1. Unit II
Chapter’s 4, 5 & 6

2. Socialization & the Life Course
Chapter 4
Socialization & the Life Course

3. Socialization
Socialization is the process through which people learn the expectations of society.
Through socialization, people absorb their culture: customs, habits, laws, practices, and means of expression.
Socialization is the basis for identity and personality.
Identity is both personal and social.

4. Socialization It is simply taken for granted.
Seldom, if ever, does one stop to question why s/he is who s/he is, or even who s/he is.
It is simply taken for granted.
Identity questions arise for people who have to make choices about their identity. For example:
A child born to an Asian and African American parent
A person who looks female but identifies better with male tendencies and preferences

5. The Nature–Nurture Controversy
An ongoing debate amongst social and biological scientists is, “What makes us who we are?”
Is it nature (inborn) or nurture (acquired)?
Are we a product of our socialization or our genetic composition?
Sociologists do not deny the influence of genetics on defining our potential, but they focus on how social influences shape who we are.

6. Nature vs. Nurture
Sociologists speak about our lives being socially constructed, including our feelings, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values, and abilities.
Our values and social attitudes are not inborn.
They emerge through the interactions we have with others and our social position in society.

7. Socialization as Social Control
Sociologist Peter Berger pointed out that not only do people live in society, but society also lives in people (1963).
Socialization is, therefore, a mode of social control.
Social control is the process by which groups and individuals within those groups are brought into conformity with dominant social expectations.

8. Agents of Socialization
Andersen and Taylor identify six major agents of socialization
social institutions responsible for helping socialize us and for helping us create our self-identity.
Family
Mass Media
Peers
Religion
Sports
Schools

9. Family The family is a primary agent of socialization
It is the first source of a child’s socialization.
It is where the child learns his self-identity.
It introduces children to society’s expectations of them.
It teaches children the basic rights and wrongs, practices, norms, and values of the culture they live in.
Children learn to see themselves through their parents’ eyes.
Thus, how parents define and treat a child is crucial to the development of the child’s sense of self.

10. Family Factors Influencing Child’s Socialization
Factors influencing how children are raised include:
Alcoholism and drug addiction within the family
Unemployment of parent(s) especially, the primary bread-winner
Whether or not both parents work
Child abuse and neglect
Parents’ education, income, and type of work they do
Parents’ and grandparents’ social class and friendship circles
Teen pregnancies
Racial and ethnic identifying markers

11. Mass Media
The mass media is an increasingly important agent of socialization.
Television alone has a huge impact on what we are socialized to believe and become.
By the time a person is 18 years old, s/he has spent more time watching TV than time in school.
Printed messages received in books, comics, newspapers, blogs, the Internet also influence our identity, values, beliefs, attitudes and help us set our life’s course.

12. Media’s Violent Images
These images are powerful throughout our lifetimes, but many worry that their effect during childhood may be particularly deleterious.
Example: violence shown on TV, in the movies, and on video games.
Analysts estimate that by age 18, the average child will have witnessed at least 18,000 simulated murders on television.
Violence in children’s programming is frequently shown as humorous, or with no serious consequences
What kind of message does that give the viewer?

13. Peers
Peers are those with whom you interact on equal terms, such as friends, fellow students, and coworkers.
Peers are major agents of socialization.
For children raised in dysfunctional families, peers can have a more major role than the family has on forming the child’s self identity, values, beliefs, and societal expectations.
Without peer approval, most people find it hard to feel socially accepted.

14. Peer Socialization & Self Identity

15. Religion Religion is another powerful agent of socialization.
Religious instruction contributes greatly to the identities children construct for themselves.
Religious socialization shapes the beliefs that people develop.
Children tend to develop the same religious beliefs as their parents
Switching to a religious faith different from the one in which a person is raised is rare.

16. Sports
Sports is something that people engage in as participants and/or as observers for fun and relaxation—or to provide opportunities for college scholarships and athletic careers.
More importantly, it is a powerful agent of socialization.
It teaches values such as:
Be “a winner”
Be strong and athletic
Be competitive
Homophobic attitudes
Instructor: Homophobic = fear of homosexuality

17. Male & Female Sports
Through sports, men and women learn concepts of self that stay with them in their later lives.
Sports provide people and reinforce ideas about gender differences; such as men are athletic and women are pretty.

