Sociology - Chapter 4

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Because learning changes everything.¨
Chapter 4
Socialization and the Life Course
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Inside
The Role of Socialization
The Self and Socialization
Agents of Socialization
Socialization throughout the Life Course
Role Transitions throughout the Life Course
Social Policy and Sociological Research:

Child Care around the World
© McGraw Hill LLC

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A Look Ahead
Socialization: the lifelong process in which people learn the

attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of a
particular culture.
¥ Occurs through human interactions that begin in infancy and
continue through retirement.
Personality: a personÕs typical patterns of attitudes, needs,
characteristics, and behavior.
How much of a personÕs personality is shaped by culture?
Who are the most powerful agents of socialization?
© McGraw Hill LLC 4

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The Role of Socialization
The nature versus nurture debate is over the relative

importance of biological inheritance and environmental
factors in human development.
Most social scientists have now moved beyond this debate.
Instead, they now acknowledge the interaction of heredity and
environmental factors in socialization.

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Social Environment:
The Impact of Isolation 1
Extreme Isolation: Isabelle:

¥ Isabelle lived in almost total seclusion in a dark room until age 6.
¥ She was discovered when her mother escaped from her parentsÕ
home and took Isabelle with her.
¥ She could not speak, and she used only simple gestures.
¥ She showed a strong fear of strangers.
¥ Specialists developed a systematic training program to socialize
her.

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Social Environment:
Extreme Neglect: Romanian Orphans:

¥ In the 1990s, public attention was drawn to the horrible
orphanage conditions in eastern Europe.
¥ In Romanian orphanages, babies would lay in their cribs for 18 to
20 hours a day, next to a feeding bottle, with little care from
adults.
¥ This lasted until the children were about 5 years old.
¥ Many grew up fearful of human contact and prone to
unpredictable antisocial behavior.

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Social Environment:
Primate Studies:
¥ Studies of animals raised in isolation support the need for
socialization.
¥ Rhesus monkeys that were raised in isolation were fearful and
easily frightened.
¥ In another study, infant monkeys developed greater social
attachments from their need for warmth, comfort, and intimacy
than from a need for milk.

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The Influence of Heredity 1
Studies of twins reveal a fascinating interplay between

heredity and environment.
The Minnesota Twin Family Study has been following 137
sets of identical twins raised apart from each other.
¥ Preliminary results show both genetic and environmental factors
influence development.
¥ Characteristics such as temperament, voice patterns, and
nervousness are similar among the twins.
¥ Attitudes, values, mates, and drinking habits differ among the
twins raised apart.

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The Influence of Heredity 2
Twins reared apart in roughly similar social settings have

similar scores on intelligence tests.
Twins reared apart in dramatically different social
environments score quite differently.
Some traits, such as bipolar disorder, have significant genetic

components.
Others, such as eating disorders, have a much more
significant social environment component.

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The Self and Socialization
Our concept of our self emerges as we interact with others.

Self: a distinct identity that sets us apart from others.
¥ It is not a static phenomenon; it continues to develop and change
throughout our lives.
Sociologists and psychologists alike are interested in how the
individual develops and modifies the sense of self as a result
of social interaction.

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Sociological Approaches to the Self 1
Cooley: Looking-Glass Self:

Looking-glass self: a concept used by Charles Horton
Cooley that emphasizes the self as the product of our social
interactions.
Three phases of developing self-identity:
1. We imagine how we present ourselves to others.
2. We imagine how others evaluate us.
3. We develop feelings about ourselves as a result of those impressions.

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The looking-glass self is a broader view of double

consciousness: the division of an individualÕs identity into
two or more social realities.
A critical aspect is that the self results from an individualÕs
ÒimaginationÓ of how others view him or her.
¥ We can develop self-identities based on incorrect perceptions.

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Mead: States of the Self:

George Herbert Mead said there are three stages in the
development of the self.
Preparatory stage:
¥ Children imitate people around them.
¥ Children begin to understand symbols.
Play stage:
¥ Children become more aware of social relationships.
¥ Children can pretend to be other people.
¥ Role taking: the process of mentally assuming the perspective
of another and responding from that imagined viewpoint.

