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CHAPTER 4 SUMMARY
Socialization is the process whereby people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate to
individuals as members of a particular culture. Socialization occurs through human interaction and helps us
to discover how to behave properly. It provides for the transmission of a culture from one generation to the
next. Socialization ensures the long-term continuance of a society. Personality is influenced by
socialization and environmental factors interacting with hereditary factors. Case studies, such as those of
Isabelle and Genie, and primate studies support the importance of socialization in development.
Conversely, twin studies have addressed the influence of hereditary factors on personality development.
The self is a distinct identity that sets us apart from others. It continues to develop and change throughout
our lives. Sociologists Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead (pioneers of the interactionist
approach), and Erving Goffman have all furthered our understanding about development of the self.
Cooley’s looking-glass self results from how we present ourselves to others and how others evaluate us.
Mead developed a process by which the self emerges: the preparatory stage, the play stage, and the game
stage. Instrumental to Mead’s view are the generalized other (attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of
society) and significant others (individuals most important in development of the self). Goffman suggested
that many of our daily activities involve attempts to convey impressions (impression management) of who
we are. His view has been termed the dramaturgical approach.
Psychologists, such as Sigmund Freud, stressed the role of inborn drives in the development of the self.
Child psychologist Jean Piaget identified four stages of personality development in his cognitive theory of
development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational). Piaget viewed
social interaction as key to development.
Sociologists use the life course approach in recognizing that biological changes mold, but do not dictate,
human behavior. We encounter some of the most difficult socialization challenges and rites of passage in
the later years of life. Two types of socialization occur: anticipatory socialization (refers to the process of
rehearsing for future roles), and resocialization (refers to discarding former behavior patterns and accepting
new ones). Resocialization is particularly effective when it occurs within a total institution, an institution
that regulates all aspects of a person’s life under a single authority. Goffman identified four common traits
of total institutions. Goffman suggested people often lose their individuality within total institutions.
Lifelong socialization involves many different social forces and agents of socialization. Family is
considered the most important of the socialization agents. Schools are another agent of socialization
concerned with teaching students the values and customs of the larger society. Peer groups often serve as a
transitional source to adulthood. The mass media have an impact on the socialization process that
sociologists have also begun to consider. Workplaces can serve as socialization agents by teaching
appropriate behavior within an occupational environment. Additionally, social scientists have increasingly
recognized the importance of religion and the state as agents of socialization because of their growing
impact on the life course.
LECTURE OUTLINE CHAPTER 4
I.
The Role of Socialization
• Nature v. nurture debate has shifted to general acceptance of interaction between the
variables of heredity, environment, and socialization.
A.
Social Environment: The Impact of Isolation
• The need for human interaction is evident in actual case studies.
1.
Isabelle and Genie: Two Cases
• Isabelle lived in seclusion for six years. Could not speak and reacted
animal-like to strangers. After systematic socialization training was
developed, Isabelle became well adjusted.
• Genie was confined in isolation from the age of 20 months until she was
found at age 13. No one had spoken to her and there was no TV or radio
in the house. Despite extensive therapy, she never achieved full language
ability.
2.
B.
II.
Primate Studies
• Harry Harlow tested rhesus monkeys for the effects of isolation and
concluded that isolation had a damaging effect on the monkeys.
The Influence of Heredity
• Twins studies reveal that both genetic factors and socialization experiences are
influential in human development. Example: Oskar Stohr and Jack Yufe.
• The validity of twin studies has been questioned because of small sample sizes.
The Self and Socialization
• The self is a distinct identity that sets each of us apart from others. The interactionist
perspective is useful in understanding development of the self.
A.
Sociological Approaches to the Self
1.
Cooley: Looking-Glass Self
• The self is a product of social interactions with others. Three phases:
(1) we imagine how we present ourselves to others; (2) we imagine how
others evaluate us; and (3) we develop a feeling about ourselves.
Example: a student’s reaction to a teacher’s criticism.
2.
Mead: Stages of the Self
• The preparatory stage consists of children imitating people around
them. Children begin to understand the use of symbols.
• The play stage consists of children pretending to be other people, like an
actor “becoming” a character. Role taking is the process of mentally
assuming the perspective of another and responding from that imagined
viewpoint.
• During the game stage, children grasp their own social positions, as well
as everyone else’s position around them.
• The term “generalized other” refers to the attitudes, viewpoints, and
expectations of others in society that an individual takes into account
before acting in particular way. Example: children learning manners.
3.
Mead: The Theory of the Self
• Children picture themselves as the focus of everything around them. As
people mature, the self changes and begins to consider the reactions of
others.
• Mead used the term “significant others” to refer to those individuals who
are most important in the person’s development.
4.
B.
III.
IV.
Goffman: Presentation of the Self
• Impression management involves an individual slanting his or her
presentation of the self to create a distinctive appearance and to satisfy
particular audiences.
• The dramaturgical approach is based on people behaving as actors by
putting forth an image believed to be pleasing to others.
• Goffman’s face-work involves people trying to maintain or save an
image or face. Example: feigning employment to avoid embarrassment.
