1) Socialization is the process of learning social norms, beliefs, and values from others through social interaction. 2) Theories of self-development include psychological perspectives that see the self emerging through psychosexual stages or life stages, and sociological perspectives that see the self developing through social interactions and interpreting others' reactions. 3) Agents of socialization like family, peers, school, workplace, religion, government, and media help communicate social expectations and reinforce norms during the socialization process across the life course.

1. Socialization
Chapter 5
Based on OpenStax
Introduction to Sociology2e

2.  The most basic of human activities is learned from others
 The process of learning social norms and expectations, society’s
beliefs, and values is called socialization.
 We need meaningful social interaction to have the possibility of
behaving, thinking and feeling in a capacity understood and
recognized by others.
Introduction

3. Theories of Self-
Development

4.  A sense of self -- or who we consider ourselves to be and how we
think about ourselves – emerges through interaction with others.
 Some theories of self-development are:
– Psychological
– Sociological
Theories of Self-Development

5. Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939)
 Personality and sexual development are closely linked
 Maturation process can be divided into psychosexual stages:
– Oral
– Anal
– Phallic
– Latency
– Genital
 Development of self is linked to experiences in early phases of
development
Psychological Perspectives on
Self-Development

6. Erik Erikson (1902 – 1994)
 Used Freud’s ideas as a starting point
 Believed personality was in continuous process of development
– Eight life stages: birth  death
 Self development is influenced by social factors beyond
psychosexual development and basic urges
Psychological Perspectives on
Self-Development

7. Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980)
 Focused specifically on the roll of social interactions in child
development
 The self emerges through negotiation with the world we think exists
(and create ideas about) and the world we experience.
 Stages of development
– Sensorimotor
– Preoperational
– Concrete operational
– Formal operational
Psychological Perspectives on
Self-Development

8. Charles Horton Cooley (1864 – 1929)
 “Looking-glass self”, or mirror self
– We construct a sense of who we are through our interpretations of
others’ reaction to us
– We use other people as a mirror to understand who we are.
Sociological Perspectives on
Self-Development

9. George Herbert Mead (1863 – 1931)
 Social interaction helps us develop a sense of self
 To view ourselves from the eyes of others, we first need to be able
to meaningfully communicate and interact with others
 Through socialization, we learn how to think from another person’s
perspective.
Sociological Perspectives on
Self-Development

10. George Herbert Mead (1863 – 1931)
 Process of development:
– Preparatory stage (imitation): copying; no real ability to imagine how
others see things
– Play stage (role taking): take on role of a particular other person
– Game stage: take on multiple roles of multiple others
– Generalized other: common expectations of general society
Sociological Perspectives on
Self-Development

11. Lawrence Kohlberg (1927 – 1987)
 Moral development is vital part of socialization
 The process of how people learn what is right and wrong:
– Preconventional stage (young children): experience the world through
their senses
– Conventional stage (teens): awareness of others’ feelings & take them
into account when determing “good” and “bad”
– Postconventional: people think about morality in absract terms;
recognize that legality and morality do not always match up evenly
Sociological Perspectives on
Self-Development

12. Carol Gilligan (1836 –)
 Questioned gender bias in Kohlberg’s theory
 Girls and boys have different understandings of morality.
 Boys have justice perspective:
– Place emphasis on rules and laws
 Girls have care & responsibility perspective:
– consider people’s reasons behind behavior
Sociological Perspectives on
Self-Development

13. Why Socialization
Matters

14. Why Socialization Matters
 Teaching culture to new members and generations
– Perpetuates culture
 Socialization helps us
– understand who we are as individuals
– learn where we fit within the social world
– understand what’s appropriate in different circumstances
– continually interact – learning shared understandings facilitates
interaction with others

15. Nature vs nurture
Nature
 Who we are are is based upon genetics
Nurture
 Who we are is based upon our relationships with others and our
position in structures within society
 Sociologists recognize the influence of both nature and nurture, but
focus most attention to nurture

16. Agents of
Socialization

17.  Agents of socialization help communicate expectations and
reinforce norms.
 Agents of socialization include:
– Family
– Peers
– School
– Workplace
– Religion
– Government
– Mass Media
Agents of Socialization

18.  Primary agent of socialization
 Provide initial sensitization to the social world
– How to use objects
– How to interact with others
– How the world “works”
Agents of Socialization:
Family

19.  A group of similar age and social status who share interests
 Peer socialization begins early
– Playground: learning rules of games, how to take turns, and how to
interact
 Peer groups provide first major socialization experience outside
the realm of the family
Agents of Socialization:
Peers

20.  Occupies a large part of children’s day
 Manifest functions:
– Learn subjects that our society deems essential components of
knowledge base
 Latent functions:
– Often the first formal institution that we encounter
– Learn how to follow a schedule; how to work with others who we may
dislike; understand authority structure; learn abstract rules and
repercussions
 Hidden curriculum – latent teaching in which school and
classroom rituals reinforce what society expects from teachers
Agents of Socialization:
Schools

21.  A large part of an adults’ time takes place in the workplace
– Can inform identity and provide means to survive
 In the past, working a single job through retirement wasn’t
uncommon
 Baby Boomers between ages 18-46 worked an average of 11.3
jobs
– Requires different types of socialization to material and nonmaterial
culture for each job and each role held within a particular workplace
Agents of Socialization:
Workplace

22.  Often reinforce norms related to family, power dynamic, gender
and sexuality
 Organized religion fosters a shared set of values
Agents of Socialization:
Religion

23.  Who is an adult?
 What counts as marriage?
 At what age can a child stay alone at home?
 When can you start to work and in what circumstances?
 When do we retire?
 How do we interact with government at different phases of the life
course?
– The government codifies deeply personal category changes
– Rites of passage are filtered through government
Agents of Socialization:
Government

24.  Consists of TV, newspapers, radio, outlets available via the
Internet, etc…
 Greatly influences social norms
– At points, pushing the boundaries
– Or, censoring outputs
Agents of Socialization:
Mass Media

25. Socialization Across
the Life Course

26.  As we age, age-related transition points necessitate socialization
into new roles
– Varies over time
• Younger generations are delaying transition to “adulthood” in comparison
to older generations
 Anticipatory socialization: preparation for future life roles
Socialization Across the Life
Course

27.  Resocialization: Old behaviors useful in previous role need to be
altered to adapt to new role
– Married  Single or Single  Married
– Living on one’s own  Care home, or Living with parents  Living
alone
 Can be stressful due to need to “unlearn” what was once
customary
 Degradation ceremony: new members lose old identity and are
given new identities
– Discard symbolic markers of old identity
– Build new identity
Socialization Across the Life
Course: resocialization