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Chapter Overview
3.1 Socialization through
Societal Experience
Human Development: Nature and Nurture Social Isolation in Monkeys Social Isolation in Children ConCept Learning CheCk 3. Socialization through Societal Experience
3.2 Understanding Socialization
through Theorists and Their
Research
Freud and the Psychoanalytic Perspective Freud’s Model of the Human Mind
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory Piaget and Cognitive Development Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Development Carol Gilligan and Gender in Moral Development Charles Horton Cooley and the Looking-Glass Self George Herbert Mead and the Social Self ConCept Learning CheCk 3. Understanding Social Theorists
© Photos.com/Thinkstock
3
Socialization
3.1 �^ Discuss how societal experience impacts an individual’s socialization.
3.2 �^ Compare and contrast the key theories of the process of socialization.
3.3 �^ Identify the major agents of socialization and describe their impact on an individual’s understanding of culture.
3.4 �^ Describe the five general stages of development and identify the major challenges and changes that occur in socialization at each stage.
Learning Objectives
3.3 Agents of Socialization
Functionalist Perspectives on Socialization Socialization through the Conflict Perspective Socialization and Symbolic Interactionism The Family Infancy and Early Childhood Socialization and Social Class Race and Socialization Gender and Socialization Socialization and School School and Gender Race and Class in School
Socialization and Peer Group Socialization and the Workplace Socialization and Religion Socialization, Mass Media, and Social Media Television Video Games Movies Social Media the SoCioLogiCaL imagination ConCept Learning CheCk 3. Agents of Socialization
3.4 Socialization through the Life
Course
Infancy Childhood Adolescence Adulthood Old Age and the End of Life Resocialization and Total Institutions How Socialized are We? ConCept Learning CheCk 3. Socialization through the Life Course
that biological factors play a role in the development of the individual, sociologists believe that society plays a much larger role in who a person becomes. Sociologist C. Wright Mills Figure 3-1 saw socialization as a process that allows us to see beyond the immediate causes of our beliefs and behaviors. Mills called this process the sociological imagination. According to Mills, the sociological imagination develops along two paths. First, the history and structure of the society that we live in shape our general values and the way we look at the world. These broad values are refined through personal experience as we interact in our social world. Thus, our socialization is achieved as the influence of society and the influence of our interactions work together to shape who we become. Mills suggested that when we understand how our beliefs, values, and behaviors are shaped, we are able to look at the world in new ways. Mills was not the first to attempt to understand how the world around us shapes who we become, however. Many others have paved the way in trying to understand how we become who we are.
Human Development: Nature and Nurture
Since Charles Darwin (1874) demonstrated that much of human behavior is rooted in our evolutionary history, human development has often approached behavior in terms of whether biology (nature) or society (nurture) is more important to who we become. However, recent research suggests that this approach is too simplistic. Charles Darwin’s view of human behavior has often been misinterpreted as suggesting that humans are solely a product of instinctual drives. Yet, while Darwin did acknowledge that human behavior had its roots in biological processes, he also recognized that human beings pos- sessed a unique trait—culture. Indeed, for Darwin, culture was an important part of understanding how human beings develop and grow. Early misinterpretations of Darwin’s theory were instrumental in justifying prejudices and discrimination against certain groups of people whose behaviors were viewed as both primitive and instinctual. Differences in cultures were misattributed to differences in intel- ligence and understanding rather than to differences in the ways in which cultures can be constructed. In contrast to the extreme biological view of human behavior, psychologist John B. Watson Figure 3-2 argued that all behavior is learned. Watson denied that human beings have any instincts at all but rather believed we exist as empty vessels to be filled by social learning. Watson believed that people vary only in their cultural patterns and learning. Following in the footsteps of Watson, a number of influential anthropologists noted that while cultures may differ in fundamental ways, all cultures are equally complex. Neither of these extreme views is entirely correct. It is clear that nature does place limits on the ways in which humans can construct culture, as the existence of cultural universals reveals. Cultural universals are cultural patterns that are part of every known culture. Because these traits are a part of every known culture, it is difficult to make the argument that the traits are the result simply of social learning. Rather, as Darwin suggested, these universals are probably rooted in our evolutionary history. At the same time, the considerable diversity of cultures throughout the world attests to the strength and pervasiveness of human choice in the construction of culture. Other evidence for the influence of culture on the development of the individual can be seen in studies of social isolation.