Psychological Approaches to the Self
• Freud stressed the role of inborn drives. Self has components that work in
opposition to each other. Part of us seeks limitless pleasure, while another part
seeks rational behavior.
• Piaget found that newborns have no sense of a looking-glass self. In his theory
of cognitive development, Piaget identified four stages of child development:
(1) sensorimotor stage (child uses senses to make discoveries),
(2) preoperational stage (child begins to use words and symbols),
(3) concrete operational stage (child engages in more logical thinking), and
(4) the formal operational stage (adolescent is capable of sophisticated abstract
thought, and can deal with ideas and values in a logical manner.).
• Social interaction is the key to development.
Socialization and the Life Course
A.
The Life Course
• Celebrating rites of passage is a means of dramatizing and validating changes in
a person’s status.
• Socialization continues through the life course. Some of the most difficult
socialization challenges are encountered in the later years of life.
B.
Anticipatory Socialization and Resocialization
• Anticipatory socialization refers to a person rehearsing for a role they will likely
assume in the future. Example: high school students preparing for college by
looking at college Web sites.
• Resocialization refers to discarding the former sense of self and behavior
patterns and accepting new behavior patterns. Example: prisons, indoctrination
camps, and religious conversions.
• Goffman suggested resocialization is particularly effective in a total institutional
environment (prisons, mental hospitals, and military organizations).
• Individuality is often lost in total institutions as the individual becomes
secondary in the environment and experiences the humiliations of degradation
ceremonies.
Agents of Socialization
A.
Family
• Most important socializing agent. Parents minister to the baby’s needs by
feeding, cleansing, carrying, and comforting.
• Parents guide children into gender roles deemed appropriate by society.
V.
B.
School
• Explicit mandate to socialize children to societal norms.
• Functionalists indicate schools fulfill a function by socializing children, whereas
conflict theorists suggest schools reinforce divisive aspects of society, especially
social class.
Example: A teacher praising boys may reinforce sexist attitudes.
C.
Peer Group
• As a child grows older, family becomes somewhat less important in social
development, while peer groups increasingly assume the role of Mead’s
significant others.
D.
Mass Media and Technology
• Television can be both a negative and a positive influence on children.
• Additional impact of the Internet, cell phones, and pagers.
E.
Workplace
• Learning to behave appropriately within an occupation.
• The U.S. has the highest level of teenage employment of all industrialized
nations.
• Workplace socialization changes when a person shifts to full-time employment.
F.
Religion and the State
• State-run agencies increasingly influential in life course.
• Government and organized religion have reinstituted some of the rites of
passage once observed in earlier societies.
Social Policy and Socialization: Child Care around the World
A.
The Issue
• Day care centers have become the functional equivalent of the nuclear family.
Seventy-three percent of employed mothers depend on others to care for their
children, and 30 percent of mothers who aren’t employed have regular care
arrangements.
B.
The Setting
• Research suggests good day care benefits children.
• No significant differences in infants who had received extensive nonmaternal
care vs. those cared for solely by their mothers.
C.
Sociological Insights
• Conflict theorists raise concerns about the cost of day care, especially for lower class
families.
D.
Policy Initiatives
• Sweden and Denmark subsidize childcare for one-third to one-half of children
under age three.
• In the U.S., where government subsidies are much more limited, child care can
cost up to $10,000 per year, per family.
KEY TERMS CHAPTER 4
Anticipatory socialization Processes of socialization in which a person “rehearses” for future positions,
occupations, and social relationships.
Cognitive theory of development Jean Piaget’s theory that children’s thought progresses through four
stages of development.
Degradation ceremony An aspect of the socialization process within total institutions, in which people
are subjected to humiliating rituals.
Dramaturgical approach A view of social interaction in which people are seen as theatrical performers.
Face-work The efforts of people to maintain the proper image and avoid public embarrassment.
Gender role Expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females.
Generalized other The attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into
account in his or her behavior.
Impression management The altering of the presentation of the self in order to create distinctive
appearances and satisfy particular audiences.
Life course approach A research orientation in which sociologists and other social scientists look closely
at the social factors that influence people throughout their lives, from birth to death.
Looking-glass self A concept that emphasizes the self as the product of our social interactions with others.
Personality A person’s typical patterns of attitudes, needs, characteristics, and behavior.
Resocialization The process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a
transition in one’s life.
Rite of passage Ritual marking the symbolic transition from one social position to another.
Role taking The process of mentally assuming the perspective of another and responding from that
imagined viewpoint.
Self A distinct identity that sets us apart from others.
Significant other An individual who is most important in the development of the self, such as a parent,
friend, or teacher.
Socialization The lifelong process in which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate
for members of a particular culture.
Symbol A gesture, object, or word that forms the basis of human communication.
Total institution An institution that regulate all aspects of a person’s life under a single authority, such as
a prison, the military, a mental hospital, or a convent.
CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY
Social interaction refers to the ways in which people respond to one another. Social structure refers to the
way a society is organized into predictable relationships. Both social interaction and social structure are
central to understanding how different aspects of behavior are related to one another. Our response to
someone’s behavior is based on the meaning we attach to his/her actions. Reality is shaped by our
perceptions, evaluations, and definitions. The ability to define social reality reflects a group’s power within
a society.
