Socialization And Social Interaction Flashcards
By what means do we assign meaning to things which defines our shared experience of culture
Socialization and social interaction
What is required for culture to function as a social force that causes the social actor to change their behavior
The internalization of the culture
So how do we internalize? By socialization
I need to interact with the culture in such a way that it affects me deeply that it becomes possible to influence my behavior
For example i the beauty expectations of a human cannot be applied to a dog, how would a dog be able to internalize beauty to want to look different how they are to fit beauty standards of humans, not possible
The social actor has to have some kind of relationship to the culture that it becomes counsioly or unconsciously influence thought that causes behavior to change
How dis Winthrop Kellogg try to understand socialization and what inference can you draw from it
Kellogg’s tried to understand if by socialization an animal could be able to learn and become like a human
Subjected his son and a chimp sister to same conditions, food, clothes, activities as a normal sibling
But the research had to be terminated as although the chimp compiled some behaviors but their son began to behave more like a chimp and less like a human.
Overall the research showed how a human is like a sponge, depending on the social environment we are raised in we learn to imitate, internalize that culture regardless of human or not human and it changes our behavior
Humans need models to imitate to determine how they interact and regardless of type of socialization provided, they can internalize and copy it, especially as children, when they do not know what the dominant culture or have a sense of self
What did the story of oxana Malaya illustrate
This is an even extreme case that illustrates how Spongeable we as humans are,
The extent to how we learn behaviors as children is highly determined by who and what is around us and thus influences our social interaction
Oxana mimcry of a dog was so profound that she wasn’t just a child imitating a dog, she was acting and living like one, as if that was considered normal and acceptable
It illustrates that humans need a template, a means to show them what is the way we should act or behave and the internalization through learning is highly influenced by socialization
What does the illustration of nature being the primary determinant of humans experience and humans being who they are mean?
According to some people, they believe that nature, such as biology, genetics, influences peoples intelligence, behavior, temperament.
So biological deteminism, we are the way we are because of our genes and dna
What does the illustration of nuture being the primary determinant of humans experience and humans being who they are mean?
Nuture uses the empiricism approach that we are the way we are because of our socialization, relations, interactions, experiences.
Our experiences essentially share who we are and how is the determine of hoe we deveklop
How do most social and biological scrientist understand nature and nuture
Understood as a continuum, no human is completely who they are because determined by their biology solely, neither is any human solely who they are because of the expenses they have shared. This two are often confounded and thus different to isolate, differentiate and study alone
What did John Locke mean by:
Let us suppose the mind to be, as we say, a tabula rasa (blind slate), void of all characters, without any ideas. How comes it to be furnished? Whence comes it by that vast store, which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on its with an almost endless variety? When has it all the materials of reason and knowledge ? To this i answer, in one word experience
He was saying that we are solely influenced by our experiences, empiricism is what defines the existence of how and how we are the way we are.
ONE WORD- experience- shapes us as who we are
What is the struggle involved in the separation and understanding of nature vs nuture empirically
They cannot be tested because of ethical reasons- who would subject an innocent child willingly to a series of experiments to influence their behavior and who they become?- it is unethical
They are confounded- trying to differentiate nature and nurture, is a difficult task even impossible since both of them play vital roles in the development of an individual
Who are mostly used to understand nature vs nuture in studies
People who are adopted, because, there is a diffence between their genes and the environment they were raised, thus you can infer the role of adopted parents in nuture and that of the birth parents in nature
Why is it necessary to understand how a trait is impacted by the social context it is expressed if we hypoththically decide that nature is a determinant of individual behvauir
If we conclude that biology affects the individual development, that trait may be understood and expressed differently depending on the context.
For example if someone has the tendency to be violent, in an American football context it may be acceptable as being a good quarterback and recommended but if this was manifested in a class fight between students, it would be regarded as offensive and punishable.
So we still have to understand those traits based on how the culture has taught us to socialize with it
Applying only biology as an effect makes no sense, since we still need to understand it from the sociological understanding and interpretation of that trait based on the cultures in the society
How does nature rely on nurture to express certain traits
All traits require nurture to be expressed, because by nature, naturally, we are predisposed to learning and imitating what goes on around us.
