1. Introduction to Sociology Day 9 January 10, 2012

2. Agenda Symbol project assignment Body Rituals assignment
Extra credit puzzle
Finish culture
Socialization
Socials Structure

4. Cognitive Culture All of the culture’s knowledge Ideas Beliefs
Procedures
Creativity
Information Processing Procedures
The knowledge/information component of culture is the cognitive culture.

5. Normative Culture
Definition: Norm
Standard of desired behavior; Norms are rules people are expected to follow
Vary from society to society
Often situational - based on particular context
The rules of the culture are a part of the normative culture.

6. Types of Norms Folkways Mores customs habits
minor with few, if any sanctions for violation
Mores
vital
morally significant (sin)
violations result in severe sanctions
There are three basic types of norms, folkways and mores.
Folkways are everyday customs. In some context we might call them manners. Violations tend to be ignored, although repeated violations may result in the label “eccentric,” “weirdo” or “geek.”
Mores are more socially significant rules. Violations might be considered “sinful.” Obedience to mores is seen as vital to the well-being of the society. Failure to obey could result in a severe punishment--depending on the degree of violation.
Those rules, usually mores, that are taken very seriously are legislated into laws with designated enforcement personnel and specified sanctions. We will explore norms and sanctions (rewards/punishments) more thoroughly in Chapter 6.

7. Ethnocentrism
The tendency to use one’s own culture as a standard against which other groups or cultures are measured
Positive features: national pride, patriotism, willingness to fight for one’s way of life
Negative features: prejudice, discrimination

8. Cultural Relativism
The practice of judging a culture by its own standards
Alternative to ethnocentrism
Requires openness to unfamiliar values and norms
Requires the ability to put aside cultural standards known all our lives

9. In-groups versus Out-groups
If we see our way as good, those who are like us are seen as in-groups
All others, then, are viewed as out-groups
We feel different degrees of social distance from out-groups
The more distant, the more we tend to polarize our feelings or judgments

10. Polarity of Judgments In-Group: Our way Good Right Honest Intelligent
Clean
Etc.
Out-Group: Their way
Bad; Evil
Wrong
Dishonest, Sneaky
Stupid
Dirty
Etc.

11. Subcultures
Categories of people who are part of the mainstream culture but who hold some unique and differential identities that give them a “group identity” that is set apart from or different from the mainstream
Subcultural patterns may include language differences, jargon, value systems, beliefs, patterns of behavior, style of dress
May be based on ethnicity, race, national heritage, religion, occupation, socioeconomic status, political perspective, etc.

12. Subcultural Identities
A Few Examples
Ethnicity
Race
Recent national heritage
Religion
Occupation
Socioeconomic status
Political Perspective
Irish, Czech, German
Asian; Black; Native American
Sudanese, Mexican
Catholic, Amish, Jewish
Medical, Over-the-road truckers
Jet set; working class; subculture of poverty
Radicals, “Hippies”, Skin-heads

13. Tissa

14. TISSA FROM SRI LANKA
Pemawathie, 42, a female woodcutter, captured a naked, longhaired boy ambling about on all fours with a troupe of monkeys in the jungle near her home village of Tissamaharama, southern Sri Lanka, in early She named him Tissa after the village. As his habits were more animal than human, she handed him over to the police, who placed him in a private welfare centre 10 miles (16km) outside Colombo, run by Miss LP Morawake. Apparently, two other “animal boys” had been tamed there, one of whom drank milk straight from a cow’s udder. Three months after his admission, Tissa was still learning to walk upright and was not yet talking, although he could eat food from a plate with his hand. Most telling perhaps was that he had learned to smile.

15. Amala and Kamala

16. Kamala

17. SOCIALIZATION SOCI 1010, CHAPTER #3
We all have to learn about the cultures in which we live.
SOCI 1010, CHAPTER #3

18. Isolated Children Feral children
Renee Spitz - institutionalized children
Harry Harlow - monkey studies
Deprivation dwarfism
There are records of children who have been raised in isolation from human contact.
Feral children are children who have been raised by non-human species - primates or wolves
Renee Spitz observed the abnormal development of war orphans in large institutional setting
Harry Harlow studied how monkeys raised in isolation from normal parental contact grow up to be socially and/or neurologically disabled. (film: “Rock-a-Bye Baby” in EVC library)
There is evidence that growth and development are inhibited by deprivation of normal, intimate, nurturing contact. (film: Nell)

19. Socialization Definition - learning to be a person
Transmission of culture
Nature versus nurture
Isolated children lack the benefits that those of us who are raised in “normal” families have…the opportunity to be socialized into our culture.
Socialization may be defined as the process of learning how to become a contributing member of one’s culture.
Socialization can also be the process of teaching or transmitting the culture.
In the specialized usage here, to socialize means to teach about the culture - not to communicate with friends in a social setting. In other words, it is not “I think I’ll go to the bar and socialize with my friends.”
If we consider the nature versus nurture controversy, the socialization process roughly compares with nurture. (film: Trading Places)

20. Theories Related To Socialization
Charles Horton Cooley: looking-glass self
George Herbert Mead: role development; symbolic learning; ”I" and "me"
The Chicago School of Sociology was instrumental in the development of socialization theory.
Charles Horton Cooley indicated that we use the reactions of others as a social mirror that enables us to develop and adjust our sense of self.
George Herbert Mead is responsible for the core of interactionist socialization theory. He studied the ways we develop or place in society and ready ourselves for assuming adult roles. His theory also includes a model for looking at the self as a dynamic interaction between the “I” our inner-directed, private self and the “me” our socially constructed self.

