Sociological Film Analysis

SOCIALIZATION

SOCIETY MAKES US HUMAN  There has been and continues to be considerable debate over whether “nature”

(heredity) or “nurture” (social environment) most determines human behavior.  Studies of feral, isolated, and institutionalized children indicate that although

heredity certainly plays a role in the “human equation,” it is society that makes people “human.” People learn what it means to be and, consequently, become members of the human community through language, social interaction, and other forms of human contact.  The Harlows’ studies of monkeys reared in isolation achieved similar results.

They concluded that isolation for longer than six months causes a more difficult adjustment.  Babies do not “naturally” develop into human adults; although their bodies

grow, human interaction is required for them to acquire the traits we consider normal for human beings. The process by which we learn the ways of our society, through interaction with others, is socialization.

Socialization, Self and Mind  People are not born with an intrinsic knowledge of themselves or others. Rather, as

the theoretical insights of Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Carol Gilligan demonstrate, they develop reasoning skills, morality, personality, and a sense of self through social observation, contact, and interaction.  Charles H. Cooley (1864–1929) concluded that human development is socially

created—that our sense of self develops from interaction with others. He coined the term “looking-glass self” to describe this process.  According to Cooley, this process contains three steps: (1) We imagine how we

look to others; (2) we interpret others’ reactions (how they evaluate us); and (3) we develop a self-concept.  A favorable reflection in the “social mirror” leads to a positive self-concept,

while a negative reflection leads to a negative self-concept.  Even if we misjudge others’ reactions, the misjudgments become part of our

self-concept.  This development process is an ongoing, lifelong process.

Socialization, Self and Mind - 2  George H. Mead (1863–1931) agreed with Cooley but added that play is critical

to the development of a self. In play, we learn to take the role of others—to understand and anticipate how others feel and think.

 Mead concluded that children are first able to take only the role of significant others (parents or siblings, for example); as the self develops, children internalize the expectations of other people and eventually the entire group. Mead referred to the norms, values, attitudes, and expectations of people “in general” as the “generalized other.”

 According to Mead, the development of the self goes through stages: (1) Imitation (children initially can only mimic the gestures and words of others); (2) play (beginning at age 3, children play the roles of specific people, such as a firefighter or the Lone Ranger); and (3) games (in the first years of school, children become involved in organized team games and must learn the role of each member of the team).

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 Mead distinguished the “I” from the “me” in development of the self: the “I” component is the subjective, active, spontaneous, creative part of the social self (for instance, “I shoved him”), while the “me” component is the objective part—attitudes internalized from interactions with others (for instance, “He shoved me”).

 Mead concluded that not only the self, but also the mind, is a social product. We cannot think without symbols, and it is our society that gives us our symbols by giving us our language.

Socialization, Self and Mind - 4  After years of research, Jean Piaget (1896–1980) concluded that there are four

stages in the development of cognitive skills.  The sensorimotor stage (0–2 years): Understanding is limited to direct

contact with the environment (touching, listening, seeing).  The pre-operational stage (2–7 years): Children develop the ability to use

symbols (especially language), which allows them to experience things without direct contact.  The concrete operational stage (7–12 years): Reasoning abilities become

much more developed. Children now can understand numbers, causation, and speed, but have difficulty with abstract concepts such as truth.  The formal operational stage (12+ years): Children become capable of

abstract thinking and can use rules to solve abstract problems. (“If X is true, why doesn’t Y follow?”)

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 Conclusions that Cooley, Mead, and Piaget came to regarding the self and reasoning appear to be universal. However, there is no consensus about the universality of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development.  Some adults never appear to reach the fourth stage, whether due

to particular social experiences or to biology.  The content of what we learn varies from one culture to another;

having very different experiences and the thinking processes that revolve around these experiences, we cannot assume that the developmental sequences will be the same for everyone.

Gender and Socialization

 By expecting different behaviors from people because they are male or female, society nudges boys and girls in separate directions from an early age, and this foundation carries over into adulthood.  Parents begin the process; researchers have concluded that in our society,

mothers unconsciously reward their female children for being passive and dependent and their male children for being active and independent.  Toys and play also play a role in gender socialization. Boys are more likely

to get guns and “action figures,” and girls are more likely to get dolls and jewelry. Play is also approved or disapproved by parents based on gender roles—boys are expected to play more roughly and girls more daintily.  Research examines the relationship between gender messages and same-

sex parents but is inconclusive and needs further examination.

Gender and Socialization - 2  Peer groups, individuals of roughly the same age or linked by common interests, also

play an important role in gender socialization by teaching one another what it means to be male or female.  The mass media, forms of communication directed at large audiences, reinforce

society’s expectations of gender in many ways:  On television, male characters outnumber females and are more likely to be

portrayed in higher-status positions. In cartoons, girls used to be portrayed as less brave and more dependent, but this has shifted.  Males are much more likely than females to play video games, and video

games reflect the message of male dominance because main characters are 96 percent male, and most females are portrayed in a sexy manner; some games are starting to reflect current sex roles.  Ads starting in childhood and carrying on into adulthood perpetuate

stereotypes by portraying males as dominant and rugged, and females as sexy and submissive. and start in childhood and perpetuate into adulthood.

Agents of Socialization  Human beings learn how to think, behave, and act through agents of

socialization—those people or groups that influence our self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations toward life.  The family is the first group to have a major impact on who you are, and it

establishes your initial motivations, values, and beliefs.  Research by Melvin Kohn suggests social class and occupational differences

in child rearing. The main concern of working-class parents often is their children’s outward conformity, while middle-class parents show greater concern for the motivations of their children’s behavior. The type of job held by the parent is also a factor: the more closely supervised the job is, the more likely the parent is to insist on outward conformity.

