“The Social Self” Standards: 5.2, 6.6 Sociology: Chapter 5-2 “The Social Self” Standards: 5.2, 6.6

Socialization Socialization: Process through which Individuals learn basic skills, values, beliefs, and behavior appropriate for society Self: Conscious awareness of having a distinct identity John Locke: English Philosopher -Tabula Rasa: “Clean Slate” Defended by Watson: Every child is born with NO personality. A child develops a personality through his/her life experiences

Looking Glass Self Charles Horton Cooley -Looking Glass Self: Developing an image of oneself based on how we think others see us -”How do they react to my behavior?”

Role Taking George Herbert Mead: Interactionist Role Taking: Take roles of others in society to better understand what YOUR expectations are *Usually start with closest relationships Ex: Playing “house” If you are the mother/father, then you have expectations for other members. This will help children understand their role in the family

“Others” and parts of self Significant Others: Closest relationships… Immediate family, close friends, and etc… Generalized Others: Rest of society PARTS OF THE “SELF” I: Spontaneous, unsocialized Me: Aware of expectations, socialized Read p. 110-111

Sociology Chapter 5 Section 3 “Agents of Socialization” Standards: 5.2, 6.6

Agents of Socialization Agents of Socialization: Individuals, groups, and Institutions that provide situations in which socialization occurs Primary Agents in the U.S. 1. Family 2. Peer Groups 3. School 4. Mass Media

The Family 1. The Family: Structured Most important early in life (0- adolescence) Principal agent of all children Socialization can be deliberate and unconscious -Deliberate: Honesty -Unconscious: Profanity

The Peer Group Peer Group: Loose Primary group composed of people of same age and background *Becomes very important during adolescence -Focus on skills needed to “fit in” to subculture *Group goals can be “at odds” with society

School School: Highly structured: for order Takes up big part of time: 13-20 years -Deliberate socialization -Class activities/subjects -values/ patriotism (see pledge) *Peer groups also present *Family encouraged to get involved

School I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag Of the United States of America And to the Republic For Which it Stands One Nation Under God (Added later) Indivisible With Liberty And Justice For All *You recite this every Monday. When was the last time that you REALLY thought about the words?

Mass Media Mass Media: TV, Newspapers, Radio, Magazines, Internet…etc Unconscious (Debatable) T.V. Most influential: -98% of Homes = 7 hrs a day -Positive: Exposes people to things that they might not see otherwise -Negative: Violence: Impact of “Pop” Culture Read “The Function of Fairy Tales” p. 114

Other Agents… 1. Religion: Structured value code 2. Organizations: -Boy Scouts -Little League… … I Trust in God I Love my country and will respect its laws I will play fair and strive to win But win or lose, I will always do my best

Other Agents of Socialization 3. Total Institution: -Isolates people from the rest of society -Prison -Monastery -Psychiatric Hospital Aim to Resocialize Recsocialization: Break w/ past experiences Learn NEW values *Forcibly Change Personality

Agents of Socialization Project Objective: To be able to recognize and discuss different aspects of the sociological “Agents of Socialization” Std 6.6 Process: 2 Class Periods 1. The class will be broken into groups. 2. Each student in the group will be responsible for gathering information, pictures, and etc. about their specific agent of socialization. 3. Groups will be given supplies to carry out group tasks -Posterboard: STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY -scissors -markers -glue/tape 4. Students will make a collage(visual aid) by using the materials above. 5. After the posters are finished. The students will discuss their reasoning for using the pictures that they chose to the rest of the class