Unit 1 Part 1 Social Processes Flashcards
What is socialisation?
Socialisation is the process of learning the forms and values of our culture. Manipulation – where children are controlled into certain behaviour – praise and punishment Canalisation – where children are directed into certain interests – reading or sporting activities Language – where adults speak to boys and girls in different ways – ‘Little Princess’ ‘Tough Soldier’ Social activities - taking children to play groups, learning to share toys. Boys go to sporting clubs whereas girls are encouraged to dance. Modelling – children will imitate their parents and copy what they do. Adults become role model for their children. Toys and games – children are given gendered objects to play with. Girls are given pink toys. Girls can play with both genders toys but boys may be discouraged from playing with
What are the agencies of socialisation?
These are social organisations that teach us the rules for our culture. Family – this is an agency of primary socialisation. Peer group – these are people of a similar age and background – friends. Education – agencies of formal socialisation – they have written rules and formal sanctions. Religion- gives people mores and values to live by – 10 commandments. Work – has rules and a code of conduct.
What happens to unsocialised children?
A feral child is a child who has not been socialised properly. They help us to understand the nature/nurture debate. Genie – was severely neglected by her mother and father. Was tied to a potty chair in the day and caged in a cot at night. She never saw anyone, never played, and hardly saw daylight. She was a teenager when found. She grew well, but although she learned to say words, she could never say sentences. Oxana Malaya – was left with dogs as her parents ignored her. She was more like a dog than a human child. Can bar and growl. Finds human relationships difficult.
How is the family an agency of socialisation?
• Through buying toys and clothes • Through teaching norms and values • Through praise (positive sanctions and punishment (negative sanctions). • Through learning their roles in the family. • By teaching what is appropriate behaviour
How is the media an agency of socialisation?
• Teaching norms and values • Through selling gendered products • By using stereotypes to tell stories • By representing groups in a positive or negative way • By showing some body images as more favourable than others
How do schools act as an agency of socialisation?
• By having rules or a code of conduct. • BY having positive sanctions (rewards) and negative sanctions (punishments). • By having gendered subjects • By having a hidden curriculum
How does sport act as an agency of socialisation?
• By encouraging important values: teamwork, competition, health, fitness and personal development. • By having famous sports men and women as role models for children who are taught to admire their success.
How is work an agency of socialisation?
• Employers want employees to behave in a certain way, be polite and work hard. • They may have a uniform and code of conduct. • Some jobs like teaching, nursing and medicine require special training; this is known as a profession.
How do your peer group act as an agency of socialisation?
• By helping you learn to get along with people your own age. Positive peer pressure – people support each other through encouragement and kindness. Negative peer pressure – people encourage each other to do silly or dangerous things.
What is cultural relativity?
The idea that what is normal in one culture may not be normal in another. For example, Japanese people eat raw fish, many French people eat horsemeat.
What are cultural universals?
These are things found in all cultures. All cultures have some form of family life and unwritten rules for how to behave.
What social control?
What social control? If people break a law they have a formal sanction like prison, a fine or detention. If people break an unwritten rule they have an informal sanction. This can be nasty comments, jokes at your expense. Agencies of social control are groups that encourage people to follow social roles. These are the family, media, education, religion, peer group and work.
What is cultural diversity?
This term is used to describe differences between cultures all over the world. Anthropologists study different cultures, especially tribal societies. Mead found that in some tribes eating other humans was normal. She also found variations in gender roles. Among the Arapesh both men and women were feminine, among the Mundugumor men and women were aggressive, and in the Tchambuli the traditional male/female roles were reversed.
What is culture?
A culture is a ways of life shared by a group of people. Things that make a culture include: food, fashion, and music, a sense of humour, rules, religion, art and language.
What are subcultures?
Some groups have slightly different norms and values from most others around them, for example hippies, Goths and emos. These are subcultures.
What are social rules?
There are written rules like laws in any society, but there are also unwritten rules that if broken make people feel uncomfortable. Norms – normal and expected behaviour Mores – ideas about what behaviour is right and wrong Values - shared beliefs about how to act
What is the nature/nurture debate?
This is the question about whether people act the way they do because of the genes or biology or whether they learn behaviour from those around them. Nature theory – the idea that we act as we do because we are born that way Nurture theory – the idea that we act as we do because we are taught to behave by others. Sociologists prefer nurture theories because: • Historical evidence shows people’s behaviour changes over time, this would not happen if people did what came naturally to them. • People’s behaviour varies from culture to culture. • Children born up in isolation from other humans (feral children) behave in a way that is very different form other humans. .This wouldn’t happen if we acted on instinct.
What is social identity?
Identity is a sense of who you are according to the groups you belong to. Status –is the respect others give to you. Stereotype – is a category we put people into according to simple characteristics. Labelling theory – when people are given a label by other people and then treated as through it were true Roles- expected behaviour for a given situation.
How do children learn their gender identity?
At home – being dressed in clothing appropriate for your sex, male clothing is practical, whereas female clothing can restrict clothing and is in colours which show dirt. Children copy their parents, toys are often gendered. At school – some subjects are seen as more feminine than others. Most teachers are female. The mass media – TV programmes and films are aimed at males and females. Games for boys involve violence whereas female magazines are concerned with beauty products
How do children learn their ethnic identity?
Through festivals and traditions, Bollywood films, speaking a different language at home, through religion, watching sport, wearing certain clothing.
