Changes to agents of socialisation

Question 1

Discuss Postmodernism and Family Diversity when considering Changes to Agents of Socialisation.

Answer 1

FAMILY DIVERSITY: PM believe that social structures, such as the family and social class are breaking down and being replaced with a range of different, changing social relationships. Within the family, PM argue that we are now less governed by living in an ideal nuclear structure, but we have increased choice in how we structure our family and also how we perform our roles within the family. Functionalism is quite traditional in their views of the family and PM highlight that society has moved on and has changed drastically since their analysis. Therefore, Functionalism, in the eyes of PM is very outdated and not as relevant to contemporary society as it once may have been. Clear examples to demonstrate this are views on sexuality in the family and also the gender division of labour within the family (i.e who does what at home).

Question 2

Discuss Postmodernism and how Work has Changed when considering Changes to Agents of Socialisation.

Answer 2

WORK HAS CHANGED: The world of work has also changed. Work is no longer dominated by manufacturing (characteristic of a modern society) but is now characterised by a service sector – e.g working in a bank, or servicing consumption (working in a shop). Our ideas about work have also changed in a PM world – we no longer think about a job for life but want to constantly change and strive for a job that suits our needs the best and we are now flexible about working hours and also where we work, such as working from home.

Question 3

Discuss Postmodernism and Religion when considering Changes to Agents of Socialisation.

Answer 3

RELIGION – IS IT LOSING ITS IMPACT? – ‘The rise in secularisation’ - Many sociologists argue that religion is losing its influence as an agent of socialisation because of secularisation. Functionalists are alarmed by this and believe it is one of the causes of a loss of a moral compass in British society (‘Broken Britain’). Because fewer and fewer of us attend religious gatherings or learn the teachings of our religions, we no longer learn key values such as to respect authority and to work hard for rewards.

Question 4

Postmodernism and Changes to Agents of Socialisation Evaluations in the text book provides three points on Religion.

Answer 4

1. There is evidence that many people continue to identify themselves as religious even though they no longer attend church.
2. Religion is still influential in the socialisation of many ethnic minority communities.
3. There has been a resurgence of fundamentalist religions, particularly in America and in parts of the Middle East. These act as very powerful agents of socialisation in their communities and in wider political life.

Question 5

Postmodernism View on the Media

Four comments with a name for one comment.

Answer 5

1. Baudrillard: We live in a media-saturated society.
2. This means that the media has become a more influential agent of socialisation.
3. But we are media-literate and active in the way we interpret media messages.
4. Rather than powerful groups using the media to socialise us into fixed identities, individuals use images and symbols from the media to construct their identities. They often do this in a playful and ironic manner.

Question 6

Within Postmodernism Changes to Agents of Socialisation, what is the Marxist argument about the Role of the Media?

Secondary question: Functionalists and Marxists both believe what?

Answer 6

Marxists argue that the role of the media is to pass down a dominant ideology to the working class. The media is seen as the ‘new opium of the masses’ (originally religion).

Functionalists and Marxists both believe that the audience are not passive as Postmodernists argue, but in fact ‘passively’ consuming an ideology/value consensus.