Socialization: The Process of Learning Cultural Values and Norms

1. S - 100 Socialization Lecture Notes 7: 10/7/2009

2. Exam Study Topics • Text – Chapter 1-5 • Know terms such as Sociology, Sociological Imagination, socialization, culture, social organization, social structure, social construction, social group, primary and secondary group, ethnocentricism, subculture, counterculture, Social determinism • Know the main theorists, and their contribution to sociology as a science

3. Socialization is the process of learning and creating social and cultural values, norms, and expectations • A lifelong process • From birth to death • Socialization is continuous • Continuous human interaction The Basic Idea What is Socialization?

4. Socialization: The gradual process through which the helpless infant becomes a self aware, knowledgeable person, who learns to become skilled in the ways of the culture into which he/she is born • It is a process that allows society to develop structural continuity over time • It is the process which connects the different generations with each other The Basic idea What is Socialization?

5. Such persons are socialized and respond to stimuli based on their narrow exposure to the natural environment • Children raised by animals – feral children • While they may look like humans, they demonstrably behave and act like animals • Lack of human interaction in the formative years deprives these kind of being of their humanness The Basic Idea What happens if an individual is not exposed and does not experience human contact?

6. Lack of social contact • Alters the make-up of the brain • The brain of neglected children, those with limited social contact is smaller • Social contact is an essential item in the socialization process • Language: Lack of Communicative Contact • Alters the capacity of an isolated individual to respond to and understand the physical and natural environment • Communicative contact is very essential to the socialization process Basic Ideas The importance of human social contact in the socialization process

7. Personality is a social product • Learned through social interaction • The personality is a social product • Gender roles • Occupations, etc • Roles, status etc are learned and assumed in the socialization process • No one is born to be something or somebody • They assume and learn role play in the socialization process • No one is born with awareness • Awareness of who and what we are arise through interaction with others Basic Idea The person: The personality is a social product

8. Looking Glass-Self • Each individual develop understanding of who they are based on their perception of how others act towards them • Judgment of who we, or who we think we are based on our perception of how we think others judge us • Feedback is important in personality development • Positive and negative feedback have consequence on the formation of personality Basic Ideas Charles H Cooley 1864-1929: The looking Glass Self

9. Taking the Role of the Other: Children develop social life and role play based on expectations of parents, guardians and society • Childhood: Three Stages • Imitation Stage: • Growth of self consciousness • Internalization of feelings • Play Stage: • Pretense – pretending to be fathers, mothers, firemen, etc • Game stage: Structured Stage • Children learn to understand and abide by rules Basic Ideas Taking the Role of the Other: George Herbert Mead 1863-1931

10. Symbolic Interactionism: • Mead-Interaction between human beings takes places through the use of symbols and the interpretations of meanings Basic Ideas Mead: Symbolic Interactionism

11. Cognition • High-level brain functions of human beings, including the ability to learn and remember information • It refers one’s ability to organize, plan, solve problems, focus, maintain, and shift attention as necessary • To understand and use language, and accurately perceive the environment, and perform calculations. Basic Ideas Social Cognitive Theory: Albert Bandura

12. Bandhura argues: • that what we know and recognize as human behavior is the result of the continuous (on-going) interaction between our cognitive (ability to process information); with the behavioral, and environmental influences around us • As such people produce and are produced by the environment Basic Ideas Social Cognitive Theory: Albert Bandura

13. Family • The primary agent of socialization • Indoctrinates the child on the ways of society-what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior • School • Formal education is geared to construct children and prepare them for adulthood to take on the roles prescribed by their cultures and society • Media • Promotes values of the society • Religion • Promotes and re-enforce the moral values of the society Basic Ideas The Socialization Agents