Part 1 Intro to Socialization What is Socialization

Part 1: Intro to Socialization

What is Socialization? • DEFINITION: the process by which individuals learn the ways of society and culture (basic skills, values, beliefs and appropriate behavior) • Necessary for a successful existence • Lifelong process

The Big Questions of Socialization • How do we learn to get along with others?

The Big Questions of Socialization • How do we learn to view ourselves as one among others? • How do others influence us?

Part 2: The Social Experience

What is Personality? • DEFINITION: the sum total of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs & values that are characteristic of an individual • Determines how we adjust to our environment & how we react in certain situations

Personality Development: Nature v. Nurture • Charles Darwin (SOCIOBIOLOGY; NATURE): • All human behavior is instinctive; inherited behavioral patterns • John B. Watson (BEHAVIORISM; NURTURE): • All human behavior can be taught

Nature or Nurture? • Brown eyes • Enjoys bungee jumping • 6’ tall • Red hair • IQ of 150

Nature or Nurture? • • Weighs 500 pounds Depressed Alcoholic Has cancer

Personality Development: Nature v. Nurture • Twin Studies: • Used to determine heritability; VERY important in understanding the role of genes and environment in forming an individual

Personality Development: Nature v. Nurture • Premise: • Since identical twins have identical genes, differences between them are solely due to environmental factors

Personality Development: Nature v. Nurture • Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein • A classic twinning study • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=1 gwnz. W 4 j. OMI

The Sociological View • Sociologists believe personality development, or a fairly consistent pattern of acting, thinking and feeling is shaped by BOTH biology and social experience

Personality Development: Nature v. Nurture • 4 Factors That Influence Personality: • Heredity • Birth Order • Parents • Cultural Environment

Heredity • Definition: • Transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children • Includes aptitude – capacity to learn a particular skill or acquire a particular body of knowledge

Birth Order • Research indicates that birth order DOES have an influence on personality development • ONLY CHILDREN: tend to endure pressure to achieve & excel; overactive and socially involved ; many are leaders; often worrisome

Birth Order • OLDEST CHILDREN: tend to share traits with only children; cautious & achievement oriented • SUBSEQUENT CHILDREN: better in social relationships; more affectionate; friendly & creative; more sensitive & humorous

Silverman’s Class: Birth Order & Average GPA • • Oldest/Only Child: 15 Average GPA: 3. 58 Youngest Child: 14 Average GPA: 3. 35

Parents • A child’s FIRST attachment is to his or her mother • Later, both parents serve as role models & shape perception of sex roles & family members • Parental characteristics can influence level of education, religious affiliation, cultural heritage,

Cultural Environment • A society’s cultural environment may determine which personality traits are emphasized • For example, American culture emphasizes competition and success

Social Isolation • Effects on Nonhuman Primates: • The Harry Harlow Experiments • Results?

Social Isolation: Effect on Children • • Feral Children: Wild or untamed children Raised in isolation Case Studies: Anna & Isabelle Genie, “The Wild Child” Results?

Part 3: The Process of Socialization Much research forms the basis for our understanding of human development…

The Concept of Self • Definition: your conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity that separates you and your environment from other members of society • How do you develop a sense of self?

Charles Horton Cooley: The Looking Glass Self • The Looking Glass Self: • Developing an image of oneself based on how we think others see us • “I am, who I

George Herbert Meade: The Social Self • Role Taking: • Take roles of others in society to better understand what YOUR expectations are • Usually starts with your closest relationships -“significant others” • We internalize the attitudes, expectations, and viewpoints of

George Herbert Meade: The Social Self • I and ME • I is the unsocialized spontaneous, selfinterested component of personality & self-identity • ME is the part of ourselves that is aware of the expectations and attitudes of society – the socialized self

Part 4: Agents of Socialization

Agents of Socialization • • Family Peer Group School Mass Media

Agents of Socialization • The FAMILY: Structured • Principal agent of ALL children (0 -adolescense) • Can be deliberate or unconscious • EXAMPLES: • Deliberate socialization? • Unconscious socialization?

Agents of Socialization • The PEER GROUP: Loose • Primary group; composed of those similar in age & background • Increasing importance during adolescence; focuses on the skills necessary to “fit in” to subculture • Group goals are often at odds with societal goals

Agents of Socialization • • • The SCHOOL: Highly Structured Deliberate socialization EXAMPLES: Class activities/academic subjects Values education ***Peer groups present; family involvement

Agents of Socialization • The MASS MEDIA: Loose • TV, radio, magazines, internet, newspaper, etc. • Unconscious socialization (debatable) • Most influential form of mass media? • Television (98% of homes; 7

Agents of Socialization • Positive Impact of Mass Media: • Exposure to certain elements of society that one might not otherwise be exposed to • Negative Impact of Mass Media: • Exposure to violence • Impact of “popular” culture

Agents of Socialization • Secondary Agents of Socialization: • Clubs & Organizations (Boys Scouts, etc. ) • Religious Affiliation • Government • Ethnic Group • Work

Agents of Socialization • Total Institutions: • Isolates members from the rest of society • EXAMPLES: • Prisons, psychiatric hospitals, monasteries • Generally, the primary goal of total institutions is to RESOCIALIZE, or

Part 5: Socialization & the Life Course

Stage 1: Childhood • • • Childhood: First 12 years of life Characterized by a certain level of freedom from responsibilities • Must acquire key life lessons

Stage 2: Adolescence • Definition: • The period between the normal onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood • Puberty: • The physical maturing that makes an individual capable of sexual reproduction

Stage 2: Adolescence • Adolescence is NOT universal • In many preindustrial societies, young people go directly from childhood to adulthood • In the U. S. 3 factors create this distinct life stage – Education (mandatory until age 16) – Child Labor Laws

Stage 2: Adolescence • Characteristics of • • Adolescence: Biological Growth & Development Changes can cause anxiety or embarrassment, especially if individual is physically way ahead or behind peers Undefined Status Some adults treat adolescents as

Stage 2: Adolescence • Increased Decision Making • Making many of their own decisions for the first time • Increased Pressure • From multiple sources: parents, friends, school, society

Stage 2: Adolescence • Search for Self • Determining personal values and priorities, & figuring out role he/she will play in society • Anticipatory Socialization • Learning the rights, obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare for assuming that role in

Stage 3: Adulthood • Jobs, finance, marriage, pregnancy, health, fitness, stress, divorce, physical changes, death, etc.

Stage 3: Adulthood (Men) • • • Issues: Tough Trap Accidents Violence Suicide

Stage 3: Adulthood (Women) • • • Issues: Beauty Trap Eating Disorders Depression Double Standards

Stage 3: Adulthood Later Years • • Issues: Young-Old (ages 65 -74) adjustment to retirement Middle-Old (ages 75 -84) & Old-Old (ages 85+) • adjustment to physical and mental functioning, adjustment to dependency and impending death