Social Isolation in Monkeys Psychologists Harry and Margaret Harlow conducted early studies of social isolation using rhesus monkeys. In 1962, the Harlows placed infant monkeys in conditions of varying isolation. What they found was startling. The greater the degree of social isolation, the greater was the degree of developmental disturbance. Monkeys placed in total isolation for six months showed disturbing and irreversible developmental
Figure 3-1 C. Wright Mills developed the idea of the sociological imagination to describe how the process of socialization operates to make each person a unique product of society. © 2003 Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Figure 3-2 Psychologist John B. Watson believed that all behavior is learned. © Underwood & Underwood/Corbis
Cultural universals Cultural patterns that are part of every known society.
3.1 Socialization through Societal Experience 5
deficiencies, even when adequate nutrition was provided. When these monkeys were brought into a room with other rhesus monkeys, they exhibited extreme passivity in interaction, anxiousness, and fear of other monkeys. The Harlows (1964) conducted another experiment in which infant rhesus monkeys were provided with an artificial mother. This artificial mother had a wire body, wooden head, and a feeding tube. Monkeys raised by this mother suffered similar developmental deprivations as monkeys raised in isolation Figure 3-3. Another group of infant monkeys was given an artificial mother made from soft terrycloth. Although these infants did suffer some developmental setbacks, they were able to interact to some degree when placed in a group. Furthermore, monkeys raised in social isolation who later become mothers themselves exhibited consistent inability to care for their infants. Most com- monly, the new mothers were indifferent to their young, neglecting them to the point of death. Based on these experiments, the Harlows concluded that social interaction is a key component to proper development. While short-term isolation appears to be reversible to some degree, isolation for longer than about three months appears to lead to permanent developmental damage Figure 3-4.
Social Isolation in Children Of course, the kinds of experiments that the Harlows conducted on monkeys cannot be done on human infants for ethical reasons. However, documented cases of children growing up in isolation suggest that the results of the Harlows’ experiments would apply to humans as well. Despite the tragic nature of these cases, they shed light on the importance of social interaction on the development of the human mind. The notion of feral children —that is, children raised in the wild or by ani- mals—is nearly as old as recorded history. For example, Romulus and Remus, legendary founders of the city of Rome, were allegedly raised by wolves. Indeed, through the years, many stories have been told about feral children. Often sur- rounded by fantastic tales and insufficient recordkeeping, it is difficult to disen- tangle the myth from the reality. Many cases, such as the case of Kaspar Hauser,
Feral children Children raised by wild animals or without appropriate socialization.
Figure 3-3 Psychologist Harry Harlow did experiments to test the effects of social isolation on monkeys. © Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Figure 3-4 Monkeys were forced to choose from a soft monkey with no food, or a wire monkey with food. Harlow’s experiments showed that monkeys prefer attachment to the soft monkeys to food. © Inc - Photo/Photo Researchers/Getty Images
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3.2 Understanding Socialization through Theorists and Their Research
Socialization is a lifelong process that may be understood in a variety of ways. � (^) Compare and contrast the key theories of the process of socialization.
Even though the effects of socialization are strongest during infancy and childhood, most people consider socialization to be a lifelong process. Often, the exact mechanisms and processes of socialization remain difficult to discover. Yet various theorists in both psychology and sociology have made lasting contributions to our understanding of the process of socialization.
Freud and the Psychoanalytic Perspective
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian physician whose interests led him to theorize about how the human mind develops and maintains personality Figure 3-6. Eventually Freud developed the theory of psychoanalysis, which has maintained an influential role in psychology, psychiatry, and medicine. At the time of its development, the idea that human behavior was biologically determined was dominant. Freud’s theory reflects the core of this belief, but with important caveats. Freud believed that humans have two basic general instincts that guide behavior toward the satisfaction of those instincts. The first instinct, which Freud called eros , is the instinct for life. According to Freud, this is often represented in the form of a sexual drive. In contrast, thanatos is the death instinct. This instinct is often represented by the need to destroy or act aggressively.
ConCept Learning CheCk 3.1 Socialization through Societal Experience
Choose the correct answer for the following questions.
1. The Harlows’ research with rhesus monkeys showed that: A. Monkeys will choose food over comfort. B. Monkeys do not suffer ill effects from social isolation. C. Monkeys suffer developmental effects as a result of prolonged social isolation. D. Monkeys prefer a real mother over a surrogate mother. 2. Which of the following is untrue based on studies of feral children? A. Socialization has unlimited power to mold the human brain. B. There is a critical window in which certain skills are learned more easily. C. Socialization is essential for early attachment and learning. D. Lack of socialization has negative developmental and social consequences.
