Unit 1 - Socialisation, Culture, Identity Flashcards
Norms
Behaviours the majority of people engage in - they are often influenced by values e.g. Joining the back of a queue is a norm that is influenced by the value of politeness
Values
Morals or beliefs - they can often lead to norms in behaviour e.g. The value of politeness leads to the norm of joking the back of a queue
Socialisation
The process by which we learn about the norms and values of society…there are six agents of socialisation that facilitate this process
Agents of socialisation
The institutions that socialise us (teach us norms and values): Family Education Peer group Mass media Religion Workplace
Primary socialisation
The first socialisation experiences a person receives, from the family
Secondary socialisation
Socialisation from school age onwards…education, peer group, religion, workplace, mass media
Parsons
The function of the family is to socialise the young
And…
Youth is a transistors phase from childhood to adulthood
Dennis and Erdos
Fatherless children are less successfully socialised into the culture of discipline and compromise (1000 children in Newcastle…more poor physical health, low IQ and criminal record if unfathered or poorly fathered)
Chapman
Hildesheim are given gender stereotypical chores in the family
Williams
Covert obs at large discount retailer and small boutique store, in 300 hrs of toy selling only witnessed two occasions of customers resisting the typical gender categories
Kidd
In postmodern world we can’t even say what constitutes a family anymore
Song
Workplace and family socialise together…people follow their family into the same type of workplace e.g. Chinese in catering industry
Oakley
Children socialised into gender roles by family:
Manipulation - encouraging gender appropriate behaviour
Canalisation - channelling interests
Verbal appellations - gender appropriate pet names
Different activities - e.g. Gendered chores
Blackman
New wave girls had shared interests in new wave music and wore the same fashions, they fought against sexism in their school
Bennett
Middle aged punks had group cohesion from younger years
McRobbie and Garber
Bedroom culture of teenage girls revolving around the gender stereotyped ‘Jackie’ magazine
Skelton and Francis
Children in primary schools stuck to certain areas of the playground depending on who their peer group were
Phoenix
Boys who worked hard were often seen as feminine by their peers
Packard
Hypodermic syringe model - media has a direct effect
Katz and Lazerfield
Two step flow model - media and peer group socialise together
Polemus
Media is a ‘supermarket of style’ from which we can pick and choose (postmodern view)
Taylor
In 1981 American media imports represented 75% of all imports in Europe…McDonaldisation
Glennon and Butsch
Under representation of working class in the media
Van Dijk
Black people are shown as criminals in the British news
Pearson
The young are shown as folk devils in the media
Gauntlett
Men are more likely to be shown as heroes in films and women as victims. Men are also more likely to get leading roles when they are older.
Bandura
Children who saw a video of an adult beating up an inflatable doll (bobo doll) later imitated the behaviour they had seen
Stefan Pakeerah
Was killed by his friend with a hammer after they played a computer game ‘Manhunt’
Jamie Bulger
Toddler was abducted, tortured and killed by two young boys…some people linked it to them imitating things they had seen in the film ‘Child’s Play 3’
Hagell and Newburn
Violent young offenders actually watch less TV than their non-violent counterparts
Hatcher
The education system doesn’t encourage working class success
Troyna and Williams
The national curriculum in British schools is ethnocentric
Rosenthal and Jacobsen
Teachers in Mexico were told that some of their students were ‘spurters’…in actual fact they had been randomly selected…they did outperform peers due to teacher expectations
Mac an Ghail (peer group/education)
School subcultures form part of the informal curriculum e.g. Macho Lads, Real Englishmen etc.
Paul Willis
‘Learning to labour’…working class lads resisted education…as a result didn’t get qualifications for anything other than manual work…so couldn’t break out of their class
Bowles and Gintis
American Marxist sociologists…education system a ‘giant myth making machine’…brainwashes children into obedience and unquestioning so they are ready for workplace!