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Game stage:
¥ Children around age eight to nine no longer just play roles.
¥ Children grasp their social positions and the social positions
of others.
¥ Generalized other: the attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations
of society as a whole that a child takes into account in his or her
behavior.

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TABLE 4-1 MEADÕS STAGES OF THE SELF
Stage Self Present? Definition Example

Preparation No Child imitates the actions When adults laugh and
of others. smile, child laughs and
smiles.
Play Developing Child takes the role of a Child first takes the role
single other, as if he or of doctor, then the role of
she were the other. patient.
Game Yes Child considers the roles In game of hide-and-
of two or more others seek, child takes into
simultaneously. account the roles of both
hider and seeker.

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Mead: Theory of the Self:

According to Mead, the self begins as a privileged, central
position in a personÕs world.
¥ Young children think they are the focus of everything around
them.
¥ As a person matures, the self changes and begins to reflect
greater concern about the reactions of others.
Significant other: an individual who is most important in the
development of the self.
¥ Such as a parent, friend, or teacher.

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Goffman: Presentation of the Self:

Erving Goffman suggested that many of our daily activities
involve attempts to convey impressions of who we are.
¥ Impression management: the altering of the presentation of the
self in order to create distinctive appearances and satisfy
particular audiences.
¥ Dramaturgical approach: a view of social interaction in which
people are seen as theatrical performers.
¥ Face-work: the efforts people make to maintain the proper
image and avoid public embarrassment.

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Sociology on Campus
4-1 Impression Management by Students:

¥ How do you react to those who have received higher or lower
grades than you? Do you engage in impression management?
How would you like others to react to your grade?
¥ What social norms govern studentsÕ impression management
strategies?

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Psychological Approaches to the Self 1
Sigmund FreudÕs early work in psychology stressed the role

of inborn drives.
¥ The self is a social product.
¥ The self has components that work in opposition to each other.
¥ Our natural impulsive instincts are in constant conflict with
societal constraints.
¥ By interacting with others, we learn the expectations of society
and select the behavior that is most appropriate.

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Jean Piaget stressed the importance of social interactions.

¥ He found that newborns have no self in the sense of a looking-
glass image.
¥ They are quite self-centered, demanding all attention be directed
toward them.
¥ As children mature, they are gradually socialized into social
relationships.

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PiagetÕs cognitive theory of development: childrenÕs

thought progresses through four stages of development.
¥ Sensorimotor stage: young children use their senses to make
discoveries.
¥ Preoperational stage: children begin to use words and symbols
to distinguish objects and ideas.
¥ Concrete operational stage: children engage in more logical
thinking.
¥ Formal operational stage: adolescents become capable of
sophisticated abstract thought and can deal logically with ideas
and values.

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TABLE 4-2 THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT OF

THE SELF
Key Concepts
Scholar and Contributions Major Points of Theory
Charles Horton Cooley, Looking-glass self Stages of development not distinct;
1864 to 1929; feelings toward ourselves developed
sociologist (USA) through interaction with others
George Herbert Mead, The self; Three distinct stages of development;
1863 to 1931; Generalized other self develops as children grasp the
sociologist (USA) roles of others
in their lives
Erving Goffman, Impression management; Self developed through the
1922 to 1982; Dramaturgical approach; impressions we convey to others and
sociologist (USA) Face-work to groups
Sigmund Freud, Psychoanalysis Self influenced by parents and by
1856 to 1939; inborn drives, such as the drive for
psychotherapist (Austria) sexual gratification
Jean Piaget Cognitive theory of Four stages of cognitive development
1896 to 1980; development
child psychologist
(Switzerland)

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Agents of Socialization
The continuing and lifelong socialization process involves

many different social forces that influence our lives and alter
our self-images.
The most important of these in the United States is family.
Other agents of socialization:
¥ School;
¥ Peer group;
¥ Mass media and technology;
¥ Workplace;
¥ Religion;
¥ The state.

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Agents of Socialization: Family
Family members are an important part of the social

environment.
¥ All families engage in socialization.
In the United States, social development also includes
exposure to cultural assumptions regarding gender and race.
¥ Gender role: expectations regarding the proper behavior,
attitudes, and activities of males and females.
¥ In some societies, girls are socialized mainly by their mothers
and boys by their fathers.