Match the life event with the appropriate level of socialization.
3. Primary socialization 4. Secondary socialization 5. Adult socialization
A. Learning to share B. Dating C. Learning to talk D. Transitioning into a new career E. Having children F. Getting a driver’s license
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These two drives operate in a constant state of tension, vying for the primacy of satisfaction. Freud believed that the tension caused by these opposing instinctual forces formed the basis for the human personality (Slee 2002).
Freud’s Model of the Human Mind Freud represented the tension between thanatos and eros with a single concept— the id. The id represents the most basic part of the human personality, containing all of the basic impulses and drives that are necessary for human survival. The id is present at birth and is geared solely toward the satisfaction of the basic instincts. Freud noted that infants are constantly needy, demanding attention, contact, and food. However, as children grow, they realize that in many cases, their desires may not be satisfied or their needs may go unmet. This creates a level of frustration that is acted upon by the id in the form of crying or tantrums. As the child learns to deal with the frustration that accompanies unmet needs, the second aspect of Freud’s personality emerges. The ego represents the conscious part of the personality. As the conscious individual realizes that he or she cannot always satisfy his or her basic desires, the ego helps balance these desires with the demands of society. As the demands of society are learned and reinforced through interaction, the norms and values of the society become part of the individual psyche. The superego is the expression of these internalized societal values, reinforcing the ego’s conscious realizations and lessons learned from early childhood Figure 3-7. Freud believed that personality development—and thus socialization—ended by the end of adolescence. His views reflected a radical departure from the prevailing views of his time. Freud’s theory has subsequently become one of the most novel and influential approaches to understanding the human mind. The legacy of Freud was the challenge to rethink our views of children and the importance of socialization in the early years. At the same time, Freud’s views have been widely criticized and challenged from many different professions. Indeed, Freud did no actual experiments, and the only corroboration we have of his theories come from his own reports of treatments he gave to his own patients. Subsequent investigations of these cases have shown his reports of successful treatments to likely be exaggerated (Kramer 2010). Empirical investigations into other aspects of his theory have revealed general but pervasive problems with the validity of the theory (Fisher and Greenberg 1996).
Figure 3-6 Sigmund Freud was an Austrian physician who developed a theory about how a person develops his or her personality. Library of Congress, Prints & Photo- graphs Division, [reproduction number LC-USZ62-1234]
Figure 3-7 Freud hypothesized that there were three elements to the human mind. EGO © Jones & Bartlett Learning Psychological component Reality principle Secondary process thinking (reality testing)
Conscious Contact with outside world
Preconscious Material just beneath the surface of awareness
Unconscious Difficult to retrieve material; well below the surface of awareness; all psychic energy originates in the unconscious.
Contains the conscience and the ego-ideal
SUPEREGO Social component
ID Biological component Pleasure principle Primary process thinking (wish fulfillment) The instincts eros and thanatos are associated with the unconscious mind and the id
Moral imperatives
Id Freud’s terms for the most basic part of the human personality, geared toward satisfaction of the basic instincts. Ego Freud’s term for the conscious part of the personality that seeks to balance instinctual desires with the demands of society. Superego Freud’s term for the expression of internalized cultural values that reinforces the conscious understanding of the ego.
3.2 Understanding Socialization through Theorists and Their Research 9
process of thinking rather than any emotional components of personality. This emphasis on cognition led Piaget to divide his theory into two parts. In the stage-independent component, Piaget addressed the issue of how cognitive development emerges. He identified four factors that are essential for the development of proper cognitive func- tioning. The first of these factors, maturation, emphasizes the role that biology plays in the development of the mind. At birth, the brain is not fully developed and thus acts as a limiting factor to cognition. As brain growth and development proceed, they provide both the upper and lower limit for cognitive development. The second factor is experience. Piaget believed that within the limits set by matu- ration, the child experiences the world in two general ways. The first is through direct physical experience, such as playing with objects and exploring the world. As the child interacts with the world, he or she also gains experience with the way that various aspects of the world relate to one another. Maturation and experience are child-centered processes. That is, the child is the center of the developmental process. However, in Piaget’s third stage-independent com- ponent, the child moves from the center of the process to being a part of the process itself. Social transmission refers to the ways in which social interaction acts as a motivator of development. This occurs both through the transmission of social values as well as through conflict. Through the process of interaction, the child is forced to challenge the view of the child as the center of the process of development and gradually develops a multitude of conflicting ideas, which the child must learn to effectively choose from.
