Child, Family, School,
and Community
Socialization and Support 6th ed.
Chapter Two
Outcomes of Socialization
Aims of Socialization
 Socialization enables children to:
– learn what they need to know in order to be
integrated into the society in which they live.
– develop their potentialities and form
satisfying relationships.
– develop a self-concept.
– learn self-regulation.
– empower achievement.
– acquire appropriate social roles.
– implement developmental skills.
Develop a Self-Concept
 Self-concept is an individual’s perception
of his/her identity as distinct from that of
others.
– It emerges from experiences of
separateness from others.
 The value one places on that identity is
known as self-esteem.
An Ecological Model of
Human Development
Socialization involves
bidirectional interactions
between the child and
significant others in
–microsystems
–mesosystems
–exosystems
–macrosystems
–chronosystem
Concept of Self
 As you mature, your concept of self–your
identity, your understanding of who you
are–is influenced by significant others.
Needs met consistently
– given opportunities
to discover things
– sense of autonomy
– self-regulated
– self-controlled
Needs not met consistently
– not given opportunities
to discover things,
explore environment
– sense of doubt
Erikson’s Theory of
Psychosocial Development
Infancy
Trust
Mistrust
Family
Early Childhood
Autonomy
Shame/Doubt
Family
Play Age
Initiative
Guilt
Family
School Age
Industry
Inferiority
Family
Adolescence
Peers
Peers
School
Community
Intimacy
Isolation
Peers
Community
Generativity
Self-Absorption
Family
Senescence
Community
Identity Diffusion
Family
Adulthood
School
Identity
Family
Young Adulthood
School (Child Care)
Peers
Integrity
Community
Despair
Family
Peers
Enable Self-Regulation
 Self-regulation involves the process of
bringing one’s emotions, thoughts, and
behavior under control.
 This can be interpreted as routing our
feelings through our brains before acting
on them according to the situation.
Empower Achievement
 Socialization gives meaning or
purpose to adulthood and to the long
process children have to go through to
get there.
 Significant adults and peers influence
children’s motivation to succeed.
 Adults who understand child
development provide appropriate
challenges producing highly competent
and motivated children.
Acquire Appropriate Social
Roles
 To be part of a group, individuals must
have a function that complements the
group.
Role
Supervisor
Parent
Friend
Teacher
Function
Lead employees
Nurture children
Emotional support
Facilitator
Gender is a Social Role
 Boys and girls learn gender appropriate
behaviors from significant members of
their society.
 What is appropriate is affected by:
– culture
– ethnicity
– religion
– time
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Macrosystem influences
Chronosystem influence
Implement Developmental
Skills
 Havighurst’s Theory examined how
society’s expectations change.
– Developmental tasks:
• are midway between an individual need
and societal demand.
• arise from social pressure on individuals
according to their development.
Agents of Socialization
 The generalized community comprises
many groups that play a part in
socializing individuals.
 These groups exert their influence in
different ways and at different times.
 Each agent has its own functions in
socialization.
 Sometimes the agents complement each
other; other times they contradict each
other.
Temperament
 Children’s temperament—the innate
characteristics that determine individuals’
sensitivities to various experiences and
responsiveness to patterns of social
interaction—can elicit different reactions
in caregivers.
– A relaxed, happy baby tends to elicit smiles.
– A tense, crying baby tends to elicit concern
or anxiety.
The Family
 The child’s introduction to society.
 The major responsibility for socializing.
 Places children in a community and in a
society which influences their opportunities.
 Passes on its socioeconomic status.
 Functions as a system of interaction that
affects children’s psychosocial development
 Serves as the child’s first reference group for
values, norms, and practices one refers to in
evaluating one’s behavior (Elkin & Handel).
Dimensions of Ethnic
Behavior Patterns
 Extreme examples are presented for
purposes of illustration; individual
members of groups can vary accordingly.
– Orientation: From collectivistic to individualistic
• Collectivism (orientation towards the group)
• Individualism (orientation towards the individual)
– Coping style: From active to passive.
• Active coping style (doing, getting things done)
• Passive coping style (being, becoming)
Dimensions cont.
– Attitude toward authority: From submissive
to egalitarian.
• Submissive (respect and obey without question)
• Egalitarian (more nearly equal figures)
– Communication style: From open/expressive
to restrained/private.
• Open/expressive (African heritage)
• Polite/ritualistic (Asian heritage)
• Restrained/private (Euro-American heritage)
Schools and Child Care
 The school acts as an agent-organized to
perpetuate society’s knowledge, skills,
customs, and beliefs.
 The school’s part in the transmission of
culture is continually under debate
because the growth of knowledge and
technology make it impossible to convey
all information.
