Sociology: Chapter 4

What is the primary unit of socialization?

the family

dramaturgical theory

Advance by erving Goffman: the view of social life as essentially a theatrical performance, in which we are all actors on metaphorical stages, with roles, scripts, costumes and sets.

total institutions

An institution that controls all the basics of day-to-day life; no barriers exist between the usual spheres of daily life, and all activity occurs in the same place and under the same single authority.

generalized other

An internalized sense of the total expectations of others in a variety of settings - regardless of whether we've encountered those people or places before; with this we should be able to function with complete strangers in a variety of social settings.

In a study by _______________ ______________, she spent times in both black and white households with children about 10 years old.

Annertte Lareau

Gender roles: In highschool boys called fags if they were too emotional, dance, care about your clothing.

Became not about same sex interest but masculinity issue.

Charles Horton Cooley

Developed the first full theory of the social self; coined the term the looking glass self.

Not only families but larger social systems interact with boys and girls very differently and socialize them into different roles.

Example: playing house will be displayed in boxes with images of little girls pushing and pulling pink irons and vacuum cleaners - Toy stoves, girls cooking - Baby dolls wrapped in box with girls carrying them - Tool sets, workbenches and toys related to outdoor activities will have boy images

Turing Test

Famous test in computer science field of artificial intelligence. - A subject is asked to have two parallel conversations - If the subject cant reliably distinguish the computer from the living human than the computer has passed the Turing Test - No computer has yet passed

The potential ________________ of the internet allows us to present ourselves however we choose (chatrooms).

anonymity

example of role conflict

teacher with bags under eyes not because of grading or anything teacher like but dog ate her daughters biology project and she had to stay up all night with her to redo it

what is the goal of dramaturgical theory?

- "impression management" --> All of us actors are trying to make a good impression on our audience --> We also work to ensure that others will believe they are making a good impression as well

working class families

- Focus on the "accomplishment of natural growth" - They give their children room and resources to develop but leave it up o the kids to decide how they want to structure their free time - Low income parents use because I said so

Socialization is very prominent in school

- Learn to raise your hand - Learned not to speak when teacher was talking - And what punishments would be - By college don't have to be told things because you have already internalized the rules that govern situations

ethnomethodology

- Literally "the methods of the people" this approach to studying human interaction focuses on the ways in which we make sense of our world, convey this understanding to others, and produce a shared social order - Garfinkel and followers were famous for "breaching experiments" --> He would send his students into the social orld to see what happened when they breached social norms

middle class families

- More likely to engage in "concerted cultivation" - They structure their children's leisure time with formal activities like soccer leagues and piano lessons - And reason with them over decision in an effort to foster their kids' talents - They are more likely to explain to children why they cant do something

peers (as an agent of socialization)

- Once we reach school age, peers become an important part of our lives and function as agents of socialization - Peer pressure to try drugs alcohol ----> Even when were are being deviant, we often do so in company (even by suggestion of others

school (as an agent of socialization)

- One of teachers main goals is to properly socialize you - Teaching you to share, take turns, resolve conflict with words, be quiet when necessary and speak when appropriate

master status

- One status within a set that stands out of overrides all others - Key is that people tend to interact with you on the basis of that status alone - e.g.: lesbian, unemployed

media (as an agent of socialization)

- Serves as a socializing agent - Sesame street was created with the intent of providing educational programming for low-income children who didn't have the same opportunities for day care and preschool as their wealthier peers

According to Charles Horton Cooley in his book "Human Nature and Social Order:

- The self emerges from our ability to assume the point of view of others and thereby imagine how they see us - We then test this theory of how we are perceived by gauging others' reactions and revise our theory by fine-tuning our "self-concept"

example of "other"

- boy wants cookie girl been in 6 hour car ride and hasn't pissed ----> Joey has not developed sense of other so describing this to a 2 year old will not work he only knows his "self" wants a cookie

Five general conclusions reached in the case of Anna who was found in an attic malnourished and looked to be about the age of 5:

1. Her inability to develop past an "idiot level of mentality.. is largely the result of social isolation 2. "it seems almost impossible for any child to learn to speak, think and act like a normal person after a long period of isolation" 3. When she is compared with other cases of isolated children, the similarities "seem to indicate hat the stages of socialization are to some extent necessarily related to the stages of organic development" 4. "Anna's history...seems to demonstartate that human nature is determined by the childs communicative social contacts as much as by his organic equipment and that the system of communicative symbols is a highly complex business acquired early in life as the result of long and intimate training" 5. Theories of socialization are neither right or wrong in this case, "but simply inapplicable"

three basic tenets of symbolic interactionism

1. Human beings act toward ideas, concepts and values on the basis of the meaning that those things have for them 2. these meanings are the products of social interaction in human society 3. these meanings are modified and filtered through an interpretive process that each individual uses in dealing with outward signs ex) cheers in European cultures must look eachother in the eye if not impolite

Agents of socialization

1. families 2. school 3. peers 4. media

symbolic interactionism

A micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations and assumptions form basic motivations behind people's actions.

status

A recognizable social position that an individual occupies.

example of a total institution

Marines must be resocialized to learn it is okay to kill.

I

One's sense of agency, action or power.

Civic inattention

Refraining from directly interacting with someone, even someone you know until an opening bracket has been issued.

gener roles

Sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one's status as male or female.

Other

Someone or something outside of oneself.

role

The duties and behaviors expected of someone who holds a particular status.

face (according to Goffman)

The esteem in which an individual is held by others.

role strain

The incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status.

self

The individual identity of a person as perceived by that same person.

socialization

The process by which you learn how to become a functioning member of society; the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a society and learn to function as its members.

Me

The self as perceived as an object by the "I"; the self as one imagines others perceive one. - They learn the me, that is, the self as a distinct object to be perceived by others.

Opening

The signal the start of an encounter.

achieved status

The status into which one enters; voluntary status (e.g.: juggler, drug dealer, peace activist).

ascribed status

The status into which one is born; involuntary status (e.g.: race, sex, age).

role conflict

The tension caused by competing demands between two or more roles pertaining to different statuses.

adult socialization

The way we are socialized as adults.

When things don't go according to plan depending on the severity, nature and context of deviation, we must find some way to recover, and recover we usually do. - Example:

WWE wrestler fell to his death and program continued

example of the "generalized other":

You know not to pick your nose if you saw an order woman picking her nose you may look at her with disapproval because she is breaking an established social norm.

status set

all the statuses one holds simultaneously

example of resocilization

live in a new country gotta learn a new language and new ways of eating talking etc..

90% of school shootings have been subject to:

homophobic harassment and teasing

Internet is forcing us to dvelop new technologies to prevent:

identity theft and create secure online transactions for shopping and banking.

Important components of childhood development:

imitation, play and games

We are largely shaped by __________________.

interaction

Goffman argued that:

life is essentially a play with a moral

In nature vs nurture debate, sociologists have fallen firmly on the side of _____________.

nurture

Infants only know "I" through ___________ _________________.

social interaction

Without ____________ the human part of human nature would not develop.

society

resocilization

the most drastic form of adult socialization; the process by which one's sense of social values, beliefs and norms are reengineered, often deliberately through an intense social process hat may take place in a total institution

socialization is useful in:

understanding how people become functioning members of society.