Culture And Socialization Flashcards
Culture
The shared symbols and their definitions that people create to solve real-life problems.
Ethnocentrism
The tendency for a person to judge other cultures exclusively by the standards of their own culture.
Cultural capital
- originated from Pierre Bourdieau (conflict theorist)
The knowledge, skills, and cultural resources needed to acquire legitimacy within cultural contexts; how people can get ahead
Socialization
The lifelong social learning a person undergoes to become a capable member of society, through social interaction with others, and in response to social pressures.
Key agents of socialization
- Families
- Schools
- Peers
- Media
Functionalists view of agents of socialization
They emphasize how socialization helps to maintain orderly social relations
Indigenous/Decolonial view of agents of socialization
Explains how socialization has been key to settler colonialism and to dispossession of land
Conflict and Feminist theory view of agents of socialization
Typically stress the discord based on class, gender, and social cleavages
Symbolic interactionalist theory view of agents of socialization
Highlight the creativity of individuals in attaching meaning to their social surroundings
Primary socialization
The process of mastering the basic skills required to function in society during childhood
Secondary socialization
Socialization outside the family after childhood
Conflict theory perspective on school
Schools reproduce social inequality by imparting to students the norms, values, and beliefs of those in power
Anticipatory socialization
Learning that helps a person achieve a desired position
Cultural literacy
A solid knowledge of popular or mainstream culture, which contains the building blocks of all communication and learning
Social capital
The networks of relations among people who live and work in the community
Looking glass self
The feedback from others is integrated back into our concept of ourselves and then influences our future interactions
Impression management
Our social behaviour attempts to control what others think about us
Reading: Pascoe, multiple masculinities
Pascoe examines how masculinity works in relation to peer group socialization in high school from, broadly, a feminist perspective
- through interviews with boys from different social groups, it is found that masculinity is subject to various interpretations to fit their identities
- the study challenges the simplistic categorization of masculinities, highlighting how boys engage with gender norms to maintain a sense of masculine identity within the complex social hierarchy of high school