In order for a baby to understand it is human and act in a human way to needs to follow and imitate people around itself to know how to act
So even though by virtue of being genetically born as a human, in order to do the things and act in ways that are considered human we have to socialize to know how to act like one
So being able to behave like a human is not innate, it socialization that makes us act like one
How does the language of nuture influence nature
Bu nature we programmed to learn a language, French, English, Igbo, this are programmed in us to learn how to think, express, communicate thoughts
But there is no bilological impulse to learn one language over the other, whatever language was what we were exposed to defines the language we speak
So the natural ability does not predispose us to learn one language over the other just determined by the socialization that led to the understanding of that language
The process by which people learn to function in social life and become aware of themselves as they interact with others is considered? What does this mean?
Socialization
As children we are predisposed to learning anything, soaking information, like a sponges but what how we learn that thing is because of the people surrounding us and the interactions we have and create
How is the exposure to all socially meaningful knowledge analogous to exposure to language
Babies are sponges, they can soak urine, juice, wine, beer, milk
What they end up soaking in, hopefully milk, is dependent on the social interactions they have
The baby by itself dosent know that milk is best for it and urine is certainly bad for it, it just soaks anything by the share force of nature (nature)
If they soak urine, milk etc., ( the social interaction)
When a parents says to a child, wash your hands, don’t eat that, don’t bite, be nice, what form of socialization is this
Explicit socialization, it is a purposeful and declarative instruction to obey a social knowledge
When a child mimics her mother cooking by using a play stove, cutlery, plates, oven is an example of what type of socialization
Implicit socialization
An autuomatic and uncounsius transmission of knowledge from the parent to the child.
Where the child themself mimics, copies what they have seen without understanding what it meant, not intentional’y learnt or even thought, just by observation and thus repetition
Explain a child main source of socialization
A child’s main source of socialization is its parent, or the environment the kids was raised in
Why and it what way is primary socialization related to a child’s development and understanding of the world
Primary socialization of a child is it’s parents/ guardian, any parent figure.
They are their source of both implicit and explicit learning
What 3 ways does a parent influence a child’s primary socialization
Language- absorbs whatever the primary means of communication
Rules of social interaction- don’t scream inside, its okay to scream outside, no okay to bite, hit
Sense of self- the kid recognizes that it is different from a dog, a cat, it is a girl, a boy, the kid begins to define it self in a category of membership into a boy, girl, black, white.
Absorbing the system of categories socially meaningful in the society.
Who was martin, what was his interest and research question as he analyzed richards scarrys book- “what do people do all day?”
He quantitatively analyzed the book to figure out how the division of labour was portrayed to kids, Howe class categories was distryubuted and if there was a relation between the animal specie and the labour assigned to it
He wanted to understand the reason why we tend to clump or unconsciously categorize certain jobs together and of that can also be seen in the relation to animals. Giving a certain animal a carrier because of what the society perceives as a differnt species and expect it to work in this specific field, what accounts for that
The activity in class of grouping lawyers and doctors, pilot and bus driver illustrates what
The act of grouping those careers into certain categories even though that are not in any way related by section or content, is an unconscious groupings we create is based on meanings and ideologies and stories that we understood and created of the culture we exist in
There is an unexplainable fundamental understanding we have created that we know implicitly that certain careers belong to this group fro reasons beyond what the profession actually entails.
How did walker collect and analyze information he received from Richard scarryas book
Collected his data quantitatively
Question- what jobs do animals perform and is there a link between specie and job assigned
Analyzed- Cross tab
Used codes- species and occupation
Additional codes- relationship to authority, sector and skill
what were the codes martin used in his analysis, explain them
Code- species and occupation
Does the specie of animal affect the occupation assigned to it?
Additional variables:
Relationship to authority- is the character in high authority position, or autonomous and does things on its own and a lower position of only receiving information or being managed
Sector- tyoe of job
Skill- no skill, semi Skill, high skill
With the big cats and predators being the authority figures, the pig being considered as the low income, low skill least authority and the beavers and owl being in the self emoplyed authonmos career
What do this categories and results indicate according to Martin
The species were unknowingly grouped by the author into a specific social class and career based on their species.