Sociologists use the term status to refer to any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large
group or society. A person can hold a number of statuses at the same time. An ascribed status is assigned
to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics, generally at birth.
An achieved status is attained by a person largely through his or her own efforts. A master status
dominates other statuses and thereby determines a person’s general position within society.
A social role is a set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status. Role conflict
occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person.
Role strain is a term used to describe the difficulty that arises when the same social position imposes
conflicting demands and expectations. The process of disengagement from a role that is central to one’s
self-identity in order to establishment a new role and identity is referred to as role exit.
A group is any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who regularly and
consciously interact. Groups play an important part in a society’s structure. Much of our social interaction
takes place within groups and is influenced by their norms and sanctions. Sociologists have made
distinctions between the various types of groups. A primary group is a small group characterized by
intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation. Primary groups play a pivotal role both in the
socialization process and the development of roles and statuses. Secondary groups are formal, impersonal
groups in which there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding. In-groups are groups to which
people feel they belong, whereas out-groups are groups to which people feel they do not belong. A
reference group is used as the standard by which individuals evaluate themselves or their own behavior. A
coalition is a temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal. Some coalitions are
intentionally short lived.
Members of different groups make connections through a series of social relationships known as a social
network. With advances in technology, we can now maintain social networks electronically; we don’t need
face-to-face contact.
Social institutions are organized patterns of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs.
Functionalists view social institutions as necessary for the survival of society in meeting the basic needs of
its members. Conflict theorists suggest that social institutions maintain the privileges of the most powerful
individuals and groups within a society. Interactionists emphasize that our social behavior is conditioned by
the roles and statuses that we accept, the groups to which we belong, and the institutions within which we
function.
Émile Durkheim developed the concepts of mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity to describe the
kind of consciousness that develops in societies where there is a simple or complex division of labor,
respectively. Ferdinand Tönnies used the term Gemeinschaft to refer to a small, close-knit community,
typical of rural life, where people have similar backgrounds and life experiences. Conversely, the
Gesellschaft is an ideal type characteristic of modern urban life. Here, most people are strangers who feel
little in common with one another. In contrast to Tönnies’ perspective, Gerhard Lenski viewed societies as
undergoing change according to a dominant pattern known as sociocultural evolution. His view suggests
that a society’s level of technology is critical to the way it is organized. The hunting-and-gathering
society, the horticultural society, and the agrarian society are three types of preindustrial societies. An
industrial society depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services. A postindustrial society’s
economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information. A postmodern society
is a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images. At
the macro-level of analysis, we see society shifting to more advanced forms of technology. The social
structure becomes complex and new social institutions emerge to assume some functions previously
performed by family. On the micro-level of analysis, these changes affect the nature of social interactions
between people. People come to rely more on social networks, rather than solely on kinship ties.
A formal organization is a group designed for a special purpose and structured for maximum efficiency.
Organizations are structured to facilitate the management of large-scale operations. A bureaucracy is a
component of a formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency. Max
Weber developed an ideal type of bureaucracy to serve as a standard for evaluating a bureaucracy, which
consisted of five basic characteristics: (1) division of labor;
(2) hierarchy of authority; (3) written rules and regulations; (4) impersonality; and
(5) employment based on technical qualifications. Sociologists have used the term bureaucratization to
refer to the process by which a group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic.
The iron law of oligarchy describes how a democratic organization will develop into a bureaucracy ruled
by a few (oligarchy). According to the scientific management approach, workers in an organization are
motivated almost entirely by economic rewards. By contrast, the human relations approach emphasizes
the role of people, communication, and participation within a bureaucracy.
The workplace has been undergoing rapid and profound change, including organizational restructuring and
technological advances. Organizational restructuring has included collective decision making (active
involvement of employee problem-solving groups in corporate management); minimal hierarchy (replacing
the traditional bureaucratic hierarchy with a flatter organizational structure); and work teams (employees
work in project teams and task forces). The common purpose of these efforts has been to empower
workers.
Technology has transformed the nature of the working environment. Telecommuters are employees who
work full-time or part-time at home rather than in an outside office and who are linked to their supervisors
and colleagues through computer terminals, (cell)phones, and fax machines. Interactionists view this
transformation as restricting face-to-face social opportunities. Others have suggested that telecommuting
pulls fathers and mothers back into the home rather than pushing them out. While electronic
communication has many advantages, it has also generated criticism. E-mail can’t convey body language,
which face-to-face communication can. Electronic communication has contributed significantly to the
fragmentation of work, and multitasking can be very stressful for workers.
LECTURE OUTLINE CHAPTER 5
I.
Social Interaction and Reality
• Social interaction refers to the way people respond to one another.
• Social structure refers to the way in which a society is organized into predictable
relationships. The linkage of social interaction and social structure is central to
sociological study. They are closely related to socialization.
• Social reality is literally constructed from our social interactions.
• Ability to define social reality reflects a group’s power within society. Example:
William I. Thomas’s definition of the situation.
