SOC 111 1st EditionExam # 2 Study Guide Chapters 4-5Chapter 4: SocializationSocialization: the lifelong process of social interaction in which the individual acquires a social identity and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are essential for effective participation in a society. (How a person grows up and adapts to live in and be a part of their own society)- Socialization establishes social identity (who am I? occupation, status, gender, married/single; social, awkward, weird, kind, loving, etc.)- Teaches us role taking (Mother, father, teacher, student, boss, employee, child, friend, etc.)o Role: behavior that is expected of a person in a particular social position- Controls our Behavior (in learning our roles, we absorb values and rules about what is important and what isn’t for how we should act in everyday situations. If we follow the rules, we are rewarded, or at least accepted, or punished if we break them.)o Internalization: the process of learning cultural behaviors and expectations so deeply we assume they are correct and accept them without question. o Taught to conform to societal expectations despite personality differences. It doesn’t mean we are programmed robots, but that our choices are shaped and limited by cultural beliefs, values, and norms learned through socialization. - Transmits culture to the next generation (transmitted culture includes language, beliefs, values, norms, and symbols)Socialization is critical for development, without it, many normal/human viewed characteristics never develop. We learn talking, eating with utensils, controlling bowl movements, etc. Nature vs. Nurture: biologist generally focus on hereditary (nature) while social scientists/sociologists focus on learning, socialization, and culture (nurture).Nature: Biological factors, especially the brain, play an important role in development. Studies and tests have been done on children: raising them as male or female when they were born the opposite. Some scientists have studies proving nurture is successful, but for many, nature still plays a key role. - Human development iso Innateo Biological, physiologicalo Due largely to heredityo Fairly fixed- Sociobiology: a theoretical approach that applies biological principles to explain the behavior of animals, including human beings. o Sociobiologists argue evolution and genetics are the cause of many traits such as males are aggressive, but critics reject this because it doesn’t happen this way in every society. With so many societal variations, the critics suggest that cultural norms and practices, and other environmental factors instead of biology or genetics are more represented and reflected in everyday life.Nurture:- Human development is:o Learned o Psychological, social, culturalo Due largely to environmento Fairly changeable - Some research suggests that environment (nurture) influences the genetic makeup (nature) suchas an alcoholic parent can pass on a malfunctioning serotonin transporter gene, causing the children to become an alcoholic, mothers can cause severe birth defects with alcohol consumption, and heavy drinking fathers can also cause birth defects in their offspring.o Physical, psychological, or sexual abuse can affect the developing brain during childhood,which may trigger disorders such as depression in adulthood. Childhood mistreatment can impair biological development.- Margaret Mead: conducted a number of field studies in the Pacific over several tribes. Gender roles were very different in each. In one, both the mother and the father were nurturing and caring, men were cooperative, sensitive, and rarely engaged in warfare. Another, both mother and father were competitive and aggressive, neither showed tenderness towards offspring. And a third was opposite of western society. The women were economic providers, and men took care of the children, would sit and chat with each other, and spent a long time “getting ready” for tribal festivities. Margaret’s conclusion was that attributes that have been considered masculine or feminine are culturally, not biologically, determined.Some argue this Nature vs. Nurture debate is becoming obsolete because socialization processes and outcomes need both to be understood fully. The argument is that ignoring genetics leads to an incomplete understanding of behavior because genes shape our lives and can help to explain why there is so much variation across families and cultures. They say people have at least 52 characteristics that arepartially inherited but can be enhanced or dampened by the social environment.- Example of enhanced genes: adolescents with the gene that regulates levels of dopamine, can have negative affects if the school they attend endorses early sexual activity and if they have low cognitive abilities, such as reasoning and memory. - Example of dampened genes: children who are genetically predisposed to obesity don’t always become overweight because their parents may discourage overeating and provide them with numerous recreational activities.Sociological Explanations of Socialization- Functionalism can provide a foundation for understanding the purpose of socialization, but doesn’t tell us how it works on a micro level. It also doesn’t work because they treat it as a one-way process that people adapt to culture rather than being able to make choices that can changesociety.- Important approaches that examine micro-level factorso Social learning theories: People learn new attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors through social interaction, especially during childhood. This can be direct or indirect learning (through observation and reinforcement.) Social interaction is important in learning appropriate and inappropriate behavior Socialization relies on direct and indirect reinforcement.- Direct Learning: most cases: reward/punishment.- Indirect learning: modeling: imitating other people who are important inour lives. Learning and performing: A child can learn to do something through observation, but they don’t always imitate/perform the behavior. Social learning theorists maintain that we behave in certain ways because of past rewards and punishments, modeling, and observation. Our behavior is then a result of what our society teaches is appropriate and inappropriate.  Criticism for Social Learning Theories: they answer the why for early childhood, but not for later in life. It also doesn’t explain why this works for some