Chapter 5.3 Sociology

Peer groups

~ A peer group is made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests. ~ Peer group socialization begins in the earliest years, such as when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about taking turns, the rules of a game, or how to shoot a basket. ~ As children grow into teenagers, this process continues. ~ Peer groups are important to adolescents in a new way, as they begin to develop an identity separate from their parents and exert independence. ~ Peer groups provide their own opportunities for socialization since kids usually engage in different types of activities with their peers than they do with their families. ~ Peer groups provide adolescents' first major socialization experience outside the realm of their families. ~ Interestingly, studies have shown that although friendships rank high in adolescents' priorities, this is balanced by parental influence.

Family

~ Family is the first agent of socialization. ~ Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. ~ Sociologists recognize that race, social class, religion, and other societal factors play an important role in socialization. ~ For example, poor families usually emphasize obedience and conformity when raising their children, while wealthy families emphasize judgment and creativity. ~ This means children are effectively socialized and raised to take the types of jobs their parents already have, thus reproducing the class system ~ Likewise, children are socialized to abide by gender norms, perceptions of race, and class-related behaviors.

Mass Media

~ Mass media distribute impersonal information to a wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. ~ With the average person spending over four hours a day in front of the television (and children averaging even more screen time), media greatly influences social norms. ~ People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and transportation options), as well as nonmaterial culture—what is true (beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms).

Schools

~ Most U.S. children spend about seven hours a day, 180 days a year, in school, which makes it hard to deny the importance school has on their socialization. ~ Students are not in school only to study math, reading, science, and other subjects—the manifest function of this system. ~ Schools also serve a latent function in society by socializing children into behaviors like practicing teamwork, following a schedule, and using textbooks.

Social groups

~ Social groups often provide the first experiences of socialization. ~ Families, and later peer groups, communicate expectations and reinforce norms. ~ People first learn to use the tangible objects of material culture in these settings, as well as being introduced to the beliefs and values of society

Hidden curriculum

~ The informal teaching done in schools that socializes children to societal norms. ~ For example, in the United States, schools have built a sense of competition into the way grades are awarded and the way teachers evaluate students. ~ When children participate in a relay race or a math contest, they learn there are winners and losers in society. ~ When children are required to work together on a project, they practice teamwork with other people in cooperative situations. ~ The hidden curriculum prepares children for the adult world. ~ Children learn how to deal with bureaucracy, rules, expectations, waiting their turn, and sitting still for hours during the day. ~ Schools in different cultures socialize children differently in order to prepare them to function well in those cultures. ~ The latent functions of teamwork and dealing with bureaucracy are features of U.S. culture.

Institutional Agents

~ The social institutions of our culture also inform our socialization. ~ Formal institutions—like schools, workplaces, and the government—teach people how to behave in and navigate these systems. ~ Other institutions, like the media, contribute to socialization by inundating us with messages about norms and expectations.