Pick one social norm that you learned during your childhood.Discuss how family, religion, education, the media and peers assi

Module Notes: Understanding Culture and Socialization

Cultural Exchange. North American teenagers interacting

with Costa Rican school children on a cultural exchange trip

Material Culture

Introduction

Culture [Video, 26:40 mins] is everything about a society’s way of life. It refers to all elements of culture, both material and symbolic. It includes a society’s real and ideal cultures. Culture is essential to a society’s stability and development because it serves as a lens for viewing the world. Most individuals don’t think about the elements of their culture because they are a “natural” way of life. Culture is passed down from generation to generation and is ingrained in every element of your daily life. It dictates how you dress, what you eat, the type of entertainment you enjoy and your beliefs about what is right and what is wrong. It includes all of your values and beliefs.

Defining Culture

Culture can be divided into two main categories: material culture and symbolic culture. Material culture [Video, 2:28 mins] refers to all of the objects associated with a culture. This includes any physical object to which a society attaches significant meaning. For example, in the United States families that do not have at least one television, one computer and one smart phone in their home may be viewed as odd. These pieces of technological equipment are significant to the American culture. They are viewed as a necessary source of information, education, communication and entertainment. Symbolic culture [Video, 1:31 mins] refers to the ideas that are associated with a society. It includes the way you behave and the things you place value in. For example, The US has a market-based economy. This means that Americans expect to find a price tag on every item that is available for purchase. Negotiating a value of an item (bargaining) is not part of our symbolic culture.

Culture and Communication

Communication [Video, 2:40 mins] is one of the most important elements of symbolic culture. It includes language, signs and gestures. Signs are a common form of communication, especially in a modern society. They can include elements of the written language but this is not

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Module Notes: Understanding Culture and Socialization

Scenes from Cooktown Australia

Lady Justice

necessary to have a shared meaning. Gestures are the elements of body language to which we attach social meaning. Gestures are interpreted dependent upon the context, time and location. Different cultures can also attach different meanings to the identical gesture. Gestures must always be interpreted from the culture in which they are displayed. Language is the most significant means of transmitting culture. Language includes all aspects of communication; written, spoken and body movement. Every society has a common language that is shaped by the society. However, the language may also shape the society. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggests that language develops within society but that is also frames the way that you view and experience society.

Values and Social Control

Culture is a complex system of values (what a society considers good and desirable) and beliefs (what a society holds to be true). Your values and beliefs guide your expectations for behavior. These rules and expectations for behavior are known as norms. Norms can be divided into three basic categories: Folkways, Mores and Taboos [Video, 2:33 mins]. Folkways are loosely enforced and include your customs for social interactions. For example, the expectation that you will not pick your nose in public is a folkway. Mores are norms that carry a large amount of moral significance. They are closely related to the core values of the group. Many mores are actually laws. Laws refer to those mores that are written down in a legal code for behavior. They can include those that are lightly sanctioned, such as a parking violation that nets a ticket, or heavily sanctioned, such as a life sentence for taking a life. Taboos are the strongest form of norm. They are so morally engrained in our culture that the mere thought of violating them causes revulsion. How do you feel when you consider the act of cannibalism? You might experience physical discomfort, such as nausea, when you think about this topic.

Cultural variations

Every society has a dominant culture. This refers to the values

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Cultural Variations

Cultural Diffusion

and norms of the most powerful group within a society. The US is viewed as multicultural due to the diversity of racial, ethnic, national and linguistic backgrounds of the individuals that live within the country. Despite this, the dominant culture expects conformity from residents. This conformity includes the way you dress and speak and the use of the English language. (Read this article if you are interested in reading more on this topic.)

Subcultures [Video, 4:43 mins] and Counter Cultures often develop within a society. A subculture is a group that has distinctive values and norms that set it apart from the dominant culture. However, the subculture remains consistent with the major values of the dominant culture. An example of a subculture might be Cosplayers, typically young adults who dress up as their favorite fantasy or science fiction characters and attend media themed conventions. A counter culture is a movement that stands in opposition to the dominant culture. This culture openly rejects the dominant values and norms and may actively oppose them. Examples of this are the anti-war movement, Civil Rights movement and Equal Rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. These movements resulted in cultural wars, clashes within society that led to major social changes.

Cultural Change

As the previous example illustrates, culture can change. In fact, all cultures change with time, though the change is usually slow and may not be the result of a cultural war. One of the strongest contributors to social change is technological advance. Young people today can easily communicate with young people from all over the world. Multiplayer video games encourage international game play. Social media allows for interactions on a variety of levels. This creates Cultural Diffusion and Cultural Leveling [Video, 4:29 mins]. Cultural diffusion happens when elements of one culture are transmitted to another culture. Cultural leveling refers to the process of cultures becoming more similar to one another as they lose the elements that once made them distinct. The widespread use of technology and the ease of access to other cultural groups is contributing to the development of what might be called a global culture.