There is an invincible logic that groups these species into a specific division of labour even though this does not actually exist or would ever occur but we have this perception that the predator would be the authority figure and the pig would be the low income animal
So in essence unintentionally, the writer is teaching preschoolers that there are different categories of people (species) that exist and because of that they have different roles they accomplish in the labour force
Why is the division of labour in-between species an invisible yet common and apparent social phenomenon we think deeply and critically about ir
The invincibility of this logic is fostered by the boundary between classes being permeable. If it was a difficult line to cross between a doctor lion and a pig waste collector it would be very obvious to us the readers but because, it is a line that can be crossed, a pig can study and become a doctor like a leopard, we fail to see the bias in species and work categorization
What type of socialization begins within minutes of birth
Gender socialization
What are some examples of gender socialization in toddler hood
Talking to girls more than boys
Handling boys slightly rougher than girls
What are some signs of gender socialization in toodlerthood
The toys , extracurricular d for the kids are differentiated
Who and what was implied when Simone de Beauvoir said
One is not born a woman but becomes one
Women
Whatever quality we associates with being a woman comes with the experience/ socialization and is not biologically based
How does the socialization kids are subjected to based on their as kids affects the generalizations made about men and women as adults
Women are considered better conversationalist than men- but maybe a girl having discussions, holding tea parties between her dolls amplify this,
and boys toys being less of communications but more engineered to fighting, or building legos, playing games may be the reason why men are regarded as being more specially aware
Such activities kids are subjected to parallel the different observed differences in women and men, in such situation we could argue that the attributes or definitions given to the a character of gender could be more of nuture and less of nature
In essence, parents unknowingly and subconsciously not based on their own ideologies but structurally influenced (settled times) affect their children’s socialization, just by choice of clothes, toys, etc
What are the biologically deterministic views on gender and how dies it differ from the empirical evidence available
Their views on biology revolves around the gender essentialism, the thought that the differences between genders is inherent in our biology, gender should not be manipulated.
While the sociologist and evidence shows that the meaning of being a woman or man is not just biologically determined but that is not the case because the line between nature vs nutrients is difficult to isolate. As the cultural meaning of what it means to be a woman and man is highly influenced by the society.
What is gender essentialism and why does Simone quote a line that is against it
It is the idea that being a man and woman is strongly influenced by biology,
While Simone argues that being a woman is learnt not inherent in biology
Does the evidence of difference of being a man or woman biologically directly mean that gender is solely differentiated and understood by biology?
No it doesn’t, because there are some differences between being a man or a woman does not essentially mean that these differences exist between gender class
The socialization children are exposed to plays are role that determines, how they would understand wha it means to be female or male
socialization that occurs outside the context of the child’s primary and socialization environment, that is usually family is called
Secondary socialization
What are the 2 forms of secondary socialization that influence children’s experience in the school system
Authority figures
Peer Grous
What is the primary means of secondary socialization for kids
School system and extracurriculars
Who was Thera Media and what was her significance in the story we discussed
She was an extreme case of so line who was home schooled and her parents strongly sheltered her education and therefore had a key socially significant meaning in knowledge be absent from her life and could not fully assimilated or adapt until that knowledge had been learnt
What is an example of an implicit and explicit way a teacher socially influences a child
Explicit- says to kids thank someone and say please
Implicit- by thanking and actually saying please to the kids, or other teachers, the kids pick up on these ques
What does the word deviance mean in context to Peer socialization
Teenagers often engage in a group of people with similar ages and social status, and within this group they engage in relationships who are similar in thought and actions too them
After internalization of culture through socialization, they often create their own understanding and feel the need to deviate from the secondary socialization they have been exposed to.
Their dressing, behavior, acts they deviate from all that have been instilled via primary and secondary socialization
What’s the relationship between socialization and culture
The means by which culture enters our mind and becomes internalized, prompting us to act in certain ways because second nature to us without us recognizing its impact on us is by socialization.
Socialization naturally allows us to absorb culture without noticing
What is considered the atom/ basic of sociology in the study of people
Social interaction
Why do we say social interaction is the basic/ simplest understanding of sociology?
Because to understand humans is it understand their interaction with other people. We are who and what we are not solely by our choices but interaction from the most basic parent and child to fully functioning adult and the society.
