Chapter 5
Socialization
Feral Children
Feral children are a poignant example of the nature vs nurture interplay
in socialization.
Read text pages 99-100 about the neglected girl in Florida,
Socialization- The process through which people are taught to be
proficient members of a society
*The most basic of human activities are learned- even things like
walking, sitting, bouncing a ball, holding a spoon etc
Examples of Lack of Social Contact
• Harry Harlow- Monkey experiments- attachment
• Danielle- Text example
• Genie- Youtube
• Victor- “Wild Child”- historical example- “Forbidden Experiment”
• Summary- All the examples had significant impairment in their
development. Major areas were language, social, basic skills,
stimulus response (pain, cold).
• These deficits were often permanent- Critical Period
Theories of Self Development
• Developing a sense of Self is a major process. This means having an
understanding of who you are and how others see you.
Freud
• Believed that personal and sexual development were
closely linked
• If you didn’t properly engage and disengage from
developmental stages you’d have problems
Freudian Stages and Associated Issues
1. Oral- Overeating or binge drinking
2. Anal- Neat freak (anal retentive) or a slob (anal expulsive)
3. Phallic- Promiscuity or immature
*No solid evidence has been found to support Freud’s views
but his ideas still are influential
How are Sociology and Psychology Different?
Remember Durkheim’s suicide study?
Psychologists look to individual causes like depression, drug
use, parenting style etc to explain suicide
Sociologists (Durkheim) looked at social factors like religion
to explain suicide
Text also uses dating- how would you explain the first kisss
from the two perspectives?
Erik Erikson’s Theory of Personal Development
Erikson is Freud based but he felt that personality continue to change
over time.
• Social aspects are more important than sexual
• The 8 Stages cover the span of your life
• More Ego based than Id based
• Personal experience influenced his theories
Jean Piaget
• Specialized in child development
• A main focus was on social interactions during development
• Felt the “Self” evolved between a negotiation between the world as
it exists in our mind and the world that exists as it is experienced
socially. Wrap your head around that- definite formal operations
thinking
• To Piaget you could only have a “self” when your cognitive
development (neural maturing) was developed enough
• His area in psych was cognitive developmental
Sociological Theories of Self Development
Charles Cooley felt:
Your self understanding is “constructed”- part of your concept of self
is in your perception of how others see you- “The Looking Glass Self”
*A looking glass is another name for a mirror* - Poem on next slide
George Herbert Mead- Felt that the “self” – your distinct identity had
to be learned through social interaction- have to be able to view
yourself as others see you- something that you are not born with.
To Mead Danielle had no self because she had no interaction
Mead’s Path to Self
1. Preparatory Stage- Children can only imitate-can’t imagine how
others see things
2. Play Stage- Children start taking on the role that one other might
have- usually mom or dad- dress up
3. Game Stage- Children learn how to take on multiple roles and how
they interact. They could play several of the roles in a restaurant.
4. Generalized Other- They have the common behavioral
expectations of society- they can imagine how others see themtherefore they now have SELF
*Can you feel the Piaget*
Kohlberg and Moral Development
• Moral Development- how we learn what society considered to be
“good” or “bad”-Tied to Piaget and Freud (Unchecked urges need to
be controlled)
• Kohlberg was most interested in how people learn to decide right
from wrong-why’s are real important also
Kohlberg divided his theory into
• Preconventional
• Conventional
• Postconventional
Gilligan
**Carol Gilligan felt that Kohlberg’s theory held gender bias**- 1936
• Research was only conducted with male subjects
• She used both males and females and she found that girls and boys had
different understandings of morality
Boys- Justice perspective- Rules and Laws
Girls- Care and Responsibility- consider people’s reasons
Gilligan felt the reason for the difference was in socialization- rules are
better for the work environment and care and responsibilit0y for the home
She was miffed that Kohlberg consider the boys’ perspective to be superior
Making Connections
• Page 103 of text
The gist is that society socializes girls to be very focused on their looks.
According to (Bloom 2011) 50% of girls between the ages of 3 to 6 think
they are fat. This is just one facet of this socialization
The Egalia preschool in Sweden is as gender neutral as possible.
• Toys
• Clothes
• Friend instead of he or she
Bloom suggest a middle ground like asking little girls about their favorite
book etc- Instead of saying how cute they are
Why Socialization Matters
1. By teaching culture a society can perpetuate itself- democracy,
fairness etc
2. Allows us to see ourselves through the eyes of others- we know
how we are acting according to our culture
3. Allows us to fit into the world around us- dress, rituals, eating etc
4. How we learn verbal and nonverbal language.
*Danielle had no language to communicate and thinktherefore no Self
Nature vs Nurture
Nurture- The relationships and caring that surround us
Nature- Genetics
This debate is as old as time. Twin studies- especially identical twins
who have been separated at birth and raised in different cultures is
the best way to separate the N and N influences.
Results- Genetics is very important but a sociologist also wants to
evaluate the influence of nurture factors like race, gender, religion,
social class etc. Both are important
Two examples next slide
• The first pair Bouchard met, James Arthur Springer and James Edward
Lewis, had just been reunited at age 39 after being given up by their
mother and separately adopted as 1-month-olds. Springer and Lewis, both
Ohioans, found they had each married and divorced a woman named Linda
and remarried a Betty. They shared interests in mechanical drawing and
carpentry; their favorite school subject had been math, their least favorite,
spelling. They smoked and drank the same amount and got headaches at
the same time of day.
