Socialization

Question 1

The process of learning about your society’s norms, customs, and ideologies.

Answer 1

Socialization

Question 2

The earliest stage of socialization, when we learn how to become a member of society by discovering the attitudes, values, and actions that are culturally and socially appropriate.

Answer 2

Primary socialization

Question 3

When we learn the appropriate behaviour and attitudes of a subculture within our larger society.

Answer 3

Secondary socialization

Question 4

refers to the degree to which an individual’s behaviour, attitudes, and other personal characteristics are determined or caused by something specific. Proponents of “hard determinism” argue that our thoughts and actions are primarily influenced by our biology or the society we live in.

Answer 4

Determinism

Question 5

• The argument that our behaviour is determined by our genetic makeup.
  *Seeks evidence of the biological roots of behaviour.
• Argues that behaviour evolves over time to secure the survival of the species.

Answer 5

Biological determinism (nature)

Question 6

• Our behaviour is the product of social interactions and learning.
• The social environment is crucial to an individual’s socialization.
• Shaping someone’s behaviours through rewards and punishment is called behaviour modification.

Answer 6

Social or cultural determinism (nurture)

Question 7

You put off getting what you want till later, because that gets you more in the long run.

Answer 7

Deferred gratification

Question 8

Society’s purpose is to survive and reproduce itself, each part working together to do so, just like the human body.

o Socialization ensures society functions effectively.

o Socialization allows children to internalize social rules and values, preparing them for a variety of roles in society.

Answer 8

Theoretical Perspectives: Structural Functionalism

Question 9

Socialization teaches people how to integrate into society

Functionalists see socialization as essential for establishing and reinforcing social rules We internalize our society’s norms and values

Answer 9

Social integration

Question 10

does not believe socialization is always functional given the existence of social inequality.

suggests human behaviour and social relations are the result of an underlying conflict between two competing groups, or what Karl Marx called social classes.

The conflict between classes determines how individuals are raised to behave in human societies.

Answer 10

Theoretical Perspectives: Critical/Conflict Theory

Question 11

socialization is about power and control.

Primary socialization teaches people (especially less powerful groups) their “place” in society.

Subalterns learn to blame themselves for their social position.
Ignore structural factors that help the dominant group retain power.

Answer 11

Conflict theorists argue

Question 12

has broadened the application of Marx’s theory, retaining its focus on conflict, but on gender, not class conflict.

asks similar questions but looks to explain socialization from the perspective of gender relations.

Gender relations are defined by men possessing more social power than women so that everything in society is organized around men, their positions and their experiences.

Answer 12

Theoretical Perspectives: Feminist Theory

Question 13

patriarchy shapes cultural values and norms People are socialized based on their gender and learn a gendered identity
* i.e., girls should “be ladylike” and boys shouldn’t cry

Answer 13

Feminists argue that patriarchy shapes cultural values and norms

Question 14

A theory based on the idea that we as individuals actively participate in our own socialization, determining it through our interactions with others.

Answer 14

Symbolic interactionism

Question 15

We can identify crucial figures in each person’s life
* For children, obviously this is parents in the first instance: need for food and safety.
* Friends are the next closest: we seek their approval.

provide model of proper behaviour: children learn by imitation what it means to fill a certain role.
* People in social circle whose expectations we most try to meet.

Answer 15

significant others

Question 16

oInstitutions and other structured relationships within which socialization takes place.

oThe individuals, groups, and social institutions that influence our daily lives.

oThese agents help us to become functioning members of society.

oMany different agents of socialization exist but sociologists tend to focus on family, peer groups, and the education system, along with community and neighbourhood, and Mass Media

Answer 16

Agents of socialization

Question 17

Significant and generalized others who guide us through the socialization process, shaping the people we become.

Answer 17

Agents of Socialization

Question 18

most important agents of socialization.

responsible for transmitting cultural and social values to us.
* We learn about norms, values, beliefs, and social position.

not always the most efficient or effective socializers for various reasons.
* Parents may have poor parenting skills or be unprepared emotionally.
* may also teach us less desirable ideas, like racism, sexism, classism, or homophobia.

Answer 18

Agents of Socialization - Families

Question 19

teach us skills that we need to function in society.
also teach the hidden curriculum.

• Concepts not listed in the curriculum.
• Informal rules about our place in society.

we are compared to our peers and evaluated. This may have a deep impact on our self-esteem.

Answer 19

Agents of Socialization - Schools

Question 20

o A group we are linked to by things like age, social position, and common interests

are important to our development of sense of belonging, identity, and self-esteem. Young people experience peer pressure.

• The behaviours our peers encourage may differ from what our caregivers teach us is appropriate.
• Can result in disagreements with our parents.

