Socialization: process by which a society transmits its
cultural values to individuals so that they can function properly as its members.
Cultural: that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, moral, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans
as a member of society.
Only a small portions of society is sophisticated, but
all members of a society possess a culture.
Society and culture differ, in that a society
consists of people interacting with one another in a patterned way; whereas culture
consists of (1) abstract ideas that influence people, and (2) tangible human made objects
that reflect those ideas.
Culture can be divided into two sub-components.
Material Culture: tangible objects (physical
objects produced by humans)
Nonmaterial Culture: the cognitive component of a
culture; i.e., knowledge and beliefs, its normative component, norms and values, and its
symbolic component, its signs and language.
Knowledge: collection of ideas and facts about our
physical and social worlds, which are relatively objective, reliable, and verifiable.
Beliefs: more subjective, unreliable, or
unverifiable
* As mentioned previously,
culture is a combination of subjective and objective beliefs, traditions, etc. It can be
subdivided into the values and Norms of a society. By values, we mean socially
shared ideas about what is good, desirable, or important. Which brings us to her shared
ideas of a society, known as the 'Norms' of a society. Norms are rules that specify
how people should behave.
Specific rules dictating how people should act in a
particular situation
Values are the general ideas that support the norms
* Values and norms vary from culture to culture. They
{e.g. individualism/socialist collectivism] are subjective in nature, what is good in one
society may appear bad in another.
Folkways: relatively trivial norms, an excepted
and expected way of doing things.
Mores: folkways are much stronger; they are
'absolute' norms, how we must behave morally and if violated will be severely punished
Laws: 'formalized' mores, which are explicit,
written codes of conduct designed and enforced by the state in order to control its
citizens' behavior.
* Laws hard to be enforce
if there wasn't enough normative support.
Society has various methods of enforcing there norms of
controlling behavior
These enforcement measures are called sanctions.
Positive = rewarding conformity to norms
Negative = punishing violations
Values of a society are complex and hard to define. They
are not directly observable, but are an essential part of any society's culture. They
provide an intense support base for society. [e.g. Some American's values as listed by
Robert Williams are: success, hard work, material comfort, humanitarianism, progress,
individualism, freedom, etc.
Values are not stable, but are constantly changing. The
values of American society today, differ in many ways from those of 20-30 years. As a
society we are moving more and more toward self-fulfillment in our personal and
professional lives; emphasis is being placed now on the individual and his contribution to
the society; communication within our personal and professional lives is being chisel, is
an essential key in our ongoing social interactions.
* Symbol: anything that stands for one or more
other things and provide the basis for human communication.
* It is an essential part of culture. It provides the
significant gestures and languages of a culture and a sub culture. It is an ongoing means
of communication [e.g. slang] and provides the process for becoming fully human.
Human communication is more flexible and open than
that of animals, and it is sometimes employs kinesics, body language, and proxemics,
the use of space in communication.
Human symbols are arbitrary, that is there is
no inherent connection between the word and the thing itself.
Arbitrary means a word that mean whatever a
group of humans have agreed it is suppose to mean. [e.g. Policeman/Bobby]
Human Language is an open system, in
that we can blend and combine symbols to express our ideas; whereas, animals have a closed
system, they can't combine two or more signals at a time and it is limited to a
specific set of messages.
In all cultures high-status people tend to invade
personal space of a lower-status person more frequently than the other way around.
Edward Sapier: First to hold view that language
influence the way we perceive the world around us. Sapier-Whorf hypothesis is the result
of Sapier's beliefs which were further developed by his student Benjamin Whorf. It shows
how languages structures our perception of the world and demonstrates the power of
language in defining reality. [Hope Indians, no verb tense, no distinction between past
and present; Eskimos, various words for snow to describe the different types]
*Is a specific Interactionist theory. It's generally
identified with Erving Goffman (THE PRESENTATION OF SELF IN EVERYDAY LIFE,1959).
DEFINITION: refers to the art or technique of composing
and presenting self to others.
compatible with labeling theory
important element of the approach is the idea of the presentation
of self.
impressment Management--individual's present
themselves to others in ways designed to affect the impressions others receive of them.
people dramatize internal states by means of gestures,
words, and actions, and in general they construct strategic presentation of appearances in
social settings.
feels that people manage information about themselves and
impressions they make for two significant reasons:
since one draws one's sense of self in important
ways from ways others see self, influencing other's views acts back on one's own sense of
self.
if one wants others to act in specific ways managing
impressions one gives may encourage that behavior in others .
*NOTE: Idea of impression management is a large
contribution to sociological understanding as it provides an alternative to sociological
determinism --idea that all human behavior is caused by or determined by social
forces that lie outside of individual.
