from ppt

• Socialization is the result of a misinterpretation by Franklin H. Giddings in his translation into English of the notion of Vergellschaftung ('coming into a social relationship', 'as-sociation') central in the works of Georg Simmel
• Sociology and psychology have been preoccupied with the question of "human nature" and the process whereby neonates come to be recognized as competent members of a shared social order
• The term socialization has usually been employed to refer to the developmental process, sometimes referred to as primary socialization
• Socialization has been used to examine the social roles of parents, peers, and social institutions such as the school as agents of socialization
• Socialization has also focused on locally specific issues such as work, occupation, social role (parenthood), and political socialization often referred to as secondary socialization
• Socialization is now understood not as a one-off and once-and-for-all matter, but rather through the differentiation of the concept, such as anticipatory socialization or re-socialization
• Goffman's early work on "degradation ceremonies" among asylums had a major influence on these developments
• Approaches to Socialization

  1. Socialization as something that happens to people

  2. Socialization as being a matter of the development of a linguistically mediated reflexive self

  3. Societies and their members are collective and distributive aspects of the same thing
• Societies and their members are collective and distributive aspects of the same thing
• This tradition rejects the idea that "self" and "society," or "identity" and "culture," are separate or separable things and dismisses the commonsense assumption that they are binary contrasts. Instead, each informs and co-produces the other
• Trend of researches on socialization in the 1960s focused on socialization as an assimilation process of individuals into social groups, learning experiences, and stages of fundamental socialization processes
• The majority of works dealing with socialization in the 1960s adopted a comparative perspective discussing the effect of values transmitted by educational practices on adults' behaviors and representation
• Developmentalism influences these studies, according to which social, economic, and political development depends on values internalized by individuals and socialization processes
• Trend of researches on socialization in the 1970s focused on socialization processes being key to understanding the permanence of classes and social differentiation
• Critical development depends on values internalized by individuals

  Depends on socialization processes
• Trend of researches on socialization in 1970s
• Socialization processes are considered key to understanding the permanence of classes and social differentiation
• Comparisons now dealt mostly with social groups such as social classes, socio-professional categories, and sexes
• Bernstein concluded that the learning process of 'formal language' was exclusively spoken by the middle and upper classes, providing them with a significant advantage in the competitive school system
• General trend of researches on socialization
• Countless studies on socialization lack homogeneity as they provide answers to changing motivations and preoccupations, do not always have convergent results, and are not easily integrated in a theoretical framework
• Essential questions for researchers
• What is the most appropriate representation of socialization processes?
• Can socialization processes be primarily regarded as conditioning processes through which the social actor records and internalizes the 'answers' to various situations?
• What role do socialization effects play in the explanation of social phenomena?
• Sociologism treats socialization as a kind of training to internalize norms, values, attitudes, roles, knowledge, and know-how
• Causality: correlation between social classes and values leads to conclusions about the causal action of social structures in the internalization of values
• Conditioning paradigm: the formation of moral judgement in the child depends on developing cognitive structures
• Interaction system: the child's interactions influence moral rules and behavior
• Interaction paradigm is more realistic and flexible than the conditioning paradigm
• The interaction paradigm helps to think of socialization as an adaptive process where individuals adjust their behavior based on cognitive resources and normative attitudes
• Avoid reaching the conclusion that social structures and socialization processes may lead individuals to comply with what others prefer rather than with their own interests
• Neo-Marxist theories of alienation and false consciousness imply that internalized value mechanisms set in action by socialization processes are efficient
• The power of the ruling class on the definition of common values is great enough for individuals belonging to the ruled class to serve the interests of the ruling class
• Within the interaction paradigm, individuals adjust their behavior to what they like best and their interests
• The power of the ruling class on the definition of common values


  Is great enough for individuals belonging to the ruled class to serve obligingly and correctly the interests of the ruling class which are naturally opposed to theirs
• Interaction paradigm

  1. It is easier to take into account the degree of internalization of normative and cognitive frameworks produced by socialization

  2. Different learning experiences vary in length and difficulty

  3. Helps to distinguish internalized elements according to their constraining power
• Socialization


  • Makes individuals internalize norms, values, cognitive structures, and practical knowledge
  • Some learning experiences lead to specific aptitudes, others lead to mastering general operating procedures
  • Some norms are precise, others may be interpreted in various ways
• Primary socialization and secondary socialization

  1. Part of primary socialization is questioned by secondary socialization experienced throughout life

  2. The notion of secondary socialization challenges the idea that effects of primary socialization are always rigorous and irreversible
• Action Analysis

  1. Divergent opinions in empirical studies of socialization phenomena may arise from authors not reconstructing microsociological data

  2. Context influences individual behaviors and choices