Agents of Socialization

1. Agents of Socialization

2. What is an agent of socialization? People and groups that influence our self-concept, emotions, attitudes, and behavior Agents of socialization prepare us for our place in society

3. Family The most important socializing agent Studies show that warm, supportive moderately restrictive family environments usually produce happy-well behaving children Cold, rigid, and overly restrictive families tend to cause kids to be rebellious, resentful and insecure

4. Impact of social class • Lower-class families tend to be more authoritarian and strict than middle-class families • Parents tend to train children to respect and obey parental authority • Middle class parents are more permissive and lenient, emphasizing the value of independence • More child centered and sensitive to the child’s feelings

5. Neighborhood Some neighborhoods are better for children than others research shows that children from poor neighborhoods are more likely to get in trouble with the law, get pregnant, drop out of school or end up disadvantaged

6. Religion • Religion plays a major role in socialization of most Americans • 70% of Americans belong to a local congregation and 2 in every 5 Americans attend a religious service weekly • Religious especially influences morality but also ideas about dress, speech, and manners that are appropriate

7. Day Care • With more mothers working, day care has become a significant agent of socialization • Research finds that the effects of day care largely depends on the child’s background and quality of care • Children from poor households or dysfunctional families appear to benefit from day care • Children in higher quality day care centers interact better with children and have fewer behavioral problems • The more hours a child spends in day care, the weaker the bonds between mothers and children and the more negative their interactions • Children who go to day care score higher of language tests

8. School • One of the first tasks at school is to learn to fit in by getting along with others • School provides children with their first training in how to behave • School contribute to uniformity • Expected to both help children develop their potential and mold them into social conformity • The hidden curriculum- trains students to be patriotic, to believe in their country’s cultural values and obey its laws

9. Peer Group • Teaches it’s members several things: • Independent of adult authority • Create distinct subcultures with own values, jargon, music, dress, and heroes • Social skills and group loyalty • The value of friendship and companionship • Can also teach members to disobey authorities

10. Peer Groups • Research by Patricia and Peter Adler demonstrates how peer groups influence behavior • For boys, norms that make them popular are: athletic ability, coolness, and toughness • For girls, norms are: family background, physical appearance, and the ability to attract boys • Its almost impossible to go against peer groups; children who do become labeled as outsiders, nonmembers or outcasts.

11. Other Agents of Socialization Sports- teaching social skills and values Workplace- learn a set of skills and a perspective on the world

12. Resocialization • What does a woman who has just become a nun have in common with a man who has just divorced? • Resocialization is the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors to match new situations in life • Occurs each time we learn something that is contrary to our previous experiences, such as going to work in a new job

13. Total institution • Erving Goffman coined the term to refer to a place where people are cut off from the rest of society and are under almost total control of agents of the institution • boot camp, prisons, concentration camps, convents, some religious cults and some boarding schools • A person entering the institution is greeted with a degradation ceremony through which current identity is stripped away and replaced • Total institutions are effective b/c they isolate people from outside influences and information