Transcript SOCIALIZING THE INDIVIDUAL

SOCIALIZING THE
INDIVIDUAL
SOCIALIZATION
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Socialization is the lifelong social experience
by which individuals develop their human
potential and learn culture.
Social experience is also the
foundation for the personality,
a person’s fairly consistent
patterns of thinking, feeling,
and acting
Personality
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The sum total of behaviors,
attitudes, , beliefs, and values that
are characteristic of an individual
Determines how we adjust/react
Unique
Develops over time
PERSONALITY
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personality development more
obvious in childhood ( rapid physical,
emotional, intellectual growth)
PERSONALITY
What are the 4 main factors
that affect development of
personality?
PERSONALITY
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HEREDITY
BIRTH ORDER
PARENTAL CHARACTERISTICS
CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
NATURE VS NURTURE
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19th century an intense debate regarding the
relative importance of nature (biology) and
nurture (socialization) in the shaping of human
behavior.
Modern sociologists view nurture as much
more important than nature in shaping human
behavior.
Nature vs. Nurture
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Heredity- the transmission of
genetic characteristics from parents
to children
VERSUS
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Social environment- contact
with other people
Nature argument
Instinct- an unchanging biological
inherited behavior pattern
(animal behavior)
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Instinctual drives… motherhood,
laughing, religion
Nurture argument
Ivan Pavlov’s work w/dogs
 Russian scientist that showed
instinctual behavior could be taught
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh
qumfpxuzI&feature=related
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NATURE VS. NURTURE
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Studies of twins (including identical twins)
shows that socialization and heredity both
contribute to human development
The Nature versus Nurture debate
continues
Nature argument
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Sociobiology- systematic study of
biological basis of all social behavior
Certain cultural characteristics and
behavioral traits are “rooted” in
genetic makeup of humans
Human social life is determined by
biological factors
Reflection
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Describe the nature versus nurture
viewpoints of personality
developments.
Which argument do you support?
Explain
HEREDITY
Characteristics present at birth
 Body build, hair, eye color, skin
pigmentation
 Aptitude- capacity to learn a particular
skill or acquire knowledge (natural talent)
 “inherited aptitude”- environmental
factors
Ex. Parents’ response can
encourage/discourage
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HEREDITY
Heredity provides you with biological
needs
 Culture determines how you meet
these needs
 Shapes human personalities by
setting limits on the individuals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg
XIk_4-qMY
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Birth Order
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Order in which we are born
influences our personalities
Birth Order
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First Born….achievement oriented
Last Born…social
Middle child…
Only child…
What is your birth order?
Parental characteristics
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Age of parents
Level of education
Religious orientation
Cultural heritage
Occupational background
Parental characteristics
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Compare teenage parents with
30year old parents.
How might the personalities of those
children be different? Similar?
Think about education, economics,
etc?
The cultural environment
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Culture influences personality
Determines basic types of
personalities found in society
The Ik of Uganda (case study)
How we experience our
culture influences personality
I.E. gender, subculture, region,
neighborhood
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Culture environment
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Complete the cultural diversity test
on page 104.
Closure
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What are the 4 main factors that
affect personality development?
Which factor has more influence on
personality development and which
less?
POINTS TO PONDER
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How does isolation in childhood
affect development?
Make a list of characteristics a child
might exhibit if he or she were raised
isolated from their families….
Isolation in Childhood
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Feral children- wild or untamed –
found living in isolation in homes
Case studies of isolation have led
Sociologists to conclude that our
personality comes from our cultural
environment!
ISOLATION IN CHILDHOOD
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Anna-was confined to attack space,
given no social attention. When found
(at age 6) she had no interest in
people. She could not walk, talk or feed
herself. Died at 10 from
malnourishment.
Isabelle-was restricted to a dark room,
but did have her mother (who was
deaf). When found at age 6, she could
not speak, but eventually did learn to
communicate (shows that social
deprivation can be overcome!)
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Genie was raised in near isolation for
the first twelve years of her life.
Lived in almost complete silence, and
was beaten if she made noise. She did
not learn how to talk.
