1. Chapter Three
Socialization

2. Social Environment: The Key to Our Humanity
Socialization
Personality

3. Feral Children Oxana Malaya Isabelle Genie Sujit Kumar
Isolation in Childhood
Remarkably, several recorded instances exist in which children have been raised without the influence of a cultural environment. In a few cases, these feral children wild or untamed children-were found living with animals. In other instances, the children were isolated in their homes by parents or family members so that no one would know of their existence. Regardless of the circumstances, these children had few human characteristics other than appearance. They had acquired no reasoning ability, no manners, and no ability to control their bodily functions or move about like other human beings. Sociological studies of feral children point strongly to the conclusion that our personality comes from our cultural environment.
Anna and Isabelle
Kingsley Davis's studies of Anna and Isabelle provide evidence of the devastating effect of isolation during childhood. Anna was born to an unmarried woman, a fact that enraged the woman's father. At first forbidden to bring the child into the house, Anna's mother attempted to place her in a children's home. When this plan proved too expensive, Anna was moved to a series of foster homes. Finally, at the age of six months, the child was returned to her mother. Because of the grandfather's hostility, Anna was confined to an attic room where she was given only a minimum of care. She was undernourished and emaciated and received almost no human contact. She was not spoken to, held, bathed, or loved.
Anna was finally discovered by a social worker in At six years of age, Anna was little more than a skeleton. She could not walk, talk, or feed herself. Her face was expressionless, and she showed no interest in other people. Over time, though, Anna made some progress. She learned to walk, feed herself, and brush her teeth. She could also talk in phrases and follow simple directions. However, Anna died at the age of 10, probably as a result of her earlier isolation.
The story of Isabelle has a somewhat happier ending. Isabelle, whose mother was also unmarried, was found at about the same time as Anna. The child's grandfather kept
her and her deaf mother confined to a dark room Although deprived of a normal cultural environment, Isabelle did have the advantage of her mother's company. But because she and her mother communicated only through gestures, Isabelle did not learn to speak. When she was found at the age of six, Isabelle crawled around on her hands and knees and made grunting, animal-like sounds. She ate with her hands and behaved in many ways like an infant.
Isabelle was at first thought to be mentally disabled and incapable of speech. However, after several months of intensive training she began to speak. She eventually developed a considerable vocabulary. After two years, Isabelle had reached a level of social and mental development consistent with her age group. Davis concluded that Isabelle's constant contact with her mother and skillful training by specialists allowed her to overcome her early social deprivation.
Genie
Sometimes it is impossible to reverse the effects of prolonged isolation, even with the help of dedicated specialists. This situation proved true in the case of Genie, who was discovered in 1970 when she was 13 years old. Genie's father, a man who hated children, had confined her from the age of 20 months to a small bedroom. She spent her days tied to an infant's potty-chair and her nights wrapped in a sleeping bag enclosed in a mesh-covered crib. Her world was almost totally silent, and she was beaten if she made noise. Whenever Genie's father interacted with her, he behaved like an angry dog, barking, growling, and baring his teeth. Consequently, Genie did not learn to talk.
The room in which Genie spent all of her time was bare except for the potty-chair and the crib. It had two partially covered windows and was occasionally lit by a bare light bulb. Genie's only toys were two plastic raincoats that sometimes hung in a closet, empty spools of thread, and an empty cottage-cheese container.
When Genie was found, she could not stand straight and had the social and psychological skills of a one-year-old child. Even after eight years of training, Genie had not progressed past the level of a third-grade student. Although she had mastered some language and had learned to conform to basic social norms, Genie was unable to truly function as a social being. At the age of 21, she was placed in a facility for people with developmental disabilities.
Institutionalization
Sociologists have also studied the human development of children living in institutions such as orphanages and hospitals. These children may show some of the characteristics of isolated children. In 1945 psychologist Rene Spitz studied the effects of institutionalization on a group of infants living in an orphanage. The children were given food and proper medical care but otherwise had little or no human contact. The nurses, although well-trained and efficient, had little time to hold, hug, and talk to the children. Within two years, about a third of the children in the study had died. They seemed to have simply wasted away from a lack of love and attention. Of the children who survived, fewer than 25 percent could walk by themselves, dress themselves, or use a spoon. Only one child could speak in complete sentences.
The cases of Anna, Isabelle, Genie, and the institutionalized infants illustrate how important human interaction is for social and psychological development. Recent research continues to support these earlier findings. Although foster care and orphanages are not seen as harmful today, studies of Romanian orphanages show that most young residents have learning delays and problems forming attachments to others. It is clear, then, that children who lack a caring environment in general develop their mental, physical, and emotional skills at a much slower pace.
Genie
Sujit Kumar

