S O C IALI ZAT I O N

Lifelong social experience by

which individuals develop
their human potential and
learn culture
Dynamics of socialization

 FUNCTIONALISM – group -
pass on cultural patterns of a
given society
 SYMBOLIC INTERACTION –
understanding the meaning of
words and actions
Social Experience
 Key to our humanity
 Foundation of
personality

 PERSONALITY –
fairly consistent
pattern of acting,
thinking, and
feeling
The Role of Nature
(Charles Darwin)
 Each species evolves over thousands
of generations as genetic variation
improves in ability to survive and
reproduce
 Traits that enhance survival emerge
as a species “nature”
 Humans like other life forms, had an
instinctive “human nature”
The Role of Nurture
(social sciences)

 Behaviorism (John B. Watson) –

behavior is not instinctive but
learned
 Therefore, people everywhere
are equally human, differing only
in their cultural patterns
social isolation
 UNDERSTANDING SOCIALIZATION:
Sigmund Freud
 Basic human needs :
a. Eros (life instinct) – need for bonding
b. Thanatos (death instinct) –
aggressive drive
 Model of Personality :
1. Id
2. Ego
3. Superego
 Jean Piaget :
Cognitive development
1) Sensorimotor stage – experiencing world
through the senses
2) Preoperational stage – use of language
and symbols
3) Concrete operational stage – first
perceive causal connections in their
surroundings
4) Formal operational stage – thinking
abstractly and critically
 Lawrence Kohlberg:
Moral development
1) Pre-conventional level – “rightness”
amounts to “what feels good to me”
2) Conventional level – learning to define
right and wrong in terms of what pleases
parents & what is consistent with broader
cultural norms
3) Post-conventional level – moving beyond
society’s norms to consider abstract ethical
principles (e.g. freedom, justice; what is legal
still may not be right)
 Carol Gilligan:
Gender factor
 Gender bias
 Gender on self-esteem: young girls start
out eager & confident, but slips away as they
pass through adolescence – Culture
 Males have a justice perspective (relying
on formal rules to define right & wrong)
 Girls have care & responsibility
perspective (judging situation w/an eye
toward personal relationships)
George Herbert Mead:
The Social Self
 SELF – part of an individual’s
personality composed of self-
awareness and self image
1) Develops only with social experience
(exchange of symbols)
2) Understanding intention requires imagining
the situation from the other’s point of view
3) Taking the role of the other , we become
aware; I (active side of the self); ME
(objective side of the self)
Development of the Self

 Imitation
 Play
 Significant others
 Generalized other (widespread
cultural norms & values we use as a
reference in evaluating ourselves)
 Charles Horton Cooley:
The Looking-glass self
 Self-image based on how we think
others see us
 Processes:
 Presentation (imagining the way we appear to
others)
 Identification (identifying with how we imagine others
judge that appearance)
 Subjective interpretation (interpretation of judgment)
 Erik H. Erikson:
Eight stages of development
1. Infancy: challenge of trust (vs. mistrust)
2. Toddlerhood: autonomy (vs. doubt &
shame)
3. Pre-school: initiative (vs. guilt)
4. Pre-adolescence: industriousness (vs.
inferiority)
5. Adolescence: challenge of gaining
identity (vs. confusion)
Erikson

6. Young adulthood: challenge of

intimacy (vs. isolation
7. Middle adulthood: challenge of
making a difference (vs. self-
absorption)
8. Old age: challenge of integrity (vs.
despair)
AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION
 FAMILY
 SCHOOL:
a. Enlarges children’s social worlds
b. Teach children a wide range of
knowledge & skills
c. First experience with bureaucracy
d. Socialize children into gender roles
AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION
 PEER GROUPS: social group
whose members have interests,
social position & age in common
(Anticipatory socialization – learning
that helps a person achieve a
desired position;
“adaptation” / “internalization” )
AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION
 MASS MEDIA: impersonal
communications aimed at a vast
audience (“media” (Latin) – middle)

 OTHERS: religious org., workplace,

military, social clubs)
SOCIALIZATION:
THE LIFE COURSE
 A biological process of aging
 A social construction
 Other forces shape people’s lives
(e.g. class, ethnicity, gender)
 Vary according to when one is born
(cohort – category of people w/a
common characteristic, usually age)
 Nature?
 Nurture?