Behavior

Vocabulary• Social environment• Feral children• Socialization• Self• Looking-glass self• Taking the role of the other• Significant other• Generalized other• Id• Ego• Superego• Degradation ceremony

• Gender socialization• Mass media• Gender role• Peer group• Social inequality• Agents of socialization• Manifest functions• Latent functions• Anticipatory socializations• Resocialization• Total institution• Life course

Socialization• Process by which people learn the characteristics of

their group–Knowledge– Skills–Attitudes–Values–Actions thought appropriate by the group

Socialization• From birth through death, humans use interactions

in order to participate in its culture– Learning how to speak– Learning certain skills in order to contribute to

your group/society–Developing/critiquing certain values and attitudes

that you identify with in your group or society• Without these interactions, babies become more

like big animals rather than human

Read the story assigned to your group

• “Feral Children”, pg. 64

• “Isolated Children”, pg. 65

• “Institutionalized Children”, pg. 65

• “Deprived Animals”, pg. 67

Cooley – Looking-Glass Self• Our self develops through our internalizing others’

reactions to us

• Looking-glass Self–We imagine how we appear to those around us–We interpret others’ reactions–We develop a self-concept

• This doesn’t depend on accurate evaluations• Part of an ongoing, lifelong process

Cooley – Looking-Glass Self• Write down how you think you appear to others in

class

• Why do you think you appear that way?

• Do your friends, family, teachers, or others agree with your assessment? Why or why not?

Mead – Role Taking• “Play” is crucial to the development of a self–Allows children to put themselves in someone

else’s shoes, i.e., understanding how someone else feels and anticipating how that person will act

Mead – Role Taking• 2 people volunteer to be blindfolded

• 2 people volunteer to not be blindfolded

• 4 people volunteer to help instruct others on how to play checkers

Mead – Role Taking• Study by John Flavel–8- and 14-year olds told to explain a board game

to some children that were blindfolded, and some that were not–8-year olds gave the same instructions to

everyone, regardless if they were blindfolded–14-year olds gave more detailed instructions to

those that were blindfolded• Study results were that the older children were

more able/ready to take the role of the other

Mead – Role Taking• Taking role of others requires 3 stages:– Imitation (age 3 and under): Children can only mimic

others, imitate people’s gestures and words– Play (ages 3-6): Children pretend to take roles of specific

people, and also enjoy costumes or dressing up in their parents’ clothes• Firefighters, Lone Ranger, Xena, Batman

– Games (ages 6+): Organized play/team games coincides w/early school years• In baseball, kids must know how to play multiple

roles, and anticipate what to do when the ball is hit/thrown

Mead• We are active in our socialization process–Do not just sit there and absorb the responses of

others

• Our self and our human mind is a social product–Can’t think w/o symbols– Symbols only come from society

Piaget – Development of Reasoning

(1) Sensorimotor stage (Birth – 2 yrs. old)– Understanding is limited to direct contact

w/environment (sucking, touching, listening, looking)– Don’t think in any sense that we understand– Can’t recognize cause and effect

(2) Pre-operational stage (2 – 7 yrs. old)– Develop ability to use symbols– Don’t understand common concepts (speed, size,

causation)– Have no ability take role of the other

Piaget – Development of Reasoning

(3) Concrete operational stage (7 – 12 yrs. old)– Reasoning abilities are more developed, but remain

concrete– Understand speed, size, causation; don’t understand

truth, honesty, justice w/o concrete examples(4) Formal operational stage (12+ yrs. old)– Capable of abstract thinking

Socialization into Gender

Choosing a Gender?• Gender socialization–Ways in which society sets children onto different

courses in life b/c they are male or female

• All societies expect different attitudes from boys and girls, and thus, we/they put them in separate directions in life

Gender Attitudes/Behaviors

Males Females

(1) Family Influence• Parents are first to teach this symbolic division–Choosing pink and blue–Genderless children?

• Study by Goldberg and Lewis (1969) found that mothers subconsciously reward:–Daughters for being passive/dependent– Sons for being active/independent

Attitudes/Behaviors

Males

• Get guns/action figures

• Encouraged to participate in more rough-and-tumble play

• More ok by parents to roam out further than girls

Females

• Get dolls/jewelry

• Encouraged to play house, or activities that keep them cleaner and/or more compliant

• Less ok by parents to roam out further than boys

(2) Peer Influence• Aside from family, peers are most powerful group in

“sorting out” process of gender roles– Friends, classmates, community kids

• Both boys/girls make conversation about others in terms of how one looks

Gender Conversations

Males• “Dude, check her out…”

• “Oh the things I’d like to do to her…”

• “Good thing I have sunglasses on so that she can’t see me checking her out…”

• “I don’t care about her personality, but her looks…mmm…”

Females• “The only thing that makes her

look anything is all the makeup…”

• “She had a picture, and she’s standing like this.” (Poses w/one hand on her hip and one by her head

• “Her face is probably this skinny, but it looks that big ‘cause of all the make up she has on it.”