4. Human Development:
sociobiology or behaviorism?

5. Nature vs Nurture Charles Darwin’s study of evolution
The emergence of sociobiology in the 1970s reemphasized the nature viewpoint. Sociobiology is the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior. Sociobiologists argue that such varied cultural characteristics and behavioral traits as religion, cooperation, competition, slavery, territoriality, and envy are rooted in the genetic makeup of humans. In general., sociobiologists argue that most of human social life is determined by biological factors.
However, few social scientists accept the sociobiologists' argument. Instead, most social scientists assume that personality and social behavior result from a blending of hereditary and social environmental influences. They believe that environmental factors have the greatest influence. Heredity, birth order, parents, and the cultural environment are among the principal factors that social scientists see influencing personality and behavior.
Heredity
Everyone has certain characteristics that are present at birth. These hereditary characteristics include body build, hair type, eye color, and skin pigmentation. Hereditary characteristics also include certain aptitudes. An aptitude is a capacity to learn a particular skill or acquire a particular body of knowledge. For example, a natural talent for music or art would be considered an aptitude. Most social scientists do not limit aptitudes to inherited capabilities. Instead, they believe that some aptitudes can be learned as well as inherited. Some social scientists also believe that inherited aptitudes often develop only because of environmental factors. Specifically, parents' responses tend to encourage or discourage the development of aptitudes. For example, if a child shows verbal aptitude, parents often respond by praising his or her ability. They may also spend extra time reading to the child. These actions tend to encourage the development of the child's innate talent. Positive or negative parental reinforcement may also affect the development of such personality traits as shyness, sociability, and aggression.
Humans also inherit certain basic needs and capacities. For example, like all animals, human beings have biological drives. The hunger drive makes you want to eat. However, drives do not determine your specific behavior. The hunger drive does not tell you when to eat, what to eat, or how to eat. You learn such things through interaction with other human beings. Heredity provides you with certain biological needs, but culture determines how you meet those needs.
Heredity also plays an important role in shaping human personalities by setting limits on individuals. If you have little aptitude for music, you will probably not become a great musician. If your biological inheritance endowed you with a five-foot-tall frame, you are not likely to become a professional basketball player. On the other hand, you may not become one even if you are seven feet tall. Inherited characteristics place limits on what is possible, but they do not determine what a person will do. No one factor alone determines what kind of personality someone will have.
Birth Order
Our personalities are also influenced by whether we have brothers, sisters, both, or neither. Children with siblings have a different view of the world than do children who have no brothers or sisters. The order in which we are born into our families also influences our personalities. People born first or last in a family have a different perspective than people born in the middle. For example, research has indicated that firstborn children are more likely to be achievement oriented and responsible than are later-born children. Later-born children, on the other hand, tend to be better in social relationships and to be more affectionate and friendly. Other studies suggest that first-borns are conservative in their thinking and are defenders of the status quo. Later-borns, in contrast, are often risk-takers and social and intellectual rebels.
Parental Characteristics
Personality development in children is also influenced by the characteristics of their parents. For example, the age of parents can have a bearing on their children's development. Parents who are in their early twenties when their children are born a, likely to relate differently to their offspring than parents who are in their mid- to late thirties. Other differences between sets of parents are also likely to affect their child's personality development. Some parental characteristics that can influence a child's personality are level of education, religious orientation, economic status, cultural heritage, and occupational background.
Charles Darwin’s study of evolution

6. John Watson - Behaviorism.
Nature vs Nurture
The Cultural Environment
Culture has a strong influence on personality development. Generally, the cultural environment determines the basic types of personalities that will be found in a society. Each culture gives rise to a series of personality traits-model personalities-that are typical of members of that society. For example, in the United States competitiveness, assertiveness, and individualism are common personality traits.
How we experience our culture also influences our personalities. For example, our experiences may differ depending on whether we are born male or female. Boys and girls are treated differently almost from the moment of birth. As they grow, male and female children are often nudged in different directions. Areas of difference include fields of interest, clothing, types of activities, speech habits, and ideas. All of these cultural differences in attitudes, expectations, and behavior affect the personalities of male and female adults.
Regardless of gender, subcultural differences also affect personality development. Growing up in an Italian American family provides an experience different from that found in a Polish American family. Both of these differ from the experience of growing up in an American family in which there is no clear ethnic pattern. Similarly, the region of the country or the type of neighborhood in which an individual is raised also affects personality.
John Watson - Behaviorism.