Chapter 4Socialization
Socialization
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Socialization- patterns of behavior and attitudes that emerge
through the life course
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Can be conscious and/or subconscious
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Teaches us to behave properly and what to expect if you don’t
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https://www.ted.com/talks/maysoon_zayid_i_got_99_problems_pals
y_is_just_one?language=en
Socialization

Positionality-the recognition that where you stand in relations to others shapes
what you can see and understand
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Personality-Person’s typical patterns of attitudes, behaviors, needs,
characteristics, and behavior
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To think critically we must consider the social, political, and historical context of
our positionality
Is it Nature or Nurture?
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The case of Genie- helps explain the importance of earliest
socialization
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E
The Influence of Heredity (Nature)
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Heredity: Twins have similar intelligence scores when reared apart in roughly similar
social settings
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Different results when reared in different social settings
The Self and Socialization
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Self- distinct identity that sets us apart from others
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The self is constantly changing
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Becomes our unique identity
Cooley: The Looking Glass Self
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The self is a product of social interactions with other people
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We contemplate how others perceive us and which influence the
development of the “self”.
Mead: Stages of Self
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The self begins as a privileged, central position in a person’s world
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Prepatory Stage: Children imitate people around them
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Play Stage: Children develop skills in communicating through
symbols and role taking
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Game Stage: Children consider several actual tasks and relationship
simultaneously
Goffman: Impression Management
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Impression Management: Individuals learn to slant their presentation
of self to create distinctive appearances and to satisfy particular
audiences (dramaturgical approach)
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Face-work: we need to maintain a proper image of self to continue
social interaction
Freud: Psychological Approaches
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Id-pleasure seeking self
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Ego-balancer
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Superego-overly socialized self
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The id and superego work in opposition to one another
Piaget: Psychological Approaches
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Cognitive Theory of Development:
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1.) Learning through the senses
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2.) Words and Symbols
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3.) Engage in Logical Thinking
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4.) Sophisticated Abstract Thought
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Social interaction is key to develop
Agents of Socialization
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Family
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Culture
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School
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Peer Groups
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Mass Media and Technology:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU_T6XB4i1k
The Life Course
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Rites of Passage: means of dramatizing and validating changes in a
person’s status
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Life Course Approach: looks closely at social factors that influence
people throughout their lives
Anticipatory Socialization and
Resocialization
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Anticipatory Socialization: Person “rehearses” future occupations
and social relationships
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Resocialization: discarding former behavior patterns and accepting
new ones during transitions in one’s life
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Total Institutions: regulates all aspects of a person’s life under a single
authority
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Degradation Ceremony: rituals where individual becomes
secondary and rather invisible in overbearing social environment