Socialization Lecture 7 Objectives After learning this chapter, you should be able to: • Define socialization. • Discuss why social experience is the key to human personality. • Describe what familiar social settings have special importance to human development. • Understand how people’s experience change over the life course. • Evaluate the contributions of six important thinkers to our understanding of the socialization process. THE LIFELONG SOCIAL EXPERIENCE BY WHICH INDIVIDUALS DEVELOP THEIR HUMAN POTENTIAL AND LEARN PATTERNS OF THEIR CULTURE (Read story on page 102) • 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? The role of nature: biological science • Human behavior is instinctive, our “nature”: • Some people are born criminal • Women are naturally emotional, men are naturally rational… • Cultural differences are biologically based: • Technologically simple societies are biologically less evolved, less human The role of nurture: the social sciences • Behaviorism (John B. Watson): behavior is learnt (nurtured) -> human everywhere are equal IS IT SOCIOBIOLOGY OR BEHAVIORISM? IT’S A BIT OF BOTH, BUT FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, NURTURE IS EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL • IMPACT ON NONHUMAN PRIMATES • RESEARCH WITH MONKEYS (p.103) • SIX MONTHS OF COMPLETE ISOLATION WAS ENOUGH TO DISTURB DEVELOPMENT • IMPACT ON CHILDREN • ANNA AND ISABELLE (p.103-4) • 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 -> Crucial important of social experience in personality development Understanding socialization: Freudian Model of Personality Basic human needs/drives: ■ ■ ■ ■ Eros: need for sexual and emotional bonding (life instinct) Thanatos: aggressive drive (death instinct) EROS AND THANATOS ARE OPPOSING FORCES Model of personality: • Id (human being’s basic needs) • Ego (efforts to balance innate pleasure• seeking drives with demands of society) Superego (cultural values internalized by an individual) MANAGED CONFLICT ID and SUPEREGO are in constant states of conflict, with EGO balancing the two. Critical Evaluation of Theories of Personality Development • Freud’s notion that we internalize norms and his idea that childhood experiences have lasting importance in the socialization process remain important. • His theories are difficult to test scientifically PIAGET: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (p.105 • COGNITION • How people think and understand • STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT • SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (1-2years) • Individuals experience the world through their senses • PREOPERATIONAL STAGE • Use of language and other symbols to attach meanings to specific experience and objects (2-6years) • CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE (7-11years) • Perception of causal connections in surroundings • FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE (12 years and more) • Individuals think abstractly and critically Critical Evaluation of the Theories of Cognitive Development • Showed that human being’s ability to shape their social world unfolds gradually as the result of both biological maturation and social experience. • Piaget’s theories may not apply to people in all societies. Kohlberg Theory of Moral Development (p. 106) • Moral development occurs in stages: 1.Preconventional Morality: “rightness” is what is good to a child 2. Conventional Morality: learn to define “right” and “wrong” in terms of what pleases parents and conforms to cultural norms (teen years) 3. Postconventional Morality: move beyond society’s norms to consider abstract ethical principles (liberty, freedom, justice…) Critical Evaluation of Kohlberg’s Theories of Moral Development • The model presents moral development in distinct stages. • His theory may not apply to people in all societies. • His theory is based on research using exclusively male subjects. Carol Gilligan’s Theory of Gender and Moral Development • Boy’s moral development reflects a justice model (relying on formal rules to define right and wrong) • Girl’s moral development places emphasis on caring and responsibility (relying on personal relationships to judge a situation) • Kohlberg: Rule-based reasoning is superior than person-based approach • Gilligan: Why use male standards as norms to judge everyone? Critical Evaluation of Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development • Enhances our understanding of gender issues. • She does not adequately address the issue of origin of gender-based differences that were identified. Mead’s theory of the social self Self The part of an individual’s personality composed of self awareness and self image. • THE SOCIAL SELF • SELF DEVELOPS FROM SOCIAL INTERACTION • SOCIAL EXPERIENCE IS THE EXCHANGE OF SYMBOLS • SEEKING MEANING LEADS PEOPLE TO IMAGINE OTHER PEOPLE’S INTENTION • UNDERSTANDING INTENSION REQUIRES IMAGINING THE SITUATION FROM THE OTHER’S POINT OF VIEWS • BY TAKING THE ROLE OF THE OTHER, WE BECOME SELFAWARE. • Social interaction involves seeing ourselves as others see us – a process that Mead calls TAKING THE ROLE OF THE OTHER 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 DEVELOPMENT OF SELF 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 SELF-EVALUATION. Critical Evaluation of Theories of Self Development • Showed that symbolic interaction is the foundation of both Self and society • Criticized for ignoring the role of biology in the development of Self Erikson’s eight stages of personality development • Infancy (18m): the challenge of trust (versus mistrust) • Toddlerhood (3ys): the challenge of autonomy (versus doubt and shame) • Preschool (4-5ys): the challenge of initiative (versus guilt) • Preadolescence (6-13ys): the challenge of industriousness (versus inferiority) • Adolescence (teen): the challenge of gaining identity (versus confusion) • Young adulthood: the challenge of intimacy (versus isolation) • Middle adulthood: the challenge of making a difference (versus self-absorption) • Old age: the challenge of integrity (versus despair) Critical Evaluation of Erikson theory • Personality formation as a lifelong process with success and challenges. • Many factors (family, school…) shape our personality. • Do we all face these challenges in the same order? Peer Group A group of people of roughly the same age who are linked by common interests and social position. Peer Groups Teach Children • Independence from adults • Social skills and group loyalties • Values and friendships Peer Groups vs. Family Peers have greater influence over matters of immediate lifestyle. Family values regarding religion, politics, education and career goals tend to have greater long term impact. Socialization and Life Course Life course: the biological and social sequence of birth, childhood, maturity, old age, and death THE LIFE COURSE • CHILDHOOD (AGE 1 THROUGH 12) • ADOLESCENCE (THE TEENAGE YEARS) • ADULTHOOD • EARLY: 20 TO 40, CONFLICTING PRIORITIES • MIDDLE: 40 TO 60, MIDLIFE CRISIS • OLD AGE (MID-60s AND OLDER) • DEATH Life course: patterns and variations • Each stage of life is linked to the biological process of aging, but the life course is largely a social construction. • Stages of the life course present certain problems and transitions that involve learning something new and unlearning familiar routines. • Societies organize the life course according to age, but class, race, gender, ethnicity… also shape people’s lives. Topic for discussion • Has learning about socialization increased or decreased your feeling of freedom? Why? Format of midterm test and final exam • A. Choose the correct answers • Multiple choice • Which early sociologist studied patterns of suicide? • True or false? • E. Durkheim is the early sociologist who studied patterns of suicide. • B. Key term quiz • …. refers to the dominance of European cultural patterns • C. Essay topic: Why is global culture emerging? Is it positive or negative? Why?
