Chapter 6
Socialization
I.
Historical Antecedents to Current Theories about Socialization Over the Life Course
-->theories of life course vary -- some try to deal with the whole span of life and
others seek to explain some stage or aspect of life.
A. Freud=s Psychosexual Stage Theory
1. Structural Hypothesis -- provides the basis for Freud=s psychoanalytic
approach to socialization
--> there are three inborn structures of the mind or personality: id, ego
and superego
--> in the newborn, only the id is fully present
--> the ego and superego are differentiated from the id; as the individual
matures, the ego and the superego emerge.
-- the development of the ego and superego are the basic tasks of
socialization
2. Psycho-sexual stages
--> oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages
a. Oral stage -- first year of life, during which the child=s chief source of
sensual gratification centers around the mouth.
-- infant=s chief source of pleasure and gratification is through
sucking, chewing, and biting.
-- this activity increases security and relieves tension
b. Anal stage -- ages 2, 3, during which the child=s principal source of
greatest pleasure is through anal activity. This is the age where the
child becomes very interested in eliminative functions, toileting
activities, and training.
c. Phallic stage -- ages 4, 5. The center of pleasure shifts to the
genitals as children explore their bodies through self-manipulation.
d.
Latency stage -- age 6 to puberty
-- during which time the child represses sexual urges an devotes
time and energy to learning and physical and social activities
-- the source of pleasure shifts from self to other persons as the
child becomes interested in cultivating the friendship of others.
e. Genital Stage -- begins with sexual maturation, after which the
young person seeks sexual stimulation and satisfaction from a member
of the opposite sex.
-- this stage continues through adulthood
--> completion of one stage is the requisite for moving to the next
--> with completion of the stages, first the ego develops, then the
superego emerges
--> once the superego emerges, the demands of society have been
internalized in Amorality@ and the individual has become a fully
functioning adult
3.
Impact
--> most sociological work on socialization has rejected Freud=s
assumption that the process of development is a dispositional one in
which inborn psychobiological structures dictate the unfolding of the self
B. Piaget=s Cognitive-Developmental Stage Theory
--> Like Freud=s, Piaget=s theory of development posits a set of cognitive
structures and related stages of development, each of which must be completed
before the individual can progress to the next stage.
--> Piaget=s theory focuses on experience and social interaction as central in the
movement from one stage to another
--> Cognitive structures
--> this cognitive developmental theory is concerned with the
progressive construction and reconstruction of cognitive structures as
the child develops
--> one central assumption of the theory is that intellectual functioning,
and therefore behavior, is governed by patterns of cognitive structure
known as schemas.
--> individuals develop schemas through experience, the schemas then
influence subsequent interpretations of the social and physical world
Cognitive Structures
a. Piaget became convinced that the mind develops and functions on the
basis of cognitive structures.
b. def. - general rules that govern reasoning
c. concluded that cognitive development passes through 4 fundamental
stages:
1) Sensorimotor
2) Preoperational
3) Concrete Operational
4) Formal Operational
Age
Cognitive Rule
Experiment
Sensorimotor
birth - 2yrs
Rule of Object
Permanence
Show child
something than put
it behind your back
Preoperational
2 yrs - 7 yrs
Overcome
egocentrism
Piaget's and Edith
Meyer Taylor's
mountain
experiment
Concrete Operational
7yrs - 12 yrs
(many people
never go beyond
this stage)
Rule of Conservation
Clay Balls
Glasses of water
Formal Operational
12 yrs -
People learn to
think abstractly
"What if?" and be
able to trace the
logical implications.
--> movement through these stages represents, in part, a shift from
being ego-centered to decentered, and from understanding concrete
objects or pairs of objects to comprehending complex relationships
--> Impact ---> Piaget=s research and the bulk of his theory are concerned with
childhood and adolescence
--> Piaget=s work has been more influential in child psychology than in
sociology
C. Mead=s Theory of the Self in Social Interaction
--> both Cooley and G.H. Mead were concerned with the emergence of the self
through social interaction as the basic process of socialization
--> the self was composed of two components: the AI@ and the Ame@
-- the AI@ is the individual as active responder, the spontaneous part of
the self
-- the Ame@ is the person=s conception of him- or herself
--> Mead asserts that the reflexive self evolves as the individual takes the role of
the other and understands how the various social roles encountered are
interrelated to each other
--> Mead argues that socialization of the individual is a process of social
interaction
--> like Piaget, he emphasizes the active part the individual plays in his or her
own socialization and the importance of social interaction in individual
development
--> Mead says that the individual will take society=s attitudes, in the form of a
generalized other, as her or his own
-- taking the attitudes and roles, both of other individuals and of the
generalized other, is the basic process of socialization
--> the self develops in two stages:
1. First, the self is built through the particular attitudes of other people
toward the developing individual or toward one another
2. Second stage marks the construction by the individual of the
generalized other, in addition to taking the attitudes of those s/he
interacts with
--> although Mead does not really discuss how the self may continue to evolve
throughout a lifetime, his theory strongly implies the potential for such
development
D. M. Mead and Benedict on Status Transitions and Discontinuities
--> M. Mead and Benedict point to the importance of life transitions for
individuals and status passages, in particular the passages from childhood to
adolescence and on to adulthood
-- both theorists were concerned with the ways in which the culture of a
given society can affect the character and outcomes of life transitions,
even though such transitions may be in part maturational processes
--> Mead=s research on Samoan adolescent girls
-- she posed the question of whether the transitions of adolescence were
stressful and full of conflict for girls everywhere.
