Essentials of Sociology - Module 3: Socialization, Social Structure, and Social Interaction

What were the results of the Skeels/Dye Experiment?

"High intelligence" or human IQ is not necessarily inborn but depends largely on early, close relations with other humans. The longer that children lack stimulating play and interaction, the more difficultly they have intellectually.

What is a primary basis for social inequality?

Gender. As children learn their societies symbols of gender they learn that different behaviors and attitudes are expected of boys and girls. Thus providing a primary basis for giving privileges and obligations to one group of people while denying them to another. (Social Inequality.)

What do studies of isolated children show?

Humans have no natural language.

What are the different types of societies in order of their progressive transformations?

Hunting and Gathering Societies, Pastoral and Horticultural Societies (sparked by the idea that animals and plants could be domesticated), Agricultural Societies (sparked by the invention of the plow), Industrial Societies (Sparked by the industrial revolution which began in Great Britain in 1765 and the invention of the steam engine), Postindustrial/Information Societies (sparked by the invention of the microchip), and emerging Biotech Societies.

How does culture influence emotion?

In the United States, the friends would likely hug each other. In Japan, they would probably bow to each other. In Arab countries, they would most likely kiss. In many societies, men and women in the upper social classes of society tend to be more physically and verbally reserved than men and women in the lower social classes. Across societies, friends tend to greet each other warmly, while business acquaintances tend to remain more reserved with one another.

What is the key to human development?

Language. Without language, there can be no culture, no shared way of life, and culture is the key to what people become. Without language, people have no mechanism for developing thought and communicating their experiences.

What is Re-socialization?

Learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors to match your new situation in life. Most commonly, this occurs each time we learn something contrary to our previous experiences.

What are agents of socialization?

People and groups that influence our orientations to life - our behavior, attitude, emotions, and self-concept. Some key agents are our family, neighborhood, religion, workplace, daycare, school, mass media, and peer groups.

What facets of socialization are typically developed during the historical setting of an individual's older years (ages 66+)?

People begin to have a sharpened awareness of shortening time. This may be combined with potential frailty and illness. Impending death becomes a consideration. (A new stage -transitional older years- is being added in the west to symbolize the time between retirement and older years. -65-75.)

How does gender socialization affect our ssense of self?

(Sorting males and females into different roles) It is a primary means of controlling human behavior. Children receive messages about gender even in infancy. A societies ideals of sex-linked behaviors are reinforced by its social institutions.

What is a feral child?

A child in a since raised by animals; wild; not domesticated.

Who is George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) and how did he contribute to sociology?

A symbolic Interactionist who was known for pointing out the importance of play in learning to take the role of the other (an essential part of learning to be a full-fledged member of society). At first, we are able to take the role only of significant others, as a child does when he or she plays "Mommy" or "Daddy." Later, we develop the capacity to take the role of the generalized other (the group as a whole), which helps develop the skill of extended cooperation and the ability to control antisocial desires and behaviors. He also stressed that since we cannot think without symbols, which are given to us by society through language, both our self and our mind are really social products.

How does the media train boys and girls to behave in certain ways that are specific to their gender?

Advertising, Movies and Television, Video Games, and Anime. (These not only perpetuate and reflect gender stereotypes but also play a role in changing them.) However, parents usually begin this process by unconsciously rewarding girls for passive behavior and rewarding boys for being independent and active.

What is the difference between ascribed status and achived statuses?

An ascribed status is involuntary. You inherit these at birth. (ex. race-ethnicity, sex, the social class of your parents, daughter or son, niece or nephew etc). Achieved statuses can be positive, (friend, spouse), or negative, (school dropout, debarred lawyer), and earned or accomplished based on personal effort or lack thereof. People often use status symbols as indicators of their social status (ex. wedding rings, uniforms).

What is a degradation ceremony?

An attempt to remake the self by stripping away the individual's current identity and stamping a new one in its place (often in a humiliating and semi-public setting -such as when entering a prison).

According to Sigmund Freud, what are the three elements of personality?

An id (inborn drive seeking self gratification and pleasure immediately), an ego (the balancing force between id and the demands of society that suppress it) and the superego or conscience (internalized values/culture within us- the moral component).

What are the six major emotions?

Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness, and Surprise.

What is the sociological significance of transforming societies?

As a society is transformed, it sweeps us along with it. The transformation we are experiencing is so fundamental that it will change even the ways we think about the self and life. Society establishes the prevailing behaviors and beliefs and also determines the type and extent of social inequality.

What facets of socialization are typically developed during the historical setting of an individual's adolescence (ages 13-17)?

Because adolescence is a social invention not a "natural" age division, Adolescents face difficult issues as they try to understand who they truly are and identify their place in society. They sometimes develop their own standards of clothing, hairstyles, language, music, and other markers of identity.

