topic 3: socialisation process

Question 1

socialisation

Answer 1

• process of learning the culture of any society
• carried out by agencies of primary and secondary socialisation which integrate individuals into society

Question 2

re-socialisation

Answer 2

• involves learning or relearning the appropriate new norms and values to enable individuals to operate when they encounter new social environments
  eg. going to live in a foreign country/going to a new school
• Goffman found this process in psychiatric hospitals where officials seek to impose new norms and values that meet the needs of the hospital rather than the patient themselves

Question 3

nature vs nurture

Answer 3

• the importance of nurture (socialisation) over nature (biology) in binding humans to society is shown by cases of feral children like Oxana Malaya
• they have somehow missed out on the normal socialisation process and so fail to learn the norms and values to develop what we might regard as normal human behaviour

Question 4

primary socialisation

Answer 4

• socialisation during early years of childhood
• family is the main agency
• children begin to acquire their sense of who they are (individual identities) and significant elements of their primary social identities (gender, ethnicity etc.)

Question 5

theories of primary socialisation

Answer 5

• functionalists like Parsons see this period of primary socialisation as beneficial in turning newly born children into social beings (imitating parent behaviour, learning right and wrong)
• marxists say the values children learn in the family reflect ruling-class ideology which is instrumental in turning them into passive conformists who come to accept the inequalities of society
• feminists regard families as patriarchal institutions which reproduce inequalities between men and women (gender roles)

Question 6

secondary socialisation

Answer 6

• socialisation beyond the confines of the family
• agencies of secondary socialisation contribute to the formation of new social identities which are much more fluid and changeable as people alter their identities and adopt new ones as they move through life

Question 7

secondary socialisation: education

Answer 7

• school teaches children about the society they live in (history, religion) as well as the values and norms they will be expected to conform to as adults
• functionalists (Durkheim) sees school as ‘society in miniature’ that prepares young people for life in the wider adult society
• Parsons (functionalist) sees schooling as the bridge between universalistic values and achieved status of contemporary societies (learned through both formal and hidden curriculum)
• marxists (Bourdieu, Bowles + Gintis, Althusser) see education as reproducing and legitimising ruling class ideology and culture, and encouraging acceptance of social inequalities in wealth and power
• feminists emphasis the role of schooling in reproducing patriarchy and the different gender identities of men and women

Question 8

secondary socialisation: peer groups

Answer 8

• the desire for approval and acceptance by peers is a powerful socialising influence
• peer pressure to conform may influence an individual’s self identity and behaviour and may promote conformity to (or deviance from) the wider norms of society

Question 9

secondary socialisation: the workplace

Answer 9

• the very fact of finding and keeping a job, and getting along with colleagues and managers, involves learning about and conforming to the social rules governing work

Question 10

secondary socialisation: the media

Answer 10

• a major source of information, ideas, norms and values that spread attitudes that can influence behaviour, values and identities
• functionalists say the media provide a beneficial socialising function by building value consensus and social stability
• marxists regard the media’s role as a form of repressive social control, lulling the masses into conformity through the consumption of mass culture, reproducing negative stereotypes of different social groups and promoting acceptance of an unequal society
• feminists say the media promotes sexist images that reproduce patriarchy and the ongoing inequalities that women experience

Question 11

secondary socialisation: religion

Answer 11

• functionalists like Durkheim see religion providing a set of beliefs and moral codes contributing to a value consensus which promotes social harmony and integrates people into the culture of society
• marxists see religion as part of ruling-class ideology and culture which helps to legitimise and maintain the power of the ruling class
• Marx said it reinforces false class consciousness among the wc about the fact they are being exploited
• Althusser (marxist) sees religion as an ideological state apparatus which spreads the dominant ideology and manufactures what Gramsci called ‘hegemony’ (consent and acceptance by people that their positions were unchangeable and inevitable)
• feminists say religion is a source of patriarchy and transmits patriarchal values

Question 12

structural approaches to socialisation

Answer 12

• macro approach where individuals are passive victims of social forces beyond their individual control
• individuals have little choice or control over their identity formation and are compelled to conform by positive and negative sanctions
• functionalists (Durkheim + Parsons) see socialisation as a benevolent process, acting as a social glue with value consensus bonding everyone together
• marxists see socialisation negatively as a form of social control as it passes down ruling class ideology and persuades people into accepting existing social inequalities, making them seem natural and unchangeable
• feminists say the agencies of socialisation reinforce and reproduce patriarchy, preparing men and women for the range of gender inequalities in employment and political and social life

Question 13

criticisms of structural approaches

Answer 13

• individuals are seen as puppets or what Garfinkel called ‘cultural dopes’ passively consuming and accepting norms and values handed down in socialisation
• don’t recognise that individuals have free will and can actively take initiates and disobey social rules, and have a role in carving out their own identities in interaction with others

Question 14

social action approaches

Answer 14

• micro approach, focusing on individuals and everyday behaviour rather than societal structure
• individuals have free will and play an active role in creating culture and their identities (they are not imposed on them)

Question 15

social action approaches: the looking glass self

Answer 15

• Cooley developed the concept of the looking glass self (the idea that our image of ourselves is formed by the way other people’s views and reactions are reflected back to us
• this may modify and change our view of ourselves, our identity and our behaviour
• therefore identities are actively changing and developing as we go through daily life in society

Question 16

social action approaches: the presentation of self and impression management

Answer 16

• Goffman sees society as a stage with people acting out performances
• in society, people try to assert their identity by giving particular impressions of themselves ‘the presentation of self’
• they put on dramatic performances to manage the impressions they give to other people - impression management
• this will not always succeed (eg. some people’s ‘master status’ will override other characteristics)

Question 17

criticisms of social action approaches

Answer 17

• individuals are seen as having more control and choice over their identity formation than they really do
• don’t consider power inequalities in society and how social institutions restrict the identities that individuals can adopt
• while individuals may choose some aspects of their identity - choices are limited

Question 18

structuration theory

Answer 18

• Giddens argues that there is a middle way between structure and action approaches
• the culture of society provides some predictability in social life through an understanding of basic norms and values
• these enable people to establish their identities and make sense of society
• people can make choices to form and change their identities but only within the cultural framework of their society
• the concept of the reflexive self means the identity of individuals forms as they continually reflect on their identities through life, interacting with others
• social structure and social action are interdependent: individuals are not simply passive receivers of identities yet they are not completely free to establish any identity they choose

Question 19

postmodernist approaches

Answer 19

• Bauman argues that identity is not imposed by social structures and socialisation
• formerly fixed and stable identities arising from broad categories like social class and gender - what Lyotard calls ‘metanarratives’ - have become more fluid and changeable
• In a media-saturated, globalised society, people are exposed to a diversity of cultures which they can pick and choose from
• identity is now freely chosen according to individual taste and lifestyle choices