Social Experiences
People deprived of human contact suffer mental problems as a result of their abuse. An example could be of Anna, a girl that was locked in a closet with her hands tied above her head. When she was rescued she was incapable of thought emotion, or meaningful action.
Human Development: Nature and Nurture
Charles Darwin's groundbreaking study of evolution described in Chapter 2 led people to think that human behavior was instinctive, simply our “nature”. A lot of people misinterpreted what Darwin was saying, the western Europeans linked differences in other groups of people to biology rather than culture so the mistake was made into thinking that members of technologically simple societies were biologically less evolved or less human. But this does not mean that biology plays no part in human behavior. Children obviously share some biological traits of their parents but the realization of an inherited potation depends on your chance to develop it. Without denying the importance of nature, nurture is more important in shaping human behavior so nurture is our nature.
• John B. Watson – developed a theory called behaviorism, which held that behavior is not instinctive but learned. He rooted human behavior in nurture rather than nature.
Social Isolation
• Research with Monkeys - Psycologists Harry and Margaret Harlow placed Rhesus monkeys, whose behavior is close to humans, in various conditions of social isolation. In one experiment they isolated the monkey for 6 months over this period of time the monkey development was slowed significantly and when they returned to the group it was passive and fearful of things going on around it. Another experiment they did was placing an infant rhesus monkey in a cage with an artificial “mother” made of wire mesh with a wooden head and the nipple of a feeding tube where the breast would be. There monkeys also survived but where unable to interact with others when placed in a group. Monkeys isolated with an artifical “mother” covered in terry cloth did better, clinging to her more closely than those with “mothers” of just wire mesh. The experiment confirmed how important it is that adults cradle infants with love.
• Isolated children - Anna's 5 years of social isolation had caused permanent damage. At age eight, her mental development was still less than that of a two-year old. Not until she was almost 10 did she start to use words. Anna died at age 10 of a blood disorder, possibly related to the years of abuse she suffered.
Understanding Socialization
Sigmund Freud - Trained as a physician, but soon turned to the anayaliss of personality and developed the theory of psychoanalysis. Freuds work presents humans in male terms and devalues women (Donovan & Littenberg, 1982). But Freud influenced everyone who lated studies human personality
• claimed that biology plays a major part in human development although not in terms of specific instincts as in other species.
id - is the human beings basic drivers which are unconscious and demand immediate satisfaction. Society opposes the self-centered id. Initially chidren can feel good only in a physical way, but after three or four years of age, they feel good or bad as they judge their behavior against cultural norms.
Ego- A person's conscious efforts to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives with the demands of society. The ego arises as we gain awareness of our distinct existence and face the fact that we cannot have everything we want.
Superego - the cultural values and norm's internalized by an individual. The super ego operates as out conscience, telling us why we cannot have everything we want. The superego begins to form as a child becomes aware of parental demands and matures as the child comes to understand that everyone's behavior should take account of cultural norms. Culture is a form of superegom represses selfish demandsm forcing people to look beyond their own desires
Sublimation- changes selfish drives into socially acceptable behavior. An example would be marriage makes the satisfaction of sexual urges socially acceptable and competitive sports are a outlet for aggression.
Jean Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) studied human cognition: how people understand. Piaget saw the mind as active and creative. In his view the ability to engage the world unfolded in stages and was the result of both biological maturation and social experience.
Sensorimotor stage- the level of human development at which individuals experience the world only through there senses. ( Touching ,tasting, smelling) ect.
Preoperational stage- the level of human development at which individuals first use language and other symbols. Preop children attach meanings only to specific experiences and objects. They can identify a special toy for exaple, but they cannot describe what kind of toys they like.
Jean Piaget did an experiment where he placed two identical glasses containing equal amounts of water on a table. He asked several five- and six-year olds whether the amount in each was the same. They nodded that it was. The children then watched Piaget take one of the glasses and pour its contents into a taller, narrower glass, raising the level of the water. He asked again whether each glass held the same amount. The 5 and 6-year olds insisted the taller glass had more water, by about age seven, children are able to think more abstractly and realize that the amount of water stays the same.
Concrete Operational Stage- the levels of human development at which individuals first see causal connections in their surroundings.
Formal operational stage- the level of human development at which individuals think abstractly and critically.
Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg built on Piaget's work to study moral reasoning, that is, how people come to judge situations as right or wrong. Like the work of Paiget, Kohlberg's model explains moral development in terms of distinct stages. Many people do not reach his final postconvential level of moral reasoning but no one really has an idea of why. But just like everyone else he generalized the result by male subjects.
Preconventional level- Young children who experience the world in temrs of pain and pleasure. “Rightness amounts to “what feels good to me”.
Conventional level - Applies to young people that lose some of theire selfishness as they learn to define right and wrong in terms of what pleases parents and conforms to cultural norms.
Postconvential level - When people move beyond their society's norms to consider abstract ethical principles. They also think about ideas such as liberty freedom, or justice, they may argue that what is lawful still may not be right.
Carol Gilligan's Theory of Gender And Moral Development
Carol Gilligan set out to compare the moral development of girls and boys and concluded that the two sexes use different standards of rightness.
Males - claims have a justice perspective, relying on formal rules to define right and wrong
Females - claims have a care and responsibility perspective, judging a situation with an eye toward personal relationships and loyalties.
George Herbert Mead's Theory of the Social Self
George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) developed a theory of social behaviorism to explain how social experience develops an individuals personality. Meads work explores the character of social experience itself. In the symbolic interaction of human beings Meads found the root of both self and society.