18. School
Once young people enter kindergarten (or, even earlier, day care), another process of socialization begins.
In school, teachers and other students are the source of expectations that encourage children to think and behave in particular ways.
The expectations encountered in schools vary for different groups of students.

19. Schools & Teacher’s Behavior
Research show that teachers relate differently to boys than the do to girls.
Boys are often given more attention than girls , even when it is negative attention.
Boys are often considered smarter than girls.
Boys are encouraged to get a higher education.
Boys are prepared for the sciences and other fields such as engineering.
Girls are prepared for pink-collar jobs and marriage.

20. Teachers Discriminate
Teachers are likely to perceive working-class children and poor children as less bright and less motivated than middle-class children
Teachers are also more likely to define working-class students as troublemakers.
These negative appraisals are self-fulfilling prophecies, meaning that the expectations they create often become the basis for actual behavior; thus, they affect the odds of success for children.

21. Psychoanalytic Theory Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalytic theory originates in the work of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939).
Perhaps Freud’s greatest contribution was the idea that the unconscious mind shapes human behavior.
Psychoanalytic theory depicts the human psyche in three parts, the:
Id = deep drives and impulses.
Superego = internalized cultural values and norms.
Ego = the seat of reason and common sense.

22. Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory considers the formation of identity to be a learned response to external social stimuli.
It emphasizes the societal context of socialization.
Identity is regarded as the result of modeling oneself in response to the expectations of others.
Behaviors and attitudes develop in response to reinforcement and encouragement from those around us.

23. Learning Theory & Behavior Modeling

24. Sexism

25. According To G.H. Mead
As people take on new roles, their awareness of self changes and one’s identity emerges from the roles one plays.
He saw childhood socialization as occurring in three stages:
the imitation stage
the play stage
the game stage

26. Family Socialization

27. Socialization is Shaped by Ethnicity and Race
Where you grow up; how your family is structured; what resources you have at your disposal; your racial–ethnic identity, gender, and nationality, shape the socialization experience.
In 2003, Annette Lareau observed important class differences in how black and white families socialize their children.

28. Aging and the Life Course
Socialization is an ongoing process from birth (and even before birth) to old age and death.
The life course perspective describes and analyze the connection between people’s personal attributes, the roles they occupy, the life events they experience, and the social and historical aspects of these events is used to represent this experience.
Society’s history influences one’s life experiences.

29. Aging in Society

30. Economic Privilege
Patterns of adolescent socialization vary significantly by race and social class.
National surveys indicate that one’s economic status and social class defines an adolescents perception of work and play.
Most economically privileged young people see their activities as more like play than work.
Those less well off are more likely to define their activities as work.
White youth (boys especially) are more likely than other groups to see their lives as playful.

31. Rites of Passage
Rites of passage are ceremonies marking the transition from one role set to another.
Bar mitzvah, weddings, graduation, getting a drivers license or a license to practice medicine, and acceptance into a convent are examples of such ceremonies.

32. Rites of Passage

33. Resocialization
Resocialization is the process by which existing social roles are radically altered or replaced.
Social institutions which require a person to follow strict rules of behavior and which enforce a bureaucratic hierarchy spend much time and money resocializing the new recruit.
Example:
The military
Convents
Prisons and detention centers
College fraternities and societies

34. Social Interaction & Social Structure
Chapter 5
Social Interaction
& Social Structure

35. It involves social interaction between two or more people.
What Is Society?
Human society is a system of social interaction that includes both culture and social organization.
It involves social interaction between two or more people.
The context is meaningful to those engaged in the activity.

36. What Is Society?
According to sociologist Emile Durkheim, society is greater than the sum of its parts.
Society takes on a life of its own.
Sociologists recognize and examine the interrelatedness of the individual parts to understand how society operates.

37. Social Institutions
Social institution is an established and organized system of social behavior with a recognized purpose.
Social institutions can be examined from both a macro and a micro level of analysis.
From the macro perspective, we examine the functions of the organization/system for the society.

