socialization and the creation of social idententity Flashcards
define society
physical space- in the sense of a distinctive geographical area
mental space- the beliefs about the similarities they share with people in “their” society and the differences with people in other societies
social construction
our perception of what is real is created through a variety of historical and cultural processes, rather than something that is fixed and naturally occurring
culture
the way of life of a particular group of people, taught and learnt through socialization
socialization
the process through which people learn various forms of behavior that go with membership of a particular culture. e.g young children learn roles, norms and values they will need to become functioning adults in their society, these thing are not acquired naturally
roles, values and norms
roles- expected patterns of behavior expected with each position that we hold, such as being a friend, student or teacher.
norms- refers to behavior and attitudes which are considered normal
values- beliefs or ideas that are important to the people who hold them. a value always expresses a belief about how something should be
the i and the me
An “i” aspect is based around our opinion of ourselves as a whole. we each respond to the behavior of others as an i. Mead called this the “unsocialized self”
A “me” aspect consists of an awareness of how others expect us to behave in a given situation. Mead called this the “social self” because it develops through socialisation
agencies of primary socialisation and social control
the family by first the parents then other members of the family
Peer-groups are made up of people of a similar age, for example, teenagers. personal interaction with them influences our behaviour – from how we dress and talk to the things we love or hate
agencies of secondary socialisation and social control
secondary socialisation: involves secondary groups were we do not necessarily have close relationships with the ones socialising.
parsons argues that its purpose is to “liberate the individual from the dependence on the primary attachments and relationships formed within the family group”
its agencies are
education
media
religion
social control
ways in which members of society are made to conform to norms and values
over-socialised conception of man
criticisms of the claim that human beings are simply a product pf their socialisation and that behavior can be understood as merely a response to external influence
2 forms of social control
formal controls
informal controls
the mechanism trough which order is maintained
ideology
power
force
consensus
different societies involve two types of space:
1 Physical space, in the sense of a distinctive geographical area marked by either a physical border, such as a river, or a non-physical border – perhaps a made up line that marks where one society ends and another begins.
2 Mental space, which separates people based on the beliefs they have about the similarities they share with people in ‘their’ society and the differences from people in other societies
factors supporting that society is a mental space
- a system of government, which may involve, for example, a royal family (monarchy
- common language, customs and traditions that people share
- a sense of belonging and identification that involves developing the view that ‘our’ society is different from other societies
The social construction of reality
Societies are mental constructions, therefore their reality is socially constructed
All cultures have two basic parts:
1 Material culture involves the physical objects (‘artefacts’), such as cars, phones and books
2 Non-material culture consists of the knowledge and beliefs valued by a particular culture. This includes religious and scientific beliefs, as well as the meanings people give to material objects
Anomie
a situation in which people are unable to predict the behaviour of others because the system of norms and values is not being followed
nurture versus nature debate
Nature refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are—from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics.
Nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture.
factors supporting nurture debate
a persons behavior can be linked to influences such as parenting styles and learned experiences.
For example, a child might learn through observation and reinforcement to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ Another child might learn to behave aggressively by observing older children engage in violent behavior on the playground.
Albert Bandura’s social learning theory. According to the theory, people learn by observing the behavior of others. In his famous Bobo doll experiment, Bandura demonstrated that children could learn aggressive behaviors simply by observing another person acting aggressively.
why nurture debate is more accurate
If you explain human behaviour as being the same as animal behaviour, that means that humans would all behave in the same way. French cats behave in the same way as British cats. Do British people behave like French people? People in Britain do tend to behave in a similar way.
factors supporting nature debate
certain genetic diseases, eye color, hair color, and skin color. Other things like life expectancy and height have a strong biological component, but they are also influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle.
our reactions are conditioned by factors such as
- who you are – whether you are adult or child, male or female and so on
- where you are – alone at home or in a public place
- who you are with – such as family, friends or strangers
The presentation of self Goffman (1959) argues that
social life as a series of dramatic episodes. People are actors. Sometimes, they write and speak their own lines – this is their personal identity.
Sometimes, they follow lines that are written for them – the external influences that inform how people behave in particular situations and roles
The presentation of self always involves
- The importance of interpretation: identities are broad social categories whose meaning differs both historically and across different cultures.
- The significance of negotiation. Identities are always open to discussion; what it means to be male, female, young, old and so on, is constantly changing as people ‘push the negotiated boundaries’ of these identities.
Family
a social institution comprising a group of people linked by kinship ties
Sanctions:
ways of rewarding or punishing acceptable or unacceptable behaviour; usually used in the sense of punishments (negative sanctions)
Sub-cultures
a culture within a larger culture. Sub-cultures take many forms, such as religious groups, fans of a particular singer or actor, school gangs and so on. Sub-cultures usually develop their own norms and values, although these do not necessarily conflict with those of the wider culture within which they exist.
Education involves two kinds of curriculum
• the formal curriculum that specifies the subjects, knowledge and skills that children are explicitly taught in school • a hidden curriculum: the things we learn from the experience of attending school, such as how to deal with strangers, listen to adult authority and have respect for the system.
Parsons (1959a) argued that school plays a particularly significant role in secondary socialisation for two reasons
1 It ‘emancipates the child from primary attachment’ to their family. It moves children away from the affective relationships found in the family and introduces them to the instrumental relationships they will meet in adult life. It is in effect a bridge between the family home and the wider social world.
2 It allows children to ‘internalise a level of society’s values and norms that is a step higher than those learnt within families’. Through interaction with ‘strangers’ in the educational system, a child begins to adopt wider social values into their personal value system.
something that also promotes social solidarity and value consensus
Consensus
general agreement across a society on a set of values; seen by functionalists as essential for society to be stable.
From a Marxist perspective, Bowles and Gintis (2002) argue that there is a correspondence between school norms and workplace norms: Schools prepare students for adult work by socialising them into values and norms that will make them uncomplaining workers. This correspondence theory is shown through school norms such as:
- the daily need for attendance
- always being in the place you are supposed to be at certain times
- the right of those in authority to give orders that must be obeyed.
Consumerism
repeated experience of wealthy lifestyles and desirable consumer goods that suggests that ‘happiness’ is something that can bought
