Test Two Reading Notes Chapter 4 Socialization and the Life Cycle Introduction Socialization the social process through which children develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self significant in infancy and childhood but continue throughout life Social reproduction the process of perpetuating norms and social practices through socialization which leads to structural continuity All societies have characteristics that endure over time Socialization connects different generations This chapter explores different theoretical interpretations about child development Culture Society and Child Socialization Unsocialized Children children raised without the influence of adults Examples of the wild boy of Averyron and Genie suggest that there exists an age at which children stop being able to readily learn language and other human skills These children only acquire a minimum level of ordinary human capabilities Our faculties can be limited without an extended period of early socialization Theories of Child Development Most prominent theories about child development emphasize different aspects of socialization G H Mead and the Development of Self Symbolic interaction interactions between humans occur through symbols and interpretation of meanings Emergence of the Self o Children become social beings by imitating the actions of others Especially through play Play evolves to acting out adult roles or taking the role of the other Through this children develop a sense of self or an understanding of themselves as separate agents and see themselves through the eyes of others o We achieve self awareness by distinguishing the me from the I I unsocialized all wants and desires Me social self identity conferred by the reactions of others Self consciousness awareness of one s direct social identity as a person separate from others o Language is an important part of this o Generalized other Individual internalized the general values of a group Learned through organized games because children must understand rules fairness and equal participation Jean Piaget and the Stages of Cognitive Development Cognition the way children learn to think about themselves and their environment Children are active in making sense of their world Select and interpret pieces of their environment Stages of cognitive development obtain new skills and must successfully complete the previous to begin the next o o o Sensorimotor Stage Children s awareness of environment is through perception and touch Learn that environment has distinct and stable properties Preoperational Stage 2 7 years old Children master basic modes of logical thought Learn language and learn to use other symbols Egocentric interpret world only in terms of their own position Lack the understanding of conservation of amounts o Concrete Operational Stage 7 11 years old Master abstract and logical thought o Formal Operational Stage Can handle abstract concepts and hypotheticals Everyone does not reach this stage must go to school to do so Agents of Socialization Agents of socialization Groups or social contexts within which processes of socialization take place Primary socialization o Occurs in infancy and childhood forms the foundation for later socialization o Learn language and behavioral patterns o Carried out by the family Secondary socialization o Late childhood and maturity o Learn values norms and belief of a culture o Carried out by schools peers media organizations Structure of families vary between cultures and within cultures Families determines social position because it effects patterns of socialization Behavior characteristics are picked up from parents and neighborhood o Diversity of socialization agents leads to diversity of outlooks Schooling is formal definite curriculum Schools teach the rules of society punctuality listening to authority figures Peer groups are formed in schools The Family o o Schools o o o o Peer Relationships Peer group a friendship group composed of individuals of similar age and social status Endure through out life o Age Grade in small traditional cultures by which people belonging to a similar age group are categorized together and hold similar rights and obligations Normally confined to males Rites of passage from one age grade to another Children actively create and re create the meaning of gender through their interactions with each other Peer groups influence gender socialization especially in regards to puberty o Mass media forms of communication such as newspapers magazines radio and television designed to reach the o Thorne The Mass Media masses o Gerbner Children s programs show the highest levels of violence especially cartoons o Hodge and Tripp General framework of attitudes within which violence is presented effects behaviors Children responses to TV involve interpreting what they see not just registering the content Children relate TV to other systems of meaning in their lives o According to Provenzo video games are a key part of culture and childhood Distracts children from their school work Improves children s ability to communicate electronically Video game are the first example of computer technology that is having a socializing effect in the next generation o Can call for major adjustments in outlook and behavior Work Social Roles Social roles socially defined expectations of an individual in a given status or social position o Learned through socialization social roles are internalized and carried out o In reality o Identity o Includes behaviors The functionalist view Social roles are unchanging social facts are not negotiated direct an individual s behavior Socialization is a process by which humans exercise agency they are active in assuming social roles Identity The distinctive characteristics of a person s or group s character that relate to who they care about and what is meaningful to them Gender sexual orientation nationality or ethnicity and social class are main sources of identity o Through socialization we develop the capacity for independent thought and action o Unstable and multifaceted Social Identity the characteristics that are attributed to an individual by others o Groups similar people together through shared identities o People have more than one social identity Self identity the ongoing process of self development and definition of our personal identity through which we formulate a unique sense of ourselves and our relationship to the
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