II.
Elements of Social Structure
A.
Statuses
• Status refers to any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large
group or society. A number of statuses can be held at the same time. Examples:
U.S. President, father, dental technician, business partner, neighbor.
1.
Ascribed and Achieved Status
• Ascribed status is generally assigned at birth without regard to a person’s
unique talents or characteristics. Examples: race, ethnicity, gender, and
age.
• Achieved status comes to us largely through our own efforts. Examples:
lawyer, pianist, convict, and social worker.
2.
B.
C.
Master Status
• Dominates other statuses and thereby determines a person’s general
position within society. Example: Arthur Ashe who died of AIDS.
Social Roles
1.
What Are Social Roles?
• A set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position or
status. Roles are a significant component of social structure. Example:
Police are expected to protect us and apprehend criminals.
2.
Role Conflict
• Occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social
positions held by the same person. Example: newly promoted worker
who carries on a relationship with his/her former workgroup.
• Occurs among individuals moving into occupations that are not common
among people with their ascribed status. Examples: female police
officers and male preschool teachers.
3.
Role Strain
• Difficulty arises when the same social position imposes conflicting
demands and expectations. Example: alternative forms of justice among
Navajo police officers.
4.
Role Exit
• The process of disengaging from a role that is central to one’s selfidentity.
• Ebaugh’s four-stage model: (1) doubt, (2) search for alternatives,
(3) action stage or departure, and (4) creation of a new identity.
Examples: graduating from high school or college, retirement, and
divorce.
Groups
• Any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact
with one another on a regular basis. Examples: sports team, college sorority,
hospital business office, symphony orchestra.
• Groups play a key role in transmitting culture.
1.
Primary and Secondary Groups
• Charles Horton Cooley coined the term primary group to refer to a small
group characterized by intimate, face-to-face association and
cooperation.
• Primary groups play a pivotal role in both the socialization process and
the development of roles and statuses.
• Primary groups are instrumental in a person’s day-to-day life.
Examples: family members, sorority sisters, members of a gang.
• The term secondary group refers to a formal, impersonal group in which
there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding. See Table 5-1.
2.
In-Groups and Out-Groups
• An in-group is any group to which people feel they belong. Everyone
who is regarded as “we” or “us.”
• An out-group is any group to which people feel they do not belong.
• Conflict between in-groups and out-groups can be violent. Example:
Columbine High School in 1999.
• David Stevenson and Barbara Schneider found that young people spend
an average of three and one half hours alone each day.
3.
Reference Groups
• Any group that an individual uses as a standard for evaluating his or
herself and his or her own behavior.
• Two basic purposes: (1) serves a normative function by setting and
enforcing standards of conduct and belief, and (2) performs a comparison
function by serving as a standard against which people can measure
themselves and others.
4.
Coalitions
• A temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal. Can
be both broad based or narrow and take on many different objectives.
• Coalitions can be short-lived. Examples: popular TV shows or political
groupings for elections or legislative agendas.
D.
Social Networks
• A network is a series of social relationships that links people either directly or
indirectly to still more people. Can center on virtually any activity. Examples:
networking for employment; exchanging news and gossip.
• Influence of the Internet (technology) on social networks. Using e-mail rather
than sending letters.
E.
Social Institutions
• Organized patterns of beliefs and behavior centered on meeting basic social
needs such as replacing personnel (the family) and preserving order (the
government).
1.
Functionalist View
• Five major tasks or functional prerequisites: (1) Replacing personnel,
(2) teaching new recruits, (3) producing and distributing goods and
services, (4) preserving order, and (5) providing and maintaining a sense
of purpose. Example: Patriotism assists people in maintaining a sense of
purpose.
• Social institutions create survival and stability for society.
• Social change can be dysfunctional, since it often leads to instability.
2.
Conflict View
• Does not agree with functionalists that the outcome of meeting basic
needs is necessarily efficient and desirable.
• Major institutions maintain the privileges of the most powerful
individuals and groups within a society, while contributing to the
powerlessness of others. Example: Public schools are financed largely by
property taxes, so more affluent areas have better equipped schools and
better-paid teachers.
• Social institutions have an inherently conservative nature.
• Social institutions operate in gendered and racist environments.
• Social changes are needed to promote equality.
3.
III.
Interactionist View
• Behavior is conditioned by roles and statuses that we accept, the groups
to which we belong, and the institutions within which we function.
Example: The status of a judge is in relation to other statuses.
Social Structure in Global Perspective
A.
Durkheim’s Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
• Mechanical solidarity exists in societies with a minimal division of labor. A
collective consciousness develops that emphasizes group solidarity.
• Organic solidarity exists in societies with a complex division of labor. It
emphasizes mutual interdependence—in much the same way as organs of the
body are interdependent.
B.
Tönnies’s Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
• The Gemeinschaft community is typical of rural life. Social interactions are
intimate and familiar.
• The Gesellschaft is an ideal type characteristic of modern life. Most people are
strangers and feel little in common with one another. See Table 5-2.
C.
Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach
• Lenski views human societies as undergoing a process of change characterized
by a dominant pattern known as sociocultural evolution: long-terms trends in
societies resulting from the interplay of continuity, innovation, and selection.
See Table 5-3.
• Technology is critical to the way society is organized. As technology advances,
a community evolves from a preindustrial to an industrial and finally a postindustrial society.
1.
Preindustrial Societies
• Hunting-and-gathering societies rely on available foods; technology is
minimal.
• Horticultural societies plant seeds and grow crops rather than subsist
only on available foods.
• Agrarian societies increase crop yields, and technological innovations
are more dramatic (e.g., the plow).
2.
Industrial Societies
• Society depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services.
• Reliant on new inventions that facilitate agricultural and industrial
production, and on new sources of energy.
• Need for specialized knowledge.
3.
IV.
Postindustrial and Postmodern Societies
• A postindustrial society is technologically advanced. Its economic
system is primarily engaged in processing and controlling information.
• Postmodern societies are technologically sophisticated and preoccupied
with consumer goods and media images.
• Postmodern theorists take a global perspective, noting ways that culture
crosses national boundaries. Examples: In the United States, people
listen to reggae music from Jamaica, eat sushi and other Japanese foods;
and there are Disney Worlds in Paris and Tokyo...
Understanding Organizations
A.
Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies
• Formal organization: a group designed for a special purpose and structured for
maximum efficiency. Examples: United States Postal Service, McDonald’s,
and colleges.
• Formal organizations fulfill a variety of personal and social needs.
• Ascribed factors such as gender, race, and ethnicity influence how we see
ourselves within formal organizations. Example: female lawyers.
B.
Characteristics of a Bureaucracy
• A component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to
achieve efficiency.
• Max Weber viewed bureaucracy as being different from a family-run business.
He developed an ideal type of bureaucracy to serve as a standard for evaluation,
having these five characteristics: division of labor, hierarchy of authority, written
rules and regulation, impersonality, and employment based on technical
qualifications. See Table 5-4. Not every formal organization will possess all
five.
• Through McDonaldization, bureaucratization has reached new heights. The
McDonald’s organization provides an excellent illustration of Weber’s concept
of bureaucracy.
C.
1.
Bureaucratization as a Process
• Refers to the process by which a group, organization, or social
movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic. May take place in small or
large organizations.
2.
Oligarchy: Rule by a Few
• Robert Michels originated the idea of the “iron law of oligarchy,” which
describes how even a democratic organization will eventually develop
into a bureaucracy ruled by a few (an oligarchy).
Example: labor union leaders becoming unresponsive to members.
Bureaucracy and Organizational Culture
• Classical theory of formal organizations (scientific management approach)
suggests workers are motivated by economic rewards. Only physical constraints
limit worker productivity; therefore, workers may be treated as a resource.
• Use of scientific planning, performance standards, and careful supervision.
Planning involves efficiency studies, not worker attitudes or satisfaction.
• Human relations approach emphasizes the role of people, communication, and
participation within a bureaucracy. Directed toward concerns of the workers.
Example: Hawthorne studies.
V.
VI.
The Changing Workplace
A.
Organizational Restructuring
• Workplace innovations since the late 20th century have significantly altered the
experience of work.
• Collective decision making is a practice that involves employee groups in
corporate management.
• Minimal hierarchy, replacing the traditional bureaucratic hierarchy of authority,
flattens the structure of an organization, giving employees more of a voice in the
organization.
• Work teams have also been implemented in many organizations, even smaller
ones.
B.
Telecommuting
• Employees who work full-time or part-time at home rather than in an outside
office, and who are linked to supervisors and other colleagues through computer
terminals, (cell)phones, fax machines, etc.
• Moving society from a Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft.
• Telecommuting may pull fathers and mothers back into the home, rather than
pushing them out.
C.
Electronic Communication
• E-mail does not convey body language, which in face-to-face communication
can soften insensitive phrasing and make unpleasant messages easier to take..
• Easy to transmit thoughtless or insensitive messages.
• Leaves a permanent record.
• Has contributed to the fragmentation of work.
Social Policy and Organizations: The State of the Unions
A.
The Issue
• The diminishing importance of organized labor
B.
The Setting
• Unions first emerged in England in the 1700s to extract concessions from
employers and protect workers’ positions. They frequently limited entry to
occupations based on gender, race, ethnicity, citizenship, age, and skill levels.
• Today, membership is declining, because of: (1) changes in the type of industry,
(2) growth in part-time jobs, (3) the legal system, (4) globalization, (5) employer
offensives, and (6) union rigidity and bureaucratization.
C.
Sociological Insights
• Both Marxists and functionalists view the emergence of unions as a response to
the development of large-scale, impersonal, formal, and often alienating
organizations.
• Unions have become increasingly bureaucratized, with labor union leaders more
concerned with maintaining positions of power than responding to the needs and
demands of rank and file.
• Union employees encounter role conflict in carrying out their duties.
D.
Policy Initiatives
• Right to work laws in 22 states create a barrier to union formation.
• Signs of growing anti-union sentiment at all levels of government in the U.S.
• Campaign finance reform also affects labor unions.