After she was found, she had the skills
of a 1 year old. After 8 years of
training, she never progressed past the
3rd grade level.
Never able to function as a social
being, but could conform to basic social
norms.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thIDCL3NClQ&feat
ure=related
ISOLATION IN CHILDHOOD
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Lack social skills
human characteristics
Lack reasoning, manners, ability to
control bodily functions or move like
humans
lack the ability to speak
ISOLATION IN CHILDHOOD
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Research on the effects of social
isolation demonstrates the
importance of socialization.
All the evidence points to the
crucial role in social development
in forming personality.
INSTITUTIONALIZATION
Orphanages and hospitals can often
create the same characteristics of
isolated children
Spitz’s research on institutionalization
on infants in orphanage:
 Human interaction is important
 Lack of caring environment: develop
much slower, mentally, physically,
emotionally.
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THE SOCIAL SELF
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How does a person’s sense of self
emerge?
Tabula Rasa
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John Locke: we are born with a clean
slate
The Looking-Glass self
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Charles Horton Cooley
Interactionist perspective
Interactive process we develop an
image of ourselves based on how we
imagine we appear to others
Example
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Mattie is a new sociology professor at
the local college. During her first
lecture, she noticed that some
students were yawning. Based on
her interpretation of the students
yawning, Mattie has decided she is a
boring teacher.
Cooley
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The formation of the self – the set of
concepts we use in defining who we
are – is a central part of the
socialization process.
The self emerges in the course of
interaction with other people
George Herbert Mead
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Interactionist perspective
Idea similar to Cooley
Role taking: we see ourselves as others
see us but take on or pretend to take the
roles of others
imagining the situation from that person’s
point of view, a process called taking the
role of the other.
Internalize the expectations of the people
closest to us (significant others)
Mead
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The self develops through several stages:
Imitation.
Play, in which children take the roles of
significant others.
Games, in which they take the roles of
several other people at the same time.
Internalized attitudes, expectations, and
viewpoints =the generalized other
Mead
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I= unsocialized, spontaneous selfinterested component of personality
and self identity
Me= aware of expectations and
attitudes of society- the socialized
self
Creating a sense of self : Mead
• Criticized for ignoring the role of biology in the
development of the self.
• Self-image is differentiated from self-conception.
Self-esteem is governed by appraisals, social
comparisons, and self-attribution. Personal
efficacy is another aspect of self-evaluation
• Conclusion: Mead showed that symbolic
interaction is the foundation of both self and
society
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
•Specific individuals,
groups, and
institutions that enable
socialization to take
place.
•Family, the peer
group, the school,
and the mass media
Family
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most important of the agents of
socialization
Primary socializer of young children
determining one's attitudes toward
religion and establishing career
goals.
Unintended or deliberate socialization
Peer Group
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Peers refer to people who are
roughly the same age and/or who
share other social characteristics
Influential during the pre-teen/early
teenage years
w/out peer acceptance…misfits,
outsiders,
School
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Major role in “deliberate”
socialization
Class activities deliberate teaching
Extracurricular activities prepare
students for life in larger society
Transmit cultural values: patriotism,
responsibility, citizenship
School
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Teachers become role models
(manners, speech, style)
Peer groups and cliques
Mass Media
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Instruments of mass communication
reaching large audiences
No personal contact
Books, film, internet, magazines,
newspapers, radio, television
Which form has the most influence?
Mass Media
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98% of homes in US have TV’s
Average more than 2 tv’s per home
Children watch avg. of 28 hrs a week
Ongoing debate over TV violence
What are negative and positive
aspects of the effects of mass media
on socialization?
Resocialization
Setting in which people are isolated
from the rest of society for a set
period
 Subject to tight control
I.E. prisons, (military)boot camp,
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Resocialization
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Total institutions concerned w/
resocializing members
Learn new values/norms
Changing personality/social behavior
How is this done?
Resocialization
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Strip away individual identity
Replace inst. Identity
Uniforms, deny freedom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA
S4uSDJe9k&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd
7_yp0Hkwc