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CHAPTER THREE: SOCIALIZATION
AT-A-GLANCE
Chapter Outline
What is Human
Behavior?
Socialization into
the Self and Mind
Learning, Personality,
Morality, and Emotions
Socialization into Gender
Agents of Socialization
Resocialization
Socialization Through the
Life Course
Are We Prisoners of
Socialization?
Key Terms
Key Players
Nature v. Nurture: the debate over
whether or not behavior is a product of
heredity or the environment.
Feral Children: children isolated from
other humans, including some raised by
animals.
Social Environment: the entire human
environment including direct contact
with other.
Self: the picture we have of how others
see us and our image of who we are.
Socialization: the process by which
people learn the characteristics of their
group.
Significant Others: those who have the
most influence on us.
Generalized Others: the norms, values,
attitudes, and expectations of people “in
general.”
Id: Freud’s term for inborn basic drives.
Ego: the balancing force between the id
and demands of society.
Super Ego: the conscience, the
internalized norms and values of our
social groups.
Gender Socialization: the ways in which
society sets children on different courses
in life because they are male or female.
Gender Role: the behaviors and attitudes
considered appropriate because one is
male or female.
Peer Group: a group of individuals of
roughly the same age who are linked by
a common interest.
H.M. Skeels and H.B. Dye:
conducted research involving
mentally challenged orphans.
Harry and Margaret Harlow:
conducted research with monkeys
that demonstrated the need for
children to have intimate physical
contact with caregivers.
Charles Horton Cooley: developed
the concept of looking-glass self.
George Herbert Mead: developed
the concept of symbolic
interactionism.
Jean Piaget: Swiss psychologist
who researched cognitive
development, reasoning skills and
stages of cognition.
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Chapter Three
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Sigmund Freud: Viennese
physician who founded
psychoanalysis and did extensive
work on personality development.
Lawrence Kohlberg: conducted
research on the development of
morality through stages.
Carol Gilligan: challenged
Kohlberg’s conclusions and offered
a gender-based interpretation of
how morality develops.
Susan Goldberg and Michael
Lewis: conducted research on how
mothers condition gender roles in
their children through supervision.
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Agents of Socialization: people or
groups that affect our self-concept,
attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations
toward life.
Manifest Function: the intended
beneficial consequences of people’s
actions.
Latent Function: unintended beneficial
consequences of people’s actions.
Anticipatory Socialization: because one
anticipates a future role, one learns parts
of it now.
Resocialization: the process of learning
new norms, values, attitudes, and
behaviors.
Degradation Ceremony: remake self by
stripping away self-identity and
replacing with a new identity.
Life Course: the stages of our life as we
go from birth to death.
Melvin Kohn: conducted research
on how working-class and middleclass parents rear their children.
H.M. Skeels and H.B. Dye:
Conducted research that suggests
IQ is related to socialization.
Patricia and Peter Adler:
conducted research on how
children separate themselves based
on sex and develop separate norms.
Erving Goffman: addressed the
impact of total institutions on one’s
resocialization.
Harold Garfinkel: coined the term
degradation ceremony.
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Chapter Three: Socialization
Chapter Summary
There has been and continues to be considerable debate over whether “nature” (heredity) or
“nurture” (social environment) most determines human behavior. Studies of feral, isolated, and
institutionalized children indicate that although heredity certainly plays a role in the “human
equation,” it is society that makes people “human.” People learn what it means to be and,
consequently, become members of the human community through language, social interaction,
and other forms of human contact.
People are not born with an intrinsic knowledge of themselves or others. Rather, as the
theoretical insights of Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, Jean Piaget, Lawrence
Kohlberg, and Carol Gilligan demonstrate, they develop reasoning skills, morality, personality,
and a sense of self through social observation, contact, and interaction.
Cooley’s conceptualization of the “looking glass self” shows how a person’s sense of self is
inextricably linked to that person’s sense of others; an individual imagines how other people see
him or her, interprets their reactions to his or her behaviors, and develops a self-concept based on
those interpretations. Mead’s insights into “taking the role of the other”—as well as how children
learn through stages of imitation, play, and games—illustrate the process by which people learn
to become cooperative members of the human community and internalize the “rules” of the game
of life. Furthermore, his formulation of the self as subject (the “I”) and object (the “me”) shows
how socialization is an active process and how the human mind, as well as the self, is a social
product.
Through observations of—and experiments with—young children, Piaget detailed four stages by
which children typically develop the ability to reason: the sensorimotor stage (from birth to about
age two), the preoperational stage (from about age two to age seven), the concrete operational
stage (from about age seven to about age twelve), and the formal operational stage (after the age
of about twelve). Building on Piaget’s work, Kohlberg theorized that human beings develop
morality through a series of stages: the amoral stage (from birth to about age seven), the
preconventional stage (from about age seven to about age ten), the conventional stage (after the
age of about ten), and the postconventional stage (a stage that, according to Kohlberg, most
people do not reach).
Gilligan examined how gender affects the development of morality. Based on interviews with
approximately 200 men and women, she concluded that women are more likely to evaluate
morality in terms of personal relationships, while men tend to define right or wrong along the
lines of abstract principles.
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Socialization
Cooley’s insights into the looking-glass self and Mead’s insights into role taking and the mind
appear to be universally applicable. Researchers are more divided, however, on Piaget’s four
stages of human development. Noting cultural and individual variations in the development of
reasoning skills, some researchers argue that human beings develop reasoning skills more
gradually and flexibly than Piaget’s model suggests. Subsequent research and testing raised
questions about Gilligan’s work on gender and morality, when the results found no gender
differences between males and females in moral reasoning. Because of these findings, Gilligan
no longer fully supports her original position.
Sigmund Freud formulated personality in terms of the id (the inborn drives for self-gratification),
the ego (the balancing force between the id and the demands of society that suppress it), and the
superego (the conscience, representing culture within us). Many sociologists reject Freud’s
contention that inborn and unconscious motivations are the primary determinants of human
behavior. However, many sociologists are attracted to Freud’s notion that the super-ego
represents the internalization of social norms. Feminists criticize Freud’s theoretical assumption
that “maleness” is “normal” and that females can be analyzed as inferior, castrated males
suffering from “penis envy.”
Socialization is not only critical internalizing social norms, to the development of the mind, but
also to the development of emotions. Although there are some basic emotions that all people
experience, all people do not express these emotions the same way or to the same extent.
Different socialization experiences tied to regional, gender, and class differences, for example,
may not only affect how people express their emotions, but also the particular emotions they may
feel. Males and females learn what it means to be boys and girls and, later, men and women
through gender socialization—the ways in which society sets children onto different courses in
life because they are male or female. From the time of their birth, children are constantly
presented with cultural messages that teach them how to act masculine or feminine based on
their sex.
Human beings learn how to think, behave, and act through agents of socialization—those people
or groups that influence our self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations toward life.
Major agents of socialization include the family, religion, daycare, school, peer groups, sports,
and the workplace. When people move from one place, job, and/or life situation to another, they
often have to undergo resocialization—the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and
behaviors.
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Chapter Three
Special settings that require intense resocialization, such as boot camps, prisons, and mental
institutions, are called “total institutions,” a term coined by Erving Goffman to refer to a place
where people are cut off from the rest of society and are almost totally controlled by the officials
in charge. Socialization is not just limited to childhood; it is a lifelong process in which people,
are taught, learn, and/or adjust to the needs, expectations, and responsibilities that typically
accompany different stages in life.
Although socialization has a tremendous influence, within the limitations of the framework laid
down by our social location, on how people think and act, human beings are not prisoners of
socialization. They have a considerable degree of freedom of choice, for example, to choose
which agents of socialization to follow (except for family), and which cultural practices or
messages to accept or reject from those agents of socialization. We can even change our sense of
self. Humans are not robots, and are therefore, unpredictable which makes the job of the
sociologist more difficult. Humans are not sponges that passively absorb environmental
influences. They are in fact active in their own environments and receive different treatment from
others around them. Even identical twins do not receive identical reactions from others.
What’s New in Henslin’s 8th Edition?

