CHAPTER 3: SOCIALIZATION
Objectives:
What is meant by gender socialization and how
the family, media, and other agents of
socialization teach children to act masculine and
feminine based on their sex.
Describe some of the gender messages in the
family and mass media and discuss how these
messages contribute to social inequality between
men and women.
List the major agents of socialization in American
society.
Define the term ‘resocialization’ and provide
examples.
TWENTY STATEMENT TEST
What were some of your responses to the TST?
Why do you think you answered the 20 questions
that way?
What might influence those answers?
SOCIALIZATION INTO GENDER
Gender Socialization: the ways in which society
sets children into different courses in life
because they are male or female.
Family are first to teach symbolic division of
gender (ie: pink/blue; Barbie/GI Joe)
Peers are also powerful influences in
developing gender socialization
Mass media also reinforces gender roles: the
behaviors and attitudes considered appropriate
because one is a female or a male.
--advertising, tv, movies, video games
ASSIGNMENT…
Find one example of gender socialization in an
advertisement/TV show/Movie and email it to
me (or if it is a paper ad…bring it to me) and
write a paragraph to go with it about how it
promotes gender socialization and your opinion
on gender socialization.
Email: mlewis@pleasanthillschools.com
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
Agents of socialization: people or groups that affect
our self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or other
orientations toward life
Agents:
--Family
--Neighborhood
--Religion
--Day Care
--School
--Peer Groups
--Sports and Competitive Success
--Workplace
FAMILY
first group to have impact
develops sense of self
values and beliefs
gives us idea of who we are and what we deserve
out of life
Studies have found that social class status
determines how parents treat children at play
--working class: more likely to set limits and
use physical punishment
--middle class: develops curiosity, selfexpression and self-control and more likely to
reason with children
NEIGHBORHOOD
Poor Neighborhood—more likely to get in
trouble with the law, become pregnant, to drop
out of school and end up facing a
disadvantaged life
Affluent Neighborhoods—watch out of children
better, know the children and parents, help to
keep children out of trouble
RELIGION
helps develop values in society
extends to many aspects of life
teaches not only beliefs, but also ideas about
what kinds of dress, speech, and manners are
appropriate for formal occasions.
DAY CARE
defined as: any care other than by the mother—
including care by other relatives and the father
Children who spend more hours in day care have
weaker bonds with their mothers
--they are more likely to fight, to be cruel,
and to be “mean”
Children who spend less time in day care are more
cooperative and more affectionate to their
mothers
--this hold true regardless of quality of day
care, social class, or gender of child
Positive side: children in day care have higher
language skills
THE SCHOOL
provides latent functions (unintended
consequences) for socialization
children learn a broader perspective that allows
them to see beyond the family and it values
Reflect and reinforce social class, economic
and political systems (ie: rich kids go to private
school, learn skills that “match their position”;
blue collar kids are less likely to take college
prep classes)
Example of school as socialization agent: Page
82, Cultural Diversity
PEER GROUPS
Peer Group standards tend to dominate our
lives (ie: music, clothing, etc)
Kids typically separate themselves by sex and
develop group norms
--The norms that made boys/girls popular:
--boys: athletic ability, coolness, toughness
--girls: family background, physical
appearance (clothing/makeup), ability to
attract popular boys
SPORTS AND COMPETITIVE SUCCESS
Powerful socializing agent
Teaches not only physical skill, but also values (ie:
teamwork)
Boys: gain stature in masculinity = more prestige
among peers
--encouraged to form instrumental
relationships—those based upon what you
can get out of them
Girls: socialized to construct their identities on
meaningful relationships, not competitive success
--this is starting to change (sports becoming
more apart of girls socialization)
THE WORKPLACE
learn not only skills, but also different
perspectives of the world
The more you participate in a job, the more it
becomes part of your identity.
_________________________________
Twenty Statement Test (TST)…looking back at
your answers, do you think your socialization by
these agents influenced your answers?
RESOCIALIZATION
Resocialization: the process of learning new
norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors.
Can occur each time we learn something
contrary to our previous experiences (ie: a new
boss that does things differently)
Can also be very intense (ie: joining AA or a
cult)
TOTAL INSTITUTIONS AND DEGRADATION CEREMONIES
Total Institutions: a place in which people are cut
off from the rest of society and are almost
totally controlled by the officials who run the
place (ie: Prison)
Degradation Ceremony: term coined by Garfinkel
to describe an attempt to remake the self by
stripping away an individual’s self-identity and
stamping a new identity in its place. (ie: perp
walk, having hair cut