Agents of Socialisation - Social class identity

Question 1

What is postmodernists argument about how the family affects social class identities?

Answer 1

• Everyday events such as mealtimes can reflect social class identity and how the family influences it.
• E.g. The middle class are seen as eating in the evening, but working class eat earlier around the television.
• Postmodernists argue these norms and values are breaking down and blurring due to changes in the family structure and the widespread nature of the media.

Question 2

What is Cater and Coleman’s theory about how the family affects social class identities?

Answer 2

• Found the chances of becoming a teenage mother was almost ten times higher for a girl from an unskilled (working class) family background than a girl from a professional (middle class) background
• In an interview with teenage mothers, many spoke the norm of settling down early, some of their mothers were teenage mothers too and they saw having a baby as giving them an identity and purpose.

Question 3

What is Sugarmans theory about how the family affects social class identities?

Answer 3

Working class families socialise their children into four key values:
1.) Immediate gratification
2.) Present time orientation
3.) Fatalism
4.) Collectivism

Question 4

What is immediate gratification?

Answer 4

The desire for rewards now, rather than waiting for greater rewards in the future.

Question 5

What is present time orientation?

Answer 5

A focus on the present, rather than the future.

Question 6

What is fatalism?

Answer 6

A belief that there is nothing they can do to change their situation.

Question 7

What is collectivism?

Answer 7

A belief that being a part of a group is more important than their individual success.

Question 8

How does education influence class identity in terms of the type of school an individual attends?

Answer 8

• Private (fee paying) schools tend to be surrounded by signals indicating they have a higher class position
• The formal curriculum of these schools will have an influence too
• A student who studies Latin at a private school is likely to have a higher cultural capital and see their identity and society differently from a student studying vocational courses.

Question 9

What does Bourdieu suggest about education affecting social class identities?

Answer 9

• Suggested for the middle class, going to university is like being a ‘fish in water’ because it fits their habitus.
• For the working class, university can be isolating and daunting as it has a middle/upper class image and doesn’t fit in with the working class habitus.

Question 10

What does Becker suggest about education affecting social class identities?

Answer 10

• In education, teachers are likely to label middle class students as the ideal pupil, giving them more praise, encouragement and support.
• The working class are not labelled in this way resulting in them failing due to lack of support and a self fulfilling prophecy.

Question 11

How does the media represent social class identities?

Answer 11

The working class are often represented as:
- Dumb and stupid buffoons (Butsch)
- A source of trouble/conflict
- As chavs who have a low position in society due to own personal failings.
The middle and upper class are over represented in the media.

Question 12

What does Shildrick suggest about the media affecting social class identities?

Answer 12

• The term ‘chav’ is used to remove sympathy from the underclass and blame them for their unemployment, educational failure and poverty, instead of blaming structural inequality.

Question 13

How does religion influence social class?

Answer 13

• Difficult to identify a relationship in the UK due to changing and diverse nature of religious groups and the diverse nature of class identities.
• There is some evidence that attendance at Church of England ceremonies is higher for the middle classes, although that doesn’t mean the middle classes are more likely to be religious.
• There is some evidence that attendance in church provides a degree of status within communities, especially rural communities.
• However, religions such as Rastafarianism are more likely to have a broader working class base as they are often located in inner city areas.

Question 14

How does the peer group influence social class?

Answer 14

• An individuals peer group is related to where they live, the school they attend, and their hobbies –> these can all be related to class.
• Class can therefore influence the formation of peer groups, there is evidence that peer groups in schools often form along class lines.

Question 15

What does Mac an Ghaill suggest about the peer group influencing social class?

Answer 15

• Identified a group of peers in a school known as the macho lads.
• They were male, working class, rejected school and were more interested in looking tough and messing around.

Question 16

What does Brah suggest about the peer group influencing social class?

Answer 16

• Studied a group of white skinheads for whom their working class identity was important.
• Worked hard to create a culture of ‘whiteness’ which means their norms and values were intended to reflect their ethnicity and their class.
• Cultural comfort zone

Question 17

What does Willis suggest about the peer group influencing social class?

Answer 17

• Found in the 1970s that manual work was central to men’s sense of masculinity as ‘real men’ and it was their main source of identity.

Question 18

How does the workplace influence social class?

Answer 18

• Manual work tends to be associated with the working class and non manual work with the middle classes –> a key part of class identity.