THE LIFELONG SOCIAL EXPERIENCE BY WHICH
INDIVIDUALS DEVELOP THEIR HUMAN POTENTIAL
AND LEARN PATTERNS OF THEIR CULTURE
• SOCIAL EXPERIENCES ALSO BUILD
THE FOUNDATION FOR
– PERSONALITY:
• A PERSON’S FAIRLY CONSISTENT
PATTERNS OF THINKING, FEELING, AND
ACTING
– COULD A PERSON’S PERSONALITY DEVELOP
WITHOUT SOCIAL INTERACTION?
NATURE VS. NURTURE
• BEHAVIORISM
– MOST OF WHO AND WHAT WE ARE AS A
SPECIES IS LEARNED, OR SOCIAL IN
NATURE
• IS IT SOCIOBIOLOGY OR BEHAVIORISM?
• SOCIOBIOLOGY
– ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY HAVE A
NATURALISTIC ROOT
– IT’S A BIT OF BOTH, BUT FROM A
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, NURTURE
IS EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL
• 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
• BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
– EROS AND THANATOS AS OPPOSING FORCES
• DEVELOPING PERSONALITY
– THE ID
• BASIC DRIVES- “immediate satisfaction”
– THE EGO
• EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE BALANCE – “delayed gratification”
– THE SUPEREGO
• CULTURE DEMANDS WITHIN- “needs of society”
• 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 (sex-marriage, and, aggressionsports)
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• COGNITION (Piaget’s Theory)
– HOW PEOPLE THINK AND UNDERSTAND
• STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
– SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
• SENSORY CONTACT UNDERSTANDING
– PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
• USE OF LANGUAGE AND OTHER SYMBOLS
– CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
• PERCEPTION OF CAUSAL CONNECTIONS IN
SURROUNDINGS
– FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE
• ABSTRACT, CRITICAL THINKING
Piaget attempted to link cognitive development to
biological maturation; children learn more complex
concepts and ideas as the brain develops
• KOHLBERG’S IDEAS
– MORAL DEVELOPMENT OCCURS IN
STAGES
PRECONVENTIONAL
– WHATEVER SERVES THE PERSON’S NEEDS
CONVENTIONAL
– SHEDDING OF SOME SELFISHNESS;
PLEASING PARENTS AND SOCIETY’S NORMS
AS LEARNED
POST-CONVENTIONAL
– MOVING BEYOND SOCIETY’S NORMS TO
CONSIDER ABSTRACT ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
• THE SOCIAL SELF
– SELF DEVELOPS FROM SOCIAL
INTERACTION
– FOCUSED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF
INWARD THINKING PROCESSES
• THE DUALITY OF SELF
– THE SELF AS SUBJECT (THE “I”)
• ALL THOUGHT AND ACTION ORIGINATES
WITHIN THIS PART OF THE SELF
– THE SELF AS OBJECT (THE “ME”)
• GUIDING THE ACTION BY TAKING ON “THE
ROLE OF THE OTHER” (WIDER SOCIETY)
THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF
• CHARLES HORTON COOLEY
– SELF-IMAGE IS MANIFESTED
AS WE THINK OF HOW
OTHERS WILL SEE US
• WHAT WE THINK OF
OURSELVES DEPENDS ON
LARGE PART ON WHAT WE
PERCEIVE OTHERS ARE
THINKING OF US
– REINFORCEMENT
– MORTIFICATION
– SELF-DOUBT
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
THIS PROCESS
SEES THE SELF
DEVELOP FROM
A STAGE WHERE
NO SELF IS IN
EXISTENCE, TO
ONE WHERE THE
SELF HAS LEARNED
CULTURE’S NORMS
AND VALUES.
THIS KNOWLEDGE
IS THEN USED AS
REFERENCE POINTS
FOR SELFEVALUATION.
PEOPLE, PLACES, AND
THINGS THAT PLAY
IMPORTANT ROLES OR HAVE
SPECIAL MEANING AND
SIGNIFICANCE IN THE
SOCIALIZATION PROCESS.
LET’S EXAMINE A FEW, SHALL WE?
THE
FAMILY
• MOST IMPORTANT AGENT
– CENTER OF A CHILD’S LIFE
• PARENTAL ATTENTION IS VERY
IMPORTANT
– BONDING AND ENCOURAGEMENT
• SOCIAL POSITION IS ACQUIRED
– RACE, CLASS, RELIGION (ascribed status)
• CULTURE (Social) CAPITAL
– CHILDHOOD INHERITENCE
• CONFRONT DIVERSITY
– RACIAL CLUSTERING EARLY ON?
• HIDDEN CURRICULUM
– INFORMAL, COVERT LESSONS
• INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION
– 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.
– 2/3rds OF HOUSEHOLDS SUBSCRIBE TO CABLE
TELEVISION
– IN 1999, 98% OF HOUSEHOLDS HAD AT LEAST ONE
• HOW MUCH T.V. IN THE 2000s?
– ON AVERAGE, 7 HOURS PER DAY, OR ONE-HALF OF
THEIR FREE TIME IS SPENT IN FRONT OF THE
TELEVSION
• CONCERNS ABOUT CREATING IMAGES
– VIOLENCE AND THE MASS MEDIA
– DISABLING STEREOTYPE REINFORCEMENT
– CLAIMS OF LIBERALISM IN THE MEDIA
THE LIFE COURSE
• CHILDHOOD (AGE 1 THROUGH 12)
– THE “HURRIED CHILD”
• ADOLESCENCE (THE TEENAGE YEARS)
– A FOOT IN BOTH WORLDS (MARGINALITY)
• ADULTHOOD
– EARLY: 20 TO 40, CONFLICTING PRIORITIES
– MIDDLE: 40 TO 60, MIDLIFE CRISIS
• OLD AGE (MID-60s AND OLDER)
– GRAYING BABY BOOMERS
– LESS ANTI-ELDERLY BIAS
– ROLE EXITING CAN BE DIFFICULT
• 85% OF AMERICANS DIE AFTER
AGE 55
• STAGES OF DYING
– DENIAL
– ANGER
– NEGOTIATION
– RESIGNATION
– ACCEPTANCE
TOTAL INSTITUTIONS
• A SETTING IN WHICH PEOPLE
ARE:
– ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY
– CONTROLLED BY STAFF
• CHARACTERISTICS:
– SUPERVISION OF ALL SPHERES
OF A PERSON’S LIFE
– STANDARDIZED, RIGID SYSTEM
UNDERWHICH ALL LIVE
– FORMAL RULES AND DAILY
SCHEDULES FOR ALL
RADICAL ALTERATION OF A PERSON’S PERSONALITY
• THE PROCESS
– ERODE THE INDIVIDUAL’S OLD “SELF”
• SURRENDER POSSESSIONS AND ANY ITEM THAT
SUGGESTS INDIVIDUALITY
• ‘MORITIFICATION OF SELF’ PROCESSES
– SYSTEMATICALLY BUILD UP A DIFFERENT SELF
WITHIN THE PERSON
• BY WAY OF SYSTEMS OF 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