3 Socialization

Why Is Socialization ImportantAroundthe Globe?

Human Development: Biology and Society ProblemsAssociatedwith Social Isolation and Maltreatment

Social Psychological Theories of HumanDevelopment

Freud and the Psychoanalytic Perspective Piaget and Cognitive Development Kohlbergand the Stages of Moral DevelopmentGilligan'sViewon Genderand Moral Development

Sociological Theories of HumanDevelopment

Cooleyand the Looking-Glass Self Meadand Role-TakingRecent Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives

Agents of Socialization

TheFamily The SchoolPeerGroups Mass Media

Gender and Racial/Ethnic SocializationSocialization Through the Life Course

Childhood Adolescence AdulthoodLateAdulthoodand Ageism

Resocialization

Voluntary Resocialization Involuntary Resocialization

Socialization in the Future

don't want to be crippled by things thathappened in the past. [Myfather] was a freebird,you know? He couldn't handle beinga father. [When Ilearned that my father wasterminallyill with cancer,] Ithought, even if it's seven months,Iwant to get to know this person. Sometimes I'djust sit there, and he'd say, "Stopstaring at me."Then sometimes we'd talk about the past.One day he said, "Perfect.Youweremade perfect." Ijust started crying. Iwas like,"Thank you, God,for letting me have this moment."

-In arecent interview,actorDrewBarrymoreexplains howshereconciledwithher f a- ther,fromwhomshe had been estranged f or manyyears,a shorttime bef orehisdeath (Lynch andGold,2005:96,98).

Thomson

This icon signalswhenThomson NOWhas important resources available for you to use in conjunctionwith the text.See the foldout at thefrontof thistextforinfor- mationonhowtoaccessThomsonNOW.

As her previous autobiography

Little Girl Lost

described, Barrymore and her father hadexperienced problems in the past:Ithink my mom and dad were boyfriend andgirlfriend for a couple of years, but they wereapart by the time Iwas born.... The earliestmemory Ihave of my father isn't pleasant.Iwas three years old.... Mymom and Iwere standingin the kitchen, doing the laundry.... Suddenly the door swung open and there was this man standingthere. Iyelled,"Daddy!"Even though I didn'tknow what helooked like, Ijust automatically knewit was him.

I

KeyTerms

belief s 44 counterculture 58cultural imperialism 61 cultural lag 53 cultural relativism 59 cultural universals 45 culture39 culture shock 58ethnocentrism 59folkways 52 high culture 60language 47 laws52 materialculture 41 mores 52nonmaterial culture 42 norms 52popular culture 60 sanctions52 Sapir- Whorf hypothesis47 subculture 57 symbol 46 taboos52 technology53 value contradictions 51 values50

Questions for Critical Thinking

1. Would itbe possible todayto live in atotallysepa- rateculture in the UnitedStates? Couldyou avoid all influences from the mainstream popular cul- tureor from the values and norms of other cul- tures?How wouldyoube able to avoidanychange inyour culture? 2.Do f ads and f ashions reflect and reinforce or chal- lenge andchange the valuesand norms of a society?Considera widevarietyof f adsand fashions: musical styles; computerandvideo games and other technologies;literature; and political, social, and religious ideas. 3. You are doing a survey analysisof recentimmi- grants totheUnited States to determine the eff ects of popular culture on theirviewsand behavior. What aresome of the questions youwould usein yoursurvey?

The Kendall Companion Website

http:// thomsonedu.com/socioLogy/kendall

Supplementyour review of thischapter bygoing to the companionwebsite to take one of the tutorial quizzes,use the flash cards to master keyterms, and check out the many other study aids you'llfind there.You'll also find special features suchas GSS Data and Census2000information that will put dataand resources atyour fingertipsto helpyouwith thatspecial projector helpyou dosome researchon your own.

He paused in the doorway, like hewas making a dramatic entrance,and I think he said something, but hewas so drunk, it was unintelligible. Itsounded more like a growl.We stood there, staring at him. Iwas soexcited to see him.... I didn't reallyknow what my dad was like, but Ilearned real fast. In a blur of angerhe roared into the room and threwmy mom down on the ground. Thenhe turned on me. I didn't know whatwas happening. Iwas still excited tosee him, still hearing the echo ofmygleeful yell, "Daddy!" when he pickedme up and threw me into the wall.Luckily,half ofmy body landed on abig sack oflaundry, and Iwasn'thurt. But my dad didn't even look back at me. He turned and grabbed abottle oftequila, shattered a bunchofglasses all over the floor, and thenstormed out ofthe house .... Andthat was it.That was the first time Iremember seeing my dad.(Barrymore, 1994: 185-187)

F

or Barrymore and many other people, earlyinteractions with their parents have had aprofound influence on their later lives.Clearly, the parent-child relationship is a signifi-cant factor in the process of socialization, whichis of interest to sociologists. Although most chil-dren are nurtured, trusted, and loved by their par-ents, Barrymore's experience is not an isolatedincident: Large numbers of children experiencemaltreatment at the hands of family members orother caregivers such as baby-sitters or child-careworkers.Child maltreatment includes physicalabuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emo-tional mistreatment of children and young adoles-cents. Such maltreatment is of interest tosociologists because it has a serious impact on achild's social growth, behavior, and self-image-all of which develop within the process of social-ization. By contrast, children who are treated withrespect by their parents are more likely to developa positive self-image and learn healthy conductbecause their parents provide appropriate modelsof behavior.In this chapter, we examine why socialization isso crucial, and we discuss both sociological and so-cial psychological theories of human development.

Actress Drew Barrymore's description of childhoodmaLtreatment in her family makes us aware of the importanceof earLy sociaLization in aLLour Lives. As an aduLt, she hasexperienced many happier times.