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CHAPTER 3
BECOMING A MEMBER OF SOCIETY
I. INTRODUCTION
As we learned in the previous chapter, culture is key to human adaptation, and as such
every society has its own culture. In this chapter, we look at how individuals learn culture
and become competent members of society through the process of enculturation or
socialization, or the process of preparing individuals for membership in a given society.
It explores four theories that explain the development of the self as
a product of this process. The process of socialization entails learning the various
elements of a society’s culture as well as its social structure. The discussion focuses on
values, norms, status, and roles, as well as gender role socialization. The Readerfor this
course includes an article by Hiromu Shimizu which examines the process of
socialization in the Philippines. Shimizu shows how the social environment in which
Filipino children grow up orients the child toward getting along and being cooperative
with others. Another article, by Michael Herzfeld, dissects how individuals become
socialized to become indifferent persons, with social indifference being conditioned by
the state, and the political and ideological interests that underpin bureaucratic
structures.

Since it is important that members follow cultural norms, every society has a system of
social control to encourage conformity and discourage deviance or norm breaking.
Nevertheless, deviance to a certain extent is tolerated by society. To understand why,
this chapter explores Emile Durkheim’s argument that deviance has at least four social
functions. Robert Merton argued that the extent and type of deviance people engage in
depend on whether a society provides the means (such as schooling and job
opportunities) to achieve cultural goals (such as financial success). Conformity lies in
pursuing cultural goals through approved means. Four types of deviance may, however,
arise from the inability to achieve a cultural goal using socially approved means.

The discussion of socialization and deviance emphasizes that members of any society
have to work toward the continued existence of that society. Carol Hanish, Richard
Bellamy, and Arjun Appadurai and Katerina Stenou explore the wider context, content,
processes, and consequences of socialization, conformity, and deviance. Hanish
discusses the rise of social movements, in particular the feminist movement in the
United States, and in a broader sense, how important collective action is for a collective
solution. Bellamy explores citizenship, why it matters, and the challenges confronting it
today. Appadurai and Stenou utilize the idea of cultural pluralism as a lens for
understanding and addressing the situation of migrants, refugees, minorities, and many
others.

II. CONTENT
I. Enculturation/Socialization
a. Identity formation
i. Identities
ii. Disciplines
iii.Aspirations
b. Norms and values
c. Statuses and roles
i. Age
ii. Gender
2. Conformity and deviance
a. Social control
i. Gossip
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ii. Social ostracism

iii. Laws and punishments
b. Forms of deviance
i. Ritualism
ii. Retreatism
iii. Rebellion
IV. Innovation
3. Human dignity, rights, and the common good

Key Concepts
Socialization is the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human
potential and learn culture. Unlike other living species, whose behavior is mostly or
entirely set by biology, humans need social experience to learn their culture and to
survive. Social experience is also the foundation of personality, a person’s fairly
consistent patterns of acting, thinking and feeling (Macionis 2012: 102). Another term
for socialization is enculturation.

There are many theories on how the self, as a product of socialization, is formed. We will
examine the work of four researchers: Sigmund Freud, Charles Cooley, George Herbert
Mead, and Jean Piaget (Macionis 2012: 104–108).
Freud’s model of personality. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) combined basic needs and
the influence of society into a model of personality with three parts: id, ego, and
superego. The id represents the human being’s basic drives, or biological and physical
needs which are unconscious and demand immediate satisfaction. In the human
personality, the superego refers to the cultural values and norms internalized by an
individual. Society, through its values and norms, opposes the self-centered id. The ego
is, thus, a person’s conscious efforts to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives (id) with
the demands of society (superego).

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. From his studies of human cognition, or

how people think and understand. Jean Piaget (1896–1980) identified four stages of
cognitive development. Stage one is the sensorimotor stage (first two years of life), the
level of human development at which individuals know the world only through the five
senses. Stage
two is the preoperational stage (about age two to seven) at which individuals first
use language and other symbols. Stage three is concrete operational stage (between
the ages of seven and eleven) at which individuals first see causal connections in their
surroundings. The last stage is the formal operational stage (about age twelve) at
which individuals think abstractly and critically.

Mead’s theory of the social self. George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) For Mead, the self
is a part of our personality and includes self-awareness and self-image. It is the product
of social experience, and is not guided by biological drives (see Freud) or biological
maturation (see Piaget). According to Mead, the key to developing the self is learning to
take the role of the other. Infants can do this only through imitation and, without
understanding underlying intentions, have no self. As children learn to use language and
other symbols, the self emerges in the form of play. Play involves assuming roles
modeled on significant others, or people, such as parents, who have special importance
for socialization. Then, children learn to take the roles of several others at once, and
move from simple play with one other to complex games involving many others. The
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final stage in the development of the self is when children are able to not only take the
role of specific people in just one situation, but that of many others in different
situations. Mead used the term generalized other to refer to widespread cultural norms
and values we use as references in evaluating ourselves.

Cooley’s Looking-glass Self. Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) used the phrase
looking-glass self to mean a self-image based on how we think others see us. As we
interact with others, the people around us become a mirror (an object that people used
to call a “looking glass”) in which we can see ourselves. What we think of ourselves,
then, depends on how we think others see us. For example, if we think others see us as
clever, we will think of ourselves in the same way. But if we feel they think of us as
clumsy, then that is how we will see ourselves.

