socialisation and agencies Flashcards
(13 cards)
define socialisation
the process whereby people learn the rules of their own culture and is recognised as being a ‘lifelong process’
what are the agencies of socialisation? (Talcott Parsons)
primary - family
secondary - peer groups, education, religion, media, workplaces
explain Talcott Parson’s view on socialisation
- socialisation is a process whereby humans learn and internalise their culture’s norms and values
- claimed that people learn specific sets of beliefs and forms of behaviour appropriate to their culture, so their society becomes internalised and part of their personality development from childhood to adulthood
explain: nature vs nurture
nature: scientists claim genetic make up influences and governs us, as do biological needs and desires aka biological determinism; key word - innate
nurture: sociologists argue that biological imperatives are overruled by the needs, wants and imperatives of individuals within and of a society (nurture = development or growth); key word - learned
give different types of evidence used in the nature/nurture debate
- twin studies: researched identical twins who were separated from birth and raised differently, found many similarities in behaviour/likes/dislikes/personalities/mannerisms despite very different upbringings (Holden 1980)
- feral children w/o human contact:
- Isabel the ‘chicken girl’ - left in a chicken coop by her mother, could not speak and expressed emotion by beating arms/drumming feet, physically malformed due to malnutrition
- Genie: no human contact until age of 13, shut in room/strapped to potty, father claimed he was protecting her as she was mentally retarded but it is unclear whether this was due to isolation, never learned to speak fluently
- experiments: Bruce and Brian Reimer twins, Bruce’s penis destroyed in circumcision operation at 7months, doctor suggested that he could be raised as a girl and tested whether gender identity is result of nurture rather than nature, however Brenda was unhappy at age of 13 and attempted suicide so Reimers told him the truth
how do children learn accepted behaviours/adult roles from their parents?
imitation, role modelling
how do parents encourage children to conform? (examples)
rewards: money, verbal appellation, positive feedback, screen time
sanctions: raised voices, early bedtime, something taken away
how do secondary agencies of socialisation encourage people to conform to expectations?
rewards: pay rise (workplace), having friends (peer groups), high grades (education), good afterlife (religion)
sanctions: getting fired (workplace), detention (education), punishment (religion), expulsion/exclusion (education), gang punishment (peer groups)
Ann Oakley (1981): family socialisation
argued that gender roles are constructed through socialisation through the following processes:
- manipulation: giving children pet names that reinforce gender expectations e.g ‘little angel’ or ‘little monster’
- different activities: parents/family members encourage children to participate in activities around the home that reinforce gender stereotypes e.g girl helps with cooking while boy helps clean car
- verbal appellation: encouraging behaviour that is seen as stereotypically acceptable for a child’s gender and discouraging behaviour which is against the norms e.g stopping girls from getting dirty but laughing if a boy does it
- canalisation: involves parents channelling their child’s interests into toys, games and activities that are considered the norm for their gender
Margaret Mead: gender roles
- conducted studies in the Pacific and South Asia
- showed that gender roles and expectations about sexual behaviour varied in these societies and they were also different from the expectations in the USA
- gender roles aren’t fixed (product of socialisation)
- Western culture is not universal or the best
peer groups and gender roles:
Connell (1987), Paetcher (1996), Sue Lees (1986)
Connell 1987: ‘hegemonic masculinity’ prizes a form of masculinity that prioritises traits such as strong, heterosexual, dominant
Paetcher 1996: male pupils used terms such as ‘gay/queer’ to label boys who weren’t good at sports and excelled in traditionally feminine subjects (verbal abuse)
Sue Lees 1986: boys called girls ‘slags’ if they were sexually available and ‘drags’ if they weren’t, negative labels surrounding promiscuity, one way in which male dominance starts to assert itself
education and gender roles: Chris Haywood (1996), John Abrahams
Chris Haywood 1996: male teachers told boys off for ‘behaving like girls’ and teased them for doing worse in tests than girls; teachers also ignored verbal abuse towards girls
John Abrahams: teachers idea of a ‘typical girl’ was of her being well behaved and studious, whereas the typical boys were ‘troublemakers); boys received more negative feedback than girls which could reinforce their notion of masculinity being associated with messing around in school
Sue Sharpe (1976): girls changing ambitions
- The Sex Discrimination Act 1975: made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender in employment
- shows how girls attitudes to education and priorities in work and marriage changed (WC Londoners in 4 schools)
- 1976 study: ‘love, marriage, husbands and career, more or less in that order’
- 1994 study: ‘job, career and being able to support themselves’
- girls are more confident/ambitious/committed to gender equality, education is the main route to a career, financial independence and the security that came with it
- girls were increasingly wary of marriage (saw adult relationships break up so women coping alone in a ‘man’s world’