-- her answer -- was that difficulties such as those experienced by
Western girls in adolescence were not experienced by Samoan
adolescents.
-- Why? -- explanation for this finding lies in distinct cultural differences
btw the two societies, especially in the way in which the adolescent
transition is dealt with.
--> Benedict=s research
-- focused on the extent to which cultures provide continuity or
discontinuity for role transitions.
-- like Mead, she maintained that American culture exacerbated the
discontinuities and tensions of role transitions during the life cycle
-- Example: there is a marked discrepancy in our society btw the role of
childhood and adulthood.
-- children must be submissive, sexless, and nonresponsible, while
adults must be dominant, sexually active, and responsible.
-- in many Native American tribes, for instance, the behaviors in
childhood and adulthood are much more congruent
-- the idea that cultural arrangements may help or hinder adjustment to
life transitions has been quite influential, in the study of adolescent
socialization, aging and life crises
E.
--> both works stress socialization over the whole life cycle not just childhood
Erikson=s Theory of the Self in Social Interaction
--> presents a theory built upon Freud=s observations
--> the ego responds to the social world in particular modes during the various
stages of development
--> Erikson presents 8 stages through which individuals pass from infancy to old
age
-- each stage presents a challenging task that must be accomplished in
order to permit further normal development
--> Erikson=s stages of development correspond to notable life transitions, but
there appears to be a presumption that each stage must be resolved in a
particular way or the individual will experience mental health problems
--> Erikson=s 8 Stages
1. Trust vs. Distrust -- (0 to 1 year)
Infants learn that they can trust
caregivers for sustenance, protection, comfort, and affection, or they
develop a distrust because their needs are not met
2. Autonomy vs Shame and doubt -- (1 to 2 years).
Children gain
control over eliminative functions, learn to feed themselves, are allowed
to play alone and to explore the world (within safe limits), and develop
some degree of independence, or if too restricted by caregivers, develop
a sense of shame and doubt about their own abilities
3. Initiative vs. Guilt -- (3 to 5 years).
Children=s motor and
intellectual abilities continue to increase; they continue to explore the
environment and to experience many new things, assuming more
responsibility for initiating and carrying out plans. Caregivers who
cannot accept children=s developing initiative instill a feeling of guilt
over misbehavior.
4. Industry vs Inferiority -- (6 to 11 years)
Children learn to meet
the demands of home and school, and develop a feeling of self-worth
through accomplishment and interaction with others, or they come to
feel inferior in relation to others.
5. Identity vs. Role confusion -- (12 to 19 years). Adolescents
develop a strong sense of self, or become confused about their identity
and their roles in life.
6.
7.
Intimacy vs Isolation -- (young adulthood: 20s and 30s)
Young adults develop close relationships with others or remain
isolated from meaningful relationships with others.
Generativity vs Stagnation (middle adulthood: 40s & 50s)
Middle adults assume responsible, adult roles in the community,
at work, and in teaching and guiding the next generation, or they
become personally impoverished, self-centered, and stagnant
8. Integrity vs. Despair -- (late adulthood: 60 and over)
Late adults evaluate their lives, and accept them for what they
are, or they despair because they cannot find meaning in their
life.
F. Levinson=s Model of Seasons of Adulthood
--> like in Erikson=s stage theory, each period of Levinson=s model presents
certain developmental tasks to be accomplished.
--> see page 25 of your text for the model of the different periods of the adult
life course
(stair step looking thing)
--> his central concept is that of the life structure
-- def. -- is the underlying pattern of design of a person=s life at a given
time; it includes roles, and the quality and patterns of the relationships
one has, which are all filtered through one=s personality and
temperament
--> life structures are not permanent -- as roles and relationships change, so do
life structures
--> Levinson argues that each adult creates a series of life structures at specific
ages, with transitional periods in btw when the old life structure is either given
up or reexamined and changed.
