LEARNING THE WAYS OF SOCIETY
Stages of
Socialization
 Childhood
 Birth to 12 years old
people learn…
 Adolescence
 basic skills
 13-19 years old
Make a list of at
least 3 mental  Adulthood
 values
or physical
 Young adulthood
abilities you
 beliefs
possess
 Process by which
 20-29 years old
 behavior patterns
of a society
 Middle years
 30-65 years old
 Death/Dying
 Over 65 years old
 Sociologists have long debated the following question:
 How much of people’s characteristics come from “nature”
(heredity) and how much from “nurture” (the social
environment)?
 Studies of isolated children or twins provides great deal of
information
 Sociologists who wish to study the effects of isolation on
human infants have also studied children raised in orphanages.
People view me as …
How has this impacted your self-concept
(the view you have of yourself)?
 Looking-glass self
 Self – our view of who we
are
 Charles Cooley
 Symbolic interactionist
 Our sense of self develops
from interactions with
others
Positive
Self-Concept
vs.
Negative
Self-Concept
3 Elements
 We imagine how we
appear to those around us
 “I am funny “
 We interpret others’
reactions
 “Do people like me because
I’m funny”?
 We develop a self-concept
 “I feel good about myself
because people think I’m
funny”
 Young children take roles
of family members
 George Herbert Mead
 Symbolic interactionist
 Importance of play to
development of self
 “Role-taking” expands as
you age
 Greater sense of self
 Eventually can take the
role of groups as a whole
 Role-taking
 Taking the roles of others  3 Stages:
 Putting yourself in
someone else’s shoes
 Understanding:
 How someone feels
 How someone thinks
 How they will react
 Imitation (Birth – 3)
 Prepares you for role-taking
 Play (3 – 6)
 Ex. - Playing pretend
 Games (Begins in early
school years)
 Developmental stages were not largely recognized until
the Industrial Revolution
 Created not by biology but by society
 Brought about through:
 Material surplus
 Increased leisure time
 Greater emphasis on education
 Greater emphasis on caring for and development of
children
 Emphasis on caring extends to emotional,
intellectual, moral, and physical care
 Gender and social class have an impact on childhood
 Industrial revolution allowed many children to remain
outside of the workforce and so was born the
adolescent ages
 Education had also become an important factor in
success
 Adolescents develop their own subcultures with
distinctive clothing, hairstyles, language and music
 Adulthood can be separated into several different
periods:
 Young adulthood (18 to 29)
 Middle Years (30 – 50)
 Later Middle Years (50 – 65)
 Late Adulthood (65 and on)
 Young adults leave home:
 College, Full-time job, etc.
 Separation varies person to person and is both physical
and psychological
 Period of prolonged youth in which people postpone
adult responsibilities
 Balancing of education and employment
 Commitments develop
 Family, work, leisure, community,
etc.
 More sure of self, goals, and
position in life
 Uncertainty can lead to mid-life
crisis
 Challenges may emerge in form
of…
 Divorce
 Unemployment
 Balancing of life
 Health and mortality begin to
loom larger
 Anticipation of next stage in life
 “Sandwich generation”
 Caring for both children and
parents
 Can also be very comfortable
period
 Secure job
 High standard of living
 Many societies today see this as an
extension of Middle Adulthood
 Desire to remain independent
 Affected largely by:
 Health
 Income
Plays large role in
comfort experienced
during this stage
 Social networks
 Friends & Family
 Community involvement
 Desire to remain independent as
“time is closing in”
 Family
 Social class can impact how children are raised
 Blue collar vs. Middle class
 Religion
 Most Americans belong to some congregation
 Extends into many parts of our lives – beyond
beliefs (Ex. - Dress, speech, manners)
 Peers
 Friends, clubs, “gangs”
 Conformity vs. Rejection
 School
 Children leave home and learn to become part of a larger
group
 Exposed to peer groups
 Workplace
 Provides differing perspectives on life
 Commitment to work impacts self-concept
 Job becomes a means of describing oneself
Anticipatory Socialization: learning rights, obligations,
and expectations of a role in preparation of assuming that
role
 By expecting different attitudes and behaviors
from us because we are male or female, human
group nudges boys and girls in separate directions
in life
 On the basis of sex
 Children are given different toys
 Boys are encouraged to engage in more “rough and
tumble” activities
 Mass Media reinforces society’s expectations of
gender