Chapter 4 Flashcards
(23 cards)
Nature
Biological makeup, inherited traits ex. Temper / tone of voice, introverted shy, extroverted
Socialization
Sociologists, in general, are interested in the patterns of behavior and attitudes that emerge throughout the life course, from infancy to old age. These patterns are part of the lifelong process of socialization, in which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of a particular cul- ture. Socialization occurs through human interactions that begin in infancy and continue through retirement.
Nurture
Behaviors learned from the environment
What emerges in sociology/socialization
The social self emerges
Theories of social development
- Looking glass self
2. Stages of the self
Looking glass self theorist
Charles horton Cooley (sociologist)
Theory: Looking glass self
Who we associate with is a reflection of who we are.
Cooley: Looking-Glass Self In the early 1900s, Charles Horton Cooley advanced the belief that we learn who we are by inter- acting with others. Our view of ourselves, then, comes not only
from direct contemplation of our personal qualities but also from our impressions of how others perceive us. Cooley used the phrase looking-glass self to emphasize that the self is the product of our social interactions.
Theory: Stages of the self
Our social self emerges through out the process of our self
3 Stages of the self
- The Preparatory Stage
- Play stage
- Game stage
Preparatory stage
Imitation/mimicry reflect back adult behavior toddler 2-3
1. The Preparatory Stage: During the preparatory stage, children merely imitate the people around them, especially family members with whom they continually interact.
Play stage
Aware of social relationships take on the role of other people. Playing dress up, mother, cook.
As children develop skill in communicating through symbols, they gradually become more aware of social relationships. As a result, during the play stage, they begin to pretend to be other people. Just as an actor “becomes” a character, a child becomes a doc- tor, parent, superhero, or ship captain.
Role taking
The process of mentally assuming the perspective of another and responding from that imagined viewpoint. For exam- ple, through this process a young child will gradually learn when it is best to ask a parent for favors.
Game stage
Aware of their social position-group. The child of about age eight or nine no longer just plays roles but begins to consider several tasks and relationships simultaneously.
At this point in development, children grasp not only their own social positions but also those of others around them—just as in a football game the players must understand their own and everyone else’s positions
Agents of socialization
The continuing and lifelong socialization process involves many differ- ent social forces that influence our lives and alter our self-images.
Different agents of socialization
Family, school, the peer group, the mass media and technology, the workplace, religion, and the state.
Family
Important to a child’s social environment learn about gender roles, ethnicity, race, customs, tradition.
Gender roles
Refers to expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. For example, we traditionally think of “toughness” as masculine—and desirable only in men—while we view “tenderness” as feminine.
School
Functionalists point out that schools, as agents of socialization, fulfill the function of teaching children the values and customs of the larger society.
Schools have an explicit mandate to social- ize people in the United States—especially children—into the norms and values of our culture.
Peer group
Same age, same social status. Relationship is a horizontal social relationship.
Workplace
Learning to behave appropriately in an occupation is a funda- mental aspect of human socialization.
Mass media/ Technology
These media, however, are not always a neg-
ative socializing influence. Television programs
and even commercials can introduce young people to unfamiliar lifestyles and cultures.
Rites of passage
Means of dramatizing and validat- ing changes in a person’s status. Rites of passage can mark a sepa- ration, as in a graduation ceremony, or an incorporation, as in an initiation into an organization
Sandwich generation
adults who simultaneously try to meet the compet- ing needs of their parents and their children.
That is, caregiving goes in two directions: (1) to children, who even as young adults may still require significant direction, and (2) to aging parents, whose health and economic problems may demand intervention by their adult children.
