socialisation, culture and identity Flashcards
explain what culture is and give three examples
williams said culture is the whole way of life of a society of social group and is shared through socialisation. there are variations between societies showing that culture is relative, within societies themselves (subcultures) and over time (historical relativity.) the fact that culture is relative shows that it is also socially constructed (made by the people who live within it.) margaret mead studies three new guinea tribes, each with a different view of gender. both men and women in the arapesh tribe had personalities, looks and behaviour that would be associated with femininity in the west, they also didnt have any concept of ownership of land and rape was unknown to them. in the mundugumor tribe men and women subscribed to what would be viewed as traditional masculinity in the west, until it was outlawed, they were cannibals and headhunters. the gendered expectations of tchambuli tribe were the opposite of western culture, however some aspects were the same such as the men being headhunters and the women not being involved in politics.
what are norms, values, status and roles and give examples
values are shared beliefs or goals related to what society feels is morally important, worthwhile and desirable. they form the foundations for norms and are learnt through socialisation. examples: in many cultures high value is placed on human life which is why doctors are given a high status. achievement is a value in the uk since it is compulsory to attend school from 5 to 18.
norms are specific guideline defining acceptable behaviour in specific situations. they are culturally and historically relative, norms that have lasted a long time are known as customs, going against the norms of a society is seen as deviant. examples: in the uk wearing clothes in public is norm due to the value of modesty. it is also the norm to form a queue at shop counters and bus stops due to the value of fairness.
status refers to the social position of people in society and the prestige or respect attached to that position, creating a hierarchy. whereas roles are the set of norms attached to a position or status, life involves juggling these roles which can lead to role conflict. status and roles can be ascribed eg being royalty or male/female. they can also be achieved eg occupational status (debatable.)
explain high culture and give two examples
high culture is defined as the activities and products enjoyed by the elite and wealthy upper class. high culture represents the highest achievements in humanity and so are given high status however marxists would argue that argue that the ruling impose their idea of culture on the rest of society and define it as better than working class culture. examples: appreciating the arts like opera or ballet and activities such as fox hunting and participation in the social season.
explain popular culture and give two examples
popular culture refers to activities enjoyed by the masses or majority of ordinary people. it doesnt require any special education to enjoy and does not cost much. marxists would argue that popular culture acts as the ‘opium of the masses’ because it distracts people from the fact that they are being exploited and prevents a proletariat revolution. examples: reality tv such as love island and romance and thriller novels.
explain consumer culture and give two examples
consumer culture is defined as culture that is based on what is bought and consumed as a norm and way of shaping identity. the five features that make the uk a consumer society are: a wide range of goods and services available, shopping being a major leisure pursuit, different forms of shopping being available, debt becoming the norm and packaging and advertising becoming big business. examples: conspicuous consumption (buying things as status symbols to create identity) and the use of mobile phones as status symbols most noticeably in teenagers and older men.
explain subcultures and give two examples
a subculture is a culture within a culture. they have some norms and values in common with wider society but they have some that are different, many people associate themselves with a subculture in their youth and then move away as they get older but not all the time. examples: punk subculture in the 1970s provided a voice for disaffected young people during a time of mass youth unemployment, they are associated with anti materialism, anarchy and nihilism. freegans are a 21ts century subculture of anti consumerists who participating in ‘urban foraging,’ wild foraging and go to free markets where goods can be swapped.
explain cultural diversity and give two examples
cultural diversity refers to cultural differences within a society. the three forms of cultural diversity (parekh) are: subcultural diversity, when some members of society rebel against the central values of society and communal diversification where ethnic groups have long-established communities often with their own norms and values. examples: the 2011 census for england and wales shows that 19% of the population are part of ethnic minorities. sexual diversity includes the increased visibility of queer subcultures due to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the 1960s.
explain global culture and give two examples
global culture is where people all around the world share a similar way of life. it refers to the growing trend of cultural products and activities becoming universal (globalisation) however some have criticised this and said that this is americanisation (mcluhan) and enforcing cultural homogenity on the world. examples: fast food places, the practise of dubbing western tv and movies.
explain hybrid culture and give two examples
hybrid culture describes a fusion of cultural influences to produce something new. many cities are culturally diverse due to the mass immigration of the 1960s leading to the hybridisation of culture, postmodernists argue that this is due to an increased ability to pick and mix identity. examples: chicken tikka masala is considered britains favourite dish and was created by bangladeshi chefs who mixed curry with condensed tomato soup so it was less spicy. multicultural london english is a mixture of patois (a caribbean language,) south asian languages and greek, it emerged in east london but is now used in many places across the uk.
what is socialisation
the process of learning the culture of a society
what is the evidence that nature shapes behaviour and identity
bouchard researched identical twins who had grown up apart and found that they very often had similarities in behaviour, likes, dislikes and personality. archontaki et al found after researching 800 sets of twins that identical twins are twice as likely to to share the same personality traits than non identical twins. functionalist parsons argues that men naturally better suited to an instrumental role whereas women are better suited to an expressive role.
