Transcript Socialization and Agents of Socialization

SOCIALIZATION AND
AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION

How does your appearance/height influence your personality
and socialization?
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Pretty girls are popular
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Short guys have a harder time getting dates and promotions
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Strong /athletic people are more confident
WHAT DETERMINES INTELLIGENCE?
SUCCESS? MORALS? INTERESTS?
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Are we born a “blank slate” or “tabula rasa” or do we start with
some sort of genetic plan to our behaviors and personality?
HOW MUCH CHOICE AND IMPACT DO WE
AND OUR PARENTS HAVE? OR ARE OUR
WHOLE LIVES DETERMINED BY GENETICS?
Psychologist Donald Hebb is said to have once answered a
journalist's question of "which, nature or nurture,
contributes more to personality?" by asking in response,
"which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its
length or its width?“
b. “Without language, there can be no culture—no shared
way of life—and culture is the key to what people
become.” We inherit many things biologically, but we
cannot inherit culture.
a.
ACCORDING TO SOCIOLOGISTS AND
PSYCHOLOGISTS: A MIX: SOME
HEREDITARY, SOME ENVIRONMENTAL.
Although "nurture" has historically been referred to as the care
given to children by the parents, with the mother playing a role
of particular importance, this term is now regarded by some as
any environmental (not genetic) factor in the contemporary
nature versus nurture debate. Thus the definition of "nurture"
has been expanded in order to include the influences on
development arising from prenatal, parental, extended family and
peer experiences, extending to influences such as media,
marketing, and socio-economic status. Indeed, a substantial
source of environmental input to human nature may arise from
randomly determined variations in prenatal development.
 "Social
environment" - the entire human environment,
including direct contact.
 A fancy term for the people we interact with (directly or
indirectly)
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Why is this social environment important to our discussion of
childhood development?
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Because it socializes us - teaches us the culture of our society
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT
THE "NURTURE" SIDE OF THE LEDGER - HOW
THE PEOPLE AROUND US HELPED US
DEVELOP.
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The process by which we learn the culture of our society
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Now everyone in a society has some influence on you (the
cabby that gives you a ride from the airport might teach you first
cussword in Farsi; or that jerk who cuts you off in traffic might
teach you to drive more aggressively on Route 80, or your
parents might teach you how to speak, dress yourself, and use a
toilet)
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These influencers (big and small) are known as "agents of
socialization"
SOCIALIZATION: THE PROCESS BY WHICH
PEOPLE LEARN THE CHARACTERISTICS
(KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ATTITUDES,
VALUES, NORMS) OF THEIR GROUP
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What influences have affected you in your life, and made you into the
person you are today?

(values or norms, or different ways to act or do things, things that made
you who you are)
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Parents/family
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Friends/peers
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Teachers/School
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Clergy
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the Media
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Role Models of all sorts
 Celebrities,
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sports stars, etc.
If you have strong family/friends as role models and agents of
socialization, the other effects will be more minimal.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE "AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION"?
 Share
some stories of your own
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Why do I love history? A couple of reasons- my grandmother’s
stories of living in France during World War II; I had great history
teachers all throughout grammar and high school
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Why am I a romantic?
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I have no idea
WHAT ARE THINGS THAT YOUR SCHOOL
TEACHES YOU BESIDES THE THREE R'S?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aKldqcC35o
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Even if you think that violence and sex on TV doesn't affect you, it might
be subconsciously. It only makes sense. We act like those we see (The
Elevator Experiment)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GSzCBv1-qA
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Why does this happen? Its human nature to a large extent - though also
a societies' dedication to individualism and autonomy makes a
difference as well.
MASS MEDIA: AGENT OF
SOCIALIZATION
1. Debate at end (if necessary for time)
a. With the effects (or potential effects) that celebrities and public figures have on children, should they
make an extra effort to watch their behavior (or be fined excessively if they don't?)
b. Schools socialize us in all sorts of ways
i. Teaching us conformity, to follow rules (raising hands)
ii. Teaching American values and patriotism (pledge of allegiance, American heroes and stories and
myths)
iii. Teaching us right and wrong (bullying, multiculturalism)
Is this right? Or should schools focus ONLY on skills and academics?