04 Handout

• Enculturation/Socialization


  The process by which a human being, beginning at infancy, acquires personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, habits, beliefs, social skills, and accumulated knowledge of society through education and training for adult status appropriate to his or her social position
• Enculturation/socialization transforms a helpless infant into a more knowledgeable and cooperative member of society
• Enculturation/socialization is a lifelong process that starts at birth and ends at death
• Enculturation/socialization


  Individuals not only learn the values, norms, and skills of their culture, but also acquire a sense of who they are and where they belong
• Looking Glass Self Theory (Charles Horton Cooley)


  • A person's sense of self is actually derived from the perception of others as we perceive ourselves on how other people think of us
• Role-taking Theory (George Herbert Mead)


  • The development of social awareness is traced to our early social interaction
  • Out of social interaction, sense of self emerges, which is composed of the "Me" (perceptions of what other people think of us) and the "I" (the independent, spontaneous, and unpredictable side of ourselves)
• Agents of Socialization

  • Family
  • School
  • Peers
  • Mass Media
  • Workplace
• Conformity


  The act of exhibiting the same as the behavior of most other people in a society, group, etc.
• Deviance


  The recognized violation of cultural norms/failure to follow or conform the norms in a society
• Social Control


  The set of means to ensure that people generally behave in expected and approved ways
• Internal Social Control


  The socialization process that developed within the individual as we do things when we know it is the right thing to do
• External Social Control


  Social sanctions or the system of rewards and punishments designated to encourage desired behavior
• Forms of Deviance

  • Innovation (rejecting the use of socially accepted means to achieve success)
  • Ritualism (rejecting the importance of success goals but continue to toil as conscientious and diligent workers)
  • Retreatism (Withdrawal from the society and does not care about success)
  • Rebellion (Attempts to change the goals and means of society)
• Human Dignity


  Something that can't be taken away, each and every person has value, are worthy of great respect, and must be free from slavery, manipulation, and exploitation
• Human dignity is the basis of fundamental human rights, it is inviolable and must be respected and protected
• Human Rights


  Inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status, they are interrelated, interdependent, and indivisible
• Human rights are not a privilege, they are things you are allowed to be, do, or have, and they are there for your protection against people who might want to harm or hurt you, and to help us get along with each other and live in peace
• When human rights are not well-known or made known to people, abuses such as discrimination, intolerance, injustice, oppression, and slavery can arise
• The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948 to provide a common understanding of what everyone's rights are, and to form the basis for a world built on freedom, justice, and peace
• The Common Good


  An undefined and undefinable concept, it is tacitly assumed to mean "the good of the majority" as against the minority or the individual
• When "the common good" of a society is regarded as something apart from and superior to the individual good of its members, it means that the good of some men takes precedence over the good of others, with those others consigned to the status of sacrificial animals
• Socialization


  A lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn the culture
• Enculturation


  The process by which people learn the requirements of their surrounding culture and acquire the values and behaviors appropriate or necessary in that culture
• Goals of Socialization

  • Teaches impulse control and helps individuals develop a conscience
  • Teaches individuals how to prepare for and perform certain social roles
  • Cultivates shared sources of meaning and value
• Self


  A sociological concept that develops through social interactions - a set of situations where individuals learn to assume roles and meet the increasing level of complexity of each situation
• Stages of Development of the Self

  1. Imitation

  2. Play

  3. Game

  4. Generalized Others
• Identity Formation


  The development of an individual's distinct personality, which is regarded as a persisting entity in a particular stage of life by which a person is recognized or known
• Types of Identity

  • Cultural identity
  • Ethnic identity
  • National identity
  • Religious identity
  • Master identity
• Norm


  A rule that guides the behavior of members of a society or group
• Types of Norms

  • Proscriptive norms
  • Prescriptive norms
  • Mores
  • Folkways
• Values


  Culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful, and that serve as broad guidelines for social living
• Status


  A social position that a person holds, which can be either ascribed or achieved
• Role


  The behavior of someone who holds a particular status
• Concepts related to Status and Role

  • Status set
  • Ascribed status
  • Achieved status
  • Role set
  • Role strain
  • Role manipulation
  • Impression management
• Deviance


  Behavior that violates expected rules and norms
• Theoretical Interpretations of Deviance

  • Structural Strain Theory
  • Labeling Theory
  • Social Control Theory
• Society has ways and means to assure conformity, providing mechanisms, rules, rewards, and consequences in cases where conformity is lacking or weak