 The school acts as an agent to foster
respect and adherence to the existing
social order of society.
John Goodlad
 Four broad categories of goals:
1) academic (reading, writing, arithmetic)
2) vocational (preparation for world of work)
3) social and civic (preparation to participate
in a democracy)
4) personal (develop individual talent and
self-expression)
Schools…cont.
 Teachers evaluate according to norms
and standards.
 Organization of classroom setting affects
socialization.
 Teachers serve as models for children to
imitate.
 Child care has become an important
socialization agent due to societal
changes.
Peers
 The peer group is comprised of individuals who
are of approximately the same age and social
status and who have common interests.
 Children start to understand the views of others
and are able to cooperate, share, and take
turns (perspective taking skills improve).
 Move away from egocentrism—the
characteristic of being able to look at the world
only from one’s own point of view begins to
diminish.
 As children mature and develop new interests,
their peer groups change.
Mass Media
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Newspapers
Magazines
Books
Radio
Television
Videos
Movies
Computers
Other means of communication
Mass Media cont.
 The mass media do not ordinarily directly
involve personal interactions; the
interactions are of a more technical
nature.
 Considered socializing agents because
they reveal many aspects of the society
and elicit cognitive processes in children
that affect their understanding of the
world.
 Convey information about society.
The Community
 The term community is derived from the Latin
word for “fellowship”.
 Community refers to the affective relationships
expected among closely knit groups of people
with common interests.
 Refers to people living in a particular
geographical area.
 The function is to provide a sense of belonging,
a source of friendship, and socialization of
children.
The Community cont.
 One function of community groups is to
give children different perspectives on
life—to broaden their range of experience
and give them new statuses or roles.
 A community can have an informal social
support system—relatives, friends, and
neighbors who can be counted on to help
in a crisis.
Advocacy
 Formal support systems in a community
usually emerge through the process of
advocacy.
 Advocacy means speaking or writing in
support of something.
– Setting goals on behalf of children.
– Seeing that politicians or government
agencies implement them.
Methods of Socialization
 Affective (effect emerges from feeling)
– Attachment
 Operant (effect emerges from acting)
– Reinforcement
– Extinction
– Punishment
– Feedback
– Learning by doing
Methods of Socialization
 Observational (effect emerges from
imitating)
– Modeling
 Cognitive (effect emerges from
information processing)
– Instruction
– Setting standards
– Reasoning
Methods of Socialization
 Sociocultural (effect emerges from
conforming)
– Group pressure
– Tradition
– Rituals and routines
– Symbols
 Apprenticeship (effect emerges from
guided participation)
– Structuring
– Collaborating
– Transferring
Operant Methods: Effect
Emerges from Acting
 “Operant” refers to producing an effect.
– When some behavior is followed by a
favorable outcome (reinforcement), the
probability of that behavior occurring again is
increased.
– When the behavior has no favorable
outcome (for example, it does not get
attention or is ignored) or has an
unfavorable outcome (it results in
punishment), the probability of that behavior
occurring again is decreased.
Reinforcement
 An object or event that is presented
following a behavior.
 Serves to increase the likelihood that
the behavior will occur again.
 Shaping is the systematic,
immediate reinforcement of
successive approximations of the
desired behavior until that behavior
occurs and is maintained.
Reinforcement
Positive
 A reward given for
desired behavior
– Food
– Physical contact
– Praise
Negative
 The termination of
an unpleasant
condition following a
desired response
– Removal from time out
(after appropriate
behavior)
– Restoring privileges
(after an apology)
Extinction
 If reinforcement increases the likelihood of a
response occurring again, then the removal of
the reinforcement should eventually eliminate,
or extinguish, the response.
 The gradual disappearance of a behavior due
to the removal of the reinforcement.
 Must be used in conjunction with reinforcement
to be effective as a socializing method.
 “Time-out” is a type of extinction in which all
reinforcement is removed.
Punishment
 Children have to be taught to process
what they are not supposed to do, as well
as what they are.
 Consists of physically or psychologically
painful stimuli.
 The temporary withdrawal of pleasant
stimuli when undesirable behavior
occurs.
Feedback
 Evaluative information, both positive and
negative, about individual behavior
– an approving nod
– a questioning look
– a comment
– further instructions
– a reminder
 Provides knowledge of results and ways
to improve them
Learning by Doing
 Sometimes socialization occurs through
experiencing and interacting.
 Psychologist Albert Bandura (2000)
relates learning by doing to the attribute
of self-efficacy—the belief that one can
master a situation and produce positive
effects.
Observational Methods: Effect
Emerges from Imitating
 Modeling is a form of imitative learning
that occurs by observing another person
(the model) perform a behavior and
experience its consequences.