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Research Today
4-2 Rumspringa: Raising Children Amish Style:

¥ Do you or anyone you know come from a subculture that rejects
mainstream American culture? If so, describe the communityÕs
norms and values. How do they resemble and how do they differ
from Amish norms and values?
¥ Why do you think so many Amish youths return to their familiesÕ
way of life after rebelling against it?

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Agents of Socialization: School
Like the family, schools have an explicit mandate to socialize

people into the norms and values of our culture.
Schools in the United States foster competition through
rewards and punishments, such as grades and evaluations.
Functionalists argue that schools fulfill the function of
teaching children the values and customs of the larger
society.
Conflict theorists add that schools can reinforce the divisive
aspects of society, especially those of social class.

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Agents of Socialization: Peer Group
As children grow older, peer groups increasingly assume the

role of MeadÕs significant others.
Young people associate with others who are approximately
their age, and who often enjoy a similar social status.
The importance of peers or friends cannot be overstated.
Gender differences are noteworthy among adolescents.

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TABLE 4-3 HIGH SCHOOL POPULARITY
What makes high What makes high What makes high What makes high
school girls popular, school girls popular, school boys popular, school boys popular,
according to college according to college according to college according to college
men? women? men? women?
1. Physical attractiveness 1. Grades/intelligence 1. Participation in sports 1. Participation in sports
2. Grades/intelligence 2. Participation in sports 2. Grades/intelligence 2. Grades/intelligence
3. Participation in sports 3. General sociability 3. Popularity with girls 3. General sociability
4. General sociability 4. Physical attractiveness 4. General sociability 4. Physical attractiveness
5. Popularity with boys 5. Clothes 5. Car 5. School clubs/

government
Note: Students at the following universities were asked in which ways adolescents in their high schools
had gained prestige with their peers: Cornell University, Louisiana State University, Southeastern
Louisiana University, State University of New York at Albany, State University of New York at Stony Brook,
University of Georgia, and University of New Hampshire.
© McGraw Hill LLC Source: Suitor et al. 2001. 29

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Agents of Socialization:
Mass Media and Technology
Media innovations such as radio, motion pictures, recorded

music, and television have been important agents of
socialization.
Today, socialization increasingly occurs on the Internet.
Both in industrialized nations and in developing areas, people
have been socialized into relying on new communications
technologies.
¥ Still, technologies such as cell phones are expensive and not as
readily available in low-income nations.

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Our Wired World 1
4-3 Teens Controlling Access to Their Social Media:
BOX 4-3 PERCENT OF U.S. TEENS WHO SAY THEY EVER DO THE
FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Access the text alternative to slide image
© McGraw Hill LLC Source: Anderson and Jiang. 2018b. 31

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Our Wired World 2
4-3 Teens Controlling Access to Their Social Media:

¥ Were you surprised at how many teens restrict their social media
posts, or how few? Explain your answer.
¥ Have you ever restricted access to your social media posts by
your parents or anyone else? Why or why not?

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Agents of Socialization: Workplace
Learning to behave appropriately in an occupation is a

fundamental aspect of human socialization.
More and more young people work today.
¥ They seek jobs for spending money.
¥ Teenage employment in the United States is the highest among
industrialized countries.
Socialization in the workplace changes with the shift from
after-school job to full-time employment.
¥ It continues throughout oneÕs work history.
¥ Today, it is not socialization into one lifetime occupation: Between
the ages of 18 and 52, the typical person has held 12 jobs,
nearly half of them at ages 18 to 24.

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Agents of Socialization:
Religion and the State
Organized religion and government have an impact on the life

course.
¥ Religious organizations stipulate certain traditional rites that may
bring together all members of an extended family.
¥ Government regulations stipulate the age one can drink, drive,
vote, marry, and retire.

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Socialization throughout the Life Course 1
Rite of passage: a ritual marking the symbolic transition from

one social position to another.
¥ Rites of passage are ways to validate and/or dramatize changes
in a personÕs status.
¥ They are a worldwide phenomenon.
Life course approach: a research orientation in which
sociologists and other social scientists look closely at the
social factors that influence people throughout their lives,
from birth to death.

