Socialisation Flashcards
Primary Socialisation: What is it?
- main component = family
- children learn through imitation (walk, talk) from parents, siblings
- right/wrong = rewards/consequences
- provides guidelines for actions
- feral children -> no skills learnt, can’t interact, unable to socialise
BAUMEISTER - babies have no other role, so believe fam will love if do right thing - sense of identity
MORGAN - sanctions
MORGAN - toilet training -> bodily control -> acceptance - learn traditional gender roles
Primary Socialisation: Functionalists
- child is blank slate at birth
- parents mould passive child into image of society (BUT not all adults have skills to nurture child eg child abuse/neglect)
- child filled with shared cultural values - assumes are its own
- part of value consensus - feel belong in society
But….
PHILLIPS - kids have too many rights –> resist parental power –> undermines socialisation
Antisocial behaviour is because parents are happy to not be responsible for upbringing - portrays as one-way process, but Interpretivists say its a learning process for parents too
Primary Socialisation: Marxists
- critical of Functionalist view
ZARETSKY - family used by capitalist class to instil values useful to RC (obey authority)
- ensures can later be exploited
- taught power/inequality is normal and natural
- so process depends on your social class
Primary Socialisation: Social control
MORGAN
- socialisation -> control -> conformity
- praise/punish - reward with treats, use sanctions
- sanctions vary according to severity
- shapes us as moral beings
- how to treat people in diff situations
- if family reward us for good behaviour, so will society
Symbolic interactionism: I and Me
MEAD
- awareness of how others see us
- I = spontaneous side of personality, would like to act freely but aware of expecations
- ME = more inhibiting self-concept seen through eyes of others, develops through play as child, take role of others -> see reaction -> develop sense of self through interaction
- socialisation is a negotiated process -> allows for developing identities
But….
- to abide by symbols, must be some collective conscience, norms/values, to share meanings - must feed off structural factors
Symbolic interactionism: Labelling
BECKER
- well known application of Symbolic interactionism
- powerful people label others
- accept label -> SFP
- damaging if label becomes master status
Symbolic interactionism: Looking-glass self
COOLEY
- the ‘me’ side = looking-glass self
- after while, view ourselves as if others’ eyes are a mirror - change behaviour according to reactions
- have idea how we appear to others–> imagine judgement –> take our self image from imagined evaluation of others
- modify to avoid criticism/receive praise
- individual identity = social construction, not individual one -> people influence our behaviour
Symbolic interactionism: Dramaturgical approach
GOFFMAN
- social world = drama performance
- put on performance - convince others who we are
- believe in role like actor -> become person (Presentation of Self)
- impression management -> convince of identity
- manipulate/being manipulated
- roles constrained by social factors
- spoiled identity - can’t manage identity
BUT…..
- overemphasises signif of individual - no social structures?
- can’t explain power relationships like Fem/Marx
- too much conc on small scale, trivial aspects of life - ignores bigger picture at a society-wide analysis
Education: Functionalists
- passes on shared values eg conformity
- expose to historical/religious achievements within society
- reinforces belonging in society
DURKHEIM - creates social solidarity
DAVIS AND MOORE - role allocation - encourages competition
- skills provision for economy eg basic lit/num
- history/lang/RS -> what has society achieved?
- maintains society by socialising us into values of achievement, comp and equal of opp
Education: Marxists
ALTHUSSER - RC ideology -> hidden curric, submit to capitalism, socialise WC to accept subordinate position
CONNOR AND DEWSON -> 1/5 HE students come from WC bkgrnd -> reflects low GCSE/A-Level grades. Lots of WC have quals but don’t opt into HE. Ed system is elitist -> society gvned by small group of highly gifted
CONNOR AND DEWSON -> capitalist society so ed taking over as main social control (repro attitudes for division of labour, teach to accept position, be exploited, shows rulers how to control workforce)
- national curric cut off Socio/Politics from mainstream ed - feared would make WC critical of inequality
Religion: Functionalists
DURKHEIM
- socialises into consensus -> teach certain values with sacred quality
- religious symbolism to do this
- values become moral codes -> regulate social behaviour eg 10 commandments
- influences formal social control eg murder, and informal eg adultery
Religion: Marxists
- religion is an ISA - reflects RC interests
- socialises WC into 3 sets of false ideas
1. MATERIAL SUCCESS - poverty due to sin/immorality
2. BLIND FAITH - distracts them from true extent of RC expolitation
3. MAKES INEQUALITY BEARABLE - promise reward in after-life if accept now
Mass Media: Functionalists
LASSWELL - 4 basic functions for society eg diversion, socialisation
WRIGHT - manifest/latent functions/dysfunctions of mass media communications
alerts public to health risk = info function. but if creates panic = dysfunction
Dysfunction = acts as a narcotic, desensitises us to distressing events
In publicMass Media: interest - reflects opinions, understands cultural diversity by amount of stories shown
Mass Media: Functionalist Criticisms
POSTMAN - childhood socialisation less effective than 50yrs ago - loss of innocence due to overexposure of sex/violence
PALMER - -ve infuence of TV/comp games -> parents use as sub for interacting with child, less likely to be socialised into moral codes of behaviour
Mass Media: Marxists
- responsible for mass culture
MARSH AND KEATING - popular culture used to keep the masses happy, lie to encourage false needs (wants), feel they need materialistic things, emphasises we’re under FCC
BARNETT - media output in UK that contained quality drama/serious news coverage has declined
- replaced by dumbed-down content eg reality TV
- socialises us to not be able to think for ourselves
