1. An introduction to Sociology as an academic subject LO4
By Kirsty Louise Champion Page 1
“The concept of our self image,our sense of identity and gender roles, as
well as the way webehave and think,are all determined by our
environment,rather than any innate factor”.
The abovestatement could be convincing, but on the other hand our self-
image and identity are not all determined by our environment, it playsa
part in our Primary and secondary stages in society. Throughout this essay
I will debate for and against this statement to determinewhether or not the
statement is convincing.
Socialisation is part of our journey in society. Webegin with our families or
social communitiesthat give usour basic needs, (Primary socialisation).
Weare nurtured and taught how to behave, eventually becoming your own
person, havingan identity, (Secondary Socialisation). American
Psychological association (nd)definessocialisation as,
‘A continuing processwhereby anindividual acquiresa personal
identity and learnsthe norms, values, behaviour, and social skills
appropriate to hisor her social position’.
It can depend on where weare born and brought up that can determine
how webehave and socialise. For example; this definition doessupport
that our environmentisusually where our identities and behavioursare
formed. Buton the other hand, Manford .K. (1911-63)pp2-3 studied ‘the
self’ which showed how we already determinewho we are as a person,
even if we do not know this yet. This research produced evidencethat
humansform biological personalities or genetically socialise peopleand
groups.
You could argue that socialisation is our theoretical ‘mother’. Weare born
with a voice box to speak, a body to gesture with and a brain to analyse
with. Butwithout socialisation we would notbe able to learn to interact
with each other, and usethese biological elements to become socialised.
Socialisation nurturesusinto who we will become, acting as our ‘mother’.
Take feral children for example, isolated from society, are unableto
communicateproperly and havelittle or no understandingof how other
human beings act. Therefore they are labelled ‘retarded’or ‘incapable’.

2. An introduction to Sociology as an academic subject LO4
By Kirsty Louise Champion Page 2
Hehrer.H.(2009). Thissuggests that without socialisation or being
nurtured, weareunableto naturally fit into society.
Consideringthe followingfactors that may influenceour self-image, our
identity and the gender roles we play, can depend on many aspectsof
socialising. Somemay include; Family, religion, media, work and education.
Usually our primary source of socialising is family and school, where we
make basic connectionswith people. With these factors, parents, guardians
and teachers are usually the first step in providingdisciplineand how to
socialise. They can teach usto hold certain valuesand encourage good
behaviour that wewill use in society. Welearn culturalnormsand start to
develop a personality. Aswe turn to adolescence we can be influenced by
differentagencies includingmedia, work and peer groups, these are
secondary sourcesof socialisation. Aloysius .S.(2011).
In these agencies we find our self-image and can identify our individuality.
Wemake our own choices and decide right from wrong, throughoutside
influences, suchas the media, workplaceand peer groups. They can
develop how we think and behave. From my experienceas a youngchild,
my mother would dressmein pretty pink dresses, encourageme to dance
and sing, which could be why I am quite a typicalgirly girl. Butmy mother
also encouraged my sister to play football, which would indicatea break in
stereotypical gender roles. She wasalso dressed in pink dresses, but later
on when she was at her adolescence stage she wore jogging bottoms and
never puther hair up or did typical girl activities. Allthis suggests our
environmentcan influenceour self-image and the peer groupsthat we
socialise with can impact our stereotypical male and female roles. These
are all nurturingaspects that come from our environmentthatsurrounds
us. This would suggest weare not naturally born with a self-image and
identity and can be determined by our environment.
From birth we are biologically determined by our body parts; we are either
male or female. Gender rolescan be determined by how we act in those
pre-determined roles. Donnell.M.(1997)p186,noted that;
‘...womenare considered biologically programmed for childrearing and
related domesticwork, whereasmenare regarded as‘naturally’
breadwinners’.

3. An introduction to Sociology as an academic subject LO4
By Kirsty Louise Champion Page 3
This suggests women are morenaturally capable of lookingafter children,
as they are the more ‘gentle’ and ‘caring’ gender. Which could be why in
most households, the female would stay at homelooking after the children,
whilst males go to work and providefor them. Butyou could arguethat
some research shows it doesnot have to be the femalethat can look after
children, as Donnell.M.(1997)p186 suggested;
‘JohnBowlby analysed that ‘ a mother substitute’ could meet a child’s
need for love and affection’.
Which clearly states a male is perfectly capable of looking after a child,
regardless of ‘biological programming’. From extensivereadingI found
that, gender roles are based moreso on stereotypes, compared to the early
centuries because wenow have equality in our roles. Socialisation has
brought us to a more balanced partnership with regardsto stereotypical
behaviour. On the other hand, we have sexuality that can determineif we
are attracted to a particular sex, through socialisation, werealise our
sexuality. Butcan change dueto bad experiences with ex partners, or it
may be that a homosexualmale is attracted to another male, but dueto
socialisation and stereotypical viewsthey purposely havefemale partners
to hide this sexuality from society. There is no evidenceto suggest that we
are biologically attracted to a certain sex from birth. It is usually founded
when we reach our adolescence stage. We can choose to act on our
emotions and are notbiologically attracted to a certain sex. It is gender
roles that decipher how we act in society. Clarke.R.(2004)explainsthat;
‘one is not always consciously aware that onehas imbibed and manifested
such attitudes’.
This shows that, gender roles may be interpreted because of the typeof
gender we are, which will lead usto play our stereotypical roles. For
example, a woman cooks the dinner and the man fixes a shelf. Brewer .H.
(2014).
Studies show that our environmentsplay amajor part in how we behave
and characterise ourselves. Wedo not have a genetic connection to
socialisation. Weall learn how to behave and have emotionalreactions
within society, with religion and mediathat could influencewhy we think a
certain way. Studies such as; The little Albert experimentby JohnWatson
and Happy Families: A TwinStudy of Humour by Twin Research and Genetic
Epidemiology unit at St. Thomas'Hospital, suggeststhat weall start off
genetically the same, but are moulded and divided into groups, within

4. An introduction to Sociology as an academic subject LO4
By Kirsty Louise Champion Page 4
societies. Powell.K.(2013). Theexperimentsshow that no matter how
genetically the same we are (nature), we can all be changed by our
environmentswithhow we feel about certain things, (nurture).
In conclusion to this natureversusnurturedebate, sociologists are still
debating and experimentingto this day about which aspect determines
why we are socialised in such vast ways, Powell. K. (2013). Thepoint is,
whether we are naturally equipped to behave in society or if weare
nurtured and adapted becauseof our environments, there is no right or
wronganswer. The statement is both convincingand unconvincing,
because natureor nurturecannotbe defined to the reason why we think
and behave the way we do. Butthe two do work well in partnership. We
would notexist as we do today if we didn’thave the environmentthat
nurtureour societies and certainly not without the genetics that form us.

5. An introduction to Sociology as an academic subject LO4
By Kirsty Louise Champion Page 5
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