UNDERSTANDINGSOCIALIZATIONSocialization is a complex, lifelong process. The following slides highlight the work of six researchers who made lasting contributions to our understanding of human development.

Sigmund Freud 1856 – 1939 Vienna, Austria Lived during a time

when most Europeans believed human behavior was based on biology/ was “biologically fixed”

Trained as a physician Studied personality

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Freud’s Model of Personality Merged mankind’s basic needs with the

influence of society….*different/ unique as it considered the role of / impact of society rather than just biology/ biological factors

Identified 3 components Id Ego Superego

ID Represents the human’s basic drives which

are unconscious and demand immediate satisfaction

Is present at birth: making the newborn a “bundle of demands” (feed me, burp me, change me, where’s my binky? etc.)

Noteworthy: society opposes the self-centered “id” – which is why one of the first words a child learns is no!

EGO A person’s conscious efforts to balance innate

pleasure seeking drives with the demands of society.

Is a learned status that one matures / develops into… “You can’t always get your way!” “The world doesn’t revolve around you!”

SUPEREGO The cultural values and norms internalized by

an individual. Acts as our conscience, telling us why we

can’t have everything we want. Provides a moral sense of right and wrong Forces people to look beyond themselves by

repressing selfish demandsIs in constant conflict with the id*

Sublimation Freud’s term for the compromise that results

between the competing demands of self of society

Redirects selfish drives into socially acceptable behavior. Sexual urges may lead to marriage Aggression may give rise to competitive sports

Mike Tyson & Boxing, remember him?

Sociologists applaud Freud… While a psychologist, Freud’s recognition of

the impact of childhood experiences on our personalities is fundamental sociological fact!

Jean Piaget 1896 – 1980 Swiss psychologist Studied cognition

“how people think” Personal Passion: to

discover not what you knows but instead how you know it: the acquisition of knowledge

Jean Piaget: Cognitive Development Identified four stages of cognitive

development Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete Operational Formal Operational

The First Stage Sensorimotor: level of human development at which

individuals experience the world only through their senses. Birth to two years of age Infant knows the world only through the five senses:

touching, tasting, smelling, looking, listening “Knowing to children” = direct, sensory experience Examples: “Choking Hazard Toys”

Why? => sensorimotor stage

Second Stage Preoperational: the level of human development at

which individuals first use language and other symbols. Lacks abstract concepts Preop kids cannot judge size, weight, or volume

The famous glass experiment Today is Friday. => No, it’s my birthday. He’s not a hero. => He’s a fireman.

Begins at approximately 2 years of age to about 6 years

Third Stage Concrete Operational: the level of human

development at which individuals first perceive causal connections in their surroundings. Can attach more than one symbol to a particular

event or object Today is Friday. => Yes, and it is my birthday, too!

Ages 7 – 11

Fourth Stage Formal Operational: level of human

development at which individuals think abstractly and critically Can fully embrace symbolism Understands metaphors:

“a penny for your thoughts” “hold your tongue” other examples?

Begins around the age of 12…

How’d you do? Cold as ice… Flat as a pancake… (It’s a) piece of cake… It’s raining cats and dogs… Take a walk in my shoes… / you’ve got big

shoes to fill… Protect the family jewels…

Summary of Piaget… DIFFERED WITH FREUD:

While Freud saw biology and culture (society) as antagonistic to the human experience, Piaget saw the human mind as both active and creative thereby able to evolve over time and with experience.

These stages of development result due to both biological maturation AND social experience.

(a complimentary, not antagonistic, co-existance) Interestingly, perhaps as many as 30% of people

never reach the formal operational stage….

FROM PIAGET TO KOHLBERG A study of what is it is to be human: “the moral mind” What about morality?

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG: MORAL DEVELOPMENT

HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY PIAGET BUILT ON PIAGET’S WORK IN

STUDYING MORAL REASONING, THE WAYS IN WHICH INVIDUALS JUDGE SITUATIONS AS RIGHT OR WRONG

CONCLUDED THAT MORAL REASONING, LIKE COGNITION, DEVELOPED IN STAGES…

MORAL REASONING THE FIRST STAGE: PRECONVENTIONAL

COINCIDES WITH PIAGET’S SENSORIMOTOR STAGE - BIRTH TO 2 YRS.

“RIGHTNESS” = “WHAT FEELS GOOD TO ME” “WHAT I WANT” “THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND ME” “IT’S RIGHT CAUSE I WANT IT TO BE RIGHT.”