What facets of socialization are typically developed during the historical setting in an individual's life of childhood (ages 0-12)?

Children are guided toward physical, emotional, and social development by their parents, who also ensure protection, comfort, and care. (social factors are the most significant in determining this life stage.)

What is a total institution?

Coined by Erving Goffman (1961), this term refers to a place where people are cut off from the rest of society and in which the come under almost total control of the officials who are in charge. (ex. boot camps, prisons, convents, etc.)

What are the major componants of social structure?

Culture, social class, social status, roles, groups, and social institutions.

What is meant by the term "life course" and what are the key social factors that shapes our lives and behaviors?

Different stages in your life from birth to death. Our life experiences as shaped by: The time period in which we live, Our social location and neighborhood, Our social class, gender, and race.

What facets of socialization are typically developed during the historical setting of an individual's transitional adulthood/young adulthood (ages 18-29)?

During young adulthood, self-identity becomes more stable; this is often a period of high optimism. Keniston categorizes this life stage as a time where people are neither psychological adolescents nor sociological adults." (Recognized as a separate stage mainly in the West)

How are neighborhoods agents of socialization? (81)

Establish socioeconomic status and community. Some neighborhoods are better for children than others, depending on safety, cleanliness, and available recreation. Undesirable neighborhoods could lead to children dropping out of school, legal problems, and even mental health problems.

What is the universal way to express emotions?

Facial expressions.

How is the family an agent of socialization?

Families lay down the basic sense of self, motivation, values, and beliefs. (Based on Parents outlook, type of job, and income levels.)

What is Ethnomethodology?

Founded by Harold Garfinkel. Ethno- means folk or people; method- means how people do something; ology- means the study of. Thus, Ethnomethodology means the study of how people do things. Specifically, how people use background assumptions (a deeply embedded common understanding of how the world operates and how people ought to act/commonsense understandings) to make sense of life.

How do Functionalists and Conflict Theorists percieve social institutions?

Functionalists perceive social institutions as meeting universal group needs, or functional requisites. Conflict Theorists stress how society's elites use social institutions to maintain their privileged positions.

How does sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies explain how societies create social integration and are held together?

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. Gemeinschaft = intimate community and describes village life in which everyone knows everyone else and society is characterized by personal ties, and lifelong friends. Gesellschaft = impersonal/formal association and means that our lives are no longer centered on personal relations but anonymous association built around impersonal, short-term contracts.

How is the workplace an agent of socialization?

Going to work involves anticipatory socialization. Social interactions are tuned to be acceptable and in line with the culture of an organization. (Coworkers, school, college)

How does Sigmund's emphasis on socialization deny the central principle of sociology?

He argues that inborn and subconscious motivations are the primary reasons for human behavior rather than factors such as social class, race, gender, religion, education, and people's roles in groups.

What facets of socialization are typically developed during the historical setting of an individual's latter middle years (ages 50-65)?

Health issues and mortality being to loom large. People take a different view of life during this period. Individuals frequently feel dissatisfied with their lives and try to reevaluate what they should be doing. (They reorient their thinking from the time since birth to the time left to live.)

On what is social class based?

Income, education, and occupational prestige.

What are the 4 distance zones observed by North Americans?

Intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, and public distance.

What does the sociological term dramaturgy mean?

Introduced by Erving Goffman, the term means that social life is like a drama or stage play: Birth ushers us onto the stage of everyday life, and our socialization consists of learning to perform on that stage.

What is a status set?

It refers to all the statuses or positions that you occupy simultaneously. Although a master status cuts across or overshadows your other statuses (your gender or a disability is an example of this).

What is Anticipatory Socialization?

Learning to play a role before entering it. (A mental rehearsal for some future activity.)

What is Macrosociology?

Macrosociology focuses on broad, or large-scale, patterns in society (for example, economy and social classes). Functional Analysts and Conflict Theorists perform macrolevel sociology.

How does sociologist Emile Durkheim explain how societies create social integration and are held together?

Mechanical and Organic Solidarity. Mechanical Solidarity means that people who perform similar tasks develop a shared consciousness (they have similar views and feelings about life). On the otherhand, influenced by division of labor which occurs as societies grow, Organic Solidarity means that people depend on each other for the specific work that each one contributes to the whole group. (based on interdependence.)

What is Microsociology?

Microsociology focuses on social interaction (what people do when they come together) and individual relationships. Symbolic Interactionists are associated with microlevel sociology.

What facets of socialization are typically developed during the historical setting of an individual's middle years (ages 30-65)?

