1. Introduction to Sociology Day 10 January 12, 2012

2. Agenda Attendance quiz Finish Socialization
Social Structure and groups
Begin Deviance

3. 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)

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17. 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

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

19. 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

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31. Class resumes….. NOW

32. Deviance
Chapter 7

33. Deviance Behavior that violates the norms of a given society
Broad range based on varying types of norms
folkways
mores
In sociology, we consider any rule-breaking to be deviant. In everyday usage, generally the term “deviant” or “deviance” is reserved for a person or behavior that is really unacceptable.
If you recall, we talked about the relativity of culture. What is deviant in one culture may be an accepted, or encouraged, behavior.
Generally, what we consider as deviance are violations of mores. Although we do not consider the consequences to be serious, even a violation of one of the folkways, such as bad table manners, is a deviant act.

34. Methods of Controlling Deviance
Social controls vary from:
Informal to formal
Positive to negative
Sociological term for reward or punishment = sanction
Cultures and societies have mechanisms to encourage compliance with the rules. These means are called social control and are termed sanctions in the sociological vocabulary.
Social controls can be real in their consequences, i.e. a jail term, a spanking, being grounded, etc., or they may be symbolic. These are formal social controls or formal sanctions. Informal sanctions are more symbolic in their consequences -- nothing ‘really’ happens to the individual. Informally, your mother could control your behavior by merely frowning at you.
Further, social controls can be rewarding or punishing.
Thus, being sent to prison for writing bad checks would be a formal negative sanction. Your supervisor praising you for doing a good job on the company newsletter would be an informal positive sanction.

35. Deviance Most serious form of deviance is CRIME
We reserve the most serious sanctions for CRIMINALS
Norms that have been legislated and are formally enforced by specified personnel are laws (you should recall that distinction from Chapter 2). By and large, the mores are the norms that we distinguish in this way.
Violations of laws (mores) are defined as crimes. Crime is the most troubling deviance for any culture and is generally punished in formal ways -- fines, jail terms, execution, etc.

36. Explanations for Deviant Behavior
Supernatural
Classical Criminology
Positivism
Throughout history, the behavior of other people has been of interest to us. Since the development of sociology as an academic pursuit, we have sometimes focused that interest in more scientific ways.
As we have observed people breaking rules -- behaving deviantly -- we have tried to explain WHY they behave as they do. These are the three ways that some of those explanations have been categorized.

37. Supernatural Deviance resulted from supernatural phenomena
Generally, deviance was outside the individual’s control
Possession by demons
Witchcraft
From prehistoric times, people have attributed circumstances and behaviors that they could not explain by seeing them as the result of some some sort of divine intervention, evil spirit or spell.
Often, it was believed that the deviant person was not responsible for such behavior -- “the devil made him do it” or she was in the power of some malevolent individual such as a witch or an evil sorcerer.

38. Treatments for Supernatural Causes
Trial by ordeal
Exorcism
Torture
Execution
Perhaps the best ways to cope with supernaturally-controlled deviant behavior are to rid the deviant person of the “evil”. Prayers, sacrifices, and/or church-sanctioned ceremonies of exorcism were often performed. Alternatively, the individual might be tortured until he admits his wrong doing. Many innocent individuals admitted to any and all crimes of which they were accused just to stop the pain of the torture.
To prove whether one was possessed or was inherently evil, persons were often subjected to some sort of ordeal. This was often a “catch 22”. For example, if you believe that I am a witch, you might strap me in a chair and dunk me into the river. If I drown, probably I was not a witch and am vindicated (…but dead). If I manage to hold my breath and survive the dunking, I must be a witch. If you cannot torture me into renouncing my career of sorcery and you cannot “cure me”, you must kill me to rid the world of my influence -- so you burn me at the stake.

39. Classical School of Criminology
Developed from enlightenment
Philosophies designed to bring rationality to punishment
Eliminate torture and other extremes
As the “Dark Ages” ended, human thinking moved into a period of “enlightenment” and returned to the more classic philosophies of the ancient Greeks. The belief that people are basically reasonable and able to make their own choices is key to the “Classical” explanation of deviance.
Classical thinkers placed responsibility for the deviance on the individual and denied the belief that she might be under some sort of external, evil control.
Further, application of these principles was designed to control the excessive use of torture and other forms of punishment that bore little correlation to the seriousness of the crime and had no rehabilitative effects.
When ALL the punishments were excessive -- for instance, the death penalty was the most frequent punishment for a whole variety of crimes and misdemeanors -- there was no real pay off for compliant behavior. If you’re going to steal something, you might as well make it a “big” something! The penalty could be the same for stealing a loaf of bread as for a cow or a bag of gold -- hanging or years of servitude in the mines or rowing on galley ships.

40. Classical School Humans are hedonistic They have free will
They choose their actions and are motivated to maximize pleasure and minimize pain
Classicists saw humans as interested in comfort, pleasure, indulgence, and even greed. Human beings are able to think and choose how to behave. And … we choose in such a way that we are able have as much pleasure and comfort as possible and to avoid any sort of pain or suffering.

41. Classical School
Individuals are aware of the consequences of actions and if the consequences are rational, fair and certain and if individuals choose deviant actions, then they should be punished.
Let the punishment fit the crime.
People need to be informed what will happen to them if they commit a particular crime.
Consequences need to realistic for the deviance that has been committed.
It needs to be CERTAIN that they will receive that sanction if they are caught and convicted.
Thus, the sanctions are matched to the crimes and graduated from minor to serious in relation to minor or serious infractions.

42. Positivistic Response
There are some circumstances that are out of the individual’s control
There are individuals who are unable to make rational choices
The classical approach assumes that all individuals are able to make clear and reasoned choices before they behave.
That is not always true. Sometimes circumstances work against the individual -- poverty, crisis, etc. -- and some individuals are unable to make reasoned decisions -- because of immaturity, retardation, emotional disturbance, chemical dependency, etc.
The positivistic approach tries to explore the effect of these circumstances or conditions on the act of deviance, the treatment of the deviant individual and effects on society.

43. Positivism
Therefore, there are times when it is impossible to hold the individual responsible
There are times when we need to “treat” the individual instead of punishing
Let the punishment fit the offender
Your book discusses the “medicalization of deviance”. The positivists would seek to remedy the social circumstances or cure the individual rather than punishing.

44. Review Deviance is violation of __?__.
In a supernatural explanation, the cause of deviance is __?__.
Classical criminology says, “Let the punishment fit the __?__.
Positivism says, “Let the punishment fit the __?__.

45. Assignment Quizzes due by midnight Saturday, January 14
Body Rituals of the Nacirema – read and answer questions (brief answers are acceptable) Answers are due January 17