Socialization and the Life Course

Chapter 4

Socialization

• Lifelong social experiences by which individuals develop their human potential and learn culture

• Personality – a person’s fairly consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting

• Self – a dimension of personality composed of an individual’s self-awareness and self-image

Hardwiring

Cultural Transmission

Enculturation

Personality

Social Environment:The Impact of Isolation

• Interaction of heredity and environment shape human development– Isabelle and Genie– Primate Studies

Figure 13-1: Genie’s Sketch

Source: Curtiss 1977:274.

Sigmund Freud’s Personality Model

• Id – the human being’s basic drives

• Ego – a person’s conscious efforts to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives with the demands of society

• Superego – the operation of culture within the individual

George Herbert Mead

• Stages of self

• 1st stage – Preparatory stage – children imitate people around them

• 2nd stage – Play stage- role taking – mentally assuming the perspective of another

• 3rd stage – Game stage- can consider tasks and relationships simultaneously

Charles Horton Cooley

• Looking glass self – we learn who we are by interacting with others

• Imagine how we are presenting ourselves• Imagine how people are evaluating us• Form opinions about ourselves based on our

perceptions

Jean Piaget – Stages of Cognitive Development

• 1st stage – sensorimotor – level of human development in which individuals experience the world only through sensory contact

• 2nd stage – preoperational – individuals first use language and other symbols

Jean Piaget – Stages of Cognitive Development

• Stage 3 – concrete operational – individuals first perceive causal connections in their surroundings

• Stage 4 – formal operational – individuals think abstractly and critically

Mead: Theory of the Self

• Self begins as privileged, central position in a person’s world

• As the person matures, the self changes and begins to reflect greater concern about reactions of others

• Significant others: Individuals most important in the development of the self

Goffman: Presentation of the Self

• Impression management: Individual learns to slant presentation of self to create distinctive appearances and satisfy particular audiences– Also known as dramaturgical approach– Face-work: Need to maintain proper

image of self to continue social interaction

Erik Erikson

• 8 stages of development• Stage 1 – Infancy – trust vs. distrust• Stage 2 - Toddlerhood – autonomy vs. doubt

and shame• Stage 3 – Preschool – Initiative vs. guilt• Stage 4 – Pre-Adolescence – industriousness

vs. inferiority

Erik Erikson

• Stage 5 – Adolescence – identity vs. confusion• Stage 6 – Young Adulthood – Intimacy vs.

isolation• Stage 7 – Middle Adulthood – Making a

difference vs. Self-absorption• Stage 8 – Old Age – integrity vs. despair

Agents of Socialization

• Family• School• Peer groups• Mass media and technology

Targeted Socialization

• Anticipatory socialization – social learning geared toward gaining a desired position

• Resocialization – altering personality through deliberate control of the environment

• Total Institution – all aspects of a person’s life are under one authority