 Stages, from
birth to death, are called the
life course
 Sociological significance:
• As you pass through a stage, it affects your
behavior and orientation
 See life differently at 30 than you did at 18
• Your life course differs by social location
 Social class, race-ethnicity, gender, etc. map out
distinctive experiences
 in
earlier time periods, children were
viewed as mini-adults.
 Today, children are viewed as tender and
innocent
• Adults need to provide care, comfort, protection
 Social
class is a major factor in a person’s
childhood
 Childhood varies from culture to culture
 Not
a “natural” age division
• Social invention
A
gap between childhood and adulthood
was created during Industrial Revolution
• allowed teens to remain outside the labor force
• At the same time education because a more
important factor
 Adolescents
must “find” themselves and
attempt to carve out an identity
 Develop their own subculture
 Adult
responsibilities are postponed
through extended education
• Free from parental control, but don’t support
themselves
• Some return home after college so they can
establish themselves
 At
some point during this period, young
adults gradually ease into adult
responsibilities
• Finishing school, getting a job, getting married
•
People are surer of themselves and their
goals in life than before
– Severe jolts such as divorce or being fired can
occur and mess this feeling up
•
For women, it can be a trying period b/c
they’re trying to have it all: job, family,
everything
• Reality is conflicting pressures: too little time, too
many demands, etc,.
 Health
issues and mortality begin to loom
• People feel their bodies change
 Reorientation
in thinking: From time
since birth, to time left to live
• People attempt to evaluate past and come to
terms with what lies ahead
• Compare what they have accomplished with
what they had hoped to achieve- “Midlife crisis”
 Sandwich
generation- caring for children
and aging parents
 Not
always a stressful time
 Many find it to be the most comfortable
period of life
• Job security
• High standard of living
• Bigger houses
• New cars
• More vacations
• Children are grown
 People
are now living longer and there
has been an improvement in general
health
• Becomes an extension of the middle years
 At
the same time people in this stage
become more concerned with death
•
Socialization serves a # of social functions
– Ensuring social order is main function
•
w/socialization, norms and values can be
instilled within the child
– Socialized individuals support their society
• Working to contribute to its prosperity and obeying laws
•
•
Socialization of children teaches parents
qualities useful for enhancing human
relations in society
Children are socialized to grow up and
support their parents in old age and in some
cases they are contributors to the family’s
economic well-being
•
•
Some aspects of socialization are harmful to
children
An enormous power builds up on the
parents who can thus be tempted to exploit
and abuse children
– Child labor, slavery, child pornography and abuse
•
•
Children are viewed as their parents
personal possession and are denied many
rights that adults enjoy as members of
society
Adults defend the physical punishment of
children by saying “its for their own good”
 Focuses
on how children develop a self
from interactions with parents and other
people in their lives
 Cooley’s looking glass process
 Mead’s Role Taking Process