– Enables us to learn appropriate social
behavior, attitudes, and emotions vicariously
or second-hand.
Models
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Parents
Siblings
Relatives
Friends
Teachers
Coaches
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Athletic Stars
Movie Stars
TV Stars
Teen Idols
Cartoon
Characters
There is much evidence that children learn
both prosocial and antisocial behavior by
watching TV.
Cognitive Methods: Effect
Emerges from Information
Processing
 Socialization techniques using cognitive
methods involve those that specifically
focus on how individuals process
information or abstract meaning from
experiences.
 Strategies:
– Instruction
– Standard setting
– Reasoning
Instruction
 For instructions to be effective, they must
be understood.
 For instructions to be understood, the
instructor must be willing to:
– rephrase
– demonstrate
– repeat
Setting Standards
 A standard is a level of attainment or
degree of excellence regarded as a goal
or measure of adequacy.
 When parents set standards, they are
telling children what they should do.
 Provides children with advance notice of
what is/isn’t expected of them—helping
them become socialized.
Reasoning
 Involves giving explanations, causes for
an act.
 Some children may not be able to
– understand reasons.
– generalize a reason to another situation.
 Egocentric children lack the cognitive
ability to take another’s point of view thus
making reasoning difficult.
 Altruism refers to actions that are
intended to aid or benefit another person
without anticipation of external reward.
Sociocentrism
 The ability to understand and relate to
views and perspectives of others
– Transductive = connecting one particular
idea to another based on appearance rather
than logic
– Inductive = connecting a specific idea to a
more general idea based on similarities
– Deductive = connecting a general to a
particular one based on similarities and
differences
Parenting Styles
 Baumrind:
– Authoritative = parents are willing to offer
reasons for their directives
– Permissive = parents offer no directives and
rely on manipulation to obtain compliance
– Authoritarian = parents expect children to
accept their word as right and final without
any verbal give-and-take
Children who are habitually given reasons for
directives benefit.
Sociocultural Methods: Effect
Emerges from Conforming
 Culture involves learned behavior including
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knowledge
beliefs
morals
law
customs
traditions
that is characteristic of the social environment
in which individuals grow up.
Culture
 Some of the socializing techniques by
which sociocultural expectations
influence behavior are
– Group pressure
– Traditions
– Rituals
– Routines
– Symbols
Group Pressure
 A sociocultural method of socialization
 Involves conforming to group norms
 Communities comprise social groups
– Families
– Neighborhoods
– Churches
– Peers
– Clubs
– Schools
Tradition
 The handing down of
– customs
– stories
– beliefs and so on
from generation to generation.
 Ethnic groups
 Religious groups
 Families
Rituals and Routines
 A ritual is a set form or system that
– connects us with our past.
– defines our present.
– gives us a future direction.
 Rites of passage signify changes in people’s
status.
 Routines are repetitious acts or established
procedures
– bedtime
– mealtime
– anything done on a regular basis
Symbols
 Acts or objects that have come to be
generally accepted as standing for or
representing something else.
 Abstract
– Dove = symbol of peace
– Cross = symbol of Christ’s death
– Circle = never ending (wedding ring)
Apprentice Methods: Effect
Emerges from Guided
Participation
 Children efforts are guided by
– Parents
– Siblings
– Relatives
– Peers
– Coaches
Outcomes of Socialization
 Values are qualities or beliefs seen as
desirable or important.
 Attitudes are tendencies to respond positively
or negatively to certain persons, objects, or
situations.
 Motives are needs or emotions that cause
people to act in certain ways.
 Attributes are explanations for their
performance.
Self Esteem
 The value individuals place on their
identity.
 Previously viewed as a unitary, global
construct.
 Harter examined more specific domains
related to
– physical competence.
– academic competence.
– behavioral competence.
– social acceptance.
Self-Regulation/Behavior
 Self regulation is the process of bringing
– emotions
– thoughts
– behavior
under one’s control.
 Behavior consists of what one does or
how one acts in response to a stimulus.
Theories
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Psychoanalytic theory (Freud)
Behavioral learning theory (Skinner)
Social cognitive theory (Bandura)
Cognitive developmental theory (Piaget)
Vygotskian theory (Vygotsky)
– Sociocultural theory
Morals
 An individual’s evaluation of what is
right or wrong
 Theories of moral development have
– an affective, or emotional, component.
– a cognitive component.
– a behavioral component.
Gender Roles
 Qualities that individuals understand and
that characterize males and females in
their culture.
 Gender usually refers to psychological
attributes.
 Sex usually refers to biological attributes.
– Males = XY
– Females = XX