The basic atom i of sociology is the interaction between two people
What is the micro level encounter between individuals referred to as
Social interaction
What is responsible for our earliest socialization and why is that
Social interaction is responsible for this, our primary and earliest means of interaction with the world is through our earliest socialization with our parents
What the connection between socialization and social interaction
Our culture is ingrained in us through socialization and our social interaction develops form our socialization, which influences the choices and decisions we make (agency), with the structure in place to affect and enforce those decisions,. So in essence we bathe the way we do because of the society
What was GH Meads development of self, mean in the statement, “the self, as that which can be an object to itself, is essentially a social structures, and it arises in social experience
These means that what we consider as self to be us is just the society highly influencing us through our social interactions and socialization which influences our meaning and understanding of culture with others
What was GH Meads aim to understand by developing of the self
He wanted to know how a little baby’s without culture gets transformed into a fully functional adults overtime
What are the stages of social development, their age range and examples of acts that explain them)
Imitation (infancy and toddlerhood)- ex, baby sticks out tongue
Role-playing (pre school)- playing house, chef
Understanding of multiple roles and perspectives simultaneously (school age), ex playing football
Internalization of the generalized other (maturity)
Why so you think imitation is the first at age GH Mead proposed to the understanding of a child self
4-6 month old child is unable to fully communicate and understand speech and their only means of communication is too imitate what you are doing. They have not develop the orla or mental capacity to fully respond but their own response is copying what you do.
What stage follows imitation and how does this differ from imitation
Role play
Toddlerhood
Usually the child would act out a role they have witnessed, being a doctor, cooking in the kitchen on their own after witnessing a similar situation
This differs from imiatation because it is not a direct imitation, they internalize what they have witnessed and portray that concept in based of hoe they understood what happened
Why is role play considered not spontaneous
The child usually requires the adult to play amd perform the role they give to th e parent the way the child wants it. If the father is hungry and wants a burger and as a chef, the child gives him what he cooked, which could have been pasta, the child usually decides what happens because the have. Not yet developed the concept of relationally, what if the scenario is different they have not developed, they have not developed the mental capacity to go beyond that yet.
So they often find it difficult to role player with their other mates, since all the kids want to independently create their own play that the other kid must adher by
Why is stage 3 so significantly different from stage 1 and 2
Here the child develops and start to think beyond their own thoughts and Start to put them selves in the shoes of others arid them
They take the perspective of other people, what would he do if eh were in my shoes, they begin to experience the impact of other and to predict or gain the apprehension of your own behvauiour as it may affect someone else
What stage does GH mead say is essential for the development of socially mature adults
The stage 2, role play
Team sport and board games, what do such have on the social interaction of a child’s
They start to think form the perspective of another person, they imagine if I pass this ball, I expect that my partner Saul deb standing to receive the ball and run towards the other teams goal post
Or in a game of poker, i try to influence how someone may see me by imagining their perception of me and changing my behavior, so I can influence how they see me
I try to anticipate how someone sees me and influences that
At what stage the GH Mead theorize that individuals become socially mature
At the internalization of the generalized other stage
What did stage internalization of the generalized other entail
Here, one doesn’t not need to consciously make the efforts to think bout how their behvauiour may affect others, they do it unconsciously everyday
We just inherently put ourselves in the shoes of others
What/ who is the generalized other
The organized community or social group which gives to the individual his unity of self
So the structure that make us think and evaluate and understand ourself, who we are and our decisions we make
This structure defines what is considered acceptable and unacceptable
What according to mead allows children to practice taking the position of the other
Children games and play=, 3rd stage
How does stage 3 differ from 4
In stage for the adult internalizes and takes the position of the other without their realization compared to a conscious effort put in by the stage 3
Being forced to play a game we are forced to explicitly take that position but by sage 4 implicitly we assign our self the position of the other
- [ ] What did Mead mean by ‘ when the response of the other becomes an essential part in the experience or conduct of the individual; when taking the attitude of the other becomes an essential part in his behavior- then the individual appears i his own experience as a self, and until this happens, he does not appear as a self’
We become aware of our self because we pay attention to how and what the generalized self thinks about us
But also, when the generalized other confronts us we tend to think the other dosent know us, so we change our behavior to fit the perception of what we think the generalized self thinks the ideal is should be.