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Socialization throughout the Life Course 2
Turning points in life vary from one society or even one

generation to the next.
For example, today in the United States there is no clear
dividing line between adolescence and adulthood, as there is
in some other societies.
¥ Few young people finish school, get married, and leave home at
about the same age.
¥ The terms youthhood, emerging adulthood, pre-adult, and not
quite adult describe the prolonged ambiguous status of young
people in their 20s.

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Anticipatory Socialization
and Resocialization 1
Anticipatory socialization: processes of socialization in

which a person rehearses for future positions, occupations,
and social relationships.
Resocialization: the process of discarding former behavior
patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in
oneÕs life.
¥ Assuming a new social or occupational position can require us to
unlearn an established orientation.
¥ This typically involves considerable stress.

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Total institution: a term coined by Erving Goffman for an

institution that regulates all aspects of a personÕs life under a
single authority.
¥ Examples: a prison, the military, mental hospitals, convents.
¥ All aspects of life are conducted in the same place under the
control of a single authority.
¥ Any activities within the institution are conducted in the company
of others in the same circumstances.
¥ The authorities devise rules and schedule activities without
consulting the participants.
¥ All aspects of life are designed to fulfill the purpose of the
organization.

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People often lose their individuality within total institutions.

Degradation ceremony: an aspect of the socialization
process within some total institutions, within which people
are subjected to humiliating rituals.
¥ The individual becomes secondary to the social environment.

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Role Transitions throughout

the Life Course
We do not experience things the same way at different points

in the life course.
How people move through the life course varies dramatically.
Only in the most general terms can we speak of stages or
periods in the life course.
According to Daniel Levinson:
¥ One transition begins as an individual enters the adult world.
¥ Another begins at about age 40.
¥ Midlife crisis: a stressful period of self-evaluation in which
people realize they have not achieved basic goals and ambitions
and have little time left to do so.

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The Sandwich Generation
Sandwich generation: the generation of adults who

simultaneously try to meet needs of their parents and their
children.
¥ By 2018, 12% of parents with children under 18 at home were
also caring for an adult, typically a relative.
The caregiving role falls disproportionately to women.
¥ They find themselves on the Òdaughter track,Ó with their time and
attention diverted by the needs of aging mothers and fathers.

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Adjusting to Retirement 1
Retirement is a rite of passage.

Increasingly, however, people delay retirement or move into a
different type of job.
¥ The labor force participation rate today is expected to increase
fastest for the oldest segments of the population through 2024.
¥ Factors include changes in Social Security benefits, recent
economic uncertainty, and the need to maintain health insurance
and pension benefits.

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Phases of Retirement:
Phase Description
Preretirement A period of anticipatory socialization as the person prepares for
retirement
Table divided into two columns summarizes phases of retirement. The
Near
column headersWhen
are:the personand
Phase establishes a specific departure date from
description.
his or her job
Honeymoon An often euphoric period in which the person pursues activities that he or
she never had time for before
Disenchantment A sense of letdown or even depression as retirees cope with their new
lives, which may include illness or poverty
Reorientation Involves the development of a more realistic view of retirement
alternatives
Stability A period in which the person has learned to deal with life after retirement
in a reasonable and comfortable fashion
Termination Begins when the person can no longer engage in basic, day-to-day
activities such as self-care and housework
© McGraw Hill LLC Source: Robert Atchley (1976) 43

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Financial difficulties can complicate the retirement process.
FIGURE 4-1
SUPPORT FOR INCREASED
GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON
RETIREMENT
Access the text alternative to slide image
© McGraw Hill LLC Source: 2016 survey data in NORC 2019. 44

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Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs):

Today, rather than residing in nursing homes or planned
retirement communities, many older Americans congregate in
certain areas.
¥ Naturally occurring retirement community (NORC): an area
that has gradually become an informal center for senior citizens.
¥ Often, they emerge as singles and young couples move out and
older people move in.
¥ Residents of some of these communities are threatened by
gentrification.