Figure 3-9 Jean Piaget studied cognitive development by observing his own children. © Bill Anderson/Getty Images
Table 3-2 Piaget’s Stages of Development
Stage (age range) Description Sensorimotor (0–2 years) Explores the world through sensory and motor contact Preoperational (2–6 years) Uses symbols (words and images) but not yet logic Concrete operational (7–12 years) Thinks logically about concrete objects Formal operational (12 and on) Reasons abstractly and thinks hypothetically
3.2 Understanding Socialization through Theorists and Their Research 11
The final factor is equilibration. As the child struggles with the conflicts that arise in social transmission, he or she must find a balance between things that are understood and things that are not yet understood. The child attempts to relate the unknown to the known, to make the unfamiliar familiar. In other words, the child tries to make everything he or she encounters fit into his or her picture of the world. Equilibration is thus achieved through a process of accommodation, in which a child fits a novel object or idea into an existing cognitive category, or assimilation, in which the child creates a new category for the novel object or idea. Piaget’s contribution to understanding the development of cognition is properly recognized, but it is not without its critics. Maccoby (1980) and others have accused Piaget’s theory of neglecting the role of emotions in cognitive development. Addition- ally, the stage theory may be too rigid. For example, some research suggests that there are various decision points in children’s lives involving different aspects of the world that may lead different children to follow different paths of development (Slee 2002). For example, a child in adolescence may have to choose between pleasing friends or pleasing parents. The choice that the child makes can shape the availability of future choices, such as when the child chooses a delinquent behavior to impress friends at the expense of obeying parents. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky coined the term scaffolding to refer to a kind of socialization whereby a parent or other person helps a child bridge a gap between the child’s current skill level or knowledge and a more advanced state of knowledge or skill. In the absence of scaffolding, children may make choices that are inappropriate for their developmental level. In other words, Piaget’s theory is less a theory of socialization and more a theory of cognitive structuring. That is, Piaget explains the ways in which a person learns to respond to agents of socialization.
Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Development
Support for Piaget’s theory of moral development has been mixed (Slee 2002). A much more widely accepted theory of moral development comes from psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg Figure 3-10. Building on Piaget’s idea of a sequence of developmental stages, Kohlberg inter- viewed boys between the ages of 10 and 16, asking them to judge the morality of certain actions in a variety of stories. Unconcerned with whether the children thought the action right or wrong, Kohlberg focused his attention on the reasons why the child thought that the action was right or wrong. From this data, Kohlberg developed a three-level, six-stage theory of moral development Table 3-3. Numerous criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development have been offered. Despite Kohlberg’s claim that the stages are universal, Simpson (1974) and others (e.g., Harkees, Edwards, and Super 1981) have credibly challenged this claim (Slee 2002). Similar to criticisms of Piaget, some researchers claim that Kohlberg’s stages create artificial separations that assume that the process of moral development is unnaturally rigid, ignoring the considerable variation that occurs in how people develop their moral ideas. Also similar to criticisms of Piaget, Meadows (1986) has argued that Kohlberg neglects the role of emotions in the development of morality.
Carol Gilligan and Gender in Moral Development
Perhaps the most relevant criticism of Kohlberg’s theory comes from Carol Gilligan, who noted that Kohlberg drew his data only from males Figure 3-11. In testing Kohlberg’s theory on females, Gilligan (1977) noticed that females rarely moved beyond stage two, level three of Kohlberg’s theory. In other words, females appear to judge moral rightness in terms of living up to what others expect of them (Slee 2002). Whereas Kohlberg saw this as a deficiency on the part of females, Gilligan argues that this reflects societal standards to see male patterns as the norm, as well as an inability or unwillingness to acknowledge different developmental trajectories for women and men. While Gilligan agrees with Kohlberg that women and men develop their moral sense through interaction, Gilligan believes that the interactions of women are fundamentally different from the interactions of men, which lead them to different developmental outcomes in terms of their moral sense.
Scaffolding Socialization whereby a parent or other person helps a child bridge a gap between the child’s current skill level or knowledge and a more advanced state of knowledge or skill.