Confirmation of the Skeels and Dye research on orphans through a recent experiment in India
in which children’s motor skills and IQ increased through stimulating play and interaction
(p. 66).

Experiment on monkeys’ masculine/feminine toy preferences added to the discussion on
whether gender is innate or learned (p. 67-68).

Portrayal of women on televised sports and how this portrayal reinforces stereotypes of the
sexes (p. 77-78).

Analysis of transitional adulthood as a new period in the life course (p. 88-89).

Figure 3.2 – Transitional Adulthood: A New Period in the Life Course (p. 89).
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Socialization
Learning Objectives

Discuss the ongoing debate over what most determines human behavior: “nature” (heredity)
or “nurture” (social environment), and cite the evidence that best supports each position.

Explain the statement, “It is society that makes people human.”

Discuss how studies of feral, isolated, and institutionalized children prove that social contact
and interaction is essential for healthy human development.

Understand, distinguish between, and state the respective strengths and limitations of the
following theorists’ insights into human development: Charles Horton Cooley, George
Herbert Mead, Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan, and Sigmund Freud.

Discuss how socialization is not only critical to the internalization of cultural norms, the
development of cognitive activity, but also to the development of emotions affecting not only
how people express their emotions, but also what particular emotions they may feel.

Know what is meant by gender socialization and how the family, media, and other agents of
socialization teach children to act masculine or feminine based on their sex.

Describe some of the “gender messages” in the family and mass media, and discuss how
these messages may contribute to social inequality between men and women.

List the major agents of socialization in American society, and talk about how each of these
teach and influence people’s attitudes, behaviors, and other orientations toward life.

Define the term “resocialization” and provide examples of situations that may necessitate it.

Understand why socialization is a lifelong process and summarize the needs, expectations,
and responsibilities that typically accompany different stages of life.

