Socialization
Sociology
Ch.4
THE PROCESS BY WHICH PEOPLE ACT AND REACT IN RELATION TO OTHERS

HUMANS RELY ON SOCIAL STRUCTURE
TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF SITUATIONS

Social Structure takes into account elements
of society and culture

These patterns of structure
 Make the social world understandable
 Help guide social behavior
 Makes life appear as safe and predictable
 Allows for social stability and Order
Touch your nose



How did you know
to do that?
Where did you learn
it?
When did you learn
it?



Family is the primary
socializer
One of family’s most
important tasks is to
teach language
Without language or a
way to communicate a
person could not
function in society
Can you understand this language?
The process of
learning to
participate in a
group
 Begins at birth and
continues
throughout life
 Without prolonged
and intensive social
contact children do
not learn basic skills
such as walking,
talking, and loving

Harlow experiments

Harry Harlow- 1959,1962,1967 performed
experiments on rhesus monkeys to show
the negative effects of social isolation
Harlow scares monkeys
 Harlow Experiment 1
 Harlow Experiment 2

Was this ethical?

IMPACT ON NONHUMAN PRIMATES

HARLOWS’ EXPERIMENTS


SIX MONTHS OF COMPLETE ISOLATION WAS
ENOUGH TO DISTURB DEVELOPMENT
IMPACT ON CHILDREN


FERAL CHILDREN
ANNA AND ISABELLE


YEARS OF ISOLATION LEFT BOTH CHILDREN
DAMAGED AND ONLY CAPABLE OF
APPROXIMATING A NORMAL LIFE
GENIE’S CASE

SOMEWHAT LESS ISOLATED, BUT SUFFERED
PERMANENT DISABILITIES
 Annadiscovered
at 5
•Once
found-Within
1 1/2 years
•Walks
 Confined to a small room
•Understands simple commands
 Only milk to drink•Feeds self
malnourished
•Speech of a one year old
 Could
not walk or talk
•Within
3 years
 Lived
in filth
•Could
bounce
and catch a ball participate
as
follower in group
activities no
 aAssessed
at virtually
•Toilet
trained/
dress self
sign
of intelligence
•Speech of a two year old
•Within five years
•Follow simple instructions
•Identify some colors
• use blocks
•Clean herself
•Showed attachment to a doll
•Died at age 10
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

Isabelle discovered at 6
lived her entire life in a
dark attic with her deaf
After
about two
mute
mother
years
ofdarkness
intensive
they
lived in
and
work
with
language
isolation.
specialists, Isabelle
Malnourished
acquired a vocabulary
Bowed
legs unable
walk
of about
2,000towords
Initially accessed to be
 By age 8 ½ on par
profoundly learning
with peers
disabled
educationally-seen as
Hostile to men
a happy, intelligent
When
discovered,
she
energetic
child
couldn’t speak.

went on to have a
relatively normal life.
Why did they develop so different?
Can the internet stunt your
social growth?



Yes
Social isolation spending all
time in front of computer
Online interaction is not
same as real world
interaction
Can the internet stunt your
social growth?



No
Many people sit
together in groups at
computer
Online communities
are interaction
Be honestNot talking about your uniform
If not for rules and
expectations, would
you dress differently
than you do?
How? Why?
When you wakeup in
the morning, look in
the mirror.
Are you dressing for
yourself or for how
others see you?
“No one can make you feel
inferior without your
concent”
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Charles Horton Cooley
 Self Judgement based on our idea
of how others see us.
1. Imagine how we appear to others
2. We imagine the reaction of others
3. We evaluate ourself according to
how we imagine others have
judged us

