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Chapter#4 Socilization

Socialization is the lifelong process by which people learn the values and norms of their society. It occurs through interaction with various agents of socialization like family, peers, school, the workplace, religion, government, and mass media. These agents teach both material culture like how to use objects as well as nonmaterial culture such as beliefs, values, and norms. Socialization is important for both individuals and societies as it ensures cultural transmission across generations.

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130 views

Chapter#4 Socilization

Socialization is the lifelong process by which people learn the values and norms of their society. It occurs through interaction with various agents of socialization like family, peers, school, the workplace, religion, government, and mass media. These agents teach both material culture like how to use objects as well as nonmaterial culture such as beliefs, values, and norms. Socialization is important for both individuals and societies as it ensures cultural transmission across generations.

Uploaded by

asasas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Socialization

Socialization is how we learn the norms and beliefs of our


society. From our earliest family and play experiences, we
are made aware of societal values and expectations.
Introduction to Socialization
• Sociologists focus their study on
the role of society and social
interaction in self-development
• How does the environment and
others shape who you are?
• When and how do you develop
the concept of right and wrong?
The Importance of Socialization
• Socialization is the lifelong process through which people learn the values and
norms of a given society and describes the ways that people come to understand
norms and values
• Socialization is not the same as socializing (interacting with others, like family,
friends, and coworkers); to be precise, it is a sociological process that occurs
through socializing.
• Socialization is critical to both individuals and society and provides the means
through which we can gradually see ourselves through the eyes of others
• It is through socialization that we learn language
• Societies depend on socialization to ensure survival
Nature vs. Nurture

• When who we are depends on nature, our temperaments, interests,


and talents are set before birth
• When the relationships and environment that surround us is
responsible for who we are, this is the result of nurture
• Twin studies help to identify the impact of nature on personality
• Structural functionalist view socialization as essential to society
because it perpetuates culture by transmitting it to new generations
• Conflict theory argues that socialization reproduces inequality from
one generation to the next
• Interactionists looking at socialization are concerned with face-to-
face exchanges and symbolic communication
Theories of Socialization
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939):
Psycho analyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was one of the most
influential modern scientists to put forth a theory about how people
develop a sense of self.
Freud (1923) later developed a more structural model of the mind
comprising the entities id, ego and superego (what Freud called “the
psychic apparatus”). These are not physical areas within the brain, but
rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important mental functions.
• Erik Erikson (1902-1994) believed the personality continued to change over
time and was never truly finished
• There are eight stages, beginning with birth and ending with death
• Erikson gave credit to more social aspects compared to Freud
• Jean Piaget (1896-1980)was a Swiss psychologist specializing in child development
who focused on the role of social interactions in childhood
• Piaget recognized that development of the self is a negotiation between the world
as it exists in one’s mind and as it is experienced socially

• Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) developed a theory of moral development with


three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional
• Morality refers to the way people learn what society considers as “good” or “bad”

• Carol Gilligan (1936) Gilligan’s research demonstrated that boys and girls have
different understandings of morality with boys focused on justice and girls focused on
care and responsibility
• Kohlberg’s theory assumed that the justice perspective was better while Gilligan
theorized that the the differences served different purposes
Psychological and Sociological Theories of Socialization

Psychological Theories of Sociological Theories of


Socialization Socialization 
Focus is how the mind influences Focus is the role of society in shaping
human behavior behavior
Sociologists tend to look outward
Psychologists tend to look inward
(social institutions, cultural norms,
(mental health, emotional processes) to
interactions with others) to understand
understand human behavior
human behavior
Key psychological contributions by Key sociological contributions by
Sigmund Freud George Herbert Mead
Agents of Socialization

• Socialization helps people learn to function successfully in their social worlds.


This learning takes place through interaction with various agents of socialization,
like peer groups and families, plus both formal and informal social institutions.
• Following are the main agents of socialization:

1.Family 5. Religion
2.Peer Groups 6. Government
3.School 7. Mass Media
4.The Workplace
Agents of Socialization
• Family is the first agent of socialization. Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus
members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know.
• For example, they show the child how to use objects (such as clothes, computers, eating utensils,
books, bikes); how to relate to others (some as “family,” others as “friends,” still others as
“strangers” or “teachers” or “neighbors”); and how the world works (what is “real” and what is
“imagined”)
• Sociologists recognize that race, social class, religion, and other societal factors play an important
role in socialization. For example, poor families usually emphasize obedience and conformity when
raising their children, while wealthy families emphasize judgment and creativity.
• This may be because working-class parents have less education and more repetitive-task jobs for
which the ability to follow rules and to conform helps. Wealthy parents tend to have better
educations and often work in managerial positions or in careers that require creative problem solving,
so they teach their children behaviors that would be beneficial in these positions.
• This means that children are effectively socialized and raised to take the types of jobs that their
parents already have, thus reproducing the class system (Kohn 1977). Likewise, children are
socialized to abide by gender norms, perceptions of race, and class-related behaviors.
Peer Group:
• A peer group is made up of people who are similar in age and social status
and who share interests. Peer group socialization begins in the earliest years,
such as when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about
taking turns or the rules of a game or how to shoot a basket.
• Interestingly, studies have shown that although friendships rank high in
adolescents’ priorities, this is balanced by parental influence.
School
• Most children spend about seven hours a day, 180 days a year, in school,
which makes it hard to deny the importance school has on their socialization
• Students are not only in school to study math, reading, science, and other
subjects—the manifest function of this system. Schools also serve a latent
function in society by socializing children into behaviors like teamwork,
following a schedule, and using textbooks.
• School and classroom rituals, led by teachers serving as role models and
leaders, regularly reinforce what society expects from children. Sociologists
describe this aspect of schools as the hidden curriculum, the informal
teaching done by schools.
Workplace:
• Many adults at some point invest a significant amount of time at a place
of employment.
• Although socialized into their culture since birth, workers require new
socialization into a workplace, both in terms of material culture (such as
how to operate the copy machine) and nonmaterial culture (such as
whether it’s okay to speak directly to the boss or how the refrigerator is
shared).
Religion:
• Religion is an important avenue of socialization for many people. The
religious places such as temples, churches, mosques, and similar
religious communities where people gather to worship and learn.
• Like other institutions, these places teach participants how to interact
with the religion’s material culture. For some people, important
ceremonies related to family structure—like marriage and birth—are
connected to religious celebrations.
Government:
• Although we do not think about it, many of the rites of passage people
go through today are based on age norms established by the
government.
• To be defined as an “adult” usually means being 18 years old, the age
at which a person becomes legally responsible for themselves. And 65
is the start of “old age” since most people become eligible for senior
benefits at that point.
• Each time we embark on one of these new categories—senior, adult,
taxpayer—we must be socialized into this new role.
Mass Media:
• With the average person spending over four hours a day in front of the
TV (and children averaging even more screen time), media greatly
influences social norms.
• People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and
transportation options), as well as nonmaterial culture—what is true
(beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms).
Resocialization
• Resocialization is the process of socialization again by significantly
changing values and beliefs
• This typically occurs in a new environment when the old rules no
longer apply
• Total institutions such as private boarding schools, military,
jails/prisons, and mental institutions provide these environments
because they are cut off from society and highly regulated with strict
norms
• Sociologist Harold Garfinkel (1956) coined the term degradation
ceremony, referring to a process through which people who have
wronged society are marked and punished in some way to reaffirm
the existing norms

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