Discuss why human beings are not prisoners of socialization while providing examples of
how people exercise a considerable degree of freedom over which agents of socialization to
follow, and which cultural messages to accept or reject from those agents of socialization.
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Chapter Three
Chapter Outline
I.
What Is Human Nature?
A. “Nature” (heredity) and “nurture” (social environment) influence human behavior.
Studies of feral, isolated, and institutionalized children indicate that social
interaction is indispensable to human development and, ultimately, it is society
that makes people human.
B. Feral (wild) children are children who, abandoned or lost by their parents, were
either raised by animals or reared by parents as infants and later left to fend for
themselves, probably because they were mentally disabled.
C. Studies of isolated children demonstrate that human beings have no “natural
language.” The case of Isabel—a child hidden away in an attic by her father,
severely neglected, and denied any meaningful social contact and interaction—
vividly illustrates this point.
 When first discovered, Isabel was unable to speak and scored extremely low
on intelligence tests. After a few months of intensive language training,
however, Isabel was able to speak in short sentences and eventually reached
the intellectual ability consistent with her age.
 Language is key to human development. If discovered early enough, even the
most severely isolated and/or neglected children can learn language, as well as
other age-appropriate social skills.
D. Other studies of institutionalized children show children also need stimulating
social contact and interaction to develop into socially, intellectually, and
emotionally “healthy” human beings.
 Research by Skeels and Dye demonstrated that orphaned infants who are
provided nurturing care benefit socially and intellectually, even when the
people providing this care are mentally impaired. Their research reinforces the
need for human interaction and its affect on human development.
 A follow-up study by Skeels and Dye over twenty years later confirmed the
findings of the original study: the group of children who were assigned to
women who were mentally impaired were, overall, far more successful as
adults than the control group of children who remained in the orphanage and
did not receive the same degree of nurturing care.
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Socialization
 These findings demonstrate that the family or the primary caregiver’s ability to
establish close social and emotional bonds with a child is more important to a
child’s healthy human development than hereditary intelligence level.
E. A series of experiments conducted by Harry and Margaret Harlow found that
monkeys raised in isolation—socially cut off from other monkeys—had a difficult
time adjusting to “monkey life” when they were later introduced to, and left with,
other monkeys. Those monkeys isolated for only short periods (about three
months) were able to overcome the effects of isolation, but those isolated for six
months or more were never able to adjust to normal monkey life.
F. Babies do not “naturally” develop into human adults. The concepts that language
provides, as well as social stimulation, interaction, and bonding, are all
prerequisites to healthy human development. Starting from birth, people need to
be socialized into conforming to social norms and the ways of society, which,
ultimately, is what makes humans “human.” Primary socialization is the
responsibility of the family.
II.
Socialization into the Self, Mind, and Emotions
A. The theoretical insights of Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, Jean
Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Carol Gilligan underscore the indispensable role
that society plays in human development. Their research shows how human
beings develop reasoning skills, morality, personality, emotions, and a sense of
self through social observation, contact, and interaction.
B. Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) coined the term “looking-glass self” to
describe the process by which a person’s sense of self develops from interactions
with others. According to Cooley, the “looking-glass” process involves three
steps: (1) we imagine how we appear to those around us, (2) we interpret others’
reactions, and (3) we develop a self-concept.
 If a person perceives other people’s thoughts and reactions as favorable, he or
she will develop a positive self-concept; if perceived as less favorable, he or
she will develop a negative self-concept.
 A person’s self-concept is always in a state of development as that person
continually modifies his or her sense of self, based on new social interactions
and social perceptions.
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C. Adding to Cooley’s insights into the self, George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)
argued that learning to “take the role of the other” is also critical to the
development of the self. According to Mead:
 In order to “take the role of the other,” a person needs to put him or herself in
another person’s shoes to understand how that person thinks and feels, and,
based on that understanding, anticipate how that person will act.
 Human beings are not born with the ability to take the role of the other.
During childhood, they gradually develop that ability through play.
 As children develop the ability to take the role of the other, they are first only
able to take the role of “significant others” but are eventually able to take the
role of the “generalized other.”
 Children develop the ability to take the role of the other through three stages:
(1) imitation—children under three can only mimic the gestures and words of
others; (2) play—from the age of about three to six, children pretend to take
the roles of specific others, such as a firefighter or superhero; (3) games—
during their early school years, children begin to play organized games that
require them to take multiple roles.
 The self is further divided into two parts: the “I” and the “me.” The “I” is the
self as subject, which is the active, spontaneous, creative part of the self (for
instance, I shoved him). The “me,” in contrast, is the self as object, which is
made up of the attitudes people internalize from their interactions with others.
The “me” is, thus, the object of action (for example, he shoved me).
 The distinction between the “I” and the “me” ensures that human beings are
not passive in the socialization process. The “I” evaluates the reactions of
others; organizes them into a unified whole; and monitors the “me,” thereby
fine-tuning peoples’ actions to help them better match what others expect
from them.
 Human beings cannot think without symbols. Symbols are derived from
language, which is a product of society.
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Socialization
D. To learn how human beings develop the ability to reason, the Swiss psychologist,
Jean Piaget (1896–1980), spent years observing and testing children. Piaget
concluded that children develop their abilities to reason in four stages.
 The sensorimotor stage (from birth to about two)—During this stage, an
infant’s understanding is limited to direct contact with the environment, such
as sucking, touching, listening, and seeing.
 The preoperational stage (from about age two to seven)—During this stage,
children develop the ability to use symbols. For example, they can count or
recite letters of the alphabet, although they do not really understand what such
numbers or letters mean.
 The concrete operational stage (from the age of about seven to twelve)—
During this stage, reasoning skills become more developed, although they
remain concrete. Children can understand numbers, causation, and speed, and
they are able to take the role of the other, as well as participate in team games.
 The formal operational stage (after the age of about twelve)—During this
stage, children are capable of abstract thinking. They can discuss concepts,
reach conclusions based on general principles, and use rules to solve abstract
problems.
E. Building on Piaget’s work, psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg determined that