38. Major Social Institutions
Industrial societies have nine major institutions:
family
education
work and the economy
political institution (or state)
religion
health care
mass media
organized sports
military

39. Birthing in Different Countries
Photos 5.2 and 5.3 one in each box

40. Conflict: Social Institutions
Conflict theorists see disharmony and the subordination of groups of individuals as inherent within social institutions.
Within the health care system, doctors are always superior to nurses and other service providers.
Doctors give orders and are paid more; nurses take orders and are paid less.
There is havoc within this system as insurance companies are dictating how much to pay and for what.

41. Postindustrial Societies
Postindustrial societies depend economically on the production and distribution of services, information, and knowledge.
These societies are information-based, and technology plays an important role in the social organization.
The United States is fast becoming a postindustrial society.

42. Technology & Postindustrialization
Computer technology and the Internet are responsible for the advent of an information-based social structure.
Multinational corporations globally link the economies of postindustrial societies
Postindustrial structures have a strong influence on the character of social institutions.
Education, leisure, and discretionary income are important social functions.
Joblessness dots the terrain for many.

43. Definition of Social Groups
To sociologists, a group is a collection of individuals who:
interact and communicate with each other
share goals and norms
have a subjective awareness of themselves as a distinct social unit
Not all collections of people are groups.
There are also categories and collectives.

44. Status
Status is an established position in a social structure that carries with it a degree of prestige, i.e., social value.
A status is a rank in society.
Sociologists differentiate between achieved (the result of individual effort), acquired (given at birth), and master status (the person’s dominant status).

45. Roles
Role is the behavior others expect from a person associated with a particular status; roles are acted or “played.”
Role expectation is behaving as others expect someone in that position to behave.
We usually, but not always, behave as others expect us to.
Role modeling is imitating or copying the way someone else in that role behaves.
Whose behavior do (or did you) copy or imitate?

46. Communication & Behavior
Communication and behavior are complex subjects studied by linguists, authors, anthropologists, writers, speech and script writers, reporters, and sociologists.
Language is restricted by societal values and tradition.
Nonverbal communication is used more often than verbal behavior.

47. Class Activity
Be prepared, as you may find yourself uncomfortable participating in this activity.
Stand about a foot away from another student. Now, shake hands.
How did you feel?
Instructor: This is a perfect opportunity to discuss proxemic and tactile communication.

48. Class Activity (continued)
Step closer to the other student, about 2 inches from each other.
Now, hug the other student and tell him/her you want to make love to him/her (option: kiss each other instead).
How did this feel?

49. Interpersonal Relationships
At the micro level of analysis we ask, “What holds or breaks up human relationships”?
Human relationships are patterned by social forces and are predictable.
75% of our time is spent with other people.
Isolation is unhealthy and is common mostly in people with mental diseases; autism, bi-polar disorders, and/or schizophrenia.

50. Attractiveness
Even with cyberspace dating, physical attractiveness influences one’s choices.
Jury decision favors the attractive lawyer and client, even when guilty.
In college, being asked out on a date is related to attractiveness.

51. Dramaturgy
People present different faces (give off different impressions) on different stages (in different situations or different roles) with different others.
This is called impression management.
Impression management is a perilous game.
We can easily find ourselves in embarrassing situations and we may have to restore face by giving a good explanation or excuse.

52. Social Exchange Theory
The social exchange model of social interaction holds that our interactions are determined by the rewards or punishments that we receive from others.
This theory argues that behavior that is rewarded will be repeated or continued and behavior that is disapproved of or punishment will be discontinued or not repeated.

53. Interaction in Cyberspace
Also referred to as virtual interaction, communication via chat rooms, computer bulletin boards, or .
Distant learning or virtual classrooms are in greater demand than ever before.
Visual imagery is easy to come by with technology such as YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.
These technologies are allowing us to manage our impressions to others and our presentation of self.

54. Gender, Age, & Race
Internet usage patterns differ for men and women, racial minority groups, and age groups.
Men use cyberspace technology more than women do.
Women use more to communicate with friends and relatives than men do.
75% of youth ages years use online social networking and the frequency of this usage is steadily increasing.

55. Online Dating
Online dating is becoming increasingly socially accepted in the U.S.
Popularity is influenced by factors such as:
low cost networking
few time and location restrictions, and
anonymity is possible and there is less initial negative judgments or discrimination.

