Socialisation Flashcards
What is Socialisation?
The process in which an individual learns the norms, values and culture of a society
What is Primary Socialisation?
Occurs in early childhood as parents teach children dominant norms and values often through positive and negative sanctions and also parents act as positive role models too
What is Secondary Socialisation?
A lifelong process and is socialisation outside of the family e.g. peers, education, media, religion and workplace
What is the role of the family in socialisation?
It’s the main agent of primary socialisation and Functionalists see the female as the expressive leader who is mainly responsible for the nurturing and socialisation of children
What is the role of peers in socialisation?
Refers to those of a similar age and includes friendships and year groups in school and subcultures- want to be popular with peers- strong desire to conform
What are ‘Cultural comfort zones’?
Tony Sewell says youth prefer to spend their free time in cultural comfort zones- they prefer to hang around with those form similar backgrounds e.g afro-carribean boys preferring to hang out with other black boys instead of MC white boys
What is the role of media in socialisation?
Violence is more rife due to it’s promotion in video games/TV, Feminists argue media over sexualises women, further oppressing them
What is a ‘Bulimic society’?
Young says bulimic society is one which advertising and the focus on celebrity culture and rewards encouraged people to worship money and material success causing the poor to turn to crime as they cannot achieve these ‘status items’ legitimately
What is the role of religion in socialisation?
Until the mid-20th century, Christianity in the UK was a major part of socialisation- it promoted values. However there has been a major decline in Christianity (secularisation)
What is the formal (visible) curriculum?
Refers to the academic subjects taught in the education system
What is the hidden curriculum?
The ways in which the routines and organisations of schools and teaching shape pupil attitudes and behaviour to produce conformity
What did Bowles and Gintis say about the hidden curriculum?
The education system is a giant myth making machine which brainwashed children into obedience and an unquestioning attitude- also taught to believe in meritocracy
What is the ‘long shadow of work’?
Marxists Bowles and Gintis argue that schooling stands in the long shadow of work meaning pupils are unconsciously socialised into blind obedience to higher authority, punctuality etc preparing WC children for factory work
What is the role of the workplace in socialisation?
Teaches skills but also socialises them into formal rules e.g. dress, duties, codes of conduct which are backed up by sanctions
What is ‘Canteen culture’?
It sets out informal rules for getting on with fellow workers e.g. the police force has a canteen culture involving racist jokes, misogyny and homophobia (Waddington)
What is the ‘Nature’ side of the Nature/Nurture debate?
Sociobiologists claim that people inherit characteristics e.g. intelligence, personality, aggression etc. Also many sociobiologists believe that females and males are born with tendencies to behave in either a feminine or masculine way due to hormones
What do Feminists argue about Nurture that contradicts the Nature argument?
Feminists state that if gender roles were biologically determined, men and women would behave the same way in all societies- this is not the case and therefore counters the Nature argument
What are common criticisms of the Nature argument (support Nurture)?
People are not born with cultural values or social skills- they’re learned over time and are different in every culture. Also looking at feral children who lack socialisation further supports this point
What is Social control?
The ways in which deviant or abnormal behaviour is deterred and conformity to the norms and rules of society is reinforced
What are examples of formal agencies of social control?
Includes the police, the criminal justice system, security, military and the government .
What are examples of informal agencies of control?
Families (parents reward or punish their children), Peers (positivity= friendship, negativity= excluded), Media, Religion, Education and Workplace
What did Madell find regarding youth having phones?
91% of youth (2004) had mobile phones and in 2005 16y/os spent spent an average of 2.5 hours a day watching TV
What did Skelton and Francis find?
Looked at primary peer groups- play was very gendered- boys played more active games, girls played hopscotch or braided hair- excluded form boy’s games
What did Sue Lees say regarding double standards?
Looked at peer pressure teen girls faced by boys- double standards regarding sexuality- if girls are sexually active they’re labelled a slag and many other derogative terms whereas boys are praised for it
What do Voas and Crockett say regarding religion?
Explored the concept of BWB (Believing without belonging) meaning some people say they are religious by don’t attend religious ceremonies
What did Butler find?
Girls in Bradford and Coventry wanted to move on from ‘izzat’ (keeping family honour), and the traditional norms for a young Muslim girl- didn’t want arranged marriage
What did Woodhead say?
The religious dress that young Muslim women wear, particularly the veil is an important part of their identity, but they can personalise them to some extent and this is known as ‘Muslim chic’, with a respectful nod to modesty, their religion and culture
What did Mirza say?
Looked at what young Muslim women really thought about their religious dress wear and found many spoke positively about it, saying they could change the beading/ colours to show different identities
What did Mulvey say?
Uses the concept ‘male gaze’ to describe how the cameras in films ‘eye up’ female characters, encouraging viewers to assess their bodies and their attractiveness from a male perspective
