MODULE 4

BECOMING A
MEMBER OF
SOCIETY
Introduction:
 A human being should not live by himself
or herself because he or she is a social
being who needs other people.
 Baleña, E. et. al. (2016) stresses that for
man to survive, and to develop himself or
herself as a human being, there is a need
for social interaction.
 Lanuza and Raymundo (2016) expounds
that to become a full member of a society,
he or she has to acquire and learn all the
necessary social roles and skills. The
process of learning these skills and social
roles is called socialization.

 Socialization is a process in which society

molds the individual to conform to
established social norms and rules.
 Norms-something that is usual, typical, or
standard:
 Being religious but also being superstitious.
 Believing that one’s child/children is the answer to
prosperity.
 Crab Mentality

 Filipinos are family-oriented.

 Filipinos are social, kind, and
hospitable.
 Filipinos are conservative.
 Brinkerhoff et. al. (2011) defines
socialization as a process through which
people learn the rules and practices
needed to participate successfully in their
culture and society. Its process is very
essential in man’s daily life because it
teaches man how to behave and act within
our society. Consequently, if he or she does
know how to socialize and conform to
standards, his or her actions may impede
(delay or prevent (someone or something)
by obstructing them; hinder: ) social order.
 Santarita and Madrid (2016) describes that
socialization takes place when prospective
culture bearers learn the body of knowledge
and skills through education, training,
exposure, and experience;
 while enculturation, occurs when cultural
knowledge is passed on to the next bearer
who will perpetuate and ensure the
continuation of culture.
 Both socialization and enculturation result to
identity formation, developing norms and
values, and statuses and roles.
A. Identity Formation
 An individual’s identity is formed
through his interactions with others.
One’s socialization with individuals
or groups allows him or her to
imbibe certain characteristics and
interests that contribute to his or
her identity.
For example, the centuries of
Philippine Chinese exposure to
Filipino culture made them imbibe
facets of Filipino character in the
same way Filipino learned to love
Chinese culture like food such as
preference for noodle-based
cuisine like pancit (Newman, 2012
as cited by Santarita and Madrid).
B. Norms and Values
 Norms are those culturally
determined rules that guide people
regarding what is “right”, “wrong”,
“proper”, “improper”. They create
predictability in daily affairs and
interactions, making it easier to live
with other members of society.
• Schaefer (2012) delineates cultural values as
collective conceptions of what is considered
good, desirable, and proper- or bad, undesirable
and improper. It reveals on what preferences
people should pursue which are vital for their
continued existence. With the favorable norms
and values in a society, all people are expected to
conform, follow and practice them.
Examples of folkways
 Covering Your Mouth When You Cough
Or Sneeze
 Dressing Appropriately At Work
 RaisingYour Hand To Speak
 Not Spitting On The Sidewalk
 Saying Please And ThankYou
 Walking On The Right Side Of The
Footpath
 Waiting In Line
Examples of mores
 People are expected to be honest.
 Respect for other people's property is important.
 Being married to more than one person is not
acceptable in most areas.
 Murder is not acceptable.
 Rising for the national anthem is an expected
behavior.
 Wearing a bikini to church would not be
expected.
 Robbing a bank is against social norms.
Examples of laws
 RA 9262-his act gives protection of the
law to women and children suffering
from domestic abuse.
 RA 10175-The Cybercrime Prevention Act of
2012
 RA 10354-The Responsible Parenthood and
Reproductive Health Act of 2012
 RA 9165-Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs
Act of 2002
 RA 8353-The Anti-Rape Law of 1997
C. Statuses and Roles
 A status is any position that an individual can
occupy in society. It is not a ranked position,
but simply a label that implies certain roles
that must be performed (Newman, 2012).
 For example, one can be a student, singer, or
a computer genius. Though some statuses
are generally recognized as prestigious,
prestige like beauty is certainly relative or
depends in the eye of the beholder
(Santarita and Madrid, 2016).
Social Statuses can be classified into two:

Role, on the other hand, involves the pattern of

expected behavior in a social relationship with one
or more persons occupying other statuses. (Panopio,
1994).
Lesson 2
CONFORMITY
AND
DEVIANCE
A. Social Control
 Merriam Webster Dictionary defines conformity
as an action in accordance with some specified
standard or authority. This indicates that
conformity is a type of social influence through
which group members come to share similar
beliefs and standards of behavior.
 To prevent the occurrence of deviant behavior,
there has to be an effective means of social
control. Schaefer (2012) refers social control as
the techniques and strategies for preventing
deviant behavior in any society.
B. Forms of Deviance
 There are people who do not conform to
the standard norms. They have failed to
choose an action that is generally acceptable.
Strain Theory of
Robert Merton
which states that in
an unequal society
the tension or strain
between socially
approved goals and
an individual’s ability
to meet these goals
through socially
approved means will
lead to deviance as
the individual reject
either the goals, the
means:
 Forms of deviance of Robert Merton that
emerged from Strain Theory
 a. Conformity- involves accepting both the cultural goal
of success and the use of legitimate means for achieving
that goal.
 b. Innovation- accepts the goal of success but eliminating
the use of socially accepted means of achieving it.
 c. Ritualism- occurs when people deemphasize or reject
the cultural goals but accept the institutionalized means.
 d. Retreatism- means withdrawal from society since
both the cultural goals and the institutionalized means
are rejected.
 e. Rebellion- occurs when people reject and attempt to
change both the goals and the means approved by
society.
Lesson 3
Human Dignity,
Rights,
and the
Common Good
As citizens, we always think of the
promotion of the common good or
general welfare. To become a
responsible citizen, there is a need to
promote the common good such as
obeying the law, volunteering in the
community, paying taxes honestly,
informing himself about important
political issues, and respecting the
rights of others.
This is called inclusive
citizenship wherein the
government should create a
program that will provide all
citizens a strong sense of belonging
to the society.
Human rights are inalienable
rights that protect people’s dignity
as human beings. These give them
the rights to choose, to live, to
love, to property, to make their
living, to practice one’s profession,
to vote and to be voted, among
others.
These assure people the means
to fulfill their basic needs. By
guaranteeing life, liberty,
equality, and security, human
rights protect people against
abuse by those who are more
powerful.
Human Dignity referred to an
individual or group's sense of self-
respect and selfworth, physical and
psychological integrity and
empowerment.
It is stated in the United Nations’
declaration of human rights the recognition
of the inherent dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members in the
society.
As cited by Saluba, Dennis J. et. al. (2016),
deviance is inevitable. Human dignity,
rights and common good should be
righteously extended to deviants by the
society itself. Even if the person is a deviant
and a criminal, he or she should be
respected and treated justly as a human
being.
Violating his or her rights means treating
him or her inhumanely. Accordingly, the
common good is espoused with human
rights that provides benefits to the society.
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