what is the evidence that nurture shapes behaviour and identity
others argue that nurture shapes behaviour and identity. margaret meads’ research of the new guinea tribes show that gender roles are culturally relative and socially constructed. there is also a number of feral children who were raised without human contact and so didnt experience primary socialisation. for example: isabel was found when she was ten years old and has been raised by chickens, she expressed emotion by beating her arms and drumming her feet in imitation of the chickens. genie was locked in in a darkened room until she was thirteen and the only human interaction she experienced was when receiving food or punishment, she learnt to dress, eat correctly and use a toilet but she was never able to string sentences together and couldnt speak beyond the ability of a four year old.
what is social control and what are the methods
social control is the regulation of human behaviour by society, ensuring that they conform to what they learn during socialisation and deviance is met with sanctions. functionalists argue that it is necessary to ensure the smooth running of society, marxists argue that social control maintains the advantages of the bourgeoisie and feminists argue that it maintains the advantages of men. methods of social control: sanctions, imitation, role models, discrimination, representation, informal and formal curriculums, peer pressure
what is formal social control and give examples
formal social control involves written rules, laws or codes of conduct. an example of an agent of formal social control would be the military and the formal sanction is violence. another example would be the legal system and the formal sanction would be imprisonment, fines or community service etc
what is informal social control and give examples
informal social control does not involve written rules but instead relies on unwritten rules. the agents of socialisation such as peers and family are also agents of informal social control. informal negative sanctions include shame, criticism or ridicule etc.
explain primary socialisation
primary socialisation takes place up to the age of five and the only agent is the family. children learn the basic norms and values of their culture and begin to get a sense of their own personal identity. without this, people do not learn the basic behaviours we associate with being human especially language. we can see this clearly through feral children. parsons views the family as a personality factory where the nurturing mother moulds the passive child into the norms and values of society reproducing value consensus. however palmer has argued that parents often use tv and computer games instead of interacting with children and so they are also an agent of primary socialisation.
what are the five agents of secondary socialisation
education, religion, workplace, mass media, peer groups
explain education as form of secondary socialisation
education - it is a form of both formal social control due to the content in the formal curriculum being designed to reflect the values of britain. parsons argues that theis is to ensure children gain a common identity. And a form of informal social control where values such as respecting authority through the norm of standing up when a teacher enters the room. rosenthal and jacobson found that children labelled as spurters were more likely to do well, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. this shows that people are socialised into their identity through the way that other people perceive that identity. however some students resist the influence of school such as the 12 working class boys paull willis studied who viewed school as place to have fun since they expected to end up in manual jobs that didnt require qualifications.
explain peer groups as a form of secondary socialisation
peer groups - peer groups have a few leaders who are seen as role models and the others may imitate them due to the desire to fit in which is especially strong during youth. deviance from the behaviour exhibited by the leader may lead to informal sanctions such as gossip and bullying. many peer groups are made up of people from the same culture, creating a cultural comfort zone (sewell)
explain mass media as a form of secondary socialisation
mass media - representation of social groups can influence the public’s perception of that group and their perception of themselves. jackson found that ‘ladettes’ were mocked for being both too masculine but also not being able to fully be a man which is an example of an informal negative sanction policing the boundary of acceptable femininity. the hypodermic model claims that media has a direct impact on attitudes and behaviour eg copycat acts of violence but others say that the effect is impacted by other’s reactions to it and others say that media has a more gradual impact.
explain workplace as a form of secondary socialisation
workplace - resocialisation may occur to learn the skills and norms of the workplace. it is a form of formal (formal dress codes etc) and informal social control (norms such as punctuality). negative sanctions include being made redundant or being denied bonuses. adkins found that the informal culture of many workplaces encouraged women to wear makeup and tolerate sexual harassment from customers.
explain religion as a form of secondary socialisation
religion - many argue the uk is undergoing secularisation therefore it is not as influential as a form of secondary socialisation. figures of authority act as role models, religious texts provide moral codes (formal) and the community also encourages conformity. religious norms and values influence food, clothing and worship. the main formal sanction is what happens in the afterlife and forms of informal sanction include: ridicule and shame. durkheim argued that imbuing values with a sacred quality reinforces value consensus and creates social unity.
what is identity
- A sense of self
Identity can be separated into (1) your personal identity which can be shaped by your social identity known as the ‘looking glass self’ (Cooley) (2) your social identity which is shaped by culture (3) how you see others. Weeks said that a sense of self is often gained through figuring out who you are similar and different to.
Structural approaches argue that identity is fixed and shaped by society while individuals are puppets of society.
Social action approaches argue that constructing identity is an active process.
what is gender and to what extent is it informed by nature
- The cultural expectations a particular society associates with men and women
The bioessentialist view is that sex determines gender eg Wilson argues that the need to reproduce requires men to be more promiscuous while women have a limited number of eggs and so need to be more selective. functionalist parsons would agree since he argued that men are suited to an instrumental role while women are suited to an expressive role.
However these views ignore intersex, trans and non binary people.