So for example, I see a cop driving behind
E and start or change my behavior, I already have my seatbelts on, my light on and I am driving at the speed limit but when I see the generalized other my assumption if the other not knowing who I am forces me to subconsciously start to take the role of the other, to be the perfect self on the face of the generalized other (the cop)
- [ ] What is the relationship between the social interaction and the self
We develop our self in such a way that we implicitly and subconsciously start to behave based on the orientation or the society, because we what our self to be considered the ideal self, in the face of the generalized other (society).
So social interaction forces us to change ourself in such a way as to fit the perception of the generalized other expects us to be
- [ ] The presentation of self in everyday life was a theory that who came up with?
Erving goffman
What did the presentation of self in everyday life mean to Erving?
Thesocial interactions leads to a relationship between individuals that forces them to take on a ROLE in a particular SETTING
The interactions we have is not a normal thing between just 2 people talking, we take on a role and act a setting role depending on the setting. We do not abandon our personality but it is the persons we think We should be or act like on that situation that we pick that role and act as. Regardless of who we are, every time we are in a situation we present a different person from who we are because that situation forces us to act that way
Give an example of what Erving was trying to illustrate with taking in roles in a particular setting
Professor and student
You go for office hours, the Professor doesn’t treat you like a 5 year old, they adopt the appropriate behavior they think would be ideal for that situation and you also would not interact with the Professor the way you do with your parents., your sense of self implicitly adopts a role to play the story of Professor am student during office hours.
What did goffman mean by we all play a role?
He meant that the role we all put on based on the situation we find ourselves, is the same as what actors in plays and films do. They play that role assigned to them based on the script provided to them. We also play that role with each social interaction we have
What else did goffman mention about the impact of role on social Intaeration?
Every role has a particular expectation and acceptable behaviors built into it. We adopt a persona that even though it’s not different from us, it’s just a different behaviors we exhibit because the situation forces us to act that way. The situation predicts how we act or our respond to that situation
What is the sick role and what is it’s relevant to understanding self?
The sick role is adopted by someone who is sick, it results in withdrawing from public life and responsibility. The role of sickness is interpreted differently depending on the context of the social structure. If we are sick, not showing up to work, our mothers taking care of us, accepting care, not having to go out with friends. Social interactions that are normally considered wrong or not accepted if we do not do them, are fine and okay because they are justified by the role of being sick
What are the expectations of one who plays the sick role and how does this explain Erving Goffman presentation of self
The sick role is played by someone who is unwell
It is expected to not go to parties, go out to have fun, because one who adopts the sick role needs to meet the expectation of staying in bed and watching tv
The role also allows expectations that help that people usually do not receive during everyday life becomes acceptable,like your parents treating you and nursing you like a child
What relation did goffamn make to an actor in a play and individuals in daily life
Just the way actors are assigned a script of what to do in a play, what roles they should adopt
It is analogous to an interaction between a student and lecture but it is not as explicit as an assigned role in a play
We often implicitly or subcounsiouly choose to act in a certain way when we are presented in certain social environments
That even though that may not necessarily be who we are as a person but we adopt this role and meet the expectations of this role
Like the way we act when interacting with our lecturers
What does it mean mean that social interaction occurs between roles and the people who adopt this roles
Between the people who are playing the role you have to meet the expectations, and put on that outfit of the rolr to plat the role to the best of your effort
Bu doing that, we momentarily change our individual behavior at the moment to play that role the best way we can.
For example, a professor might swear a lot when she is with her fronds that’s a personality she has but when communicating with a student during office hours she wont use profane language
So to meet the expectations of the role i momentarily change my behavior and individualism in order to play the role
What are components of roles
Appearance and manner
Why does the manner and the appearance of an individual have to match in other for a role to be successfully played in a social interaction
This is necessary because the appearance has to match the role, what does that mean?
For example if a doctor comes into the hospital dressed in sneakers, shorts and a jersey and tries to operate on a patient, they family and patients would doubt the authority of the doctor.
