SOCI 101 Chapter 4 Socialization

Status

a position in a social hierarchy that comes with a set of exceptions -Ex: professors, president, etc

saturated self

a postmodern idea that the self is now developed by multiple influences chosen from a wide range of media sources

achieved status

a status earned through individual effort or imposed by others -Ex: such as occupation, hobby, or skill (through ones efforts) or criminal identity, mental illness, or drug addiction (acquired in some way)

embodied status

a status generated by physical characteristics -Ex: such as beauty or disability

master status

a status that is always relevant and affects all other statuses we possess

ascribed status

a status that is inborn; usually difficult or impossible to change -Ex: gender or race

Definition of the situation

an agreement with others about "what is going on" in a given circumstance; this consensus allows us to coordinate our actions with those of others and realize goals

Dramaturgy

an approach pioneered by Erving Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of its similarities to theatrical performance

Cooling the mark out

behaviors that help others to save face or avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact -Ex: when the professor mixes up two related concepts in a lecture, for example, you let it pass because you know what she really mean to say Or even worse, you overlook the spinach between your professors teeth until it can be called to his attention privately

Thomas Theorem

classic formulation of the way individuals determine reality, whereby "if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences" -in other words, because we encounter ambiguous situations ever day, many meanings are possible. The way we define each situation, then becomes its reality

Id

composed of biological drives, is the source of instinctive, psychic energy. Its main goal is to achieve pleasure and to avoid pain in all situations, which makes the id a selfish and unrealistic part of the mind -Ex: although you know that hard work and dedication are necessary for your advancement, the id may urge you to slack off instead, maybe have a few (or even many) drinks to help you deal with all that workplace stress

role taking emotions

emotions such as sympathy, embarrassment, or shame that require that we assume the perspective of another person or group and respond accordingly -Ex: when a friend is injured in an accident, you know she is feeling pain, so you feel sympathy for her

role strain

experienced when there are contradictory expectations within one role

role conflict

experienced when we occupy two or more roles with contradictory expectations

Expressions given

expressions that are intentional and usually verbal, such as utterances

copresence

face-to-face interaction or being in the presence of others

psychosexual stages of development

four distinct stages of the development of the self between birth and adulthood, according to Freud; personality quirks are a result of being fixated, or stuck, at any stage

Feral children

in myths and rare real-world cases, children who have had little human contact and may have lived in social isolation from a young age -they exhibit almost none of the learned behaviors that characterize human beings

Front

in the dramaturgical perspective, the setting or scene of performances that helps establish the definition of the situation -Ex: like a classroom for teaching or a bar for drinking

Total institutions

institutions in which individuals are cut off from the rest of society so that they can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping away previous roles and identities in order to create new ones -Ex: prisons, mental hospitals, cults, etc

Superego

is composed of two components: the conscience and the ego-ideal. The conscience serves to keep us from engaging in socially undesirable behavior, and the ego-ideal upholds our vision of who we believe we should ideally be The superego develops as a result of parental guidance, particularly in the form of the rewards and punishments we receive as children. It inhibits the urges of the id and encourages the ego to find morally acceptable forms of behavior. So the superego helps suppress the urge to kill your competitor and keeps you working toward getting that raise in socially acceptable ways.

Ego

is the part that deals with the real world. It operates on the basis of reason and helps to mediate and integrate the demands of both the id and the superego. So the ego is the part of the self that says, "Okay, this time the other guy got the job, but if I keep trying, I'm bound to get that promotion eventually."

stereotyping

judging others based on preconceived generalizations about groups or categories of people

feeling rules

norms regarding the expression and display of emotions; expectations about the acceptable or desirable feelings in a given situation -Ex: boys don't cry or no laughing at funerals

Expressions given off

observable expressions that can be either intended or unintended and are usually nonverbal -Ex: eye roll or nods; facial expressions, mannerisms, body language, etc

Expressions of behavior

small actions such as an eye roll or head nod that serve as an interactional tool to help project our definition of the situation to others

Agents of socialization

social groups, institutions, and individuals (especially the family, schools, peers, and the mass media) that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place -four most predominant agents of socialization: the family, schools, peers, and the media

agency

the ability of the individual to act freely and independently

Region

the context in which the performance takes place, including location, decor, and props -Ex: you may carry a briefcase into a bar, but its probably not a good idea to carry a bottle of bear into the classroom

impression management

the effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they form a desired view of us and the situation; the use of self presentation and performance tactics

Preparatory stage

the first stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children mimic or imitate others (making faces, etc) without fully understanding the meaning of their behavior

Dual nature of the self

the idea that we experience the self as both subject and object, the "I" and the "me" -we refer to "I" as the subject component the experience of a spontaneous, active, and creative part of ourselves, somewhat less socialized -we refer to "me" as the object component the experience of a norm-abiding, conforming part of ourselves, more socialized and therefore reliant on others

Self

the individual's conscious, reflexive experience of a personal identity separate and distinct from other individuals

looking-glass self

the notion that the self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us -Cooley believed that we all act like mirrors to each other, reflecting back to one another an image of ourselves

Nature vs Nuture debate

the ongoing discussion of the respective roles of genetics and socialization in determining individual behaviors and traits -Those taking the nature side- individuals argue that behavioral traits can be explained by genetics -Those taking the nurture side- individuals argue that human behavior is learned and shaped through social interaction

Personal front

the performance tactics we use to present ourselves to others, including appearance, costume, and manner

Generalized other

the perspectives and expectations of a network of others (or of society in general) that a child learns and then takes into account when shaping his or her own behavior

particular or significant other

the perspectives and expectations of a particular role that a child learns and internalizes -As children learn the behavior associated with being a mother or doctor, they internalize the exceptions of those particular others and begin to gain new perspectives in addition to their own. -Such play also serves the purpose of anticipatory socialization for the real-life roles a child might play in the future

frontstage

the places in which we deliver our performances to an audience of others

backstage

the places in which we rehearse and prepare for our performances

social construction

the process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists -The self is something that is created or invented in interaction with others who also participate in agreeing to the reality or meaning of that self as it is being presented in the situation

Socialization

the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society

emotion work

the process of evoking, suppressing, or otherwise managing feelings to create a publicly observable display of emotion

role exit

the process of leaving a role that we will no longer occupy

Resocialization

the process of replacing previously learned norms and values with new ones as a part of a transition in life

play stage

the second stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children pretend to play the role of the particular or significant other -Ex: pretending to play the role mommy, firefighter, princess, etc.

role

the set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status

game stage

the third stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children play organized games and take on the perspective of the generalized other

hidden curriculum

values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling -Ex: in school taught punctuality, neatness, discipline, hard work, competition, and obedience, and even ideologies like racial and gender hegemony