• “She’s ugly, ugly, ugly…”

(2) Peer Influence• How many girls feel most guys think this or talk this

way? Why?

• How many guys feel most girls think this or talk this way? Why?

• How many of you reject the previous conversations? Why?

(3) Mass Media Influence• Advertising (Guys, Girls)–Avg. American watches 20,000+ commercials/yr.–Commercials aimed at children more likely to

show girls as cooperative/at home and boys as aggressive/at other locations–Commercials aimed at adults tend to show men

as dominant/rugged and women as sexy/submissive perpetuating stereotypes about both

(3) Mass Media Influence• TV/Movies–Movies/primetime TV – Male characters outnumber

female characters; males more likely to have higher-status positions

– Comedies – Female characters are more verbally aggressive than males

• Video Games– College students, especially men, relieve stress by

playing video games– No actual data on how video games portray gender

roles

Socialization Agents

Agents of socialization• People/groups that affect our self-concept,

attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations toward life

The Family The Neighborhood Religion

Day Care The School Peer groups

Sports & Competitive Success

The Workplace Others?

The Family – Subtle Socialization• Child is in stroller Father more likely to push

stroller

• Child isn’t in stroller Mother more likely to push stroller & father is carrying child

• What kinds of gender messages are being pushed in the above observations?

The Family – Social Class

Working-Class Parents• Mainly concerned w/keeping

their kids out of trouble• Tend to use more physical

punishment• Tend to believe children

develop naturally– Job is to provide food,

shelter, comfort– Tend to set limits in areas

Middle-Class Parents• Focus more on developing

children’s curiosity, self-expression, self-control

• More likely to reason w/their children than use physical punishment

• Tend to believe children need a lot guidance to develop correctly– Children’s play develops

knowledge/social skills

The Family – Social Class• Why do working-class and middle-class parents rear

their children so differently?–Bosses tell blue-collar workers exactly what to do blue-collar parents stress obedience–Bosses tell white-collar workers things to get

done, workers take more initiative in completing work white-collar parents stress getting things done

• Some parents will act opposite of their socioeconomic status…why?

The Family – Social Class• Type of job for parents has a greater effect on child-

rearing styles–Middle-class office workers are closely supervised tend to follow working-class child-rearing styles–Working-class workers doing home repair have a

lot more freedome tend to follow middle-class child-rearing styles

The Neighborhood• Religion is extremely important in U.S.– 68% belong to a church congregation– During a typical week, 2/5 Americans attend a

church service• Day Care (any care other than the mother)– Children spending more hrs. in day care than

w/mothers have weaker bonds w/their mothers– Children are also more likely to fight, be cruel/mean– Reverse for children that spend more time w/their

mothers

The School• Home – kids learn attitudes/values that match their

family situation in life

• School – kids learn a broader perspective that helps them take a role in life outside of home– Learn universality rules apply to everyone,

regardless of background

The School• Schools’ hidden curriculum – patriotism,

democracy, justice, honesty

• Students’ corridor curriculum – racism, sexism, illicit ways of making money, coolness

Peer Groups• When children come into contact w/more

socialization agents (typically as you get older), influence of the family tends to lessen

• In school, children are exposed to peer groups that can help resist efforts of parents/schools to socialize them

Peer Groups

Boys peer group norms• Athletic ability• Coolness• Toughness• High grades lowered popularity

Girls peer group norms• Family background• Physical appearance• Ability to attract popular boys• High grades increased

popularity

• Individuals in peer groups tend to listen to same kind of music, dress similarly, and even behave similarly (regardless if that behavior follows rules or not

Sports/Competitive Success• Sports teach physical skills and values–Being team players– Setting goals and working to achieve them–Physical exercise

• Boys tend to learn to achieve in sports is to gain stature in masculinity–More success more masculine a boy is

perceived to be more prestige in peer groups

Sports/Competitive Success• Sports help boys develop instrumental relationships–Based on what you can get out of each person

• Girls tend to construct their identities on meaningful relationships, not on competitive success–With the rise of female participation in sports,

studies will need to be held to see its impacts on female relationships and behaviors

The Workplace• When working a job, we don’t just earn $$$; we

also come into contact different perspectives from totally different people

• Often try out several jobs before being committed to a particular line of work–Anticipatory socialization is when you try to learn

about a job before you accept a role in it–Reading books, talking to others in the job helps

get an idea of what the job will be like