Answer 20

Agents of Socialization – Peer Groups

Question 21

can be important agents in child and adolescent socialization

• City versus small town versus suburb
• Rich versus poor versus mixed neighbourhoods

Depending on where they live, children are more or less likely to engage in risk behaviours, that is lifestyle activities that place a person at increased probability of suffering negative consequences (unsafe sexual activities, and drinking, etc.)

Answer 21

Agents of Socialization – Community and Neighborhood

Question 22

like television, film, and social media have a big impact because we encounter these things daily.

The internet is replacing the importance of television.

Email and text allow us to maintain close connections with people at home and around the world. Social media sites like TikTok are rapidly changing how we interact with others.

Answer 22

Agents of Socialization – Mass Media

Question 23

The process of learning how to behave in a way that is consistent with gender rules and norms of your society.

Answer 23

Gender socialization

Question 24

Racial groups may see negative stereotypes about themselves, or lack of positive role models.

• E.g. low numbers of non-white teachers may generate sense that education is ‘not for us.’

Answer 24

Racial Socialization

Question 25

Clark Doll Experiments (first done in 1940s) showed children of all ethnicities socialized early on to treat white as ‘preferable.’

• Asked to choose which doll they preferred, black and white children said the white one was ‘prettier.
• Illustrated how early social norms about appearance are put into children; led to problems of self-esteem.

Answer 25

Racial Socialization

Question 26

individuals have expectations lowered due to group membership. People of different economic backgrounds are presented with different possible careers by parents and teachers.

• Children of wealthier families expect to become lawyers, doctors etc, whilst those of poorer origins expect less.
• Children of poorer families encouraged to go into manual professions etc.

Answer 26

Class Socialization

Question 27

when individuals are socialized to replace an old role in their lives with a new one.

o Teaches radically different values, norms, and role expectations.

o Requires people to discard former behaviours and accept new ones.

o May happened in a total institution.

Answer 27

Resocialization

Question 28

occurs when someone starts school, changes schools, starts a new job, retires, undergoes a religious conversion, etc.

• This type of resocialization is often marked by a rite of passage, a ritual or ceremony signalling a change of status

Answer 28

Voluntary resocialization

Question 29

occurs when someone is forced to change
* Total institutions resocialize by regulating all aspects of an individual’s life (e.g., residential schools, prisons, military)
Part of the unlearning process in total institutions is the degradation ceremony: A rite of passage that strips a person of their individuality

Answer 29

Involuntary resocialization

Question 30

o Places where people are monitored 24/7, such as prisons, hospitals, and military barracks.

This is often involuntary resocialization. These institutions are structured to fundamentally change the people who enter them.

The goal is to teach people to conform to social standards of conduct.

Answer 30

Total Institutions

Question 31

involves stripping individuals of their former identities. The institution attempts to build a more compliant person.

This involves depersonalization.
* Required to wear institutional clothing.
* Assigned a number instead of a name.

Answer 31

Degradation Ceremony

Question 32

refers to the process by which individuals rehearse potential roles they may take on in the future, like medical students interacting with patients.

Answer 32

Anticipatory socialization

Question 33

a recognized social position that an individual occupies
* It contributes to a person’s social identity
* It imposes responsibilities and expectations that defines that person’s relationships to others.

Answer 33

Status

Question 34

is a collection of statuses people have over a lifetime

change as we age

Answer 34

Status set

Question 35

is a status you entered into at some stage of your life, you weren’t born into it.
* E.g., college/university student, an employee, a role in a hobby group

Answer 35

Achieved status

Question 36

a status one is born into or enters involuntarily
* E.g., daughter, son, teenager, cancer survivor, elderly person

Answer 36

Ascribed status

Question 37

the condition a person experiences when all of their statuses fall in the same range in the social hierarchy.

Answer 37

Status consistency

Question 38

occurs when a person holds social statuses that are ranked differently and do not align

Answer 38

Status inconsistency

Question 39

The behaviours, beliefs, and norms performed in social situations.

Answer 39

Roles

Question 40

develops when there is a conflict between roles within the role set of a particular status
* E.g., a student catching a classmate cheating

Answer 40

Role strain

Question 41

occurs when a person is forced to reconcile incompatible expectations generated from two or more statuses they hold
* E.g., conflicting demands of being a mother and a student

Answer 41

Role conflict

Question 42

The process of disengaging from a role that has been central to one’s identity and attempting to establish a new role.
* E.g., divorce, death

Answer 42

Role exit

Question 43

• An important part of the socialization process is learning to perform roles.
• We as individuals are socialized to perform roles on the so-called stage of life.
• When we meet others, we work to influence their impression of us.
• The front stage is where we perform to make an impression on others while the backstage is private, where we can act as ourselves.

Answer 43

The dramaturgical perspective