IMPRESSMENT MANAGEMENT: Concept that allows for
the recognition of the ways individuals can manipulate social environment by using social
rules and expectations (e.g. rules of etiquette to be polite or impolite, dependent on how
we use rules)
giving impression without intention
idea of manipulation (incorrect interpretation of
Goffman's focus on manipulation)
Groups and Social Networks: The two
smallest group formations that can occur are
Dyads: consists of two individuals
Triads: consists of three individuals
Of the two, triads much more complicated social arrangement
Dyad has only one relationship
Triad has three relationships
Groups: technical meaning--focuses on important
features of social life.
relatively small group of people interacts by one
another over time; establish patterns of interaction, group identity, and rubes or
norms governing behavior.
Key Feature: defining group is interaction amongall members [differs from society, because all members of society can't
possibly interact with each other do to large numbers.]
Note: Large number of people can't technically
constitute group, small number of people will not necessarily constitute a group
either--e.g.--several people who meet briefly, on elevator group, do not interact on the
basis of recurring patterns that they have established and, therefore, lack a
group identity.
qualify as group people must define themselves
as members and those outside of group must be defined as outsiders.
emphasis on group-identity leads to
distinction vs in-groups and out-groups.
In-group-one that members are involved in and
which they identify.
Out-group-one which outsiders belong.
Why is this of the utmost importance? - due to
tendency of for people to believe in rightness and desirability of in-group, and reject
ways of out-group.
most significant when two groups are in close
proximity.
e.g. members of fraternities/sororities views others of differ
fraternities and sororities as. "us" versus "them".
extreme cases of attitude lead to conflict
between groups.
any group taken into account when evaluating his/her
characteristics.
person doesn't have to be member of group to
use it or
it can be used to make comparative evaluations about oneself and one's performance.
also provide normative function by supplying an individual's norms and values. [e.g.
young manager not yet part of top management, but latter can be a reference group.
person likely have number of reference groups, may change our time.
Examples
The Sherif exp.(1935) by Muzafer Sherif Perception--
autokinetic effect-single pin point of right, darkened room.
Asch exp. (1952) Solomon Asch: cards with vertical lines.
Milgram exp. (1974) Stanly Milgram: influence of
authority figure, makes one conform; shock low.
Nisbet referred to these
patterns as "molecular cement" as they are the basic foundations linking
individuals in groups from the smallest to the largest:
1. Exchange: the most basic form and is
primarily based upon the concept of reciprocity. Meaning that this "norm of
reciprocity" is based upon the idea of exchange as it relates to 'cost' and
'rewards', i.e., give and take, in any level of relationship among individuals,
groups, organizations and nations.
2.Cooperation: Occurs when two or more persons work
together to achieve a common goal (need's another's help); can be spontaneous,
traditional, directed, or contractual.
3. Competition: has both positive/negative consequences; two
or more individuals or groups aim for the same goal; one trying to achieve before the
other.
4. Conflict: Competition that does not abide by a set of
rules; can result in both discord/promotion of needed change.
Compromise/Cooperation: Stabilize the social structure
Competition/Conflict: Promote social change
5. Coercion: Groups or individuals who have
social power, referred to as the subordinates, use some form of threat or
punishment, via violence or deprivation, to control the actions of those with
lesser power, who are referred to as subordinates.
Note: very enmeshed with large-scale organizations
most of us were born in large hospitals, worked or worked for large companies and
businesses, and colleges. e.g.--carry see cards, charge cards, drivers licenses, credit
cards, example verifying use belong to organizations.
Organizations--are deliberately constructed
and
collectively aimed at achieving specified goals with clearly defined statuses, roles,
rules. [ e.g. U.S. Postal Service, Handgun control]
May focus on causes or have special interest and may
be national or local in scope.
II. Coercive: force used
to control those at bottom of Social Structure. [ prisons /mental hospitals ]
lower participants=prisoners/ mental patients.
have no commitment to the goals of the organization,
and force is needed to the organization's goals accomplished.
TOTAL INSTITUTION: cut-off from rest of society
forming an all encompassing social environment
to meet all needs ( some exception--- open door policy, conjugal rights)
e.g.-- type, but not extreme navy ships when at sea.
Primary socialization - individuals have mastered
the basic information and skill required of member of a society.
learned a language and can think logically to some degree
accepted the basic norms and values of the culture
developed the ability to pattern their behavior in terms
of these norms and values.
assumed a culturally appropriate social identity
Anticipatory (Adult) socialization -
process by which adults learn from primary socialization.
adults are much more aware of the processes through which
they are being socialized. ( e.g. engage in training or educational programs in which
socialization is the primary goal).
adults often have more control over how they wish to be
socialized and therefore can mobilize more enthusiasm for the process.
Resocialization - involves exposure to ideas or
values that in one way or another conflict with what was learned in childhood. (college
students leaving home for first time,etc.)