Alpert
4 functions of religion: Authority Cohesion Discipline Collective worship
Weber
Sects and cults are normally headed up by a charismatic leader
Holm and Bowker
Women are subordinate in all major world religions
Miller and Hoffman
Men are less religious than women…because they are more risk taking
Bruce
Attendance at religious services is declining
And…
Working class mothers are too busy trying to find food for their children or going to discotheques to go to church
Modood
67% of young Pakistani and Bangladeshi saw religion as ‘very important’ compared to only 5% of white British
Ward and Winstanley
Gay workers ‘come out’ to their colleagues in different ways depending on the workplace. Police and fire service it is through interpersonal chat…it is important in those organisations that they share strong bonds as they are engaging in dangerous work
Salaman
In order to achieve the maximum amount of profit, employers need to control their labour force to make them as productive as possible
Waddington
‘Canteen culture’
Certain norms and values in certain workplaces
Savage
Doctors are normally from middle class backgrounds and in working class areas people have more ‘practical’ occupations
Mac and Ghail (workplace)
‘Crisis of masculinity’ as women take traditionally male jobs
Modood (workplace)
Some workplaces are ethnically diverse but some are dominated by one ethnic group, some ethnic groups are also more likely to experience unemployment
Mori survey 2002
38% cited ageism in the workplace
Featherstone and Hepworth
Individual life courses are destructured and fragmented…only some experience age discrimination
Culture
A ‘way of life’ focusing on the beliefs and customs of a society or social group…with shared norms and values
Status
Can be held by an individual or group, is based on social position or standing within society
Roles
A pattern of behaviour, routines or responses acted out in everyday life
Subculture
A culture within a culture with their own shared norms and values.
A cultural subgroup differentiated by status, ethnic background, residence, religion or other factors that unify the group.
Jackson
‘Lads’ and ‘ladettes’
Clarke
Skinhead culture represented working class masculinity. They exaggerated their working class background in order to ‘magically’ recover it from extinction in a capitalist society where middle class values were taking over
Hebdige
Mods adopted a more respectable appearance than skinheads which reflected their desire to be upwardly mobile
Consumer culture
Belk - a culture in which the majority of consumers avidly desire (and a noticeable portion pursue, acquire and display) goods and services that are valued for non-utilitarian reasons e.g. Status seeking, envy provocation, novelty seeking
Lury
Features of a consumer culture:
Availability of wide range of consumer goods
Shopping a leisure pursuit
Different forms of shopping available
Debt accepted as social norm
Packaging and promotion of goods a large scale business
Thornton
The media are largely responsible for bringing about youth culture
High culture
Cultural products held in the highest esteem…culture of the elite
Bourdieu
‘Cultural capital’ e.g. Knowledge of classical music, classical literature and the arts is passed down from generation to generation
Berger
Analysed oil paintings and found evidence of the class divide - art is used to transmit ruling class ideas that possessions are important
Goldman
Analysed literature and said class played a large part in the stories
Popular culture
Ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images and other phenomena that are preferred by the mainstream…the culture of the masses
Multiculturalism
Societies with a proliferation of different cultures and ethnic groups
Parker and Song
Internet is used by minority ethnic groups to organise social events and provide forums for the discussion of issues related to different ethnic identities
Davie
Religion is important for minority ethnic groups as it provides them with a way of maintaining their cultural roots
Cultural diversity
Ethnic, gender, racial and socioeconomic variety within a society
Cricher
Moral panics about homosexuals in the media e.g. AIDs
Humphries
Tea room trade
Global culture
One world culture. Loss of cultural diversity…all are exposed to the same things due to global media so we have one culture experienced by all people.
Johan and Bains
Some children wear a metaphorical white mask to fit in with the majority culture at school
Identity
Woodward - ‘belonging’ to something, each individual chooses their own identity
Bradley- two types of identity:
Passive…born or socialised into e.g. Gender, class, ethnicity, age
Active…choose to pursue e.g. Hobbies, beliefs
Femininities
Normative - physical appearance important
Passive - traditional housewife role, quiet, demure, submissive
Assertive - challenge male culture and sexism
Masculinities
Hegemonic/normative - lad culture, male supremacy, aggression, heterosexuality
Complicit - new man, takes account of appearance, shared role in family
Marginalised - low class, ethnic minorities etc. Jobs not guaranteed
Subordinate - gay men
Welch
TV ads aimed at boys are active, loud, rapid camera cuts
Girls ads have soft fades, gentle background music
Hakim
Horizontal and vertical segregation in workplace in terms of gender
Ethnic identity
Modood - a combination of culture, descent and sense of identity
Seidler
Girls from some Asian backgrounds live a double life…traditional role at home and more questioning femininity outside
Alexander
