1. Socialization

2. Socialization The lifelong process through which people are prepared to participate in society By studying how people learn the rules of society, we hope to better understand why people think and act as they do

3. Nature-Nurture Debate Controversy over the extent to which behavior results from predetermined biological characteristics or from socialization

4. Nature-Nurture Debate Sociology Study of biological and genetic determinants of behavior Instincts – patterns of reflexes that occur in animals No powerful, fixed drives or instincts have been discovered in humans

5. Nature-Nurture Debate Money (1980) Environmental factors become part of our biology when we perceive them When information enters our minds, it is translated into a biochemical form Information stored in the brain can cause physiological changes in the body

6. Social Isolation Infants and social interaction

7. Social Isolation Feral children Wild boy of Aveyron, France 1800 TraianCaldarar, Romania 2002

8. Social Isolation Children in institutions

9. Social Isolation Abused and neglected children Genie

10. Development of Self Mead The unique feature of the human mind is its capacity to use symbols Human development proceeds from this ability A self develops through language and interaction Symbolic interaction

11. Development of Self “The self is something which has a development; it is not initially there, at birth, but arises in the process of social experience and activity, that is, develops in the given individual as a result of his relations to that process as a whole and to other individuals within that process.”

12. Development of Self Role taking – process of figuring out how others will act Play – three stages through which the self emerges

13. Development of Self Preparatory stage – children are only capable of imitation Play stage – children begin to take on the role of others significant in their lives Game stage – children are capable of understanding not only one role, but the roles of several individuals simultaneously

14. Development of Self Mead Generalized other – the organized community or social group that provides reference for one’s behavior I & Me I – not self conscious Me – part of the self that see the self as object; concerned with society’s expectations

15. Development of Self Cooley Looking-glass self – the self develops in a process that requires reference to other people How we think our behavior appears to others How we think others judge our behaviors How we feel about their judgments When we refer to ourselves we are usually referring to our looking-glass selves Merton’s self-fulfilling prophecy

16. Development of Self Goffman Presentation of self – the way we present ourselves gives other people clues about the type of interaction we expect

17. Development of Self Dramaturgical approach Backstage and onstage Actors and audience

18. Development of Self Goffman Maintaining the self Excuses & disclaimers We expect others to maintain their roles, when this does not happen we react emotionally Groups agree to uphold roles, failure to do so can result in an emotional reaction

19. Major Agents of Socialization Family School Peer groups Religion Mass media

20. Socialization as Adults “Training” for new roles Resocialization Necessitated by a major break in a person’s customary life