21. Theories Continued Jean Piaget: Cognitive Development
Sigmund Freud Id, Ego and Superego
The connection between sociology and psychology is strongest as we examine socialization.
Jean Piaget formulated a theory of how we learn to use our cognitive skills to process information and think in increasingly more sophisticated ways.
Sigmund Freud envisioned the personality as having three parts that operate on both the conscious and unconscious levels and develop throughout our childhood. The id, present at birth and almost entirely unconscious, represents the selfish, pleasure-oriented self. The ego, which develops as we interact with others, represents the reality-oriented side of the self. The superego, develops last and operates mostly at the conscious level, is also known as the conscience and operates on the morality principle.

22. Agents Of Socialization
Family
School
Church
Peer group
Government
Sports
Mass media
Books
News media
Television
Music/radio
Those individuals and groups who are responsible for teaching us about the culture are known as agents of socialization. Obviously, the family is first and foremost among these. A manifest function of the educational system is socialization. The mass media and the peer group have strong influence on our behavior and agents like the church and the government have, at least compartmentalized, influences on each of us.

23. Learning To Be A New Person
Can we ever escape the influences of our cultures?
Can you leave behind ideas / patterns to which you were socialized?
Typically, we cannot escape the socialization we have experienced into our culture. Usually we don’t want to escape it. But, even if marooned on a desert island, we would continue to think in our native language; cook food, when possible; cover ourselves with clothing; construct buildings and furniture with a familiar shape and structure (the best we can, given the materials available to us), etc.
As people assimilate into new cultures, they may replace their culture of origin, but most social scientists believe that it continues to influence their ideas, values, and behaviors. What do you think?
Go to the discussion and enter your thoughts related to this issue or reply to someone who has already entered a response.

24. Resocialization Unlearning and relearning Total institutions
Life changes
Occupations
There are some circumstances that require unlearning cultural norms, information, and behaviors and relearning new ones. This process is called resocialization and generally happens when we enter into or leave what Goffman calls a total institution (an environment such as prison, military basic training and/or mental hospital.
Less dramatic and less complete forms of resocialization may accompany rites of passage on life changes such as graduating from the life of student to that of employee; being married and changing from the life of bachelorhood to partnership; or changing from wife to widow at the death of one’s spouse. Occupational change may also result in a resocialization experience - worker to foreman; intern to doctor, etc.

25. ROLE STATUS THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE
G R O U P I N S T I T U T I O N S O C I E T Y
SOCI 1010, Chapters #4-5

26. Social Structure
Web of status and role relationships among individuals, groups and societies
Micro-components = statuses
Macro-components = groups

27. Roles Expected behavior Often related to norms
Tied to the positions we fill:
Student, father, employee, etc.

28. Status Positions Achieved - earned by personal “effort”
Ascribed - assigned
Master - identity, consumes your energy

29. Social Group Collection of statuses Regular interaction
Agree on important goals and norms
Feeling of belonging
Distinction between members and nonmembers

30. These Are Not Groups Aggregate
collection of persons in the same place at the same time
Category collection of persons who share common characteristics

31. The Nature of Groups Varies: Continuum
Voluntary
Informal
Primary
Horizontal
Involuntary
(Coercive)
Formal (Bureaucratic)
Secondary
Vertical

32. Group Variation based on degree of attachment Social distance
In-groups vs.Out-groups
Reference groups evaluate progress

33. Institution
System of statuses, roles, groups and behavioral patterns that satisfies basic human needs
Necessary for the survival of a society
Socio-cultural structure and process that guides human interaction in relation to important societal tasks

34. Institutions Examples Marriage Family Education Religion Polity
Economy
New ones emerge:
Healthcare
Sport

35. Society
Largest, most nearly self-sufficient organization to which you can belong
People who share a culture process of patterned interactions
ROLE STATUS
G R O U P I N S T I T U T I O N S O C I E T Y

36. Assignment Socialization and Social Structure Ch. 3 – 5
Body Rituals of the Nacirema – read and answer questions (brief answers are acceptable) Answers are due January 17

37. http://www.thirdage.com/news /archive/991220-02.html?std
/archive/ html?std
How well are you socialized?
What do you know about the individuals who were important to our culture in the 20th Century?
Go to the Newseum website and take the “quiz.” Enter your reaction to the discussion.