Mead: STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
THE DUALITY OF SELF
THE SELF AS SUBJECT
(THE “I”)
THE SELF AS OBJECT
(THE “ME”)
Different than the “I” and “Me”
 DEVELOPING PERSONALITY
 THE ID
 THE EGO
 THE SUPEREGO
 MANAGED CONFLICT
 ID AND SUPEREGO ARE IN CONSTANT
STATES OF CONFLICT, WITH THE EGO
BALANCING THE TWO
 REPRESSION-SOCIETY’S CONTROLS OVER
US
 SUBLIMATION-REDIRECTION OF BASIC
DRIVES
PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS
THAT PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES OR
HAVE SPECIAL MEANING AND
SIGNIFICANCE IN THE
SOCIALIZATION PROCESS.
LET’S EXAMINE A FEW
THE
FAMILY

MOST IMPORTANT AGENT


PARENTAL ATTENTION IS VERY
IMPORTANT


BONDING AND ENCOURAGEMENT
SOCIAL POSITION


CENTER OF A CHILD’S LIFE
RACE, CLASS, RELIGION
CULTURE CAPITAL

CHILDHOOD INHERITENCE

CONFRONT DIVERSITY


HIDDEN CURRICULUM


INFORMAL, COVERT LESSONS
INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION


RACIAL CLUSTERING EARLY ON?
RECORDKEEPING STARTS
GENDER SOCIALIZATION BEGINS

FROM GRADE SCHOOL THROUGH COLLEGE,
GENDER-LINKED ACTIVITIES ARE
ENCOUNTERED
IMPERSONAL COMMUNICATION DIRECTED AT A VAST AUDIENCE

TELEVISIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.



HOW MUCH T.V. IN THE 1990s?


2/3rds OF HOUSEHOLDS SUBSCRIBE TO CABLE
TELEVISION
IN 1999, 98% OF HOUSEHOLDS HAD AT LEAST ONE
ON AVERAGE, 7 HOURS PER DAY, OR ONE-HALF OF
THEIR FREE TIME IS SPENT IN FRONT OF THE
TELEVSION
CONCERNS ABOUT CREATING IMAGES

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VIOLENCE AND THE MASS MEDIA
DISABLING STEREOTYPE REINFORCEMENT
CLAIMS OF LIBERALISM IN THE MEDIA
Functionalism Conflict
Theory
Symbolic
Interactionism
Stresses how
socialization
contributes to a
stable society
Views socialization
as a way for the
powerful to
prevent change
Holds socialization
is the major
determinant of
human behavior
Media- exposes
shared beliefs to
society
News/MediaSet political
agenda for
community
Through words,
pictures,
children’s books,
meaning of love,
motherhood.
manners
TOTAL INSTITUTIONS
A SETTING IN WHICH PEOPLE
ARE:
Is school a “total
ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY
institution?”
CONTROLLED BY STAFF

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CHARACTERISTICS:
n
No
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SUPERVISION OF ALL SPHERES
OF A PERSON’S LIFE
STANDARDIZED, RIGID SYSTEM
UNDERWHICH ALL LIVE
FORMAL RULES AND DAILY
SCHEDULES FOR ALL
Desocilization
 Desocialization
 removal
of
norms, values,
attitudes, &
behaviors
RADICALLY ALTERATION OF A PERSON’S PERSONALITY
Adopting
new values, norms &
behaviors
Done through rewards and
punishments

INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONALITY

IMPACT ON SOME PERSONS WHO HAVE LIVED FOR
A LONG PERIOD OF TIME WITHIN AN
ENVIRONMENT SUCH AS THAT FOUND WITHIN
TOTAL INSTITUTIONS
Anticipatory Socialization
Preparing
for a
change
Use a
reference
group to
get new
norms
THE LIFE COURSE

CHILIDHOOD (AGE 1 THROUGH 12)


ADOLESCENCE (THE TEENAGE YEARS)


A FOOT IN BOTH WORLDS (MARGINALITY)
ADULTHOOD

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
THE “HURRIED CHILD”
EARLY: 20 TO 40, CONFLICTING PRIORITIES
MIDDLE: 40 TO 60, MIDLIFE CRISIS
OLD AGE (MID-60s AND OLDER)

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GRAYING BABY BOOMERS
LESS ANTI-ELDERLY BIAS
ROLE EXITING CAN BE DIFFICULT