Figure 3-10 Lawrence Kohlberg studied the development of moral sentiment in children. © Lee Lockwood/Getty Images
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about how others see us. Thus, the self is a product of socialization. According to Cooley, without socialization a sense of self will not emerge.
George Herbert Mead and the Social Self
Building on the work of Cooley, George Herbert Mead argued that children begin to develop a social self as they imitate the world around them. Unlike Cooley, who failed to clearly identify a mechanism by which the self emerges, Mead outlined the actual process of the emergence of the self through social interaction. Play behav- ior, according to Mead, is essential to the process of developing a sense of self. Play behavior, and the sense of self that emerges from it, occurs in three stages Figure 3-13. At first, infant play is limited to imitation. Children may see their parents talk- ing on a phone. While the child may have no understanding of the significance of the action, she or he will nonetheless imitate the motions by placing an object to her or his ear. Children watching a parent cook will often imitate stirring motions even without understanding the significance of cooking. As children move beyond the imitation stage, they progress into the play stage. At this stage of play, the child adopts a specific role and acts out that role as a form of play. For example, a child may wrap a towel around his shoulders and pretend to be a superhero. At this stage of play, however, the adoption of the role is limited to the individual. In other words, the role is not dependent upon other roles for its structure. The role is independent of any other person; it is egocentric.
Figure 3-13 George Herbert Mead believed that personality development was reflected in play behavior. © Photos.com
Cooley described the process of personality development as looking through a mirror and reacting to the image that we see. © Alison Williams/Shutterstock
Figure 3-12 Charles Horton Cooley hypothesized that the self emerges through the process of social interaction. Source: Courtesy of The American Sociological Association.
Imitation Mead’s first stage in the development of the self, in which the child imitates the behaviors of adults without understanding the actions. Play stage Mead’s second stage in the development of the self, in which the child adopts and acts out a specific role.
By about age six, the child progresses into the game stage. At this stage, the child adopts roles that are dependent upon other roles for their structure. Mead used the game of baseball as an example of this interdependence. At any position, it is not sufficient for a player to understand only his role on the field. He or she also must understand the roles of others in the game and their relationships to every other position. It is during this stage of play, when the child learns to take the role of the other, that Mead says the self emerges. Children learn to see themselves as individual selves by seeing themselves as others see them.
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Mead argued that progressing through the stages of play, individuals learn to distin- guish the me from the I. The I is the unsocialized, biologically driven child. Much like Freud’s id, the I is a collection of spontaneous desires and wants. In contrast, the me is the socialized aspect of the individual. The me understands the role of the individual as it relates to others in society because the me is the social self, that part of the self that is able to take the role of the other. Mead agreed with Cooley that socialization begins with the family and other groups with close emotional ties to the individual. Mead called these agents of socialization the significant other. Like Cooley, Mead also recognized the importance of the wider society in the process of socialization. Mead referred to these broader social groups and the values that they instill as the generalized other. For Mead, both significant others and the generalized others are important for the development of the distinction of the I and me. It is important to note, however, through the process of socialization, the I remains even as the me is discovered. Mead considered both the I and the me to be essential components of the individual self. Thus, the self is composed of a biological component as well as a socialized component. It is important to note that although Mead saw the self as emerging in childhood, he still considered socialization a lifelong process. Mead argued that just as the sense of self emerges through socialization, so do our cognitive structure and moral sentiment. In other words, Mead was the first person to put all of the psychological pieces together to form a coherent theory of how socialization makes us who we are.
ConCept Learning CheCk 3.2 Understanding Social Theorists
Fill in the blank with the name of the appropriate theorist.
1. Socialization leading to an understanding of the self proceeds through three stages: the imitation stage, play state, and game stage. 2. Human personality develops throughout the life course as each person tries to resolve a central crisis associated with each of eight stages. 3. The child develops a sense of self through play, progressing through three stages to the eventual emergence of the me. 4. Boys and girls are socialized toward morality differently, with girls being socialized toward an other-oriented moral system and boys being socialized toward an individualist moral system. 5. We watch the reaction that other people have to our behaviors and adjust our behavior accordingly so that we gain the approval first of primary groups and later of secondary groups.
3.3 Agents of Socialization
There are numerous agents of socialization that teach a person the beliefs, values, and behaviors that are appropriate in his or her society. � (^) Identify the major agents of socialization and describe their impact on an individual’s understanding of culture.