KEY TERMS CHAPTER 5
Achieved status A social position that a person attains largely through his or her own efforts.
Agrarian society The most technologically advanced form of preindustrial society. Members are engaged
primarily in the production of food but increase their crop yield through technological innovations such
as the plow.
Alienation A condition of estrangement or dissociation from the surrounding society.
Acribed status A social position that is assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s
unique talents or characteristics.
Bureaucracy A component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve
efficiency.
Bureaucratization The process by which a group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly
bureaucratic.
Classical theory An approach to the study of formal organizations that views workers as being motivated
almost entirely by economic rewards.
Coalition A temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal.
Formal organization A group designed for a special purpose and structured for maximum efficiency.
Gemeinschaft A close-knit community, often found in rural areas, in which strong personal bonds unite
members.
Gesellschaft A community, often urban, that is large and impersonal, with little commitment to the group
or consensus on values.
Goal displacement Overzealous conformity to official regulations of a bureaucracy.
Group Any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact with one another
on a regular basis.
Horticultural society A preindustrial society in which people plant seeds and crops rather than merely
subsist on available foods.
Human relations approach An approach to the study of formal organizations that emphasizes the role of
people, communication, and participation in a bureaucracy and tends to focus on the informal structure
of the organization.
Hunting-and-gathering society A preindustrial society in which people rely on whatever foods and fibers
are readily available in order to survive.
Ideal type A construct or model for evaluating specific cases.
Industrial society A society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services.
In-group Any group or category to which people feel they belong.
Iron law of oligarchy A principle of organizational life under which even a democratic organization will
eventually develop into a bureaucracy ruled by a few individuals.
Labor union Organized workers who share either the same skill or the same employer.
Master status A status that dominates others and thereby determines a person’s general position in
society.
McDonaldization The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate
more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world.
Mechanical solidarity A collective consciousness that emphasizes group solidarity, characteristic of
societies with minimal division of labor.
Organic solidarity A collective consciousness that rests on mutual interdependence, characteristic of
societies with a complex division of labor.
Out-group A group or category to which people feel they do not belong.
Peter principle A principle of organizational life according to which every employee within a hierarchy
tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.
Postindustrial society A society whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and
control of information.
Postmodern society A technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and
media images.
Primary group A small group characterized by intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation.
Reference group Any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own
behavior.
Role conflict The situation that occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social
positions held by the same person.
Role exit The process of disengagement from a role that is central to one’s self-identity in order to
establish a new role and identity.
Role strain The difficulty that arises when the same social position imposes conflicting demands and
expectations.
Scientific management approach Another name for the classical theory of formal organizations.
Secondary group A formal, impersonal group in which there is little social intimacy or mutual
understanding.
Social institution An organized pattern of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs.
Social interaction The ways in which people respond to one another.
Social network A series of social relationships that links a person directly to others, and through them
indirectly to still more people.
Social role A set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status.
Social structure The way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships.
Sociocultural evolution Long-term trends in societies resulting from the interplay of continuity,
innovation, and selection.
Status A term used by sociologists to refer to any of the full range of socially defined positions within a
large group or society.
Technology Cultural information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may
be used to satisfy human needs and desires.
Telecommuter An employee who works full-time or part-time at home rather than in an outside office,
and who is linked to supervisor and colleagues through computer terminals, phone lines and fax
machines.
Trained incapacity The tendency of workers in a bureaucracy to become so specialized that they develop
blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems.
CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY
The term mass media refers to print and electronic means of communication that carry messages to
widespread audiences. The function of the mass media is not limited to entertainment. The mass media also
socialize us, enforce social norms, confer status, promote consumption, and keep us informed about our
social environment. The media bring members of society together by reporting on ceremonies and other
important events such as the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The functionalist view of the mass media emphasizes the role of the media in reaffirming proper behavior
by depicting what happens to people who act in ways that violate social expectations. The media play a
critical role in shaping perceptions about the risks of substance abuse. The media are capable of conferring
status on people, organizations, and public issues. In addition to its functions, the media can perform a
dysfunction. The narcotizing dysfunction refers to the phenomenon whereby the media provide such
massive amounts of information that the audience becomes numb and generally fails to act on the
information.
The conflict view is that the media reflect many of the divisions within society and the world, including
those based on gender, race, ethnicity, and social class. Gatekeeping refers to the idea that media material
must travel through a series of checkpoints (or gates) before it reaches the public. The conflict view
suggests that the gatekeeping process reflects a desire to maximize profits, and that the content that makes
it through the gates does not reflect the diversity of the audience.
In the past, media monitoring referred to the monitoring of media content by interest groups. With new
technologies, it now includes monitoring of individuals’ media usage and choices without their
knowledge, raising concerns about the invasion of people’s privacy.
The term dominant ideology describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain
powerful social, economic, and political interests. The media transmit images that virtually define what we
regard as the real world. Mass media decision makers are overwhelmingly white, male, and wealthy. Media
content may create false images or stereotypes of particular groups, which become accepted as accurate
portrayals of reality. Globalization projects the dominating reach of the U.S. media into the rest of the
world. The U.S. media have come to rely on the overseas market.
