Socialization

2. 4 Socialization

3. Chapter Outline • The Role of Socialization • The Self and Socialization • Socialization and the Life Course • Agents of Socialization • Social Policy and Socialization: Child Care aroundthe World

4. The Role of Socialization • Environment: The Impact of Isolation • Early socialization experiences in normal environments are important. • Caregivers should be concerned with children’s social needs in addition to their physical needs.

5. The Role of Socialization • The Influence of Heredity • Studies of Identical Twins • --Intelligence tests show similar scores when twins are reared apart in roughlysimilar social settings. • --Intelligence tests show quite different scores when twins are reared apart in dramatically different social settings.

6. The Role of Socialization • Sociobiology • Sociobiology is the systematic study of the biological bases of social behavior. • In its extreme form, sociobiology suggests that all behavior is the result of genetic or biological factors and places little emphasis on social interaction.

7. The Self and Socialization • Sociological Approaches to the Self • Cooley: Looking-Glass Self • --The self is the product of our social interactions with other people. • --Our view of ourselves comes from not only our contemplation of personal qualities, but also from our impressions of how others perceive us. • --We learn who we are by interacting with others.

8. The Self and Socialization • Sociological Approaches to the Self • Mead: Stages of the Self • --Preparatory Stage: Children imitate people around them. • --Play Stage: Children develop skill in communicating through symbols. Role taking occurs. • --Game Stage: Children consider actual tasks and relationships simultaneously.

9. The Self and Socialization • Sociological Approaches to the Self • Mead: Stages of the Self • --Symbol: The gestures, objects and language that form the basis of human communication. • --Role Taking: The process of mentally assuming the perspective of another. • --Generalized Others: The attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into account.

10. The Self and Socialization • Sociological Approaches to the Self • Mead: Theory of the Self • --The self begins as a privileged, central position in a person’s world. • --As a person matures, the self changes and begins to reflect greater concern about the reactions of others. • --Significant Others: Individuals who are most important in the development of the self.

11. The Self and Socialization • Sociological Approaches to the Self • Goffman: Presentation of the Self • --Impression Management: The individual slants the presentation of the self in order to create distinctive appearances and satisfy particular audiences. • --Dramaturgical Approach: People resemble performers in action.

12. The Self and Socialization • Psychological Approaches to the Self • Piaget • --Piaget emphasized the stages humans progress through as the self develops. • Freud • --Freud stressed the role of inborn drives and believed that the self is a social product. He also believed that aspects of personality are influenced by others (especially one’s parents).

13. Socialization and the Life Course • The Life Course • Rites of passage are a means of dramatizing and validating changes in a person’s status. • These specific ceremonies mark stages of development in the life course. • We encounter some of the most difficult socialization challenges in the later years of life.

14. Socialization and the Life Course • Anticipatory Socialization and Resocialization • Two types of socialization occur throughout the life course. • Anticipatory Socialization: The processes of socialization in which a person “rehearses” for future occupations and social relationships. • Resocialization: The process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one’s life.

15. Agents of Socialization • Family • The family is the primary agent of socialization. • Socialization by the family begins shortly after birth. • Socialization is typically, but not always, positive.

16. Percent distribution of children under age 18 No parent in household 3.7 2.8 4.1 Father; no mother 3.1 4.2 18.0 21.6 22.4 Mother; no father 76.7 72.5 69.1 Two parents 1980 1990 2000 Agents of Socialization Living Arrangementsof Children UnderAge 18: 1980, 1990,and 2000 Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 6-1. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.

17. Adoptive motherand father1.4% Othercombination1.1% One biologicaland onestepparent9.3% Twobiologicalparents88.2% Agents of Socialization Children Living With Two Parents by Type of Parent: 1996 Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 6-2. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.

18. 90.7 Less than 3 82.7 79.3 3 to 5 71.4 6 to 11 59.4 56.5 47.1 42.8 41.1 40.9 39.1 35.6 23.6 21.8 18.0 Married,both working Married,one working Married,no workers Single parent,working Single parent,not working Agents of Socialization Children Under Age 12 Who Have Ever Been in Child Care by Age of Child, and Parent’s Marital and Employment Status: 1994 Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 6-3. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.

19. Agents of Socialization • School • Schools teach children the values and customs of the larger society. • Schools have traditionally socialized children into conventional gender roles.

20. Agents of Socialization • Peer Group • As children grow older, peer groups increasingly assume the role of Mead’s significant others. • Peer groups can ease the transition to adult responsibilities. • Peer groups can encourage children to honor or violate cultural norms and values. • Peer groups can be a source of harassment as well as support.

21. Agents of Socialization • Mass Media and Technology • 53 percent of all children ages 12 to 18 have their own televisions. • Television permits imitation and role playing but does not encourage more complex forms of learning. • Technology is socializing families into multitasking as the social norm.

22. Agents of Socialization Figure 4.1: Children’s Media Usage.

23. Agents of Socialization • Workplace • Learning to behave appropriately within an occupational setting is a fundamental aspect of human socialization. • Socialization in the workplace involves four phases: • career choice anticipatory socialization • conditioning continuous commitment

24. Agents of Socialization Figure 4.2: Teenagers on the Job and in School–International Comparisons.

25. Agents of Socialization • The State • The state has usurped many of the traditional family functions. • The state has re-instituted many rites of passage including stipulating the ages at which we are permitted to: • drink drive vote • marry retire work overtime

26. Percent of Monthly Family Income Spent on Child Care byFamily Income and Poverty Status* 25% Less than $1,200 12% $1,200 to $2,999 8% $3,000 to $4,499 6% $4,500 or more 18% Below poverty 7% Above poverty *Limited to families with a preschooler Agents of Socialization Family Income and Child Care Source: Lynne M. Casper, 1995. “What Does It Cost to Mind Our Preschoolers?” Current Population Reports, ser. P-70, no. 52. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Figure3, p. 84.

27. Social Policy and Socialization • Child Care Around the World • The Issue • --In 1999, more than 65 percent of all mothers with children under the age of six were part of the work force. • --Day care centers have become the functional equivalent of the nuclear family. • --What is the state’s responsibility for assuring quality day care?

28. Social Policy and Socialization • Child Care Around the World • The Setting • --Finding the right kind of day care is a parenting challenge. • --Researchers have found that high-quality child care centers do not adversely affect the socialization of children.

29. Social Policy and Socialization • Child Care Around the World • The Sociological Insights • --Studies assessing the quality of child care outside of the home reflect the microlevel of analysis favored by interactionists. • --Functionalists study child care from the perspective of macro-level analysis of the family as a social institution. • --The feminist conflict perspective raises questions about the low status and wages of day care workers, most of whom are women.

30. Social Policy and Socialization • Child Care Around the World • Policy Initiatives • --Policies regarding child care outside of the home vary throughout the world. • --When policymakers decide that child care is desirable, they must determine the degree to which taxpayers should subsidize it.