First: The Practice Test
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F.I.B. and S.A. are EXAMPLES
Essays are REAL
On the test, you will receive a word bank
There will be partial credit
The online readings will also be covered
Tell Me about yourself.
• When you were growing up, did you generally
fit in and know what do in social situations?
• Or did you find yourself confused about how
to carry yourself, what to wear, how to act
around people?
Socialization
Socialization
• The process by which we:
– become aware of ourselves as part of a group,
– learn how to communicate with others in the
group, and
– learn the behavior expected of us. (p. 129)
What happened?
• When you first went to college, did you have
to go through a period of adjustment with:
– Your friends “back home” (even if “back home” is
15 minutes away)?
– Your family?
– Yourself?
Resocialization
• Learning new sets of values, behaviors, and
attitudes that are different from the ones you
previously had (p. 137)
Agents of Socialization
• People, groups, or social institutions that
socialize new members, either formally or
informally. (p. 137)
Agent: Family
• First & Most
• Families of different classes socialize kids in
different ways:
– Conformity vs. creativity
• WHY?
What about you?
• What orientation were you socialized into?
Does it fit the theory?
Agent: Education
• Obvious function: facts, concepts, skills
• Latent function: “hidden curriculum”
What do you think?
• Are there any parts of the hidden curriculum
that now, looking back, you can identify being
taught?
• How do you feel about that?
Agent: Religion
• U.S.: most religious in the world
• Ready set of rules – little gray area, depending
upon the faith
And humans are exceptional at
adapting
And humans are exceptional at
adapting
What do you think?
• In the language of socialization, what are
these children actually doing?
• (To the extent that you’re comfortable talking
about it) Have you changed your belief system
as you’ve gone through your life?
• Why do think that is?
Agent: Peers
• Homogeneous
• Learning about love
• Positive?
What do you think?
• We often hear about “peer pressure” as a
mode of socialization in youth. How strong a
motivating factor do you think peer pressure
is for teens?
– Do you think it’s overblown? Underappreciated?
Agent: Media
• Americans: 6.5 hours a day with media
• American kids: 3 hours a day on TV
• Informal socialization – “creating a landscape”
– NOT indoctrination, not brainwashing
Example: racial values
What do you think?
• Think hard: can you think of other ways in
which media socializes us into different roles,
activities, etc?
Agent: The Workplace
• Defines self
• Peer groups
• “professionalize”
What about you?
• “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
• What parts of it appeal to you?
– Function?
– Hours?
– Interest/boredom?
– Location?
• How much of this is part of your identity?
– Does it depend on what the job is?
Gender socialization
• “Tough Guise” clip
• The idea: Gender isn’t something that you are,
it’s something that you do.
• Socializes us into certain behaviors.
What do you think?
• What do you think about Katz’ argument that
everyone borrows their gender “performance”
from someplace else?
Gender socialization through notions of
„hygiene‟
Socialization through toys
Socialization through toys
Socialization through toys
Socialization through toys
Socialization through toys
Socialization through toys
Socialization through toys
• “The whole purpose
behind a doll is to
pretend like you’re a
parent,” said Dennis
Lewis, the American
representative for
Berjuan Toys, the Spanish
company that makes the
dolls. “The dolls are
meant to just let kids play
as mommies and daddies
naturally.”
Discussion question!
• As we just saw, we socialize children into
gendered behaviors all the time. Why are
people in an uproar about this?
• What does that say about gender
socialization?
Gender Socialization: The way we
“go?”
Gender Socialization: The way we
“go?”
Gender Socialization: The way we
“go?”
Discussion Question!
• In what ways were you socialized ‘into’ or ‘out
of’ your gender?