As previously noted, sociologists see socialization as taking place in three general stages that span the life course: primary, secondary, and adult. At each stage, various agents of socialization affect the individual’s cultural learning. Agents of socialization are groups, individuals, or circumstances in society that socialize an individual. Socializa- tion is strongest in infancy and childhood, probably because there is simply so much cultural learning that needs to take place. Additionally, the brain is most susceptible to
Agents of socialization Groups, individuals, or circumstances that socialize the individual.
Game stage Mead’s third stage in the development of the self, in which the child adopts roles that are dependent upon other roles for their structure and meaning. Significant other Mead’s term for family and other intimate or close agents of socialization. Generalized other Mead’s term for broader social groups and the values they instill in the individual.
3.3 Agents of Socialization 15
family units are most common, and most socialization of young children takes place in this context. However, even in modern society, there is variation in the structure of the family that may have an impact on the socialization of the child.
Infancy and Early Childhood Some children grow up in single-parent homes; others grow up in blended families or in extended family units. In some families, the mother stays home to raise children; in others, the mother enters the paid labor force and places the child in daycare. Regardless of the circumstances, the family socializes us to our basic sense of self as well as to the values, beliefs, and behaviors that we hold throughout childhood. The structure of the family has a strong impact on how the child is socialized. Socialization in infants and young children has been widely studied. Accord- ing to McCartney and Galanopoulos (1988), these studies were conducted in two major waves. The first wave, conducted in the 1960s, focused on whether daycare was harmful to the development of children. Generally, the research led to the conclusion that daycare did not negatively impact attachment to parents. However, the body of research also concluded that children who spend even moderate amounts of time in daycare tend to be more aggressive than children who are cared for at home. Despite this negative finding, the studies also concluded that spending time in daycare may help accelerate the level of intellectual development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Two decades later, more sophisticated studies focused on the effects of various qualities of daycare (Belsky 1990). In large measure, these later studies confirmed the conclusions of the earlier studies, but only for high-quality daycare centers. These studies also noted that child–staff ratios, staff supervision, staff resources, and quality of staff training were important factors in how daycare affected the development of children over time. These studies have led some researchers, such as Richard Fiene, to call for national standards of high-quality daycare.
Socialization and Social Class One of the key findings about the ways in which families socialize children is that the social class of the family affects the way in which the child is socialized. Working-class and middle-class parents tend to raise their children in different ways. For example, Kohn (1977) found that working-class parents focus on raising their children to stay out of trouble. To that end, they tend to use physi- cal punishment as a means of achieving compliance. In contrast, middle-class parents tend to be more concerned with developing creativity, self-expression, and self-control in their children. Rather than use physical punishment, middle- class parents tend to try to reason with their children or to use nonviolent forms of punishment. Despite wide confirmation of these findings, sociologists at first did not under- stand why the differences occur. Now it is believed that parents are reflecting their work experiences in their parenting. For example, many working-class jobs are highly regimented, with bosses telling workers exactly what to do. Since parents generally expect their children’s lives to be similar to their own, they stress obedience in their child rearing just as this value is expressed in their work. On the other hand, middle- class parents, who often work at white-collar jobs, often have greater opportunities to take the initiative and be creative at work. These parents may pass those values on to their children and socialize them toward those characteristics. Kohn also found that basic understanding of child development varied in a simi- lar way. Kohn discovered that middle-class parents tend to believe that children need guidance to master skills necessary in life, while working-class parents are more likely to believe that children develop naturally and thus need less guidance. These beliefs shape the expectations that parents have of their children with regard to behavior, school performance, and elsewhere.
The family is the strongest agent of socialization. © Diana Lundin/Dreamstime.com
Studies show that children who spend significant time in daycare are more likely to solve problems aggressively. © matka_Wariatka/ShutterStock, Inc.
3.3 Agents of Socialization 17
Race and Socialization Just as parental socialization differs with social class, different races and ethnic groups tend to socialize their children differently. African Americans tend to be either very permissive parents or very strict parents. Asian-American parents tend to strictly adhere to traditional values of their country of origin and expect children to show deference to those values. White parents tend toward parenting styles that offer both structure and flexibility and that give children the ability to make some choices in their behaviors. There are other racial differences that impact socialization. One of the most notable is the attitude toward education that people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds take. For example, many families of Asian descent place a very high premium on educa- tion relative to other racial groups. Given that the number-one predictor of how well students do in school is how well they enjoy going to school (Duncan 2007), racial differences in attitudes toward education will no doubt have an impact on how a child is socialized through school.