--> divides the life span into a series of broad eras, each lasting perhaps 25 years
with a major transition btw each era.
--> within each era he proposes three periods: the creation of an initial or entry
life structure, and a culminating phase life structure created at the end of the
era.
--> he also proposes that each phase, transition, or era has a particular content
and particular set of issues or tasks
EXAMPLE: Mid-life transition: btw 40 and 45 -- is centered around the
growing awareness of one=s own mortality, and the realization that the
dreams of one=s youth may never be realized
--> IMPACT -- when one examines larger bodies of data, such as those derived
from the major longitudinal studies, only a small proportion of men seem to fit
Levinson=s formulation.
And I must ask --- What about women?
G. Gould=s Theory of Transformations
--> anchors his ideas about the life course in psychoanalysis
--> but the stages he proposes are more closely related to the adaptations
entailed in taking on new social roles and responsibilities during the adult years.
--> at the center of Gould=s theory is that we are guided by these unrealistic
assumptions - myths - largely derived from our early childhood, when we were
dependent and helpless.
--> from adolescence to age 50 we are steadily at work dismantling the false
assumptions and protective devices that have derived from childhood
consciousness
--> Gould outlines some common false assumptions that must be overcome:
1. That we shall always live with our parents and be their child
2. That our parents will always be there to help when we need them
3. That life is simple and controllable, and that we do not have strong
contradictory forces coexisting within us
4. That there is no real death or evil in the world
--> these transformations are transformations of self that occur as assumptions
are rejected emotionally through resolution of the conflicts engendered at
particular life stages
--> again there are a series of normative crises to be surmounted (a running
theme throughout a lot of these theories we have talked about)
--> CRITIQUE: these myths seem to apply to very protected upper-middle class
children (not applicable to all walks of life)
H. Mannheim=s work on Generation
--> I need to at least mention Mannheim=s work because it is influential in
current theory but we will do just that -- mention it
--> he views generation location as a source of social change, in part because
individuals who are members of different generations undergo different
socialization experiences
--> the unique experiences common to each generation group allow for social
change
-- if processes of socialization actually involve different experiences for
each new generation, it is possible that individuals in successive
generation cohorts will be socialized in very distinctive ways.
II. Current Theory and Research on Socialization over the Life Course
A. Socialization viewed as a continuing process
--> a formal theory of the life course in terms of role sequences has not yet been
attained, but we can specify some of the elements in such a theory and some of
the consequences
--> Socialization -- def. -- the processes of social interaction, teaching, and
learning by which the child comes to take on the ways of a particular society.
--> giving the child the Atools@ to survive in a particular society
--> underlying virtually all of the contemporary sociological views on
socialization is the assumption that it is a continuing lifelong process
--> some folks argue that this process develops a personality early on and then is
fairly stable the remainder of the life course
--> other folks subscribe to the notion that there is both stability and change
throughout the life course (in both childhood and adulthood)
--> while neither all change nor all stability can be attributed to socialization
processes, role acquisition, loss, and transition seem to be key factors in both
stability and transformation over the life course
B.
Role Acquisition
--> in past and present views of the life course, the notion that the acquisition of
social roles is a key socialization process
--> contemporary work on socialization, especially adult socialization, has
revolved around processes of role acquisition, role conflict, and role transitions
--> as individuals mature, they are expected to take on a number of different,
sometimes contradictory statuses and roles.
--> this expansion of role-sets continues until old age, at which point the
number of roles and statuses contracts
*** Reminder ---- a status -- a social position that one holds within a society
EXAMPLES: race, lawyer, daughter
-- a role -- the expectations of you in your particular position
--> it is often said that because modern industrial society is so complex,
differentiated, and rapidly changing, individuals today need to understand and
perform many more roles than individuals in earlier periods or in less complex
societies.
--> this means that individuals simply cannot become prepared in
childhood for all the tasks and roles they will encounter as adults
--> it also implies that role definitions are in flux and that new roles
emerge frequently.