Agents of socialization
Several settings have special importance in the socialization process. These include the
family, school, peer group, and the mass media. The family, usually the first setting of
socialization, has the greatest impact on attitudes and behavior. Schools teach
knowledge and skills needed for later life, and expose children to greater social diversity.
The peer group takes on great importance during adolescence. The mass media have a
huge impact on socialization in modern societies.
Values, norms, status, and roles
Socialization is also defined as the process of preparing members for membership in a
given group in society. Through socialization, individuals learn the norms and values of
their society. Values are culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is
desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.
Norms are the rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its
members.

Socialization prepares individuals to occupy statuses and roles (Macionis 2012: 127–
128). Status refers a social position that a person holds. An ascribed status is a social
position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later in life. Examples of
ascribed statuses include being a daughter, a Filipino, a teenager, or a widower.
Achieved status refers to a social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects
personal ability and effort. Achieved statuses include honors student, athlete, nurse,
software writer, and thief. Role refers to behavior expected of someone who holds a
particular status.

Gender role socialization

Sex refers to the biological characteristics distinguishing male and female (Macionis
2012: 169). Sex is based on chromosomes, anatomy, hormones, reproductive systems,
and other physiological components.
Gender refers to those social, cultural, and psychological traits linked to males and
females through particular social contexts. Sex makes us male or female; gender makes
us masculine or feminine. All the major agents of socialization—family, peer groups,
schools, and the mass media—reinforce cultural definitions of what is feminine and
masculine. (Dionisio 1992: 1-2; Macionis 2012: 170).

Hiromu, 1991. “Filipino Children in Family and Society: Growing

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Up in a Many-People Environment” SA 21 Selected Readings, Department of

Sociology and Anthropology (ed.). Quezon City: Office of Research
Publications, Ateneo de Manila University. pp.106–25

Summary
Shimizu discusses the social environment in which children grow up in the
Philippines. In particular, he examines the socialization process of Filipino children
who are born and brought up in the many-people environment beyond the nuclear
family. In the Philippines, the nuclear family has frequent and intimate interactions
with the families living nearby, forming a local kin group comprising magkamag-anak
(consanguineal or affinal relations) and magkapitbahay (neighboring relations). The
socialization agents of children include the personal kindred (a range of a person’s
relatives accorded special cultural recognition) and ritual kinship (compadre system).
Within this context, child rearing develops the following features: presence of
many parenting figures or surrogates for the mother and father; long dependency
period, owing to the fact that there are many adults or elderly people who can
become parenting figures; and very little stress or feelings of frustration for the child
because there are many parent-surrogates to satisfy his or her desires. This
socialization process of the child in the Philippines may be described as extremely
dependent, but it has a positive connotation. Dependency in this case implies that the
child is able to form cooperative relationships in which all the members depend on
and help each other. In this social environment, the good child is one who is
oriented toward getting along and is cooperative with others.

Lesson 2: Conformity and Deviance

Firm Up
Conformity and deviance (Macionis 2012: 194)
Every society is a system of social control, or attempts by society to regulate
people’s thoughts and behavior. Social control encourages conformity to certain
norms and discourages deviance or norm breaking. Deviance range from minor
infractions, such as bad manners, to major infractions, such as serious violence.
Norms that become specified and institutionalized are called laws. Crime refers to
the violation of the law.
There is a lack of consensus in society regarding which behaviors or traits are
deviant. What is considered as deviance will vary across time, places, and social
groups. How a society defines deviance, who is branded as deviant, and what people
decide to do about deviance all have to do with the way society is organized.

The functions of deviance (Macionis 2012: 197).According to Emile Durkheim

(1858–1917), deviance performs the following functions:
Affirms cultural norms and values. Deviance is needed to define and support
morality. There can be no good without evil and no justice without crime.
Clarifies moral boundaries. By defining some individuals as deviant, people
draw a boundary between right and wrong.
Brings people together. People typically react to serious deviance with shared
outrage, and in doing so reaffirm the moral ties that bind them.
Encourages social change. Deviant people suggest alternatives to the status
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quo and encouraging change.

Merton’s strain theory (Macionis 2012: 197–198). Robert Merton (1910–2003)

argued that the extent and type of deviance people engage in depend on whether a
society provides the means (such as schooling and job opportunities) to achieve
cultural goals (such as financial success). Conformity means achieving cultural
goals through approved means. However, the strain between the cultural goal and the
lack of opportunities to achieve these goals using approved means may result in
deviance. Merton identifies four types of deviance: innovation, ritualism, retreatism,
and rebellion. Innovation involves using unconventional means (for example, Steve
Jobs, the founder of the Apple computer company, and his colleagues who, without
support from big corporations, worked in a garage to invent personal computers)
rather than conventional means (working for an established computer company) to
achieve a culturally approved goal (wealth). In ritualism, people do not care much
about the goal (getting rich) but stick to the rules (the conventional means) anyway in
order to feel “respectable.” A third response to the strain between the cultural goal
and the approved means is retreatism, rejecting both cultural goals and conventional
means so that a person in effect “drops out.” The fourth response is rebellion. Like
retreatists, rebels reject both the cultural definition of success and the conventional
means of achieving it, but they provide alternatives to the existing social order.