MORAL REASONING The Second Stage: CONVENTIONAL

Coincides with Piaget’s final, FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE – TEENAGE YRS. +

Understands, has been socialized, to understand parental expectations/ sense of right and wrong as well as overall societal expectations regarding morality

Children want to follow rules in order to get approval.

MORAL REASONING The third & final stage: POSTCONVENTIONAL

WHERE SCENARIOS ARE ANALYZED SUCH AS “WHAT IS LEGAL MAY NOT BE RIGHT…”

HIGHER LEVEL THINKING APPLIED TO ISSUES OF MORALITY – NOT what society/ mom & dad teaches but what you think!

THE INDIVIDUAL IS MORE FLEXIBLE & THINKS IN TERMS OF WHAT’S PERSONALLY IMPORTANT TO THEM – only a small proportion reach this final stage

Summary of Kohlberg Like Piaget, development occurs in distinct stages Many people apparently never reach the postconventional

(highest-level) of moral reasoning.

A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH KOHLBERG’S WORK: A RESEARCH ERROR OF ONLY STUDYING BOYS & THEN GENERALIZING THE RESULTS OF MALE SUBJECTS TO ALL PEOPLE. A MAJOR NO – NO!

HOW ONE MAN’S ERROR FED ONE WOMAN’S CURIOUSITY THEREBY TRIGGERING A PASSION FOR GENDER STUDY…. THE KOHLBERG – GILLIGAN

CONNECTION

CAROL GILLIGAN: UP CLOSE

AN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

HER WORK EXPOSED THE GENDER BIAS OF KOHLBERG’S RESEARCH AND OTHERS WHO ONLY CONSIDERED BOYS

A PIONEER IN RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDER IN RESEARCH….. (PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT JUST A SOCIOLOGY – RESEARCH – ONLY CONCERN…. BIG PROBLEMS ABOUND REGARDING MEDICAL STUDIES AS WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

GILLIGAN: By ignoring gender, we end up with an incomplete view of human behavior. Compared the moral development of girls &

boys and concluded that the two sexes use different strategies in making moral decisions. (1982, 1990) Claims that males have a justice perspective,

relying on formal rules to define right and wrong. Claims that females have a care and

responsibility perspective, judging a situation with an eye toward personal relationships.

Carol Gilligan: the gender factor Differing perspectives regarding morality:

the stealing scenario Boys: stealing is wrong because it breaks the law.

Illegal = wrongness Girls: stealing might be wrong – tended to inquire

why someone would steal and to be sympathetic who steals to feed a hungry child or other similar situation

Carol Gilligan: the effect of gender on self-esteem Research team interviewed more than 2,000 girls,

ages 6 – 18, over a five year period. Pattern appeared:

Young girls start out eager and confident, but their self-esteem erodes through adolescence. Eager to please – lots of role models w/ elementary teachers

( How about it? Who was your kindergarten teacher, first grade, second grade, third grade, etc.?)

Teenage years: self-doubt, more male authority figures, image issues, “drama” & “mean girls”

Eventual come-back in adulthood: “You’re not really a woman until you are 40.” Oprah Winfrey

A GILLIGAN TIME-OUT! WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How does Gilligan’s research show the importance of gender in understanding society?

How does her work show that socialization may NOT be a direct and linear progression?

Do you think that boys are subject to some of the same pressures and difficulties as girls? How?

Gilligan: A Summary Sharpens our understanding of human development

AND gender issues What accounts for the differences she documents

between males and females? Nature or nurture? According to Gilligan, it’s nurture!

Cultural conditioning is at work. As women continue to pervade the workplace, the moral

reasoning of women and men will become increasingly similar.

George Herbert Mead: The Social Self

Mead (1863 – 1931) Developed the theory of SOCIAL

BEHAVIORISM to explain how social experience creates individual personality/ thinking process.

George Herbert Mead It is said that Mead’s genius was in seeing the self as

the product of social experience. The Self

The part of an individual’s personality composed of self-awareness and self-image.

Develops with social experience. Is NOT part of the body. Does NOT exist at birth. Develops only as the individual interacts with others.

The Self (con’t.) Social interaction is key!

Supported by social isolation cases Genie’s body grew but there was no “self” / no

personality at the time of her discovery… Social interaction involves seeing ourselves

as others see us – a process called taking the role of the other…

The Looking Glass Self A self-image based on how we think others

see us! “I am not who I think I am. I am not who you

think I am. I am what I think you think I am!”