Feminists continue the argument advanced by conflict theorists that the mass media stereotype and
misrepresent social reality. The media provide a powerful influence on how we look at men and women.
Feminists suggest that women are underrepresented and traditionally viewed as needing rescue by males.
Recent studies on the use of the Internet by women and men, suggest that the use of Web sites differs by
gender in fundamental ways.
Interactionists are especially interested in shared understandings of everyday behavior. They examine the
impact of the media on the micro level to see how the media shape day-to-day social behavior. The use of
the Internet to exchange information and messages about terrorism and hatred is of concern to
interactionists. Sexual expression, privacy issues, and censorship are all Internet-related issues that have an
impact on social behavior. The media can target certain groups by identifying and segmenting the audience.
An opinion leader is someone who through day-to-day personal contacts and communication influences
the opinions and decisions of others.
Ownership of the media is getting more and more centralized. There are a handful of multinational
corporations that dominate the publishing, broadcasting, and film industries. Some observers think that
government should regulate media concentration. Some sociologists question whether the public interest is
being served by the growing concentration of media. The global reach of the media has indeed begun to
create a global village in terms of communication. Consumer goods are vigorously marketed worldwide,
and national boundaries are crossed effortlessly with a mere keystroke.
LECTURE OUTLINE CHAPTER 6
I.
Sociological Perspectives on the Media
A.
Functionalist View
• The media socialize us, enforce social norms, confer status, promote
consumption, and keep us informed about our social environment.
• A dysfunction of the media is acting as a narcotic desensitizing agent.
B.
1.
Agent of Socialization
• The media increase social cohesion by presenting a standardized view
of culture. Example: Robert Park’s study of newspapers and immigrants.
• Showing of media events can bring people together.
• Media can be used to promote goals of dissident, even militant
minorities. Example: In Gaza Strip, Hamas-sponsored children’s TV
show promoting Palestinian position.
• The Internet has become the public commons for many.
• Some people blame the media for anything that goes wrong.
2.
Enforcer of Social Norms
• Media reaffirm proper behavior by showing what happens to people
who violate societal expectations. Example: police shows on television.
• Media shape perceptions about substance abuse, both in a positive and
negative fashion. The 200 most popular movie rentals in 1996 and 1997
depicted alcohol use (93 percent), tobacco use (89 percent), and illicit
drug use (22 percent). In 1999, 44 percent of network television
programming portrayed tobacco use in at least one episode.
• In 1997, a federal law required television networks to provide one free
minute of antidrug messages for every minute purchased by the
government for public service messages. The networks subsequently
bargained with the government to drop the free minutes in exchange for
antidrug messages embedded in their programs. Controversy ensued.
3.
Conferral of Status
• Media confers status on people, organizations, and public issues. See
Table 6-1.
4.
Promoting Consumption
• Advertising has become more and more prominently embedded in the
media.
• Functions of media advertising: supports the economy, provides
information about products, underwrites media costs.
• Sociologists are concerned that it contributes to a consumer culture that
creates “needs” and raises unrealistic expectations of what is required to
be happy, and that advertising has an inappropriate influence on the
media content.
5.
Dysfunctional Media: The Narcotizing Effect
• Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton created the term “narcotizing
dysfunction,” which refers to the media providing such massive amounts
of information that the audience becomes numb. Example: coverage of
natural disasters creating viewer fatigue and desensitization to the
suffering.
Conflict View
• Emphasizes that the media reflect the many divisions of society and the world,
including those based on gender, race, ethnicity, and social class.
1.
Gatekeeping
• Media constitute a form of big business in which profits are more
important than the quality of the programming.
• A small number of people control what eventually reaches the audience
(gatekeeping).
• In many countries, the government plays a gatekeeping role.
• Gatekeeping is not as dominant within the Internet.
• In gatekeeping, the content that makes it through the gate does not
necessarily reflect the diversity of the audience.
2.
Media Monitoring
• In the past, media monitoring referred to the monitoring of media content
by interest groups. With new technologies, it now includes monitoring
of individuals’ media usage and choices without their knowledge.
• Critics concerned by the invasion of people’s privacy.
Examples: Google’s records of users’ web-browsing activities and
government interest therein; federal government authorizing wiretaps of
U.S. citizens’ telephone conversations.
3.
Dominant Ideology: Constructing Reality
• Conflict theorists argue that mass media serves to maintain the
privileges of certain groups.
• Dominant ideology is a set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps
maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests.
• Media transmit images that define what we regard as reality.
• Decision makers are overwhelmingly white, male, and wealthy.
• Media tend to ignore the lives of some groups and help to create
stereotypes through portrayal of false images. Example: gays or
minorities.
• TV distorts the political process. Candidates with the most money are
able to buy exposure and saturate airwaves with messages attacking their
opponents and promoting their own agendas..
4.
Dominant Ideology: Whose Culture?
• Globalization projects the reach of the U.S. media into the rest of the
world. Todd Gitlin notes American popular culture is something that
“people love, and love to hate.” •
• U.S. media rely on overseas markets. Many motion pictures earn more
abroad than in U.S. Example: Titanic made over a billion dollars
overseas.
