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#8
Socialization
I.
The importance of socialization- the process in which we learn the physical, mental, and social
skills that we need to become individuals and to function in society
a. Begin to learn values and norms at birth and throughout life
i. Learn from instruction and imitation
ii. Learn our roles
iii. Vital to culture- teaching our knowledge, symbols, values, norms, and beliefs
b. Early socializationi. example school- pre-school- pray, patriotism, cooperation in cleaning up, hands
off policy, don’t hit, quiet when the teachers speaks, raise your hand to speak,
wash your hands, wait in line, don’t whine, etc.
c. Effects of childhood isolation
i. Early skills include- walking, talking, toilet training, affection, utensil use in
eating
ii. What happens when children go without the above?
1. 13th century Frederick II Germany- instructed foster mothers to give
minimum care to children- no talking or playing with them- they all died
2. Isabelle- spent first 6 ½ years with her def mute mother in a dark
room- rescued
a. Unable to speak, terrified of strangers, especially men- hostile
as a wild animal
b. Poor nutrition- suffered from rickets- unable to walk
c. By age 8 ½- she was able to speak, read ,write- learned in 2
years what most learn in 6
d. Sociologists say that children cannot develop without
appropriate human interaction. There is no biological code that
instructs us on how to be human
II. Sex role Socialization- explaining differences in boys/ girls from a sociological perspective
a. Biological differences- the obvious, boys- generally bigger/ stronger, better organizers,
hunters, fighters, etc. girls- ability to bear children, gentleness, domesticity
b. Margaret Mead’s studies of non- western sex roles
i. Some tribes- men/ women were equally maternal
ii. Others- men and women were aggressive
iii. Men submissive/ women dominant
iv. The sociologist perspective is that socialization plays a bigger role in gender
differences than biology
c. Gender training- teaching children behaviors that are acceptable to their gender
i. TREATMENT OF BOYS
1. More tolerant of physical aggression
2. Act like a “big boy”
3. Dependent behavior is sissy-ish and discouraged
4. Play with guns, play cops/ robbers, army guys- GI Joe, sports
ii. TREATMENT OF GIRLS
1. Clinging or dependent behavior
2. Expected to be more docile and submissive
3. Doll houses, strollers, baby dolls, kitchen set- trained to be mother/ wife
4. Sweet, pretty, passive
d. Gender training in the media- television, radio, movies, books, magazines, music, video
games, internet- all influence the public consciousness about how men and women
should act
i. Back in the day- 1950’s/ 1960’s1. Ideal woman was: beautiful, emotional, run a perfect household by day,
sex object by night
2. Ideal man was: strong, professionally successful, intelligent- show
emotions with great difficulty
ii. In the media today
1. Woman- great diversity of “ideal woman” portrayed, depending on
what you find attractive-Ellen, Oprah, Angelina Jolie, Kate Hudson, Paris
Hilton, Kardashian’s, Arianna Huffington, GI Jane, Madonna, etc.
2. Man- varying ideal of “ideal man” as well- George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Bill
O’ Reilly, Barrack Obama, Don Cheadle, Will Smith, Morris Chestnut, Bill
Gates, Steve Jobs, Lil Wayne, Travis Barker, Tony Hawk, Mike Phelps,
Shaun White, etc.
III. The self as a social product- we all start with biology (genotypes, phenotypes, etc.), then our
culture shapes who we become. Accounts for individual and societal variances
Theories of how this happens
a. Charles H. Cooley: the looking glass self
i. We become aware that others judge us our appearance and behavior
1. Other children may indicate that: we are smart/dumb, attractive/ugly,
skinny/fat- as children are told repeatedly they are a certain way, they
believe it (ex. Mom tells you are bad, think of yourself as a bad boy/girl)
2. According to Cooley- we develop a self-image that is largely a reflection
of how others think of us
3. Called the “looking glass self”
4. 3 elements
a. The way we think we appear to others
b. The way we think they judge our appearance and behavior
c. How we react to their judgments of ourselves
b. Being “realistic”- Malcolm X example
i. Teacher tells him to be realistic
c. Sigmund Freud- the psychoanalytic view- did not believe that human behaviors were
random- applied the scientific concept of “cause and effect” to human behavior
i. Free association- encouraged patients to relax and recall earlier events in their
lives that may shed some light on their current emotional state.
ii. 3 parts of the human personality
1. The superego- the conscience, a sensor, represses urges, sexual and
aggressive urges are “no-no’s”, it checks the “id”, driving urges into the
subconscious but continue to trouble the individual
2. The Id- inborn sexual and aggressive urges as well as the drive for
warmth and food/ water- seeks bodily wants
3. The ego- the mediator or umpire of the above two. – according to
Freud, in healthy individual, the ego directs the lustful and sometime
anti- social impulses into sociably accepted behaviors- allowing the
individual to function without emotional conflict that causes stress
d. Erik H. Erickson: eight stages of life- built on some of Freud’s theories
1. Trust vs. mistrust-(infancy)- when the needs are met, we develop trust
and thing the world is a loving and safe place-needs not met- we
develop mistrust and think the world is a place to fear and is insecure
2. Autonomy vs. doubt-(early childhood)-new physical and mental skillswe want to do things on our own- parents let us do for ourselvesautonomy- do everything for us- doubt
3. Initiative vs. guilt (early childhood)
4. Industry vs. inferiority (school age)
5. Identity vs. role confusion(adolescence)- a search for who we are
6. Intimacy vs. isolation(young adulthood)- seeking out friends and
significant others
7. Generativity vs. self absorption(middle age)- helping other vs. only
being concerned with ourselves- new family/ work
8. Integrity vs. despair(old age)- accepting death- was your life a series of
missed opportunities or life was not wasted.
IV. The agents of socialization- what institutions and other forces are at work?
a. Television/ movies- “The Deer Hunter” 29 dead- Russian roulette- immigrants learning
English
b. Internet- Facebook, Twitter, etc.- Youtube- Slacker.com
c. “We don’t need no….education”- you all know about school, right?
d. Soviet education- the school as a collectivee. Resocialization- values and behaviors we learn as youth rarely change radically, but
sometimes do
i. Join the military
ii. Religious awakening
iii. Political change
iv. Brainwashing- breaking down the individual and starting fresh