
different audiences
EX: appear busy when one thinks
boss is watching them
ERVING GOFFMAN
FACE-WORK – if the Self suffers
embarrassment or rejection they
try to “save face” to maintain a
proper image
EX: You don’t get picked up in a
singles bar so you say “There
isn’t anyone interesting here
anyway”
RITES OF PASSAGE
• Validate changes in a person’s
status
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
• FAMILY
Ex: Girl-pink…..Boy-blue
• SCHOOL
Ex: “Hidden curriculum” – discipline,
order, cooperation, conformity
Ex: “Sexism in the Classroom-1992
Study” found schools in the U.S. favor
boys over girls due to the way they
are treated differently
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
Boys are praised for the intelligent
content of their work while girls
are praised for their neatness
Teachers reward boys for their
assertiveness/aggressiveness
while reprimand girls for the same
behavior
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
• PEER GROUP
As child grows older, family becomes
less important
Peer groups serve useful purposes.
-assist adolescents in gaining some
degree of independence from
parents.
-ease the transition to adult
responsibilities.
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
Teenagers imitate their friends
because the peer group maintains
a meaningful system of rewards
and punishments
EX: Males spend more time in
groups of males
Females are more likely to
interact with a single other female
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
This pattern reflects differences in
levels of emotional intimacy –
teenage males are less likely to
develop strong emotional ties
than females
• MEDIA
Often distorts reality; displays role
models for children to imitate
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
• WORKPLACE
The type of job we decide on is
shaped by our culture (female
jobs vs. male jobs)
ASCRIBED vs. ACHIEVED status
• STATUS – socially defined
positions within a large group or
society. A person holds more
than one status simultaneously
• ASCRIBED – “assigned” to a
person by society without regards
for the person’s unique talents or
personality
ASCRIBED vs. ACHIEVED status
• ACHIEVED – we earn through
our own efforts. You must do
something to achieve the status.
Other Vocabulary
• TOTAL INSTITUTIONS – places
where people are isolated &
separated from the rest of society
(Ex: military, mental hospital,
prison)
• DESOCIALIZATION – process by
which people give up old norms,
values, attitudes, and behaviors
Other Vocabulary
• RESOCIALIZATION – the
process in which people adopt
new norms, values, attitudes, and
behaviors
• Anticipatory Socialization –
process of preparing (in advance)
for new norms, values, attitudes,
& behaviors (usually voluntary)
EX: moving from one stage of life to another