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4SocializationSocialization

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Chapter Outline

• The Role of Socialization• The Self and Socialization• Socialization and the Life Course• Agents of Socialization• Social Policy and Socialization: Child Ca

re aroundthe World

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The Role of Socialization

•Early socialization experiences in normal environments are important.

•Caregivers should be concerned with children’s social needs in addition to their physical needs.

Environment: The Impact of Isolation

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The Role of Socialization

•Studies of Identical Twins

--Intelligence tests show similar scores when twins are reared apart in roughly similar social settings.

--Intelligence tests show quite different scores when twins are reared apart in dramatically different social settings.

The Influence of Heredity

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The Role of Socialization

•Sociobiology is the systematic study of the biological bases of social behavior.

•In its extreme form, sociobiology suggests that all behavior is the result of genetic or biological factors and places little emphasis on social interaction.

Sociobiology

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The Self and Socialization

•Cooley: Looking-Glass Self

--The self is the product of our social interactions with other people.

--Our view of ourselves comes from not only our contemplation of personal qualities, but also from our impressions of how others perceive us.

--We learn who we are by interacting with others.

Sociological Approaches to the Self

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The Self and Socialization

•Mead: Stages of the Self

--Preparatory Stage: Children imitate people around them.

--Play Stage: Children develop skill in communicating through symbols. Role taking occurs.

--Game Stage: Children consider actual tasks and relationships simultaneously.

Sociological Approaches to the Self

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The Self and Socialization

•Mead: Stages of the Self

--Symbol: The gestures, objects and language that form the basis of human communication.

--Role Taking: The process of mentally assuming the perspective of another.

--Generalized Others: The attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into account.

Sociological Approaches to the Self

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The Self and Socialization

•Mead: Theory of the Self

--The self begins as a privileged, central position in a person’s world.

--As a person matures, the self changes and begins to reflect greater concern about the reactions of others.

--Significant Others: Individuals who are most important in the development of the self.

Sociological Approaches to the Self

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The Self and Socialization

•Goffman: Presentation of the Self

--Impression Management: The individual slants the presentation of the self in order to create distinctive appearances and satisfy particular audiences.

--Dramaturgical Approach: People resemble performers in action.

Sociological Approaches to the Self

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The Self and Socialization

•Piaget

--Piaget emphasized the stages humans progress through as the self develops.

•Freud

--Freud stressed the role of inborn drives and believed that the self is a social product. He also believed that aspects of personality are influenced by others (especially one’s parents).

Psychological Approaches to the Self

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Socialization and the Life Course

•Rites of passage are a means of dramatizing and validating changes in a person’s status.

•These specific ceremonies mark stages of development in the life course.

•We encounter some of the most difficult socialization challenges in the later years of life.

The Life Course

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Socialization and the Life Course

Two types of socialization occur throughout the life course.

•Anticipatory Socialization: The processes of socialization in which a person “rehearses” for future occupations and social relationships.

•Resocialization: The process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one’s life.

Anticipatory Socialization and Resocialization

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Agents of Socialization

•The family is the primary agent of socialization.

•Socialization by the family begins shortly after birth.

•Socialization is typically, but not always, positive.

Family

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Agents of Socialization

76.7

18.0

3.7

69.1

22.4

4.24.1

72.5

21.6

3.12.8

1980 1990 2000

Two parents

Father; no mother

Mother; no father

No parent in household

Percent distribution of children under age 18

Living Arrangementsof Children UnderAge 18: 1980, 1990,and 2000

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 6-1. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.

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Agents of Socialization

Twobiological

parents88.2%

One biologicaland one

stepparent9.3%

Adoptive motherand father

1.4%

Othercombination1.1%

Children Living With Two Parents by Type of Parent: 1996

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 6-2. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.

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Agents of Socialization

Married,both working

Married,one working

Married,no workers

Single parent,working

Single parent,not working

Less than 3

3 to 5

6 to 1171.4

82.7

56.5

18.0

47.1

39.1

21.8

35.640.9

79.3

90.7

59.4

23.6

42.8 41.1

Children Under Age 12 Who Have Ever Been in Child Care by Age of Child, and Parent’s Marital and Employment Status: 1994Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 6-3. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.

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Agents of Socialization

•Schools teach children the values and customs of the larger society.

•Schools have traditionally socialized children into conventional gender roles.

School

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Agents of Socialization

•As children grow older, peer groups increasingly assume the role of Mead’s significant others.

•Peer groups can ease the transition to adult responsibilities.

•Peer groups can encourage children to honor or violate cultural norms and values.

•Peer groups can be a source of harassment as well as support.

Peer Group

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Agents of Socialization

•53 percent of all children ages 12 to 18 have their own televisions.

•Television permits imitation and role playing but does not encourage more complex forms of learning.

•Technology is socializing families into multitasking as the social norm.

Mass Media and Technology

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Agents of Socialization

Figure 4.1: Children’s Media Usage.

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Agents of Socialization

•Learning to behave appropriately within an occupational setting is a fundamental aspect of human socialization.

•Socialization in the workplace involves four phases:

career choice anticipatory socialization

conditioning continuous commitment

Workplace

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Agents of Socialization

Figure 4.2: Teenagers on the Job and in School–International Comparisons.

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Agents of Socialization

•The state has usurped many of the traditional family functions.

•The state has re-instituted many rites of passage including stipulating the ages at which we are permitted to:

drink drive vote

marry retire work overtime

The State

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Agents of Socialization

Family Income and Child Care

Less than $1,200

$1,200 to $2,999

$3,000 to $4,499

$4,500 or more

Below poverty

Above poverty

Percent of Monthly Family Income Spent on Child Care byFamily Income and Poverty Status*

25%

12%

8%

6%

18%

7%

*Limited to families with a preschooler

Source: Lynne M. Casper, 1995. “What Does It Cost to Mind Our Preschoolers?” Current Population Reports, ser. P-70, no. 52. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Figure3, p. 84.

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Social Policy and Socialization

•The Issue

--In 1999, more than 65 percent of all mothers with children under the age of six were part of the work force.

--Day care centers have become the functional equivalent of the nuclear family.

--What is the state’s responsibility for assuring quality day care?

Child Care Around the World

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Social Policy and Socialization

•The Setting

--Finding the right kind of day care is a parenting challenge.

--Researchers have found that high-quality child care centers do not adversely affect the socialization of children.

Child Care Around the World

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Social Policy and Socialization

•The Sociological Insights

--Studies assessing the quality of child care outside of the home reflect the microlevel of analysis favored by interactionists.

--Functionalists study child care from the perspective of macro-level analysis of the family as a social institution.

--The feminist conflict perspective raises questions about the low status and wages of day care workers, most of whom are women.

Child Care Around the World

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Social Policy and Socialization

•Policy Initiatives

--Policies regarding child care outside of the home vary throughout the world.

--When policymakers decide that child care is desirable, they must determine the degree to which taxpayers should subsidize it.

Child Care Around the World