 Play also differs by social class; working-class parents focus on letting their children develop naturally, whereas middle-class parents guide play to accomplish goals such as learning how to be a team player through participating in a sport.

Agents of Socialization - 2  The neighborhood has an impact on children’s development. Some

neighborhoods are better places for children to grow up than other neighborhoods. For example, residents of more affluent neighborhoods watch out for children more than do residents of poorer neighborhoods.  Religion plays a major role in the socialization of most Americans, even if they

are not raised in a religious family. Religion especially influences morality, but also ideas about what dress, speech, and manners are appropriate.  With more mothers today working for wages, day care is now a significant agent

of socialization.

Agents of Socialization - 3  Schools serve many manifest (intended) functions for society, including teaching skills

and values thought to be appropriate. Schools also have several latent (unintended) functions.  At school, children are placed outside the direct control of friends/relatives and

exposed to new values and ways of looking at the world. They learn universality, or that the same rules apply to everyone.  Schools also have a hidden curriculum—values not explicitly taught but inherent in

school activities. For example, the wording of stories may carry messages about patriotism and democracy; by teaching that our economic system is just, schools may teach children to believe problems such as poverty are never caused by oppression and exploitation.  Schools also have a corridor curriculum—where students teach one another values

outside of the classroom. Unfortunately, these values are often not positive.  Conflict theorists note that schools teach children to take their place in the work

force. Children of the wealthy go to private schools, where they acquire the skills and values appropriate to their eventual higher positions, while children of working-class parents attend public schools, where they are rarely placed in college-prep classes.

Agents of Socialization - 4  One of the most significant aspects of education is that it exposes children to

peer groups.  Research by Patricia and Peter Adler document how elementary age

children separated themselves by sex and developed their own worlds and norms. They found that popular boys were athletic, cool, and tough. Popular girls depended on family background, physical appearance, and the ability to attract popular boys.  It is almost impossible to go against a peer group, where the cardinal rule

is to conform or be rejected. As a result, the standards of peer groups tend to dominate our lives.

 The workplace is a major agent of socialization for adults; from jobs, we learn not only skills, but also matching attitudes and values. We may engage in anticipatory socialization, learning to play a role before actually entering into it and enabling us to gradually identify with the role.

Resocialization  Resocialization refers to the process of learning new norms, values,

attitudes, and behaviors. Resocialization in its most common form occurs each time we learn something contrary to our previous experiences, such as going to work in a new job. It can be an intense experience, although it does not have to be.  Erving Goffman used the term “total institution” to refer to places such as

boot camps, prisons, concentration camps, or some mental hospitals, religious cults, and boarding schools—places where people are cut off from the rest of society and are under almost total control of agents of the institution.  A person entering the institution is greeted with a degradation

ceremony, which may include fingerprinting, shaving the head, banning personal items, and being forced to strip and wear a uniform. In this way, his or her current identity is stripped away and a new identity is created.

Socialization Through The Life-Course  Socialization occurs throughout a person’s entire lifetime, which is called the life

course or the stages of life from birth to death. Each stage affects our behavior and orientations, and also life courses differ by social location—social class, race- ethnicity, and gender, for example, map out different worlds of experience. There are several stages in the life course.  Childhood (birth to 12): In earlier times, children were seen as miniature adults

who served apprenticeships. To keep them in line, they were beaten and subjected to psychological torture. Industrialization changed the way we see children. The current view is that children are tender and innocent, and parents should guide the physical, emotional, and social development of their children while providing them with care, comfort, and protection.

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 Adolescence (13–17): Adolescence is a social invention. Economic changes resulting from the Industrial Revolution brought about material surpluses that allowed millions of teenagers to remain outside the labor force while at the same time increasing the demand for education. Adolescence is associated with insecurity, rebellion, and inner turmoil.  Transitional Adulthood (18–29): Adult responsibilities are postponed

through extended education such as college. Even after college, many young people are returning to live with parents to live cheaply and establish their careers.

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 Adolescence (13–17): Adolescence is a social invention. Economic changes resulting from the Industrial Revolution brought about material surpluses that allowed millions of teenagers to remain outside the labor force while at the same time increasing the demand for education. Adolescence is associated with insecurity, rebellion, and inner turmoil.  Transitional Adulthood (18–29): Adult responsibilities are postponed

through extended education such as college. Even after college, many young people are returning to live with parents to live cheaply and establish their careers.

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 The Middle Years (30–65): This can be separated into two periods.

 Early Middle Years (30–49): People are surer of themselves and their goals in life than earlier, but severe jolts such as divorce or losing a job can occur. For U.S. women, it can be a trying period, as they try to “have it all”—career, family, and so on.

 Later Middle Years (50–65): A different view of life emerges, including trying to evaluate the past and coming to terms with what lies ahead. Individuals may feel they are not likely to get much farther in life, while health and mortality become concerns. However, for most people it is the most comfortable period in their entire lives.

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 Older years (65 and beyond): This can also be separated into two periods.

 The Transitional Older Years: Improvements in nutrition, public health, and medical care delay the onset of old age. For many, this period is an extension of middle years. Those who are integrated into social networks are unlikely to see themselves as old.

 The Later Older Years: Growing frailty, illness, and eventually death mark this period.

 The social significance of the life course is how social factors shape it— the period in which the person is born and lives his or her life—as well as social location—social class, gender, and race.

Are we Prisoners of Socialization

 Sociologists do not think of people as little robots who are simply the result of their exposure to socializing agents. Although socialization is powerful and profoundly affects us all, we have a self, and the self is dynamic. Each of us uses his or her own mind to reason and make choices.

 In this way, each of us is actively involved even in the social construction of the self. Our experiences have an impact on us, but we are not doomed to keep our orientations if we do not like them. We can choose to change our experiences by exposing ourselves to other groups and ideas.