Connell argues that society has a gender order: hegemonic masculinity, complicit masculinity, forms of subordinate masculinity, emphasised femininity and resistant femininity
how does the family socialise people into their gender
Oakley said there are 4 ways the family socialises children:
- Manipulation: socially accepted behaviour is encouraged and going against gender norms is met with negative sanctions.
- Canalisation: parents channel their child’s interests into socially acceptable activities
- Verbal appellation: parents talk to children and treat them in a way that reinforces gender expectations
- Gendered domestic activities: children encouraged to help with jobs that reinforce gender stereotypes it often goes alongside mimicking their parents too
By age 5 most children have a clear gender identity (Statham)
how does education socialise people into their gender
In education Blinkenstaff says that there is a lack of role models in science and maths for girls (formal curriculum.) Also skelton argues that although men and women learn the same subjects but when given the option teachers will encourage gendered subject choices (hidden curriculum)
how does peer pressure socialise people into their gender
Peer pressure forces girls to be shy especially when it comes to sex. This is mostly from male peers but some female peers negatively sanction deviant behaviour as well through negative labelling (lees.) Frosh found that boys who worked hard were called gay. Reynold found that they would stress their traditional masculinity and boys who were more academic would play this down in order to avoid homophobic comments.
how does work socialise people into their gender
in work there is horizontal segregation, where some jobs are viewed as more suited to a particular gender eg the women and work commission found women are disproportionately found in the 5 cs: cleaning, caring, cashiering, catering and clerical work also the equal opportunities commission found that 90% of construction workers were male and vertical segregation, where men and women are divided by a glass ceiling eg in 2008 women made up only 11% of directors of the top 100 companies in britain leading to a gender pay gap of 19.2% per hour.
how does religion socialise people into their gender
christianity is patriarchal and women are excluded from key roles (armstrong.) in 2012 the c of e voted against allowing women to become bishops which means that there are less role models for women, there is also the belief that god is male and that women were created from a man’s body. there is also pressure for women to save sex for marriage and to only have sex for children.
how does the media socialise people into their gender and how does it present alternative options
the media often represents women through the ‘male gaze’ (mulvey) which encourages straight men to objectify women and women to view themselves from a straight male perspective. women are encouraged to imitate the concept of ‘slimblondeness’ (mcrobbie.) films often protray masculinity as based on strength and violence (easthope.)
however, (gauntlett) argued that media can also challenge gender norms eg lady gaga singing about financial independence. it is becoming more common for men to be portrayed as comfortable with femininity. david beckham is a footballer but he sometimes wear nail varnish and openly talks about his role as a father showing that he is an example of metrosexual masculinity, influenced by the metropolitan gay scene (whannell.)
in what ways are gender identities changing in the uk
mac an ghaill argued that working class men are experiencing a crisis of masculinity due to deindustrialisation and the increased emphasis on women being independent which has lead to a loss of the breadwinner identity. they also found that boys police their own and others sexuality and gender which is based on hyper masculinity and heterosexuality, leading to anti-school subcultures. postmodernists argue that people can pick and mix the way that they express their gender. wilkinson said that the definition of woman has changed so much that it amounts to a ‘genderquake’ and sharpe found that the priorities of women changed drastically from the 1970s to the 1990s from ‘love marriage husbands and children’ to education and careers. queer theory rejects the gender binary and there is an increased awareness about genderqueer identities in the uk.
describe and explain sexual identity
weeks argues that people are socialised to see heterosexual sex as natural and gay sex as deviant. rich used the term compulsory heterosexuality to describe the way that women are socialised into a heterosexual role. McIntosh said that the role of being a gay man comes with expected cultural characteristics. weeks found that some people participate in the queer community but don’t have gay relationships and vice versa. eg reis found that male prostitutes had sex with men but still viewed themselves as straight. McItosh said that once someone identifies as gay, they live up to cultural expectations for example married men who saw themselves as straight but experienced attraction to men did not have any of the characteristics associated with being gay. plummer said that this was because people who identify as gay will join the subculture where stereotypical characteristics are the norm, he describes developing the identity of gay as a ‘homosexual career,’ therefore accepting the identity of being gay is what makes someone rather than experiencing attraction to the same gender.
how does the family socialise people into heteronormativity
gorman-murray argues that the family is the primary sight of heteronormative socialisation, especially in nuclear families where queer kids may be made to feel like they don’t fit in. heineman argues that straight parents assume and want their children to be straight becacuse they want theur children to identify with and be similar to them. However in a yougov poll in 2015 88% of people said that they would support a gay child.
how do school socialise people into heteronormativity
stonewall found that in schools 53% of LGB pupils were never taught about queer issues and history despite it being on the curriculum and of those that were, only 34% said it was done in a positive way. they also found that 60% of gay pupils who experience homophobic bullying say teachers who witness it never intervene.
how does peer pressure socialise people into heteronormativity
People are taught to conform to heterosexual norms through peer pressure. stonewall found that 96% of gay pupils hear homophobic language and that 55% of young people experience homophobic bullying in schools and a third of gay students have been ignored, isolated or have been gossiped about.