--> individuals also often change a role when they acquire it
-- this personal reconception of a role is an important part of the role
acquisition process
-- several stages in role acquisition
1. Anticipatory socialization -- attitudes & beliefs about
the role and what it entails
2. Formal socialization -- experience the role
3. Informal socialization -- begin to redefine it
4. Personal role expectations -- personalize or tailor the
role expectations to the individual
C. Role Transitions and Role Discontinuity
--> the discontinuity involved in major role transition may be psychologically
stressful
--> some argue that this stress is mitigated by anticipatory socialization
--> others suggest that the level of stress depends on the nature of the role
abandoned or acquired
--> there are also institutionalized rites of passage that smooth the transition
into new roles
--> we will briefly talk about each of these
1. Role Discontinuity as Stressful
--> def. -- refers to a contradiction btw demands of a new and an old role
-- EXAMPLE: in Western industrialized countries, we are socialized
to value autonomy and productivity; yet with increasing age and
retirement, we must suddenly adjust to a more dependent and
unproductive role
(this has been especially true for males
and is becoming similar for females)
--> this presents the individual with a traumatic situation and makes it
more difficult for him/her to learn and adjust to the new role
2. Anticipatory Socialization and role transitions
--> some argue and attempt to show in their research that socialization
prior to taking on a new role cushions the shock of role transitions and
results in successful role acquisition
-- EXAMPLE: in graduate schools you are prepped for your future
position. You are given an idea of what it is you have to do in
order to succeed in your future position and you are given the
skills. This softens the blow or at least takes away some of the
shock of the new role (professor)
--> in order for anticipatory socialization to facilitate adjustment to the
new role, it must be accurate
-- EXAMPLE: there seem to be some essential inaccuracies in
anticipatory socialization for marital roles in the U.S. resulting in
romanticized pictures of such roles that may create problems for
those new to the roles.
-- so is true for some occupations: physician or lawyer -not accurately portrayed in the media and so have
romanticized ideas about what that occupation might
entail
--> the assumption underlying the anticipatory socialization concept is
that if the individual is prepared ahead of time for the new role, in the
sense of understanding the norms associated with the role, having the
necessary skills to carry out the role, and becoming aware of
expectations and rewards attached to the role, that her or she will move
into the new role easily and effectively
--> ONE EXCEPTION -- a situation that seems to be an exception to this
notion of role transition is the case in which role transition involves a loss
in status
-- even if one is prepared for such a role transition, it may still be
stressful.
-- many of the role transitions of old age are examples of such a
situation; as work, activities that depend on health and higher
income, and family role relationships are lost
3.
The Nature of the Roles Changed
--> we argue that regardless of whether role transitions involve status
gains or losses, they are still stressful and problematic
--> both in the case of role loss and of role gain, the individual must not
only adjust to new role relationships and expectations, but s/he must
Adisengage@ from old relationships and expectations
EXAMPLES: becoming someone=s spouse; becoming someone=s
parent
-- EXAMPLE: At work you and your peers are all on the same level.
You get promoted to be their supervisor which not only removes
them from them physically (you get a new office), but also
hierarchically. They are not real happy about this and don=t
take your requests, demands, orders seriously.
4. Impact of Rites of Passage on role Transition
--> negative effects of discontinuity btw sequential roles and changes in
status are believed to be minimized by rites of passage
--> such rites of passage reflect institutionalized movement from one
part of the social structure to another, a loss or gain of privilege,
influence, or power, and a changed identity and sense of self as well as
changed behavior
--> these rituals are believed to make role transitions easier for
individuals by signifying to others that the person=s status has changed
and that new expectations are appropriate, and by symbolizing status
change for the individual her/himself
EXAMPLES: marriage ceremony; graduation ceremony
5. Being Aoff-time@ in making role transitions and making multiple role
transitions
--> it appears that being Aoff-time@ in taking on new roles or disengaging
from old ones may make transitions more stressful,
--> and that taking on multiple roles may be more difficult for the
individual than a transition to only one new role or role-set
A. Being Off-time
--> if role transitions occur earlier or later in life than prescribed
by the norms, then stresses associated with them will be
exacerbated, and socialization to the new role may be faulty or
incomplete
--> individuals might react to their own internalization of age
norms or from reactions from friends and family
B. Multiple roles
--> taking on multiple roles at one time is also stressful
--> parenthood and career building
--> entrance into junior high coupled with the advent of dating
and onset of puberty
6.
Lack of role clarity or role consensus
--> among the important problems in transition to new roles is the lack
of role clarity or the presence of role ambiguity, such that the socializee
does not know how to behave in the new role
--> if partners disagree about role expectations, such lack of clarity will
make learning the new role problematic
--> sometimes anticipatory socialization doesn=t always provide clarity
-- Medical school -- some instructors are Ph.D.=s and others are
M.D.=s. The Ph.D.=s value the research and the M.D.=s are
practitioners. Hard for students to know which or what to
value.
7. Role Conflict
--> the individual meets conflict because s/he occupies multiple statuses
-- EXAMPLE: the time demands placed on him/her by his/her new
job may conflict with those placed on him/her by his/her spouse.
--EXAMPLE: from Friends: When Ross, Monica=s brother, had the
new girlfriend Julie, but Rachel, Monica=s best friend, liked Ross.
Julie asks Monica to go shopping. Monica is both sister to Ross
and friend to Rachel.