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ESSENTIALS OF SOCIOLOGY, 7TH EDITION

CHAPTER 3: SOCIALIZATION, THE LIFE COURSE, AND AGING

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CHAPTER SUMMARY Please review the entire chapter to gain a more comprehensive view and understanding of

the subject matter. Do not rely solely on the chapter summary.

How Are Children Socialized?

• Socialization is the process whereby, through contact with other human beings, the

helpless infant gradually becomes a self-aware, knowledgeable human being, skilled in

the ways of the given culture and environment and contributes to the phenomenon of

social reproduction.

• According to G. H. Mead, the child achieves an understanding of being a separate agent

– a social self - by seeing how others behave toward him or her in social contexts. At a

later stage, entering organized games, learning the rules of play, the child comes to

understand "the generalized other"—general values and cultural rules.

• Charles Horton Cooley argued that the notions we develop about ourselves reflect our

interpretations of how others see us. His theory of the looking-glass self proposes that

the reactions we elicit in social situations create a mirror in which we see ourselves.

• Jean Piaget distinguished several main stages – sensorimotor stage, preoperational

stage, concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage - in the

development of the child's capability to make sense of the world. Each stage involves the

acquisition of new cognitive skills and depends on the successful completion of the

preceding one. According to Piaget these stages of cognitive development are universal

features of socialization.

• Agents of socialization are structured groups or contexts within which significant

processes of socialization occur. In all cultures, the family is the principal socializing

agency of the child during infancy. Other influences include peer groups, schools, work,

and the mass media.

• Through the process of socialization and interaction with others, individuals learn about

social roles—socially defined expectations that a person in a given social position will

follow. One result of this process is the development of a social identity, the

characteristics that other people attribute to an individual. If social identities mark ways

in which individuals are the same as others, self-identity sets us apart as distinct

individuals. The concept of self-identity, which draws on symbolic interactionism, refers

to the process of self-development through which we formulate a unique sense of

ourselves and our relationship to the world around us.

ESSENTIALS OF SOCIOLOGY, 7TH EDITION

CHAPTER 3: SOCIALIZATION, THE LIFE COURSE, AND AGING

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• Gender socialization begins virtually as soon as an infant is born. Even parents who

believe they treat children equally tend to respond differently to boys and girls. These

differences are reinforced by many other cultural influences and processes of gender

learning.

• Also being explored is the process of race socialization, referring to the verbal and

nonverbal messages that older generations transmit to younger generations regarding

the meaning and significance of race, racial stratification, intergroup relations, and

personal identity.

What Are the Five Major Stages of the Life Course?

• Socialization continues throughout the life course. At each distinct phase of life

individuals learn new skills and norms to help them navigate their social roles.

How Do People Age?

• Biological, psychological, and social aging are not the same and may vary considerably

within and across cultures.

• Functionalist theories of aging originally argued that the disengagement of older persons

from society was desirable. Disengagement theory held that older adults should pull

back from their traditional social roles as younger people move into them. Activity

theory, on the other hand, soon came to emphasize the importance of being engaged

and busy as a source of vitality.

• Conflict theorists of aging have focused on how the routine operation of social

institutions produces various forms of inequality among the older.

• The most recent theories regard the older as capable of taking control over their own

lives and playing an active role in politics and the economy.

What Are the Challenges of Aging in the U.S.?

• The older population in the United States is very diverse in terms of age, race, ethnicity,

place of birth, education, and social class. One of the most important sources of

difference is age; the young old, old old, and oldest old vary widely in terms of their

health and economic well-being.

• Most older persons in U.S. society manage to lead independent lives that they report to

be satisfying and fulfilling. Still, some suffer from social isolation and costly medical

problems, as well as from prejudice and discrimination based on age.