Self - the part of an individual's personality composed of self-awareness and self-image. Meads self develops only as the individual interacts with others. Without interaction as we know from isolated childer-the body grows, but no self emerges.
• Social experience is the exchange of symbols
• To understand intention, you must imagine a situation from the others point of view ( this capacity lets us anticipate how others will respond to us even before we act)
The Looking-glass self- a self image based on how we think others see us.
• By taking the role of another, we become self-aware.
The “I”- (subjective form of the personal pronoun) This is how we imagine ourselves as others see us.
The ‘ME” - (objective form of the personal pronoun) The continued action based upon how others respond to us.
Stages of Development
Significant others- with children play involves assuming roles modeled by people such as parents, playing mommy or daddy begins to imagine the world from a parent's point of view.
Generalized other – Widespread cultural norms and values we use as a reference in evaluating ourselves.
Erik H. Erikson's eight Stages of Development
Erickson's theory views personality formation as a lifelong process with success at one stage at a time preparing to challenge the next. His models point out how many factors including family and school- shape out personalities.
Stage 1- Infancy: the challenge of trust (versus mistrust). Infants need to gain a sense that the world is a safe place
Stage 2 - Toddler hood : The challenge of autonomy (versus doubt and shame). Children need to learn skills to cope with the world in a confident way. Failure to gain self-confrol leads children to doubt their abilities.
Stage 3- Preschool ” the challenge of initiative (versus guilt). Children must learn top engage their surroundings or experience guilt at having failed to meet the expectations of parents and others.
Stage 4- Preadolescence : the challenge of industriousness (versus inferiority). Child either feels proud of their accomplishment or, at times feel as thought they don't measure up.
Stage 5- Adolescence : the challenge of gaining identity (versus confusion)- Teens identify with others close to them, but they will also see themselves as unique.
Stage 6- Young adulthood - the challenge of intimacy (versus isolation). Young people are challenged by having to form and keep intimate relationships with others. And to have a separate identity
Stage 7- Middle Adulthood - The challenge of making a difference (versus self-absorption) The challenge of middle age is to contribute to the lives of others in the family, at work and in the larger world. Failure results in Scrooge like behavior in older adults.
Stage 8 - Old age: the challenge of integrity (versus despair). Its either people are going to look back on what they have accomplished with sense of satisfaction or a sense of despair over missed opportunities.
Agents of Socialization
The Family
• the family had the greatest impact on socialization
• has the job of teaching skills, values, and beliefs.
• Research suggests, nothing is more likely to produce a happy well adjusted child than a loving family.
• Children learn from the type of environment adults create. So whether children learn to see themselves as strong or weak, smary or stupid, loved or simply tolerated depends largely on their surroundings.
• Gives children a social postion in terms of race, religion, ethnicity, and class. All these elements in time become part of a childs self-concept.
Melvin Kohn
In 1977 Melvin Kohn explained that people of lower social standing usally had a limited education and performed repetitive jobs under close supervision. Thinking that there children would hold similar positions they encourage obedience and may even use physical punishment such as a spanking to get it. Well off parents in terms of their jobs and education are the complete opposite and expect different from their children and enrich them with activities, travel, and better education. This creates cultural capital which will make them learn better and have more confidence.
The School
• In schools children learn the importance that society attaches to race and gender
• Schools also offer a hidden curriculum which included activities such as spelling bees and sports to promote the values of competition and success.
The Peer Group
• A peer group is a social group who's members have interest social position, and age in common.
• In a peer group children learn how to form relationships on their own.
• A peer group can have great influence on short term decisions but not necessarily long term decisions such as college.
• In a peer group people learn about anticipatory socialization , learning that helps a person achieve a desired position though the adoption of attitudes and behavior as a means to win approval from a social group.
The Mass Media
• Mass media are the means for delivering impersonal communications to a vast audience.
• Television, introduced in the 1930's soon become the dominant medium, and 98 percent of U.S. households now have a least one set.
• Critics argue that television shows mirror out societies patterns of social inequality and rarely challenge the status quo. Racial and ethnic minorities have been invisible or have been only included in stereotypical roles. The AMA ( American Medical Association) declaired that violence in the mass media , especially television and films, has reached such a high level that it poses a hazard to the heath of this country's people. Almost 2/3 of television programs contain violence, and in most scenes violent characters show no remorse and are not punished( Wilson 1998)
Socialization and the Life Course
Childhood
Adolescence
Adulthood
Old age
Death and Dying
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Described death as an orderly transition involving five distinct stages
The Life Course: Patterns and Variations
Although each stage of life reflects the biological process of aging, the life course is largely a social construction. People in other societies may experience a stage of life differently or not at all. Socieities organize the life course according to age but other forces such as class, race, ethnicity, and gender also shape peoples lives. A persons life experiences depend a lot on when they were born.
• Cohort- a category of people with a common characteristic, usally their age.
Resocialization: Total Instiutions
• Total institution- a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff.
• Resocialization- radically changing an inmate's personality by carefully controlling the environment. The institution is the inmate's entire world, making it easier for the staff to bring about lasting change- at least immediate compliance.
• Resocialization is a two part-process. First the staff breaks down a new inmates existing identity (surrendering personal possessions) also mortifications to self which can include searches, medical examinations, head shavings ect. The second part is when the staff tries to build a new self in the inmate through a system of rewards and punishments.
• Total Institutions affect people in different ways, in some cases people are considered recovered, but other may become bitter and hostile, and finally some people can leave institutionalized, without the capacity for independent living.