children develop morality through a sequence of stages. Kohlberg’s stages include
the following:
 The amoral stage (from birth to about age seven)—During this stage, children
focus on immediate gratification with little or no concern for others, and no
real concept of right or wrong.
 The preconventional stage (from about age seven to about age ten)—During
this stage, children learn rules that they follow to stay out of trouble and avoid
punishment; they see right and wrong in terms of what pleases or displeases
their parents, friends, and teachers.
 The conventional stage (after about the age of ten)—During this stage, most
children are able to grasp the concept of morality, which they see in terms of
following the norms and values that they have learned.
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Chapter Three
 The postconventional stage (a stage that, Kohlberg contends, most people
never reach)—At this stage, people are not only able to understand morality in
terms of right or wrong, but are also able to reflect on the abstract principles
used to establish different behaviors as right or wrong, and to judge these
behavior based on those principles.
F. Psychologist Carol Gilligan examined how gender affects the development of
morality. She concluded that women are more likely to evaluate morality in terms
of personal relationships (e.g., how an action will affect others) while men, in
contrast, tend to define right or wrong in terms of abstract principles.
G. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) formulated personality in terms of the id (the inborn
drives for self-gratification), the ego (the balancing force between the id and the
demands of society that suppress it), and the superego (the conscience,
representing culture within us; the internalization of social norms).
H. Although Freud’s inclusion of the superego helps to underscore the role that
socialization plays in human behavior by illustrating how societal norms and
values restrain biological drives, many sociologists reject Freud’s contention that
inborn and unconscious motivations are the primary determinants of human
behavior. Feminists are critical of Freud’s theoretical assumption that “maleness”
is “normal,” and that females can be analyzed as inferior, castrated males.
I. Socialization is not only critical to the development of the mind, but also to the
development of emotions.
 Studying emotions in several countries, anthropologist Paul Ekman concluded
that everyone experiences six basic emotions—anger, disgust, fear, happiness,
sadness, and surprise—and that people everywhere display the same facial
features when they have these emotions.
 Facial expressions are only one way of exhibiting emotions. When other ways
are considered, it becomes clear that not all people express emotions the same
way or with the same intensity. The expression of emotions and the intensity
of that expression vary according to gender, culture, social class, and closeness
of relationships. Cultural variations may not only affect how people express
their emotions, but also what particular emotions they may feel.
J. Socialization is essential for our development as human beings. Through social
contact and interaction with others, we develop a self, mind, and personality that
shapes our thinking and emotions according to cultural standards. This is what
sociologists mean when they refer to society within us.
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Socialization
III.
Socialization into Gender
A. The ways in which society sets children onto different courses in life because they
are male or female is gender socialization. Through gender socialization, men and
women are socialized into gender roles—the behaviors and attitudes considered
appropriate because one is female or male.
B. Gender socialization begins with the family as parents consciously and
unconsciously pass their own gender orientations onto their newborn children
through the way they dress, play, and respond to them.
 Psychologists Susan Goldberg and Michael Lewis studied the different ways
that mothers treated their six-month-old infant daughters and sons. They
observed that the mothers played with, touched, and spoke to their daughters
more than their sons. They also observed that by the time the children were
thirteen months old, the daughters stayed closer to their mothers during play,
and returned to them sooner and more often than the sons. From their
observations, Goldberg and Lewis concluded that mothers in our society
unconsciously reward daughters for being passive and dependent while
encouraging their sons to be active and independent.
 Subsequent studies are inconsistent with Goldberg and Lewis’ findings. Some
sociologists have shown that Goldberg and Lewis were merely observing
innate differences. In experiments with monkeys, researchers found that male
monkeys preferred cars and balls, which female monkeys rejected, while
female monkeys preferred dolls and pots.
C. The mass media (forms of communication directed to mass audiences) further
teach and reinforce appropriate gender roles through advertising, television,
movies, and video games.
 Advertising directed at children typically depicts boys as more dominant,
active, and aggressive than girls.
 In movies and on prime-time television, male characters outnumber female
characters. Although sexual stereotyping along traditional lines of masculinity
and femininity is still the norm, some female action characters such as “Buffy
the Vampire Slayer” and “Xena the Warrior Princess” have been introduced,
popularized, and embraced by television audiences in recent years.
 Studies on video games suggest that their influence on players’ ideas about
gender is unknown and that the average American spends 75 hours a year
playing them. Even 4- to 6-year-olds play them an hour per day on average.
More studies are needed to help determine how these games may or may not
reinforce and/or challenge sexual stereotypes.
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Chapter Three
 Studying a group of junior high school boys, sociologist Melissa Milkie found
that the boys used media images to discover who they are as males. From
watching movies and television, the boys “learned” that to be a male is to be
obsessed with sex and violence.
 Portrayal of women on televised sports tends to reinforce gender stereotypes
since women athletes receive little coverage and, when they do, newscasters
tend to emphasize breast, bras, and engage in locker-room humor turning
women athletes into sexual objects.
IV.
Agents of Socialization
A. Human beings learn how to think, behave, and act through “agents of
socialization”—those people or groups that influence our self-concept, attitudes,
behaviors, or other orientations toward life. Major agents of socialization include
the family, religion, day care, school, peer groups, sports, and the workplace.
B. The first group to have a major impact on children is the family, which from early
on provides them with their basic sense of self, initial motivations, values, and
beliefs. Moreover, variation in family structure has significant impact on the
socialization process.
 Not all families socialize their children the same way. For example, as
sociologist Melvin Kohn uncovered, social class affects the way parents rear
their children.
 Kohn found that the “type of work that parents did” was the critical variable.
Parents in work settings that stressed conformity and closely supervised their
workers tended to rear their children in the same way. Parents in work settings
that valued independence and encouraged their workers to take initiative
worked to develop these same qualities in their children. Middle-class parents
socialized self-control into their children and were less likely to use physical
punishment and more likely to reason with their children.
C. Another important agent of socialization, the neighborhood, varies in terms of
social class. Studies show that children from poor neighborhoods are more likely
to get in trouble with the law, to become pregnant, to drop out of school, and to
end up facing a disadvantaged life.
D. Religion also plays a major role in the socialization of most Americans with 70
percent belonging to a local congregation and, during a typical week, 40 percent