Gender and Socialization Parents socialize boys and girls differently because society expects different things from males and females. The transmission of these expectations begins at birth. For example, certain colors are associated with certain genders—blue for boys and pink for girls. Parents also socialize children through the toys that they buy for their children. Parents often buy dolls for girls but action figures for boys. Dress-up toys for girls are frequently pink with frills and fairy wings, while dress-up toys for boys includes shields, swords, and helmets. Generally speaking, society expects boys to be less emotional and more aggressive than girls. Society also expects parents to be more protective of girls than of boys. For this reason, boys are typically given more freedom than girls. In a classic study of gender socialization, Goldberg and Lewis (1969) found that mothers subconsciously rewarded their daughters for being dependent and passive. On the other hand, mothers rewarded sons for being independent and active. Other studies have found that parents will allow their male preschool children to wander farther from them than their female children of the same age. Subsequent research has confirmed these results. Although we know that socialization plays an important role in the development of gender roles, there is some evidence that biology may play a role as well. Do parents create dependency behaviors in girls and independence in boys, or are parents respond- ing to innate behaviors that the children exhibit? Do parents buy gendered toys because they want to socialize children in a certain way, or do they buy these toys because those are the types of toys that children ask for? There is some evidence that biology may play a role in toy preference and play behavior. Researchers have long known that girls are more likely to play caretaking games, often using dolls. In contrast, boys are more likely to play aggressive games. This coin- cides with additional research that shows that boys are interested in things, while girls tend to be more interested in people. These results seem to be true even when possible socialization effects are eliminated. Researchers explain these results with the suggestion that these play behaviors reflect biologically expected roles that the children will adopt in adulthood—parenting for women and competitive work for men. Several recent studies have suggested that these biologically predisposed play behaviors may influence the kinds of toys that boys and girls prefer. A study in 2002 by Alexander and Hines showed that gendered toy preferences exist not only in humans but in monkeys as well. In this study, the researchers gave two stereotypically masculine toys, two stereotypically feminine toys, and two gender-neutral toys to 44 female and 44 male vervet monkeys. The result was that male vervets preferred the masculine toys, while the female vervets preferred the feminine toys. The two sexes did not differ in their preference for the gender-neutral toys. There is also considerable evidence of brain differences between male and female children at birth (Moir & Jessel 1989). These differences are seen before the effects
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Race and Class in School Because schools are funded largely by taxes on property values, schools in inner cities are often underfunded relative to schools in suburban areas. This means that urban schools typically have fewer resources to work with as they strive to educate children. Students in urban schools are more likely to have learning disabilities, including ADHD. The additional resources needed to effectively educate children with learning disabilities are often lacking in inner city schools. Inner cities are also populated disproportionately by racial and ethnic minorities. This means that there exists a structural bias in the educational system against minority groups. Drop out rates for minorities are substantially higher than for whites. Hispanics have the highest high school dropout rate, approaching 18%. The dropout rate for Native Americans is around 13%, and it is more than 9% for African Americans. Whites and Asian Americans have the lowest dropout rates, with whites at just over 5% and Asian Americans at around 3½%. Dropout rates for all races and ethnic groups are higher in inner cities than in suburban school districts. We also know that minorities underper- form on standardized tests relative to whites. We should not infer from these results, however, that dropout rates are solely a problem of race. Social class also plays a role. On average, minority families earn less than whites, which means that they are less likely to live in suburban school districts and more likely to attend poorly funded inner schools.
Socialization and Peer Group
As a child ages, his or her social sphere gradually widens. The influence of the fam- ily gradually wanes, and the influence of peers increases. The process likely begins at school, as the child interacts more and more with peers. A peer group is defined as a group of people, usually of similar age, background, and social status. Peer groups gradually come to exert a strong influence over the individual. Peer groups often separate themselves into discrete units (Adler & Adler 1998). In elementary school, peer groups separate themselves by sex. Males at this age tend to prefer the company of other males, and females prefer the company of other females. However, as the children transition into adolescence, peer groups gradually become mixed. In addition to segregating by sex, peer groups also segregate in other ways. Each of these groups develops its own set of norms and socializes members of that group to accept those specific norms. These may be based on characteristics such as athletic ability or toughness in boys or physical appearance in girls. For males, academic success is tacitly discouraged because it diminishes their popularity. For females, however, academic success increases popularity. According to researchers, by adolescence, peers replace the fam- ily as the most important agent of socialization. This effect tends to be short lived, however. As the adolescent transitions into adulthood, work and other obligations often take precedence over friendships and peer groups.