One of the biggest influences in the creation of black identity was the peer group
Khattab
Official statistics show that religion and skin colour are the best predictors of educational and occupational attainment…white Christian most advantaged, black Muslim most disadvantaged
Ethnic hybrid identity
Different ethnic styles are combined in novel ways
‘Brasian’ - British Asian
‘Wigger’- white youths mixing African American ‘gangsta’ culture with their British identity
Gillespie
Punjabi/Asian population of Southall in London…used television and videos to redefine their ethnic identity, experience different cultures and mix them into new identities
Les Back
White, Asian and Black young people on tow council estates in South London. Found a great deal of interracial relationships and ‘borrowing’ of cultural styles to create new identities
Charlotte Butler
Young British Asians retained respect for Islam but also adopted some Western ideas about education and careers
Assimilation
Ethnic culture is abandoned and mainstream culture adopted
Cultural navigation
Young minorities ‘switch codes’ e.g. Act differently at home and with peers
Age identity
How long we have lived shapes our identity in terms of what we see as age appropriate behaviours Childhood Youth Adulthood Old age
Willis (media)
Old people shown as grumpy, stubborn, lonely and interfering in the media
Biggs
Old people shown as feeble, vague and forgetful in media
Eisenstadt
Youth culture binds young people into society - through fostering relationships with peers they develop feelings of community
Durkheim
Education serves the function of preparing the young for the roles they will play in their adult lives…helps them prepare for the workplace
O’Beirne
Those with a religion are usually older on average (50+)
YouGov
Belief in God is lowest amongst the young (18-34)
Class identity
How we classify ourselves and behave based on money and background Underclass Working class Middle class Upper class Super rich
Reay
Middle class mothers are more able to influence their child’s schooling
GUMG
Content analysis of miners strike on British news…mine owners shown positively, miners shown as trouble
Marx
Religion is used by the bourgeoisie to control…‘the opiate of the masses’
Devine
50 unstructured interviews with doctors and teachers…most didn’t refer to the concept of class (class is dead?)
Disability identity
When individuals with a physical or mental impairment see this as an integral part of their being…they may be subjected to marginalisation, prejudice or discrimination
Shakesphere
Disabled people can be socialised into a ‘victim mentality’…they have an investment in their own incapacity because it can become the rationale for their own failure
Zola
Labelling of disabled people…vocabulary is borrowed from (discriminatory able-bodied) society…de-formed, dis-eased, dis-baked, did-ordered, ab-normal
Sexual identity
The label that people adopt to signal to others who they are as a sexual being…particularly in terms of sexual orientation
Weeks
Sexual identification is complex e.g. There are people who engage in same sex acts but do not classify themselves as gay
Mary McIntosh
Once a male has accepted the label of homosexual he will start to fulfil it…by adopting effeminate mannerisms etc to live up to cultural expectations
Plummer
The ‘homosexual career’ - once a male has accepted the label of homosexual he will seek out others and join a subculture in which homosexual characteristics become the norm
Reiss
Young prostitutes or ‘rent boys’ regarded themselves as heterosexual despite having sex with men for money
Rich
Women’s sexuality is oppressed by men in patriarchal society…women are socialised into a subordinate and heterosexual role…lesbian identity has been constructed as abnormal because it is a threat to male dominance and power over women
National identity
When we have a sense of belonging towards one nation or state
Anderson - national identity is constructed through symbols such as the flag and the anthem, and rituals such as national holidays and festivals
Schusden
Features of national identity: Common language Education National rituals Symbols The mass media The mass production of fashion and taste
Hirschi
There are 4 crucial binds that tie us together and stop us committing crime…national identity can provide these things:
Attachment (care about others)
Commitment (what have we got to lose)
Involvement (do we have time to be deviant)
Belief (how much do we think we should obey)
Stuart Hall
Three different reactions to globalisation:
Cultural homogenisation - accept global culture
Cultural hybridity - merge cultures together
Cultural resistance - fiercely protect cultural heritage (could result in a strong national identity)
Nature
Behaviour is caused by biological factors
Nurture
Behaviour is caused by environmental factors
Curtiss
The case of ‘Genie’
Neglect and abuse permanently affected Genie…she never properly acquired language skills
Supports the case for nurture
John William Money
The sex reassignment of David Reimer
Botched circumcision led to a boy being raised as a girl but he never accepted his role as a girl and always felt like a boy inside
Supports nature
Minnesota study
Study of twins raised apart
When reunited some of the twins had amazing similarities to each other (e.g. The Jim twins) but there were also many who were very different to each other
Maybe nature and nurture both influence behaviour
Formal social control
Written rules or codes of conduct
Informal social control
Expectations without written rules
