SOCIALISATION, CULTURE AND IDENTITY - SOCIALISATION Flashcards
What are the agents of socialisation?
Family, mass media, religion, education, peer group and the workplace
Family as an agent of control
Formal social control: financial bribery
Informal social control: parental disappointment
What are the key names for family as an agent of socialisation?
Furedi - paranoid parents
Oakley - socialisation into gender roles
Furedi
‘Paranoid parents’
Traditionally, the parental role has been to care for and stimulate their children yet nowadays may parents see their role as protecting their children
This has lead to parents becoming paranoid with the risk to children being exaggerated
Ann Oakley
parents socialise gender roles through: canalisation, manipulation, verbal appellations and different activities
How is the mass media an agent of social control?
Formal social control: adhering to rules (eg copyright)
Informal social control: pressure to buy certain brands and look like models
Laura Mulvey
Our society is structured by, and for the benefit of, heterosexual men, as men are seen as the ‘active’ do-ers and women take more of a ‘passive’ role supporting men
Female characters must perform their story function while also adhering to the heterosexual male sexual fantasy
What are the three models of the mass media?
Hypodermic syringe model - media images inject directly into the brain having an immediate effect on behaviour
Cultural effects model - constant repetition of media has a gradual effect on attitudes and behaviour
Uses and gratification model - individuals seek out media specific to needs
How does religion act as an agent of social control?
Formal social control - sanctions
Informal social control - God’s disapproval
How does education act as an agent of social control?
Formal social control - attendance and behaviour codes
Informal social control - the hidden curriculum
Bowles and Gintis
Argued that the education system brain washes children into obedience and an unquestioning attitude they’d need for a world of capitalism through the hidden curriculum (ensures false class consciousness)
The hidden curriculum - punctuality, attendance, expectations, boundaries, valuing success, hierarchy, gender roles etc
How does the peer group act as an agent of social control?
Formal social control - initiations
Informal social control - peer pressure
Skelton and Francis
studied peer groups in primary school and saw that the play was very gendered (boys dominated the playground meanwhile girls did separate activities to the side like skipping)
Sewell
young people prefer to spend their free time in ‘cultural comfort zones’ as they prefer to hang out with people from similar backgrounds
How does the workplace act as an agent of social control?
Formal social control - official disciplinary procedures
Informal social control - colleague and boss expectations
Waddington
police officers hang around the station after work and spend their free time off-duty together where they learn practical tips and other’s experiences which helps them deal with their stressful jobs by boosting confidence, reinforcing a sense of mission and celebrating required values
Contemporary evidence: Sarah Everard’s murderer was on a WhatsApp group chat with other police officers, all showing misogynist and racist views
What are the key names for each agent of socialisation?
Family - Furedi, Oakley
Mass media - Mulvey
Education - Bowles and Gintis
Peer group - Skelton and Francis, Sewell
Workplace - Waddingon
What are formal agents of social control?
They are obvious ways that institutions in society try to control behaviour to maintain social order, and prevent anomie
Examples are the police, the justice system and the military
What are informal agents of social control?
Institutions in society that subtly control the way people behaviour so that society remains in a consensus
Examples are education, the media and peer groups (eg the hidden curriculum)