attending a religious service.
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Socialization
E. With the increase in single-parent families and the increase in mothers and fathers
both working outside of the home, daycare has become another significant agent
of socialization.
 The research is mixed about the effects of daycare. Some findings show that
the more hours per week children spend in day care, the weaker the bonds
between mother and children and the greater the child’s behavioral problems.
Other findings note that the more hours children spend in daycare, the higher
they score on language tests, especially for children from low-income homes
and/or dysfunctional families.
F. One of the most influential agents of socialization in children’s lives is school.
 Schools serve many manifest functions (intended consequences) for society,
including transmitting valuable knowledge and skills, such as reading, writing,
and arithmetic. At the same time, schools also have a number of latent
functions (unintended consequences), such as showing children that when they
are outside of their homes, they will not always be at the center of attention.
Once in school, children are forced to learn universality—that the same rules
apply to everyone.
Sociologists have identified a “hidden curriculum” in schools—values that,
though not explicitly taught, are part of the school’s “message.” This hidden
curriculum may include transmitting values of patriotism, democracy, justice,
and honesty through school activities, assignments, and/or exercises. Conflict
theorists argue that the hidden curriculum perpetuates social inequality by
socializing children to accept their “proper” places in the workforce based on
their social class standings.
G. One of the most significant aspects of education is that it exposes children to peer
groups—a group of individuals roughly the same age who are linked by common
interests.
 Research by Patricia and Peter Adler document how peer groups provide a
setting for boys and girls to “practice” resisting the socializing influences of
their parents and schools.
 Peer groups significantly influence their members’ interests, tastes, attitudes,
behaviors, and priorities. Although these influences extend through the entire
life course, peer groups tend to have the most powerful impact on pre-teens
and teens.
H. Another powerful agent of socialization is sports, which teach not only physical
skills, but also values.
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Chapter Three
 Sports tend to reinforce gender socialization, with boys learning that
masculinity is related to success in sports. This, in turn, makes them more
successful with their peers.
 With more women getting involved in organized sports, there needs to be
more studies examining how sports affect the formation of female identities.
I. The workplace is a major agent of socialization for adults, teaching not only a set
of skills, but also a perspective on the world.
 Often before taking a new job, people imagine what that job will be like.
Through “anticipatory socialization,” they learn parts of their future role
before actually entering that role.
 The more one participates in a line of work, the more that work becomes a
part of one’s self-concept. For many people their job is not only something
they do, it is who they are.
V.
Resocialization
When people move from one place, job, and/or life situation to another (e.g.,
imprisonment or military boot camp), they often have to undergo
resocialization—the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes and
behaviors.
 Erving Goffman coined the term “total institution” to refer to places such as
boot camps, prisons, and mental institutions, where people are cut off from the
rest of society and are almost totally controlled by the official in charge of the
institution.
 An individual entering a total institution is greeted with a degradation
ceremony that may include fingerprinting, shaving the head, and banning the
individual’s personal identity kit (that is, jewelry, hairstyle, clothing, and other
body decorations used to express individuality).
VI.
Socialization Through the Life Course
A. Socialization is not just limited to childhood; it is a lifelong process in which
people are taught, learn, and/or adjust to the needs, expectations, and
responsibilities that typically accompany different stages in life. An historical
perspective on the different stages of life—childhood, adolescence, young
adulthood, middle years, and older years—show that the attitudes and
expectations that accompany these stages are influenced by social factors.
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Socialization
 Childhood (from birth to about age twelve)—In earlier times, childhood was
not regarded as a special time life; rather, children were seen as miniature
adults. By age seven, some boys left home for good to learn a trade, and girls
were expected to assume their daily share of household tasks. Industrialization
changed the way American society sees children as needing more guidance. In
the modern world, technology has also changed the nature of childhood.
Children now have greater exposure to sex and violence from watching
television, playing video games, and surfing the internet.
 Adolescence (ages thirteen to seventeen)—Like childhood, adolescence is not
a “natural” age division. In earlier centuries, people simply moved from
childhood into young adulthood with no separate category called adolescence.
But with industrialization, for the first time in history, millions of thirteen to
seventeen-year-olds were able to remain outside the labor force, just as
education was becoming more important for success. The convergence of
these two “events” created a gap between childhood and adulthood that was
filled by creating in the early 1900s a new stage in life called adolescence.
Adolescence is seen as an in-between stage in which teenagers try to carve out
independent identities from their parents with distinctive clothing, hairstyles,
language, gestures, and music. Considered neither children nor adults, this is
often a period of confusion and turmoil. Adolescence is a social creation, not a
biological category.
 Transitional Adulthood (ages eighteen to twenty-nine)—This is a time of life
in which adult responsibilities are postponed for millions of young people
through higher education. During this period of “extended youth,” young
adults are neither psychological adolescents nor sociological adults and
gradually ease into adult responsibilities—finishing school, taking full-time
jobs, engaging in mating rituals, getting married, and having children.
 The Middle Years (ages thirty to sixty-five)—These can be separated into two
distinct periods: the early middle years and the later middle years. During the
early middle years (ages thirty to forty-nine), most people are much surer of
themselves and their goals in life. However, their sense of self can receive
severe jolts from events such as divorces or firings.
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Chapter Three
 In the later middle years (ages fifty to sixty-five), health and mortality become
large concerns as people feel their bodies change and, in many cases, see their
parents turn frail, become ill, and die. The later middle years can be a very
comfortable period in many people’s lives due to job security and a higher
standard of living, but it can also be a time of large burdens, such as having to
provide care for children and parents, while worrying about the next stage of
life.
 The Older Years (about age sixty-five on)—The older years can also be
separated into two periods: the early older years and the later older years.
Improvements in nutrition, public health, and medical care have delayed the
onset of old age. For people in good health, the early older years are often
experienced as an extension of the middle years. However, as they see their
friends die and their own bodies decline, the concept of death becomes very
real and is no longer denied or ignored. There is no precise beginning point to
the later older years. For most people, this stage is marked by growing frailty
and illness and, eventually, for all people, by death. The decline in physical
