Chapter 4-Socialization

Socialization

Socialization- patterns of behavior and attitudes that emerge through the life course

Can be conscious and/or subconscious

Teaches us to behave properly and what to expect if you don’t

https://www.ted.com/talks/maysoon_zayid_i_got_99_problems_palsy_is_just_one?language=en

Socialization

Positionality-the recognition that where you stand in relations to others shapes what you can see and understand

Personality-Person’s typical patterns of attitudes, behaviors, needs, characteristics, and behavior

To think critically we must consider the social, political, and historical context of our positionality

Is it Nature or Nurture?

The case of Genie- helps explain the importance of earliest socialization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E

The Influence of Heredity (Nature) Heredity: Twins have similar intelligence scores when reared apart in roughly similar

social settings Different results when reared in different social settings

The Self and Socialization

Self- distinct identity that sets us apart from others The self is constantly changing Becomes our unique identity

Cooley: The Looking Glass Self

The self is a product of social interactions with other people We contemplate how others perceive us and which influence the

development of the “self”.

Mead: Stages of Self

The self begins as a privileged, central position in a person’s world

Prepatory Stage: Children imitate people around them Play Stage: Children develop skills in communicating through

symbols and role taking Game Stage: Children consider several actual tasks and

relationship simultaneously

Goffman: Impression Management

Impression Management: Individuals learn to slant their presentation of self to create distinctive appearances and to satisfy particular audiences (dramaturgical approach)

Face-work: we need to maintain a proper image of self to continue social interaction

Freud: Psychological Approaches

Id-pleasure seeking self Ego-balancer Superego-overly socialized self

The id and superego work in opposition to one another

Piaget: Psychological Approaches

Cognitive Theory of Development: 1.) Learning through the senses 2.) Words and Symbols 3.) Engage in Logical Thinking 4.) Sophisticated Abstract Thought Social interaction is key to develop

Agents of Socialization

Family Culture School Peer Groups Mass Media and Technology:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU_T6XB4i1k

The Life Course

Rites of Passage: means of dramatizing and validating changes in a person’s status

Life Course Approach: looks closely at social factors that influence people throughout their lives

Anticipatory Socialization and Resocialization

Anticipatory Socialization: Person “rehearses” future occupations and social relationships

Resocialization: discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones during transitions in one’s life

Total Institutions: regulates all aspects of a person’s life under a single authority

Degradation Ceremony: rituals where individual becomes secondary and rather invisible in overbearing social environment