56. Groups & Organizations
Chapter 6
Groups & Organizations

57. Group
A group is two or more individuals who interact, share goals and norms, and have a subjective awareness as “we.”
Sociologists study groups from both a macro and a micro level of analysis and they differentiate between groups based on such chacteristics as:
size
closeness of members
duration the group stays together
purpose
and organizational structure

58. Dyads & Triads A dyad is a two person group (stable group).
A triad is a three person group (unstable group).
George Simmel (1902) discovered the group size effect; he observed how group size influences the behavior of the participants.
Tension often builds when a third person is introduced into a two people group, and the groups may splinter into

59. Primary Groups
Primary groups are social collectives or membership groups consisting of intimate, face- to-face interaction, relatively long-lasting relationships, and serves members expressive (emotional) needs.
These groups have a powerful influence on their members and like the family, help shape the individual’s personality and self-identity.
Family and peers such as street gangs, classmates, and prisoners exemplify primary groups.
Find a photo of a street gang and insert it

60. Secondary Groups
Secondary groups are social collectives or membership groups that are larger in size than primary groups, less intimate, and less long lasting in duration.
These groups are usually less significant in the emotional lives of the people and serve their instrumental (task-oriented) needs.
In catastrophic situations, such as a flood or the destruction of the World Trade Center, secondary groups often take on the characteristics of a primary group.

61. Attrition Error
“All else being assumed equal, we tend to perceive people in our in-group positively and those in out- groups negatively regardless of their actual personal characteristics”.
-Andrew M. Pettigrew
If a White police officer shoots a Black or Latino, a White individual (given no additional information) is likely to assume that the victim instigated the shooting and “deserved” to be shot.

62. Social Networks
Social Networks are a set of links between individuals, groups, or other social units such as bureaucratic organizations or entire nations.
We are more closely linked to some networks than to others, yet even the ones to which we are weakly tied connect us to other networks of people.
Networks help us achieve many of our objectives; e.g., when someone in your uncle’s country club helped you get your high-paying executive job.

63. Group Think, Risky Shift & Deindividualism
Groupthink is group decision making that is commonly associated with unintended and disastrous consequences.
Risky shift is when people in a group are likely to make riskier decisions than if they are alone.
Deindividualism is doing together what we would not do alone; group size and physical anonymity influence this behavior.

64. Formal Organizations & Bureaucracies
A formal organization is a large secondary group, highly organized to accomplish a complex task or tasks, and to achieve goals efficiently.
Activities are regulated and defined in advance.
Conformity is expected and formally enforced.
Examples: schools, churches, political parties, and governments
Most people living in contemporary society belong to multiple formal organizations.

65. Bureaucracy
Bureaucracies are large formal complex organizations based on the principle of rationality and efficiency.
Max Weber (1947/1925) was the first theorist to study this form of social organization.
Bureaucracies differ from mom-and-pop type small businesses
They are large in size, complex, impersonal, and operate on the principle of rationality.
In their ideal type form they exhibit a set of six distinguishing characteristics.

66. Characteristics of Bureaucracies
Division of labor and specialization
Hierarchy of authority
Rules and regulations
Impersonal relationships
Career ladder (technical expertise)
Efficiency

67. Problems of Bureaucracies
Sociologists have long recognized the common problems found in bureaucratic organizations.
Anderson and Taylor discuss the following:
Ritualism
Alienation
Group think
Risky shift
Instructor: next slide shows the NASA Challenger explosion.

68. Negative Side of McDonald’s System
Increasing amounts of predictability and control occur as a function of mechanizing operations and of minimize reliance on creative employees wherever possible.
The price we pay for this efficiency is:
Dehumanization of the employees
Vacation and sick leave benefits provided to only managers and owners
A cookie cutter reality with limited selection of goods

69. Discrimination in the Workplace
Women and minorities usually occupy lower positions in the organization.
A woman is less likely to receive promotions than a White man with the same education, and sometimes even less education.
Many minorities are now equal to Whites in graduate level education, yet White men are generally more likely to get promoted.
Even though this has improved, studies suggest that racism still thrives bureaucracies.