health and mental acuity varies from person to person.
B. The sociological significance of the life course is that it is influenced by social
factors, such as the era to which a person is born, as well as a person’s class,
gender, and race. Furthermore, the stages are not fixed; changing times and/or
situations can alter how a society envisions different periods of the life course.
VII.
Are We Prisoners of Socialization?
A. Although socialization has a tremendous influence on how people think and act,
human beings are not prisoners of socialization. They have a considerable degree
of freedom of choice, for example, to choose which agents of socialization to
follow and which messages to accept or reject from those agents of socialization
that they do choose to follow.
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Socialization
Key Terms in Chapter Three
agents of socialization: People or groups that affect our self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or other
orientations towards life. (p. 78)
anticipatory socialization: Because one anticipates a future role, one learns parts of it now. (p. 84)
degradation ceremony: A term coined by Harold Garfinkel to describe an attempt to remake the self by
stripping away an individual's self-identity and stamping a new identity in its place. (p. 85)
ego: Freud's term for a balancing force between the id and the demands of society. (p. 72)
feral children: Children assumed to have been raised by animals, in the wilderness, isolated from other
humans. (p. 65)
gender role: The behaviors and attitudes considered appropriate because one is a female or male. (p. 77)
gender socialization: The ways in which society sets children onto different courses in life because they
are male or female. (p. 75)
generalized other: The norms, values, attitudes, and expectations of people “in general”; the child's
ability to take the role of the generalized other is a significant step in the development of a self.
(p. 68)
id: Freud's term for our inborn basic drives. (p. 72)
latent function: The unintended consequences of people's actions that help to keep a social system in
equilibrium. (p. 81)
life course: The stages of our life as we go from birth to death. (p. 87)
looking-glass self: A term coined by Charles Horton Cooley to refer to the process by which our self
develops through internalizing others' reactions to us. (p. 68)
manifest function: The intended consequences of people's actions designed to help some part of a social
system. (p. 81)
mass media: Forms of communication, such as radio, newspapers, and television that are directed to
mass audiences. (p. 77)
peer group: A group of individuals of roughly the same age who are linked by common interest. (p. 77)
resocialization: The process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors. (p. 85)
self: The unique human capacity of being able to see ourselves "from the outside"; the picture we gain of
how others see us. (p. 68)
significant other: An individual who significantly influences someone else's life. (p. 68)
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Chapter Three
social environment: The entire human environment, including direct contact with others. (p. 65)
social inequality: A social condition in which privileges and obligations are given to some but denied to
others. (p. 78)
socialization: The process by which people learn the characteristics of their group—the attitudes, values,
and actions thought appropriate for them. (p. 68)
superego: Freud’s term for the conscience, the internalized norms and values of our social groups. (p.
72)
taking the role of the other: Putting oneself in someone else's shoes; understanding how someone else
feels and thinks and thus anticipating how that person will act. (p. 68)
total institution: A place in which people are cut off from the rest of society and are almost totally
controlled by the officials who run the place. (p. 85)
transitional adulthood: a term that refers to a period following high school when young adults have not
yet taken on the responsibilities ordinarily associated with adulthood; also called
“adultolescence.” (p. 88)
Key People in Chapter Three
Patricia and Peter Adler: Patricia and Peter Adler documented how children use peer groups to
separate themselves by sex and develop their own worlds with unique norms. (p. 83)
Charles H. Cooley: Coining the term “looking-glass self,” Cooley showed how a person’s sense of self
is acquired through social interaction. People perceive other people’s thoughts and feelings about
them, and develop a self-concept based on those perceptions. (p. 68)
Paul Ekman: Studying emotions in several countries, Ekman concluded that everyone experiences six
basic emotions—anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise—and that people,
everywhere, display the same facial features to express these emotions. (p. 73)
Sigmund Freud: Freud formulated a theory of personality development based on inborn drives (id), the
internalized norms and values of one's society (superego), and an individual's ability to balance
the two competing forces (ego). (p. 72)
Carol Gilligan: Studying gender differences in the development of morality, Gilligan concluded that
men and women evaluate morality through different criteria: women in terms of personal
relationships and men in terms of abstract principles. (p. 72)
Erving Goffman: Studying the process of resocialization in highly regimented settings, Goffman coined
and defined the term “total institution.” (p. 85)
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Socialization
Susan Goldberg and Michael Lewis: Observing the social interactions between mothers and their infant
sons and daughters, Goldberg and Lewis showed how parents consciously and unconsciously
pass their own gender orientations onto their infant children through the way they dress, play,
and respond to them. (p. 75)
Harry and Margaret Harlow: Studying the behavior of monkeys socially cut off from other monkeys,
the Harlows found that monkeys isolated for short periods could overcome the effects of
isolation, but monkeys raised in isolation for longer periods could not adjust to other monkeys
and normal monkey life. (p. 67)
Lawrence Kohlberg: Kohlberg identified a series of stages by which human beings develop morality.
(p. 72)
Melvin Kohn: Kohn uncovered the different ways that social class affects the way parents rear their
children. He found that parents in work settings that stress obedience and conformity tend to rear
their children the same way, while parents in work settings that value independence and initiative
work to develop similar qualities in their children. (p. 80)
George Herbert Mead: Mead’s theoretical insights—taking the role of the other; stages of imitation,
play, and games; and the self as subject (the “I”) and object (the “me”)—illustrated how people
learn to become members of the human community; socialization is an active process; and the
human mind, as well as the self, is socially produced. (p. 68)
Michael Messner: Messner examined how sports reinforce gender socialization—teaching adolescent
boys that masculinity is related to success in sports. This, in turn, makes boys more successful
with their peers. (p. 84)
Melissa Milkie: Milkie studies how adolescent boys use media images to discover who they are as
males—“learning” from what they watch in movies and on television that to be a male is to be
obsessed with sex and violence. (p. 77)
Jean Piaget: Through extensive experiments with children, Piaget detailed the four stages by which
children develop the ability to reason. (p. 70)
H.M. Skeels and H.B. Dye: Skeels and Dye’s study of a group of orphaned children cared for by women
residing in an institution for people with mental retardation demonstrated that a caregiver’s
ability to establish close social and emotional bonds with a child is more important to a child’s
healthy human development than a caregiver’s intelligence level.
(p. 66)
Colin Turnbull: Turnbull asks if we are all becoming to extreme in our culture of individualism and are
we becoming selfish at the expense of the family and society like the Ik. (p. 74)
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Chapter Three
Discussion Topics to Encourage Student Participation

