Intro To Sociology Chapter 3 "socialization"

Front 1

Please explain the following statement:

The family is the most important agent of socialization.

Back 1

(p.75) Nurturing in early childhood: "nothing is more likely to produce a happy, well-adjusted child than a loving family".

The family has the job of teaching children skills, values and beliefs. The environment of the family will shape how the child sees him/herself - strong/weak, smart/stupid, loved/tolerated.

(The family also gives a child social identity with regards to race and class - expectations are different in lower vs higher income families).

Front 2

What do you see when looking at Tanner's famous painting "Banjo Lesson"?

Back 2

(p75) Sense of family. An older gentleman, father or grandfather, spending time in a loving and caring manner with a young boy. Although the surroundings show disarray and perhaps poverty, the father and son are surrounded by a sense of warmth, love and security.

Front 3

Besides the obvious lessons, children are taught "a hidden curriculum" in school. Please explain.

Back 3

(p76) According to Mancionis, in addition to the formal and typical lessons, children learn a hidden cirriculum" in school. This hidden curriculum that mirrors society - dividing children into winners and losers and teaching children competitiveness and cooperation.

Schools (race and social positions): Schools enlarge a child's social world by including people with different backgrounds from their own. It is from these encounters that children come to understand the importance of factors such as race and social position.

Schools (gender): Schools joins with families in socializing children's gender roles. Boys are encouraged to play sports and girls are encouraged to help their teachers.

Front 4

Please explain the significance of peer groups in socialization.

Back 4

Upon entering school children are introduced to peer groups which are social groups whose members share interests, social positions and age. Unlike the school and the family, peer groups allow children to escape the direct supervision of adults. Peer groups allow children to learn how to form relationships on their own and offer them an opportunity to talk about interests which adults probably do not share (such as clothes and pop music) as well as activities that adults do not typically condone in kids (such as drugs and sex).

Parents often have concerns about their child's parents. Peer group influence and importance seems to peak in adolescent years but parental influence also remains strong during this period.

Front 5

What is the impact of TV in socialization? Illustrate what you consider positive and negative effects of TV.

Back 5

Mass media are the means for delivering an impersonal message or communication to a vast audience. Forms of communication include newspaper, radio, TV, film and the internet. Mass media are important because they influence by introducing new ideas and images.

TV viewing general: Minorities, older people and lower income people tend to watch more TV. National surveys show that people spend up to 4.5 hours (half their free time watching TV). Children can spend 6.5hrs watching TV and this can cause them to be more passive, less healthy (physically fit) and less imaginative.

TV and politics: Historically critics have said that TV promotes racial stereotypes although this is not as prevalent today. Present day, the issue coming from conservatives is that the liberal cultural elite are dominating the media and are advancing the agendas of feminism and gay rights.

TV and violence: 1996 American Medical Association released findings that violence in TV and films had reached such high levels that it posed a hazard to our health. Even more recently, studies show that there is a link between aggressive behavior and the amount of time young children spend watching TV.

Front 6

Illustrate socialization in each of the stages of life course:
a) childhood
b) adolescence
c) adulthood
d) old age

Back 6

CHILDHOOD: Industrialization led to the creation of childhood. Regarded as up to approx 12 years of age, a time during which one should be carefree and focus on learning and play. However, in other countries this is not the case (child labor) and in other times this was not the case (Middle Ages). In richer countries, children allow more time for children to learn and grow-up than in poorer counties. Here in the US, some children are subject to "hurried-child syndrome" (when children are left alone or unsupervised) in which they grow up too quickly due to high divorce rates or both parents working. The mass media also contribute to this by exposing children to adult concepts and ideas.

ADOLESCENCE: The buffer between childhood and adulthood, generally teenage years. It is a time of social contradictions when individuals are no longer children but not quite adults.

ADULTHOOD: This is the time when most accomplishments take place such as career and family. In EARLY adulthood (up to age 40) people are juggling conflicting priorities (spouse, children, parents, schooling, work, leisure). MIDDLE adulthood (between 40-65) life circumstances are generally well set. Also become more aware of health. More difficult for women than men.

Old age: Final stages of life, mid-60's and onwards. With people living longer the elderly population is growing very fast, almost at same rate as US general population. The elderly outnumber teenagers. The study of aging population is called "gerontology".

Front 7

What is the "Graying of the US"? p.84 What are the key facts about older people in the US and their income and health?

Back 7

With people living longer, the elderly population is growing nearly as fast as the US population as a whole. 1 in every 8 persons is over the age of 65; the elderly outnumber teenagers; within the next 20 years the number of seniors will double!

GERONTOLOGY is the study of aging and the elderly (both the physical and social dimensions).

Health concerns: brittle bones, chronic illness, etc. Most old people when interviewed for a study claimed they felt good but as more and more people age and retire there will be greater demand on the healthcare system as well as social services.

Culture plays a role on how we understand growing old. In poorer countries old age gives people more respect and power. "Gerontocracy" is a social organization in which the elderly have more wealth, power, prestige. However, in more industrialized countries it is younger people who tend to have more wealth and power.

AGEISM: prejudice and discrimination against the elderly

Special Note: Today in the US the elderly are doing better then ever; although once considered the highest poverty risk it is now the younger generations faced with higher poverty. Why? Couples were both working until later age, better health allows elderly to continue working, gov't programs have been more generous.

Front 8

People who grow up in a particular age-cohort tend to share common experiences, attitudes and values. Explain and illustrate.

Back 8

(p86) A cohort is a category of people with something in common - usually age. They grew up in similar economic and social times and, therefore, tend to share the same attitudes and values.

Ex/ People born in the 1940's-1950's were raised during prosperous times and tend to be optimistic. Many college student today were brought up during uncertain times and are less optimistic about the future.

NOTE: although stages of life reflect biological process of aging, the life course is largely a social construction. For this reason, people in different cultures may experience life stages differently or even not at all.

Front 9

Please discuss re-socialization in "total-institutions".

Back 9

Approximately 2 million people here in the US are in mental hospitals or prisons. A setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and controlled by an administrative staff is referred to as "total institution".

1) All residents are supervised as to when the eat, sleep and work.
2) life in controlled and standardized in that the wear the same thing, do the same activities, eat the same food
3) Formal rules dictate the inmates' where, when and how

The purpose for all this is RE SOCIALIZATION - to change an inmate's personality by carefully controlling the environment. There are 2 parts -

1) Break down inmate's existing identity (he must surrender all personal belongs). The staff subjects new inmate to "mortification of self" which includes searches, medical exams, head shaving, finger printing and the assignment of an ID number.
2) Staff tries to rebuild a new self in the inmate through a system of rewards and punishments.

Note: institutionalized means that one no longer has the capacity to live independently

Front 10

Are We Free Within Society? What are your thoughts and please note the comment of Margaret Mead.

Back 10

(p87) Margaret Mead said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has".

George Mead recognized that society does make demands on us and limits our options BUT human beings are creative and spontaneous, capable of acting on society and bringing about change.

Thus, we may SEEM like puppets but that is only on the surface.