Socialization

Socialization. The lifelong process of developing a self and becoming capable members of our group(s) and society..

Introduction to the Self and Social Structure Module.

Socialization is not a party. Socialization is the process through which we learn how to become ourselves and members of our society. It does NOT mean talking to each other (or “socializing” in the ordinary English sense of the word). We need to learn our language, what counts as food, what we should wear, what we should know, etc. to be a part of our society. So how do we learn this stuff?.

Nature vs. Nurture The first debate. The idea of nature is that our biology creates our personalities, choices, etc. In other words, we don’t really get socialized. We don’t learn our society; our bodies determine who we are. The idea of nurture is that our society creates our personalities, choices, etc. Sociologists argue that this dichotomy (two mutually exclusive choices) does not accurately represent human development. While our genes may provide us with specific, individual aptitudes, our culture and environment make it possible or impossible for those aptitudes to be expressed and shape the means of expression. In other words, our personal biography intersects with both social history and our personal biology. Shades of C. Wright Mills! See the next slide .

Nature, nurture, and the sociological imagination.

Human beings are social animals. Human beings require human interaction in order to develop into fully realized people and to maintain mental health. The process of socialization teaches us how to interact with other people in culturally appropriate ways. There are numerous psychological studies about the negative effects of isolation on human beings. The Geneva Conventions on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners forbids prolonged solitary confinement. Cross-cultural studies show that shunning is often considered the very worst punishment possible. People who are shunned are at an extremely high risk of suicide..

Genie-a tragic example of extreme isolation. In 1970, a 13-year-old girl who had been kept in virtual isolation for most of her life was found in California. Her tragedy provided psychologists and linguists with the opportunity to study the effects of isolation on language and social development. These studies occurred in the context of her treatment and provided valuable information about the stunting effects of isolation on the brain. This optional video is an excerpt from a documentary about Genie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E.

Primary socialization. Because of her extreme isolation, Genie had no one to socialize her For most of the rest of us, our primary socialization occurs within our family. Primary socialization is the way that we learn the very basic structures of our society such as our language, what things are considered food and how to eat them, and basic gender behaviors. We mostly take what we learn in primary socialization for granted..

Agents of socialization. While our families are key agents of our primary socialization, sociologists have identified several other agents who typically provide secondary socialization: school peers mass media work religion the state (our country) Secondary socialization is the way we learn our place in society and the skills necessary to interact beyond our families. Primary socialization mostly happens when we are very small; we don’t even remember it happening. Secondary socialization is the process of learning everything else..

Quiz Question 1. While our family typically provides our primary socialization, there are several agents of socialization that move us beyond the basics. The list on the previous slide includes agents of secondary socialization. Pick 4 of these ( except the family ) and write about how each one has helped you to become a member of society..

Socialization never stops. As we grow, we continue to become socialized into our new age categories. For example, we expect different knowledge and behaviors from someone who is 5 years old, 15 years old, and 50 years old. When we take on new identities and responsibilities (work, parenting, etc.), we learn the expectations of those identities. Most socialization after our early childhood is secondary socialization, although we may learn about what it means to be an adult from watching our parents when we are very young. There area several different types of socialization. Here, we’ll only discuss three: Anticipatory socialization Resocialization, and Reverse socialization..

Types of socialization anticipatory socialization.

Types of socialization resocialization. Resocialization happens when there is a change in our lives and we must give up our previous understandings and learn new ones. We must unlearn how to be in society in order to learn the expectations of new statuses. For example, when we move from high school to college, we learn that being a student requires more thought and more time; when we move to a new country, we must learn the new norms of that place..

Types of socialization resocialization and total institutions.

Types of socialization reverse socialization. Reverse socialization typically happens when the expected order of socialization is reversed—when the child socializes the parent. Reverse socialization often happens in immigrant families, when the child has learned the norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors of the new society and must help to educate their parents..

The self. So what is it that we are socializing? We are socializing the self—that part of us that is unique and individual. That unique, individual self must still develop into a member of society. Remember what happens to us when we are isolated! Psychologists and sociologists agree that the self is constructed through social interaction. When we talk about the self, we are talking about the part of an individual that differentiates that person from everyone else. You may think of the self as your personal, unique identity. Theories of the self basically answer the question, “how do I become me?” and “how do I become a member of my society?”.

Theories of the self. We will be focusing on three sociological theories of the development of the self and personality: 1. Charles Horton Cooley and the Looking Glass Self 2. George Herbert Mead’s stages of development and the I and the Me 3. Erving Goffman’s theories of the self as constructed through social interaction. This 15-minute video is a good introduction to the overall concepts and theories. It is required viewing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo6pV7-6XGQ.

Charles Horton Cooley and the Looking Glass Self.