Ask your class if they have known any twins either as classmates or as playmates. You will
probably have students in some of your classes with a twin brother or sister. Ask these
students to recollect the environment in which the twins were reared, how their dress was
alike, their activities, friendships, and behaviors. If possible, try to identify whether the twins
were identical or fraternal. Then address the “nature” versus “nurture” controversy based on
the observations reported.

While acknowledging that both “nature” (heredity) and “nurture” (environment) play a role in
determining human behavior, conduct a class debate over which one most determines human
behavior. Ask your students to present the best evidence that they can think of—from
personal observation or experience, or from what they have learned about human behavior in
their classes—to support one position or another.

Have your students make a list of their own personality traits and then ask them to address
the following questions: How much, if at all, has your personality changed from the time you
were in elementary school? What specific people and/or events most shaped your personality
over the last fifteen years of your life? In terms of personality, which parent are you most
like—your mother or your father—and in what ways? After your students consider these
questions, ask them to discuss how, if at all, their answers may help to shed light on the
“nature” versus “nurture” debate.

Lead a discussion on the university being a total institution. Request students who attended
private schools and those who have been in the military to also address their experiences of
each respective institution as being a “total” institution. What were the functional advantages
of the total institution? Could any of the institutions addressed, even your own university, be
a successful operation if it did not embrace the “total institution” concept to some degree?
Why or why not?

Many states, in recent years, have changed their laws so that children who commit violent
crimes, such as murder, can be charged as adults. Thinking about Piaget’s findings on how
children develop reasoning skills, ask your students to discuss the following: How old do you
think a person needs to be to know the difference between right and wrong and to know that
murder is wrong? What should be the youngest cutoff age to hold a person who kills another
person legally responsible for the crime of murder?
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Socialization
Classroom Activities and Student Projects

Poll your classes to determine which students participate in any organized athletic program
for the university or off campus. Have the male student-athletes meet in a small group and the
female student-athletes in another group. Have each group discuss among themselves the
following questions: (1) how long they have been involved in organized sports (2) why they
initially became involved in organized sports and why they continue to be involved (3) how
their involvement in organized sports has either strengthened or challenged their gender
identity, or if they continue in sports to reinforce their gender identity. Have each group elect
a spokesperson to address the class on their findings and then continue the discussion with
the entire class.

Ask your students to draw up a list of all the characteristics that they can think of that are
traditionally associated with males or females in American society. Afterward, have them
discuss and/or debate the following questions related to their list: At what age did you first
start associating the different characteristics in your list with males and females, and which
agents of socialization were and continue to be the most influential in getting you to view
males and females this way?