• U.S. producers not always sensitive to foreign audiences. Example:
Memoirs of a Geisha.
• Many popular U.S. TV shows originated in other countries. Examples:
Survivor; Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
• Unlike motion pictures, TV is moving away from U.S. domination and is
more likely to be locally produced.
• In 2005, UNESCO passed a measure to combat cultural homogenization
and protect threatened cultures, especially in developing nations. U.S.
was one of two dissenters.
II.
C.
Feminist View
• Media influence how we look at men and women, communicating unrealistic,
stereotypical, and limiting images.
• Feminists see three major problems: (1) Women are underrepresented, which
suggests women are insignificant; (2) women are often depicted as needing
rescue by males, thus reinforcing the stereotype; and (3) depictions of malefemale relationships emphasize traditional roles, and normalize violence against
women..
• Jean Kilbourne argues that women are objectified and dehumanized in
advertising and media entertainment.
• Pornography is a continuing, troubling issue.
• Fundamental differences in the way the Internet is used by men and women.
D.
Interactionist View
• Media examined on the micro level to see how media shape day-to-day
behaviors.
• Media serving as a primary group. Friendship networks emerge from shared
viewing habits. Example: Super Bowl parties.
• Embracing of symbols through photo-ops.
• The Internet has facilitated new forms of communication and social interaction.
• Troubling Issue: Internet used as a platform for extremists and pornographers.
• Internet has given people greater control over what they see and hear. Legal
scholar Cass Sunstein refers to this as egocasting. Downside of this may be a
less tolerant society as people reduce their exposure to other people and ideas.
• Disparities in usage of the Internet: See Figure 6-2 for breakdown by gender,
age, race, income, and education.
The Audience
A.
Who Is in the Audience?
• The audience can be a primary group or a secondary group and can be
examined from the microlevel or macrolevel.
B.
The Segmented Audience
• Increasingly, the media are marketing themselves to particular audiences. To
some degree this is driven by advertisers who want to maximize appeal to
specific market segments. Thus, content is geared toward special interests.
Example: Golf cable channel.
• Marketing research can be extremely precise. Specialized targeting of audiences
has led some to question the “mass” in mass media.
• Segmentation of audiences may reduce the collective nature of an audience.
C.
Audience Behavior
• An opinion leader is someone who, through day-to-day personal contacts and
communication, influences the opinions and decisions of others.
• Lazarsfeld et al. pioneered study of opinion leaders in research on voting
behavior in the 1940s. Found opinion leaders encouraged relatives, friends, and
coworkers to think positively about a particular candidate or situation.
• Audiences are not a passive group, but active consumers.
• Interpretations of the audience vary. Example: Race, age, income, education,
etc., may influence response of audience members.
III.
The Media Industry
A.
Media Concentration
• Ownership of the production process is highly centralized. A handful of
multinational corporations dominate publishing, broadcasting, and film
industries. They may be hard to identify because global conglomerates manage
many different product names. Example: New Line Cinema and Warner
Brothers are both under the Time Warner umbrella.
• Some sociologists question whether the public interest is being served by the
growing concentration of the media.
B.
The Media’s Global Reach
• The mass media have created a global village, as predicted by Canadian linguist
Marshall McLuhan some 40 years ago, although not all countries are equally
connected.
• Consumer goods are marketed worldwide. Development of brand loyalty.
Examples: Nike, Coca-Cola.
• The capacity to send audio and video via the Internet will increasingly reach into
every part of the world.
IV.
Social Policy and the Mass Media: Media Violence
C.
A.
The Issue
• The association between media violence and violent behavior.
B.
The Setting
• People spend more than 72 hours per week with the media.
• Comprehensive analysis of more than 200 studies found exposure to violent
images causes short-term increases in aggressive behavior of youths..
Sociological Insights
• Kind of desensitization could be taking place (narcotizing dysfunction), so that
extended exposure to violent imagery increases tolerance and acceptance of
violence.
• Conflict and feminist theorists are concerned that victims in violent scenes are
often women, children, the poor, racial minorities, citizens of foreign countries,
and the physically disabled.
• Interactionists are interested in media encouraging imitation (copycats).
D.
Policy Initiatives
• Response by policymakers on two levels: (1) In public statements, they
promote family-oriented, less violent programming, but (2) legislatively, they
are reluctant to engage in censorship, so instead have encouraged the media to
regulate themselves.
• National study in 2001 found that V-chip technology used in only about 17
percent of homes.
KEY TERMS CHAPTER 6
Dominant ideology A set of cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic,
and political interests.
Gatekeeping The process by which a relatively small number of people in the media industry control what
material eventually reaches the audience.
Mass media Print and electronic means of communication that carry messages to widespread audiences.
Narcotizing dysfunction The phenomenon in which the media provide such massive amounts of
information that the audience becomes numb and fails to act on the information, regardless of how
compelling the issue.
Opinion leader Someone who influences the opinions and discussions of others.
Stereotype An unreliable generalization about all members of a group that does not recognize individual
differences within the group.