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Social Policy and Sociological Research: Child Care around the

World 1
Looking at the Issue:

¥ In the United States, 88% of employed mothers depend on
others to care for their children.
¥ Additionally, 30% of mothers who are not employed have regular
care arrangements.
¥ Researchers found high-quality child care centers do not
adversely affect the socialization of children.
¥ It is difficult to generalize about child care, however, because
there is great variability among providers and among government
policies from state to state.
¥ The coronavirus pandemic brought new attention to the need for
child care and the importance of childcare workers.

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World 2
Applying Sociology:
¥ Studies that assess the quality of child care outside the home
reflect the micro level of analysis and the interest of
interactionists.
¥ These studies also explore macro-level implications for the
functioning of social institutions like the family.
¥ In the United States, high-quality day care is not equally
available to all families.
¥ Viewed from a conflict perspective, child care costs are an
especially serious burden for lower-class families.
¥ Feminist theorists suggest that high-quality care receives little
government support because it is regarded as Òmerely a way to
let women work.Ó

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World 3
Initiating Policy:
¥ Policymakers need to decide if child care is desirable and to
what degree taxpayers should subsidize it.
¥ In the United States in 2019, the average annual fees for full-time
child care of an infant ranged from $5,760 in Mississippi to
$20,880 in Massachusetts.
¥ The problem of affordability and accessibility are having an effect
not just in the United States but throughout the world.

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World 4
Take the Issue with You:

¥ Were you ever in a day care program? If so, do you recall the
experience as good or bad? In general, do you think it is
desirable to expose young children to the socializing influence of
day care?
¥ In the view of conflict theorists, child care receives little
government support because it is Òmerely a way to let women
work.Ó Can you think of other explanations?
¥ Should the costs of day care programs be paid by government,
by the private sector, or entirely by parents?

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Taking Sociology to Work
Rakefet Avramovitz, Program Administrator,

Child Care Law Center:
¥ What might be some of the broad, long-term effects of the
centerÕs work to expand child care options? Explain.
¥ Besides the law, what other professions might benefit from the
skills a sociology major has to offer?

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Because learning changes everything.¨

The Self and Socialization

Socialization throughout the Life Course

Role Transitions throughout the Life Course

Social Policy and Sociological Research:

© McGraw Hill LLC

Socialization: the lifelong process in which people learn the

© McGraw Hill LLC 4

The Role of Socialization

The nature versus nurture debate is over the relative

© McGraw Hill LLC 5

Extreme Isolation: Isabelle:

© McGraw Hill LLC 6

Extreme Neglect: Romanian Orphans:

© McGraw Hill LLC 7

© McGraw Hill LLC 8

The Influence of Heredity 1

Studies of twins reveal a fascinating interplay between

© McGraw Hill LLC 9

The Influence of Heredity 2

Twins reared apart in roughly similar social settings have

Some traits, such as bipolar disorder, have significant genetic

© McGraw Hill LLC 10

The Self and Socialization

Our concept of our self emerges as we interact with others.

© McGraw Hill LLC 11

Sociological Approaches to the Self 1

Cooley: Looking-Glass Self:

© McGraw Hill LLC 12

Sociological Approaches to the Self 2

The looking-glass self is a broader view of double

© McGraw Hill LLC 13

Sociological Approaches to the Self 3

Mead: States of the Self:

© McGraw Hill LLC 14

Sociological Approaches to the Self 4

© McGraw Hill LLC 15

TABLE 4-1 MEADÕS STAGES OF THE SELF

Stage Self Present? Definition Example

© McGraw Hill LLC 16

Sociological Approaches to the Self 5

Mead: Theory of the Self:

© McGraw Hill LLC 17

Sociological Approaches to the Self 6

Goffman: Presentation of the Self:

© McGraw Hill LLC 18

4-1 Impression Management by Students:

© McGraw Hill LLC 19

Psychological Approaches to the Self 1

Sigmund FreudÕs early work in psychology stressed the role

© McGraw Hill LLC 20

Psychological Approaches to the Self 2

Jean Piaget stressed the importance of social interactions.

© McGraw Hill LLC 21

Psychological Approaches to the Self 3

PiagetÕs cognitive theory of development: childrenÕs

© McGraw Hill LLC 22

TABLE 4-2 THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT OF