Or if a man dressed in a shirt and pants is holding a gun in front of a police car, that would look suspicious, but if he was wearing the police uniform that would be a different interpretation we have
Because a person doesn’t know the particular qualification of a doctor or a police man if they do not appear to be what they claim to be how does a person interact with that situation? There would be a form of doubt or confusion
But by appearing, looking like their role even before we judge their manner, we are able to understand the interactions we are in. Therefore appearance is necessary in the implemation of the role even before manner is judged
What does the unfrozen cave man lawyer video in class tell us about roles
There is a difference between the appearance of a lawyer and the manner of a cave man, they do not align well
This is why this is considered a comedy the dichotomy between the appearance and manner is a concept that is so funny atheist it elicits a laughter because realistically that social interaction would be broken and wouldn’t make sense
To play a role both appearance and manner have to match
What is setting in relation to role playing
Furniture, decor, background items, these are like things that supply the scenery and stage for props to enable a role to be played
Why is setting important in role playing
Human interaction is conditioned by the character of the space in which it takes place
If for example a doctor says to meet him at downtown the forks to discuss your surgery options, that would be a suspicious thing to say
The environment that the interaction takes place supports the role.
This environments also contains the props like a stethoscope, books, computer, white coat that also helps to allow the successful implementation of the role
How does a restaurant connect to Gauffmans idea of role playing
A restaurant environment/ setting creates an ambiance of music, chairs and table arrangement, food, comfort , even the behavior of waiters to successfully allow the role of customer and restaurant interaction be carried out
What the goffaman refer to as a front stage
It involves the coordination of roles to present a certain kind of appearance to an audience
This audience are not part of this settings that are constructed by the front stage role player
How does the front stage differ from the back stage and give exmpales
The front stage is the appearance constructed, what the audience is made to think or understand
For example in a fashion show, the perfect ambience of beautiful models walking down the runway, celebrities taking pictures
While the backstage is the actual behind the scenes of what, who, that role player actually is
While the backstage in chaos, makeup, hair, dressing fittings, finishing touches
Why can’t a person show the backstage when interacting in a social situation, why is the distinction necessary according to Goffman?
For successful implementation of the social interaction the backstage has to be hidden. The backstage has to be dropped to show the perfect front stage, why?
It is essential to have the backstage at the back, in shadows because when we are exposed to it , the perfection of the front stage collapses
We start to question this perfection of the front stage
For example if we find out our doctor is having an eating disorder, is malnourished, stressed and facing a divorce before our surgery. We start to think is this a good enough doctrine to perform a surgery
We start to doubt the perfect front and confidence the doctor shows us and start to think about the backstage causing the social interaction or roles to be destroyed
How and why do humans subconsciously think about front stage without considering the existence if a back stage
We often just think and consider the front stage, for example a lecturer being a genius, dressed professionally, giving lectures, responsible and answering emails and questions without considering the backstage of maybe a lectures family meaner just dying and the professor being in a state of grief or depression point
This is not selfish, this is a necessary thing that has to happen to successfully implement the role of a lecturer and a student, so we don’t start to question the authority of the professor and cause a break in the social interaction
Our social interaction forces us to pay attention to only the fore ground forgetting the background
What would be consider a good social interaction in relation to the front stage and back stage
If the front stage and backstage delinaiation is perfect then we are not supposed to pay attention to the backstage. It is completely oblivious to us, even though we may know that of course it exist. But we pay not attention to it because it breaks the structure and causes issues
What is the backstage
Another form of setting in which we inhabit roles
Why is the backstage necessary for the front stage to be successfully constructed?
It is necessary to allow you a moment of freedom, to drop that role and give your self a breathing space, so you can carry out the role of the front stage the next day
For example although in the front stage a doctor pits up the front of confidence, strong, assertive and bold in front of their patrients
But in the back stage they physician can meet other colleagues and speak about their doubts and concerns about treating or diagnosing a patient
The backstage allows the actors to coordinate themselves to produce the perfect front of the front stage
Allows the doctor to be more confident in portraying the role of the front stage
So overall it provides a break from the need to create the appearance of constant perfection and allows your to play the role of they front stage better
What’s the relationship between the front stage and the backstage in Social media
In order for influencers to create the role of, good life, money, living the best life, they need to be able to have the means to do so, if unfortunately they lack such it would be difficult to grow their social media following
So what to so next?
They would often create the front stage they want their viewers to see, even though it may not necessarily be real
For example the photograph of having fun in a private jet but in reality its a studio with a fake setting of a private jet
What is responsible for early socialization
Social interaction with a child’s immediate care, parents, Nannie’s, guardians