• Equally astounding was another set of twins, Oskar Stohr and Jack Yufe. At
first, they appeared to be a textbook case of the primacy of culture in
forming individuals -- just the opposite of the Lewis-Springer pair.
Separated from his twin six months after their birth in Trinidad, Oskar was
brought up Catholic in Germany and joined the Hitler Youth. Jack stayed
behind in the Caribbean, was raised a Jew and lived for a time in Israel. Yet
despite the stark contrast of their lives, when the twins were reunited in
their fifth decade they had similar speech and thought patterns, similar
gaits, a taste for spicy foods and common peculiarities such as flushing the
toilet before they used it.
Chris Langan-Page 105
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195 IQ- one of the highest ever recorded
Spent his life doing manual labor
Doesn’t possess the social skills that are learned
Lower income upbringing- natural growth and lots of independence
Upper income- actively engaged a child’s talents, interests, opinions
More exposure to enriching activities, go to bat for their kids
More unquestioned acquiescence to authorities
First year in college- straight A’s- flunked out because he couldn’t get his
schedule changed to get to school
• Final analysis- almost nobody can make it alone
Three Paradigm’s View of Socialization
Structural Functionalists- Essential to society because it trains
members to operate successfully and perpetuate society
Conflict Theorist- Perpetuates (reproduces) inequality by conveying
different norms to different groups of people- gender/social class etc
Interactionist- Face to face exchanges and symbolic communications
are important-little girl in pink that sends different gender
expectations
Agents of Socialization
Social Group Agents
Families and peers communicate expectations and reinforce norms
Families:
• 1st Agent that includes all the relatives around the child.
• How to use objects and relate to others, whose a friend and who is a foe, how the
world works
• Not in a vacuum- time and place, socioeconomics, religion, race, gender- In Sweden it
is fine for a dad to raise an infant (480 days)
Peer Group: People of similar age, social status who share interests
• Begins in early age and peaks in adolescence
• Very important for friendship
• Influences decision-making
Who has the most influence of kids- peers or families? Discuss
Agents of Socialization
Institutional Agents
• School- 12+ years of 7 hours a day for 180 days. Schools have a major
socializing effect. Manifest Functions like math, science and reading
and Latent Functions like teamwork and using textbooks. Schools also
have a Hidden Curriculum, the informal teaching done by schools- the
societal expectations of children like competition- Why do we spend
so much time on US History? Say the Pledge of Allegiance every
day?
• Latent Functions and Hidden Curriculum can be the same thingsometimes the only distinction is intentionality.
• Hint- Which would you consider “dealing with bureaucracy”?
Institutional Agents Continued
Get the joke?
*Textbooks are incredibly influential and controversial- Page 108 for example.
Other examples like German, US Southern etc.*
Other Areas Where Socialization Occurs
The Workplace- Material and nonmaterial culture- changes with each job
Religion- Interact with material culture, ceremonies, gender roles, rites of
passage
Government- Establishes 18 and 65 as important, Selective Service, medicare etc
Mass Media- Learn about objects of material culture and beliefs values and
norms
*The depiction of girls in cartoons is a topic of debate- brainstorm helpless girls
and self-sufficient heroines
Socialization Across the Life Course
***Socialization is a life time process-think how many societal norms,
values and beliefs have changed in just your lifetime.
In the US socialization is greatly influenced by age norms and timerelated rules and regulations- IE- school age,18 and 21,retirement,
child labor laws, dating in 6th grade as compared to 11th. Other
societies have very different views of US age norms.
Education is a great example of the cultural relativity within and
outside the US. In the US most middle and upper class families expect
their children to go to a 4-year university, many expect their children
to go directly to work. Look around you- expectation is often reality
Gap Years
*It is easy to argue that industrialization created adolescence
• Graduating from high school in developed countries is
generally considered a rite of passage
• The US often encourages its graduates to get right into
college or a career
• Many countries have a 1 to 3 year military conscription or
public service requirements
• Other countries have a “Gap Year” where the students
explore or experience different things in life before
committing to work or school.
Millennials Road to Adulthood
Millennials is a term to describe those born in the early 80’s to early
90’s
Their lives have been much different than many previous generations:
• Graduated from high school or college in horrible economic times
• Unable to find work, many moved back home
• Many had huge college debt they couldn’t repay
• Finding work, marrying, buying a home much later than in the past
• Working as internships, volunteers or other tough low paying jobs
What do you think will be the long-term impact on this
generation and America?
Socializations
1. Anticipatory Socialization- Getting ready for a new stage in life. Ex’sMarriage, career, baby, retirement, military- Others?
2. Resocialization- When old behaviors are removed for a new
environment. Ex’s- nursing home, military, jail, boarding school
• Part of this is often a total institution- where you are isolated from
society and forced to follow someone else’s rules.
• Often times this is a two-part process.
A. Degradation Ceremony- you lose your old identity and are given a
new one. Ex’s- prison #, rank, sometimes gentle, other times gentle
B. Rebuilding- Given a new identity that matches the new society
How does this happen in the military? Other situations?