Chapter 4
Socialization
Proper Manners For Dating
1.
A man should not sit down at the table in a restaurant until the
woman is seated.
2.
A man should always pull out a woman’s chair for her and see that she
is served first.
3.
A man should never let a woman carry anything heavy; she should
only carry a small package at the most.
4.
A man should help a woman put on and take off her coat.
5.
A man should always get out of the car and come to the door when
picking a woman for a date.
4.
A man should always open a door for a woman and let her pass in
front of him.
How do we know socialization is important?
Harry Harlow’s famous experiment
Closeness and comfort more
important than food
3
Does the same apply to human beings?
Importance of affection, intimacy,
and warmth
4
Anna, Isabelle, Genie
Case Studies on Isolated Children
5
The left hand scan shows the brain of a normal three year old with healthy neural
development. The right hand scan shows dark patches where whole areas of the brain
have shrunk from lack of stimulation.
Socialization and the Self
All three theoretical perspectives agree that socialization
is needed if cultural and social values are to be learned
• Functionalist Perspective
• Conflict Perspective
• Symbolic Interactionism
6
Functionalism:
approach that emphasizes the contributions
of each part of society
Conflict Perspective:
approach emphasizing the role of conflict,
competition, and constraint within a
society
Symbolic Interactionism:
approach that focuses on the interactions
among people based on mutually
understood symbols
7
functionalist perspective
We work together to create a stable society
family
school
8
conflict perspective
social classes exist maintaining the status-quo
Don’t upset the existing social class structure!
9
Symbolic Interactionism and Socialization
Developed in the early part of the twentieth century by
Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead
The self-concept
The looking-glass self
Significant others
Role-taking (the imitation stage, the
play stage, and the game stage)
The generalized other
10
Where does the self-concept come from?
Self-concept: the image you have of yourself as having an identity
separate from other people
11
When you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror.
Are you dressing for yourself or for how others see you?
If not for rules and expectations, would you dress differently than
you do? How and why?
Where does the self-concept come from?
Example: children learns how to behave within their families by watching how their parents
judge their behavior and then judge themselves accordingly
Looking-glass self:
an image of yourself based on what you think others think of you
12
Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self
3 Step Process:
1. We imagine how we appear to others
(I look good in these new clothes)
2. We imagine the reaction of others to our (imagined) appearance
(Just saw that person looking at me. Must be because I look
good in these clothes)
1. We evaluate ourselves according to how we imagine others
have judged us
(I feel great about the way I look today!)
13
Do we use some people as “more important” mirrors?
Mead pointed out that some people are more important than others to us
Significant others: those people whose reactions are most important to your self-concept
14
What is role taking?
Role taking: assuming the viewpoint of another person and using that
viewpoint to shape the self-concept
15
How do we learn the ability for role taking?
According to George Mead, it’s a 3 step process
1. Imitation stage:
around the age 1 or 2
Imitating behaviors without understanding why
16
2. Play stage:
Around 3 or 4 years
Act in ways they imagine other people would
17
3. Game stage
Early school years
Anticipate actions of others based on social rules
18
When do we start to internalize how to behave in social situations?
Generalized other: integrated conception of the norms, values, and beliefs of
one’s community or society
19
“Man can be defined as the animal that can say I,
that can be aware of himself as a separate entity.”
Erich Fromm
20
Mead – What is the self?
According to George Mead the “self” is made up of two parts: the “me” and the “I”
the “I” is myself as I am…the “me” is myself as others see me
21
Sharing
22
The Family and Socialization
First exposure to the world and the primary agent of socialization
23
Socialization in Schools
Hidden curriculum: the informal and unofficial aspects of culture that
children are taught in school
Peer Group Socialization
In family and school kids are subordinate to adults, in peer group they
engage in give and take relationships
Mass Media and Socialization
clip 1g
Clip 2y
Clip 3
Clip 4
Clip 5
Jon Jon
Cool Dad
Mass Media and Socialization
Our perceptions of he ideal body types seem to be largely a
product of media socialization.
How do television, magazines, CDs, and video games reinforce
these images?
Has the media socialized Americans to admire certain figure and
body types?
Desocialization
Total institutions: people separated from the rest of society and
controlled by officials in charge
Desocialization: the process of giving up old norms, values, and behaviors
Resocialization
Resocialization: the process of adopting new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors
Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory Socialization: the voluntary process of preparing to accept
new norms, values, attitudes and behaviors