Middle-aged adults are often sure of what they want and desire to work toward those goals; however, they tend to face challenges at this point in life, such as divorce, job layoffs, and debt, that may keep them from their goals. This is one of the most trying periods.

Which two aspects affect a persons characteristics?

Nature (heredity/genetics) and Nurture (The social environment, contact with others).

What is Impression Management?

Our efforts to manage the impressions others receive of us. Much success in the work world depends not on what you know but on your ability to give the impression that you know what you should know.

How is religion an agent of socialization?

Religion influences morality, dress, manners, beliefs, and speech. Church has been an especially powerful element of social change especially for African Americans.

What is the difference between role conclift and role strain?

Role conflict occurs between roles (such as when what is expected of us in one status is incompatible with what is expected of us in another status), while role strain is conflict within a role (where the same status contains incompatible roles).

How are schools and peer groups agents of socialization?

Schools serve several functions, the most important being teaching skills and values. Schools help children understand the common rules in society that apply to everyone, and that these rules should be followed. Schools expose children to peer groups. Peer groups are the most powerful socializing force.

Who discovered psychoanalysis and what is it?

Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s. It is a technique for treating emotional problems through long-term exploration of the subconscious mind.

What is the sociological significane of social structure?

Social structure guides our behavior and tends to override personal feelings and desires. The differences in people's behavior and attitudes are not due to biology (race, gender, or other genetic factors) but to people's location in the social structure. (whether they be privileged, deprived, or in between.)

What are the three stages of learning to take the role of the other?

Stage 1: Imitation (children under age 3) No sense of self. Imitate and mimic others. Stage 2: Play (Ages 3-6) Play "pretend" others (princess, Spider-Man etc) Stage 3: Team Games (after about ages 6 or 7) Organized play, learning to taking multiple roles.

What is the difference between status and prestige in sociology?

Status simply refers to the position that someone occupies. That position may carry a great deal of prestige, like an astronaut or judge, or it may not, as in the case of a store clerk or truck stop waitress. Our statuses come with built in norms/expectations that guide our behavior.

Who coined the term "looking-glass self" and what does it mean?

Symbolic interactionist, Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929). You behave a certain way, other's react to that behavior, you then imagine how you are perceived, interpreting the reactions of others around you, resulting in either a positive or negative self-concept. (This is the Social Mirror.) Although the self-concept begins in childhood, its development is an ongoing lifelong process. [They imagine how they are perceived, think about how that perception must be judged, and conform themselves to those judgments.]

What are some ways mass media powerfully effects society in shaping our thoughts and social interactions?

Television, Movies, Video games, Music groups and bands, Entertainment, Media coverage, and Personal devices, such as smartphones.

What are the four stages of development in reasoning/reasoning skills/operational according to Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980)?

The Sensorimotor stage (where our understanding is limited to sensory stimuli such as touch and sight), The Preoperational stage (where we develop the ability to use symbols), The Concrete Operational stage (where our reasoning is more developed but concrete -unless we have concrete examples we are unable to talk about concepts such as truth, honesty, or justice), and the Formal Operational stage (where we are capable of abstract thinking) [Basically, children world-wide begin with the concrete and move to the abstract.]

How are daycares agents of socialization?

The effects of daycare depend on the quality of care given and the child's background. Children living in poverty and coming from dysfunctional families benefit from daycare and exposure to group learning activities. Children in quality daycare have better socialization skills. On the other hand, some feel that daycare can weaken the bond between the caretaking parent and the child.

What are the major social institutions?

The family, religion, education, the economy, medicine, politics, law, science, the military, and the mass media. A social institution is the standard or usual ways that a society meets its basic needs.

What did Harry and Margarer Harlow demonstrate about human nature in their experiments with Rhesus monkeys?

The importance of early learning and the fact that infant-mother bonding is not the result of feeding but rather "intimate physical contact" or cuddling.

What is socialization?

The process, through human contact and connection, by which we learn the ways of society (or of particular groups). From our interactions with others we learn how to think, reason, and feel. The net result is the shaping of our behavior -including our thinking and emotions- according to the cultural standard. (Society within us.)

What is the Thomas Theorem?

The social construction of reality, or the definition of the situation . People act one way or another based on what they believe to be real (subjective interpretation) not what objectively exists.

What are "feeling rules"?

Ways to express emotion guided by gender, culture, social class, and relationships.

How do social class and occupational differences play a role in child rearing?

Working-class parents may be more concerned about their child's conformity to social expectations, as following rules is an important value for the working-class culture. Middle-class parents may be more focused on the motivation for behavior than the behavior itself, as independent thinking is a strong value in that class.

What is the difference between role and status?

You occupy a status but you play a role. Roles are the behaviors, obligations and privileges attaches to a status. Roles lay out what is expected of people.