Socialization Unit 2 - b. Your Name and who you are Your name might tell you the following: Your gender Your ethnicity – Physical characteristics Possibly.

Socialization

Unit 2 - b

Your Name and who you are

Your name might tell you the following:

Your gender

Your ethnicity – Physical characteristics

Possibly your age

Example: What comes to mind when you hear the name Jennifer?

Socialization

Describe yourself:Age?Name?Ethnicity?Physical characteristics?likes?dislikes?Hobbies?Strengths (school, sport, art…)?Interests?values?personal history?

Now, imagine you were switched at birth with another baby in the maternity ward and went home with the ‘wrong’ family and were raised by them.

How might you be different?

The Nurture Side of Things!

Socialization – lifelong process through which we learn all the knowledge, skills and attitudes we need to survive and prosper

Sociologist: focus on how we learn the basic rules and attitudes of human behaviour (don’t pick your nose)

Psychologists: focus on the development of the human personality – those characteristics that make each individual unique (self-confidence)

Anthropologist: focus on the process by which permanent human societies are produced. (A uniquely human way of life centered on ‘marriage’, ‘family’, and ‘household’)

Socialization continued

Key process in the development of the individual Necessary for the continuation of society Affects virtually every aspect of our lives

example: 1) Hunger patterns (when we eat)

2) Perception of the world around us (Arctic peoples have

many

words for ‘snow’)

Components of Socialization

Primary Socialization

Secondary Socialization

Anticipatory Socialization

We learn:LanguageHow to eatTo practice hygieneGender rolesTo deal with emotions

Lean how to function in groups (schools)

How to follow the behaviours society expects of us while acting in group situations

Develop the ability to think ahead and act according

Components of Socialization cont.

Resocialization: Deliberate attempt by society to replace aspects of an individual’s socialization with new learnings

In prisons, society tries to change inmates’ learned behaviour to more appropriate, law-abiding ones

Agents of Socialization

How might a person develop if cut off from normal human contact at an early age?

Ferals: Children raised by wild animals (unrealistic)

Isolates: raised in human households but were severely neglected physically, socially and emotionally

Anna 1938. 5 year old found hidden in a second floor storage room tied into a chair

Genie 1970: 13 year old had been kept locked in a room with only a potty seat

Agents of Socialization - Family

Primary Socialization – 1st Agent of socializationMost influential ages 0-6, after 20

•Norms•Gender roles•What are our own special unique qualities

Vital in the development of the self

The socialization we get at home is not always correct

Agents of Socialization - School

Secondary Socialization – group rules

•Dealing with formal rules•Preparation for the adult worldManifest function – visible purpose of school

- to learn academic skills

Latent function – hidden purpose - to learn how to understand

and cooperate with strangers - learn rules about being on

time, being neat, when to talk, respect for authority

Agents of Socialization – Peer groups

Most influential between ages 10-20

Social group where members are the same ageand share the same interests and social position

•Provide opportunities to do things not usually encouraged by one’s family

•Peer pressure: values and behaviour, sexual attitudes, gender roles

Agents of Socialization - Media

•Function: Commercial – designed to make money by obtaining as many customers as possible

•Attract customers by setting out an unrealistic view of life (cop drama: suspense, romance, tragedy and justice fits into 52 minutes)

•Advertising – attempts to persuade us that we can ‘have it all’ Gender roles are created and reinforced, whether realistic or not

example: average model 5’9”, 123 lb average women 5’4”, 144lb

Agents of Socialization - Religion

1996 – approx 86% of Canadians indicated that they had some sort of religious faith - 30% reported weekly attendance at a religious service

•Religious activities communicate beliefs about gender, appropriate sexual conduct, the afterlife, responsibility for one another in society, values and morals (usually reinforced by the family)

Agents of Socialization –Workplace

•Most people take up paid employment at some time

•Already learned the importance of punctuality, appropriate dress, respect for authority at school

•Must learn specialized language, procedures, rules as they relate to our jobs

•Must learn how to deal with colleagues, competitors, customers, students

•Teambuilding activities

Agents of Socialization – Total Institutions

Intended to wipe out old socialization and Replace it with new

•Boot camp – for young offenders•Prison – convicted felons•Destructive religious cults•Monasteries•Military

Emphasis on removing individuality and replacing it with a common group identity

- identical hair cuts- identical clothing- strict enforcement of rules about daily activities and schedules

Total Institutions - Asylums

Degradation ceremonies – intended to weaken a person’s current identity so that a new one could be put in its place – many have since been abolished

Common in all Total Institutions:1. All aspects of life are closely supervised by staff 2. Members have no choice regarding food or

sleeping arrangements3. Formal rules about virtually all aspects of daily

routine