Have each student select a CD, audiocassette, or video from their personal collection that
reinforces gender roles in contemporary American society. Select students at random or
through volunteers to play a few minutes of their selection that demonstrates the enforcement
of these roles. Then lead a discussion on how the selection reinforced gender roles, whether
or not there was a cultural significance to the gender role, and the general audience that
would be affected by the selection.

Have each student compose a diagram that features a circle in the center that represents him
or her. Around the circle, have the student list the various social institutions that have had an
impact on his or her development. List the institutions that have had the greatest impact on
the student closest to the circle. Next, have students draw two arrows between the circles that
represent them and the social institutions. One arrow will be pointed from the circle to the
institution and the other from the institution to the circle. The thickness of the arrow will
represent the degree of influence the person has had on the institution or the influence the
institution has had on the person.
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Chapter Three
Service Learning Projects and Field Trips

If your university has a day care center for the children of faculty, staff, and students, explore
the possibility of students spending an hour or two at the center to observe the children. The
students should take notes on how the children respond to gender socialization, the cues that
are presented to them that suggest specified behavior based on gender, and other observations
related to gender based behavior. Have the students take notes and report back to the class
their observations.

Have your class meet at the local mall for a field trip and—letting them roam around on their
own or in small groups—ask them to identify as many examples as they can of gender
stereotyping, gender socialization, and/or gender inequality in the mall setting. Have them
carry around a small assignment pad and, as they move from store to store, discreetly write
down all the examples they see. You can offer some suggestions to get them going. For
example, they can find examples of gender stereotyping, gender socialization, and/or gender
inequality in the advertisements, products, placing of items, pricing of items, customers, and
even salespeople (for example, who gets to sell what, especially high commission items such
as large appliances and electronics). After an hour of “searching,” have your students turn in
their lists. If time permits, gather everyone together at the food court to discuss the
experience over a snack.

To give your students a chance to observe what goes on in a total institution, arrange a field
trip to a penitentiary, including a tour of the prison grounds and interviews with prison
officials and, if possible, prison inmates. In preparation for the trip, discuss with the students
all the things they should look for and, ask about, when they arrive at the total institution.
What kind of resocialization occurs when inmates first enter the penitentiary? How much
freedom do inmates have, if any, within the confines of the penitentiary? Is there a
degradation ceremony that inmates are forced to undergo in their first days at the
penitentiary? What is the penitentiary doing, if anything, to resocialize longtime inmates to
life outside of the total institution; and what are those inmates doing, if anything, in terms of
anticipatory socialization to prepare themselves for their release? Finally, do the prisoners
themselves have a resocializing effect on incoming prisoners and their own degradation
ceremony?
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Socialization
Suggested Films
This list contains films that are not produced by Allyn & Bacon.
Gender and the Interpretation of Emotion. Films for the Humanities and Sciences. 1998–1999
Listings, 25 min. (Video).
The video examines whether the sexes differ in their abilities to judge complex emotions
in others.
Gender Socialization. Insight Media. 1993, 60 min. (Video).
This program describes how gender socialization influences self-esteem and worldview.
Face Value: Perceptions of Reality. Films for the Humanities and Sciences. 1998–1999 Listings,
26 min. (Video).
This presentation argues that perceptions of attractiveness may be universal over cultures.
Inherit The Wind. 1960, 127 min. (Video).
A movie based on the play of the same name that captures the culture and spirit of the
Scopes trial on teaching Darwinism in Tennessee.
Nature/Nurture. Films for the Humanities. 1987, 52 min. (Video).
Phil Donahue explores nature versus nature with regard to risk takers, identical twins and
programs to develop intelligence in infants.
Socialization. Allyn and Bacon Interactive Video for Introductory Sociology. 1998, 3 min.
(Video).
An introductory brief clip from Allyn and Bacon to accompany any lecture of
socialization.
Web Sites
Introduction to Puppy Socialization
http://www.cyberpet.com/cyberdog/articles/behavior/pupsoci.htm#Top1
This is an interesting site discussing dog training as a socialization process. From the information
found in the site: How is animal training similar and different from human socialization?
Gender Advertisements in Magazines Aimed at African-Americans: A Comparison to
Their Occurrence in Magazines Aimed at Caucasians
Http://www.findarticles.com/m2294/1_40/54250819/p1/article.jhtml
This article by Tara L. McLaughlin appeared in the January 1999 issues of Sex Roles: A Journal
of Research. It addresses magazine advertising as an agent of socialization.
For additional Web Links and World Wide Web Activities
Visit Allyn and Bacon’s Companion Website at
www.ablongman.com/henslin
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Chapter Three
Additional References
Becker, Howard and Blanche Geer. 1998. “The Fate of Idealism in Medical School” in
Robert Thompson (ed.) The Essential Sociology Reader. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Drew, Paul and Anthony Wootton (eds.) 1988. Erving Goffman: Exploring the Interaction
Order. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
Goffman, Erving. 1961. Asylums. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., Inc.
Giuffre, Katherine and Pamela Paxton 1977. “Building Social Networks” Teaching Sociology.
Vol. 25 (July) pp. 207–213.
Twain, Mark. (1883) 1972. “Learning a trade” in L.A. Coser (ed.) Sociology Through Literature.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 70–75.
64