The Looking Glass Self. A looking glass is a mirror. The Looking Glass Self theory argues that we develop an individual identity in three stages: 1. We imagine how we appear to others 2. We imagine how others evaluate us 3. We base our self-concept on these imaginings. In other words, we use others as a mirror to create a self..

Looking Glass Self example. 1. When I get dressed in the morning, I imagine that I appear professional. 2. I imagine that students will think I look professional, too. 3. My self-concept is that I’m professional. It makes me feel like a good teacher. P.S. I am not the woman in the picture .

Our imaginings vary by person and may be wrong. Even though our imagination covers a variety of people, our self-evaluation is not based equally on every person. We are more influenced by how we imagine ourselves to be understood and evaluated by people who are important to us than by strangers; we care more about people we think are qualified to evaluate us than people who we think are not qualified. For example, we care if our partner thinks we look good, but the random comment about our appearance from a stranger on the street is not as valuable to us. While we imagine how we appear to others and how they evaluate us, we may not be correct. The Looking Glass Self theory helps us to understand why people stay in bad relationships . We build our self-identity and self-evaluation from the ways we imagine we are seen by the people we love..

George Herbert Mead, the stages of the self; the generalized other; and the “I” and the “Me”.

Mead’s stages of the self Overview. Stage I: Imitation Children under age 3 No sense of self Imitate others Stage 2: Play Ages 3 to 6 Play "pretend" others (princess, Spider-Man, etc.) Stage 3: Team Games After about age 6 or 7 Team games ("organized play") Learn to take multiple roles.

Three stages of the self: Stage 1, Preparatory Stage.

3 Stages of the Self Play Stage. As children begin to understand and manipulate symbols, they enter the play stage. Here, they give meaning to the imitations of behavior in the preparatory stage. For example, a child may play at being a fire fighter or a parent. Mead called this type of play role-taking , where a child starts to understand and play with taking on the perspective of someone else..

3 Stages of the Self Game Stage. In the game stage, children start to understand and obey the rules of social interaction. Children are no longer just playing at roles; they are actively understanding their own social positions. In this stage, children develop an internal regulator, called the generalized other . The generalized other is that little (often unconscious) voice in our heads that help us to conform to our society’s expectations.

Examples of Mead’s stages. Imagine a game of soccer: In the preparatory stage , very young children run around and kicking the ball only happens by accident. In the play stage , kids begin to understand that they should kick the ball toward the goal, but don’t understand player positions. You get whole herds of kids running after the ball trying to kick it. In the game stage , each player fully understands the rules and the boundaries of their position on the field. The generalized other is visible by the fact that people know and actually play by the rules. They have internalized the norms of the game..

The “I” and the “Me”. Mead argues that a fully developed self has two components, the “I” and the “Me.” The “Me” incorporates the generalized other and represents our position in the social structure. The “Me” is the way that social rules of behavior get internalized. Using the example of soccer, the “Me” understands that the individual player is a forward or defender and that position defines who they are on the field. The “I” develops as an individual response to the “Me.” This is our individual impulses and the ways that we individually use the tools from our culture. Using soccer again, the “I” decides how exactly the individual is going to play in their role of forward or defender. You can almost consider the “Me” to be structure and the “I” to be agency..

Erving Goffman and the Dramaturgical Perspective.

Erving Goffman and impression management. Since our self is constructed through everyday interactions, then we must always be conscious of how we present ourselves in those interactions. We take other actors and the social setting into account when we put forth the best “face” we can manage. Watch and take notes on this six minute video for more depth (required) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_TeC-F1ZN0.

Line, face, and facework. Face is the self that we present to others. This self changes based on the social situation. We are attached to this face (you could almost think of it as a mask) and want to maintain it. Think of the expressions “shamefaced” or “losing face,” or even “putting on my face” when using makeup. We establish and maintain our face by taking a line—word and actions that indicate the face we are presenting. In other words, a line is the story we want to tell others and have others believe about us in order to create a particular face. Actors learn their lines just like we learn the basic scripts of social interaction. Facework is the set of interactions that we create in order to help each other maintain our faces. Facework becomes particularly important if we do or say something that might contradict our line. Being polite is one form of facework. What line and face are Rico Nasty portraying on the left? Is she doing facework?.

More impression management with line, face, and facework.

Impression Management and the Dramaturgical Perspective.

Dramaturgy and the Self. Here’s an example of how we can be different people when we are with different people. Do you speak about the same topics and use the exact same language in the same way when you are talking with a group of friends as you do when talking with your grandmother? How do you show respect to your grandmother? To your friends? If the self is created as a performance and through interaction, is there a real self?.

Quiz Question 2. If our selves are constructed through social interaction, do we have a “one true self?” Choose one of the three theorists and use his theory to discuss this idea in one well-written, well-thought-out paragraph. Be sure to let me know which theorist you selected!.