Socialization and the Workplace
By young adulthood, the influence of peer groups tends to diminish. Work becomes an increasingly important agent of socialization as an individual attempts to match his or her interests and skills to a job. Often, this means that a person tries many different jobs involving different skills. This in turn involves anticipatory socialization —that is, learning to play a role before entering it. This involves learning the expectations of the role prior to adopting it. Sociologists Robert Merton and Alice Kitt introduced the concept in 1950. Since then, it has become one of the most widely used sociological terms. Through the process of anticipatory socialization, a person gains a sense of identity and understanding with the role, which may help with the actual transition into that role. On the other hand, anticipatory socialization may help us avoid roles that we would find to be unrewarding.
Anticipatory socialization Learning to play a role before entering it.
Peer group A group of people, usually of similar age, background, and social status.
During early childhood, peer groups are usually segregated by gender. © Jupiterimages/Thinkstock
20 Chapter 3 Socialization
Anticipatory socialization works in many ways. Merton and Kitt (1950) categorized the processes generally as occur- ring through either push or pull forces. Push forces refers to forces that push you away from a particular role, or behav- iors associated with that role; pull forces refers to forces that pull you toward a particular role or forces associated with that role. For example, the threat of jail may push a per- son away from committing a crime. Programs like DARE and Scared Straight are designed to push people away from undesirable behaviors by offering a glimpse into the negative consequences of those behaviors. These programs serve as a means to dissuade people from adopting socially undesir- able identities. Conversely, the promise of a high salary and good ben- efits may encourage a person to pursue a particular career. Employers often take great pride in the benefits they offer employees and even advertise those benefits in their job advertisements. Many jobs also have a measure of social prestige that attracts people to a particular profession. For example, most people see lawyers and doctors as important professions in society. Anticipatory socialization is important for the development of social iden- tity. As we will later learn, research suggests that people have a desire for a posi- tive social identity. The push and pull forces in anticipatory socialization help us to develop a positive sense of social identity by pushing us away from negative beliefs, values, and behaviors and pulling us toward socially desirable ones. The roles that we play—and that we are socialized into—play an important part in the development of the sociological imagination. Anticipatory socialization helps us to narrow the focus of the constant bombardment of social stimula- tion. By focusing on a limited number of behaviors that we wish to mimic, we exclude aspects of socialization that we consider less important. We will learn more about these concepts in later chapters. Work as an agent of socialization is important for another reason. As a person stays at a job, the work becomes more and more important. Work becomes a part of the self-concept. Indeed, people often identify themselves by the work that they do. The roles and norms of the profession we are in can have either a negative or a positive impact on our self-image, depending on how the occupation is perceived in society. Generally, professions with high status rankings, such as lawyer or doctor, increase self-esteem, while professions with low status rankings, such as custodian or server, may reduce self-esteem.
Socialization and Religion
Religious institutions influence the core values and beliefs that people hold. For many people, religion defines the boundaries between right and wrong and offers a means of dealing with crisis and emotional trauma. More than 65% of Ameri- cans say that they belong to a religious congregation, and 40% say that they have attended services in a typical week. Religious beliefs, customs, and rituals have the effect of creating a sense of solidarity among a religion’s members. Religion offers people a sense of social identity, a sense that they belong to something greater than themselves. In this way, religion has a stabilizing effect on society. Growing up in a religious household has distinct advantages. On average, people who are religious live longer, tend to be happier, and have less stress. This is manifest in a variety of behavioral outcomes, including quicker recovery times from surgery. Studies have also revealed that regular attendance at religious services is linked to stable families, strong marriages, and lower delinquency rates among children. Men who regularly attend religious services are less likely to engage in acts of abuse against spouses and children. They are also much less likely to commit a crime or abuse drugs or alcohol. Interestingly, these findings hold regardless of the particular religious views that a person holds (Koenig 2008).
Anticipatory socialization prepares people for roles they may adopt at a future time. © Jaimie Duplass/ShutterStock, Inc.
More than 65% of Americans belong to a religious congregation. © Jupiterimages/Thinkstock
During adolescence, peer groups become mixed in terms of gender. © Monkey Business Images/Dreamstime.com
3.3 Agents of Socialization 21
