SOCIALIZATION

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SOCIALIZATION
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Nature and Nurture Debate

• Nature individual and social behavior is a
  result of heredity---genes
• Nurture individual and social behavior is a
  result of experience and learning---environment

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Debates

• Homosexuality
• Criminality
• Alcoholism
• Intelligence

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Social Scientist View

• genes and environment interact
• what we do with inherited potential depends on
  our social experiences
• no amount of nature matters without nurture

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Analogy

• Imagine planting seeds in two gardens--one of
  poor soil, and one of rich soil. In both gardens
  the growing plants will reach different heights
  such within-group variation represents genetic
  differences.

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Analogy

• The average difference between the two gardens,
  however, is environmental. (Lewontin, Race and
  Intelligence, in Block and Dworkin, eds.. The IQ
  Controversy Critical Readings, Pantheon,
  197678-92)

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The Emergence of Self

• Self - the individuals sense of identity or who
  I am
• Social interaction is the driving force in the
  development of self.

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Cooley The Looking-Glass Self

• Looking-glass self a conception of self based
  on how we think others see us.
• The looking-glass self consists of three parts
• 1) how we imagine others see us
• 2) how we imagine they judge what they see
• 3) how we feel about those reactions

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Mead Symbolic Interaction

• self develops only with social experience
• 2) social experience is the exchange of symbols.
• 3) To understand intention, you must imagine a
  situation from the others point of you
• TAKING THE ROLE OF OTHER

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Mead I AND ME

• 4) BY TAKING THE ROLE OF OTHER WE BECOME
  SELF-AWARE
• self has two dimensions I and me
• I unique, active, creative, self
• me passive, conforming self
• differs from Freuds id-superego conflict
• for Freud identity is fixed in childhood and
  driven by internal forces
• for Mead identity is always in flux and always
  becoming and is based on social situations

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Mead

• significant others close affiliation/important
  people
• generalized other abstract composite of social
  roles and expectations/widespread cultural norms
  and values we use as a reference in evaluating
  ourselves

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Mead Stages of Childhood Socialization

• 1) imitation stage copy behavior of those
  around
• 2) play stage take on roles of significant
  others
• 3) game stage capable of taking on a multitude
  of roles at the same time
• - at this phases children internalize an abstract
  understanding of how society see them

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Agents of Socialization

• People and institutions that socialize us

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The Family

• Greatest impact
• Social class differences in raising kids
• Lower obedience and conformity
• Higher creativity and good judgement

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The School

• Teaches knowledge and skills
• ALSO
• The hidden curriculum
• cultural values/conformity to social norms

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The Peer Group

• Interests, social position, age in common
• no direct supervision/different kind of learning
  can take place
• importance peaks during adolescence

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The Mass Media

• Impersonal communications aimed at a vast
  audience
• effect on our attitudes and behavior