The Process of Socialization

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Theories of Socialization

Culture is passed from generation to generation through the process of socialization [Video, 1:45 mins]. This is the way that you learn and internalize the values and beliefs of your culture. It is the way you become a functioning member of your society. There is much discussion over the role of Nature vs Nurture [Video, 4:18 mins] in behavioral science, though sociology leans heavily on the nurture side of the debate. The nature argument suggests that there is a biological component to most of social behavior. For example, the majority of violent criminals are male. The biological explanation for this is that higher levels of testosterone lead to more aggressive behaviors. Sociologists argue that males get more social rewards for aggressive behavior. This is the nurture side of the argument. It argues that aggressive behavior is learned and part of the way people are nurtured more than it is part of their biology. Most scientists agree that both nature and nurture play a part in behavior.

The Self

The development of the self, your understanding of who you are as an individual and within the social setting, is dependent upon socialization. Freud identified three elements of the personality. The Id is the nature part of the personality. It is the biological drive and instinctive response of the personality. Freud considered the id to be the ‘selfish’ part of the personality, concerned only with meeting personal desires and needs. The superego is the socialized part of the personality.

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Module Notes: Understanding Culture and Socialization

Sigmund Freud

Mirror Image?

It is the combination of the conscience and the ego-ideal. It controls the id and encourages socially and morally appropriate behavior. The ego mediates between the selfish desires and the social controls. Freud was not a sociologist, but his theory is important to the development of social psychological theory, especially that of George Mead.

The Looking Glass Self

Like Freud, Charles Cooley argued that the self develops within the social context. His theory of the Looking Glass Self [Video, 2:49 mins] argued that people use others in society as a mirror. You imagine how you look to others and how others judge you. These thoughts are reinforced through the language and gestures that are seen in others. These reactions get interpreted and those interpretations cause feelings that influence the sense of self. For example, imagine a college classroom that meets at 8:00 a.m. The professor shows up and begins her Monday morning lecture. She notices that half the class is dozing off. She has difficulty engaging them in class discussions. According to Cooley’s theory, she can have several interpretations of this behavior but either can influence her perceptions of herself as a professor. If she sees the tired students and interprets their behavior as boredom, she may believe “I am not a good professor”. If she interprets their behavior as Monday morning recovery from weekend activities and lack of sleep, then she will not make it part of her self- perception.

Mind, Self and Society

George Herbert Mead’s theory of the self is more closely

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Module Notes: Understanding Culture and Socialization

George Herbert Mead

Erving Goffman

related to Freud’s theory because he places self within the context of stages of development. The Preparatory Stage takes place in very early childhood. Until a child is about three years old, Mead argued that they have little sense of self. They learn social actions through mimicking. Around the age of three, they enter the play stage. This is when they take on the role of a significant other in their play. For example, they might pretend to be a mommy, daddy, doctor or dancer. They begin to learn the social expectations for behaviors during this early play. The game stage begins in early childhood, around the time that children begin school. They begin to engage in organized games with established rules. This requires them to take on the perspective of the generalized other [Video, 2:31 mins]. This means that they have to know and understand the rules and the expected behaviors of the group.

Dramaturgy

Erving Goffman’s theory, called Dramaturgy, is based on the Thomas Theorem [Video, 1:26 mins]. The Thomas Theorem states that things perceived as real are real in their consequences. Goffman examined and explained how interactions are built. He focused on the expressions of behavior and the definitions of situations. Goffman argued that individuals approach interactions as if they are actors on a stage. They have front or frontstage behaviors. Think of this as center stage in a play. It is the setting that establishes the context of the action. They also have a personal front. The personal front is the impression that they want to make on others. Finally, there are backstage behaviors. Think of this as the place that you rehearse your roles. Think of a couple going on their first date. The front for this date might be a nice restaurant. Each actor has a personal front. This is the impression that they want to make on their date. He might talk about his prowess at sports or his success at his job. Athletic ability and success are qualities that are valued in men. She might order healthy food and eat lightly. She might be careful to laugh at his jokes or pretend that she doesn’t much on a topic that he introduces. Passivity and delicate eating habits are valued in women. Together, they are socially constructing the perfect date night.

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Module Notes: Understanding Culture and Socialization

Agents of Socialization

Status and Roles

Agents of Socialization

Each social institution plays a part in the socialization process and is therefore an Agent of Socialization. However, four institutions play special roles in assuming this responsibility: Family, Schools, Peers and the Media. Family has perhaps the most important role because they are responsible for molding the young child into a responsible member of society. They teach values and beliefs and frame your understanding and acceptance of social norms. They guide your views of gender, politics, success, race, education and religion. Schools reinforce, and perhaps correct, what the family has started. Children learn the skills necessary to be part of the labor market but they also learn a hidden curriculum [Video, 2:22 mins]. This hidden curriculum includes being punctual, organized, disciplined, and obedient. It also includes neatness, competition and hard work. Peers reinforce independence and connection to the social group at large. As peers become more important, the family influence becomes less important. Finally, the media reinforces all of society’s values and norms. It establishes expectations for beauty, success and interactions. For example, pick a show that focuses on a family and you will see acceptable and unacceptable behaviors for families in society. Characters get positive and negative sanctions for their behaviors which send the message to viewers about the acceptability of behaviors in the social order.

Social Status and Social Roles

As you move through the socialization process you develop your social status and your social roles. Status refers to your place in a given social hierarchy. It can be ascribed (present at birth like race or sex), or achieved (earned over time like education or occupation). It can be embodied (part of your physical self, such as beauty or a disability). Your status influences the way others view and interact with you. Your master status is the status that overrides all others. All elements of your status combined are your status set. For example, an individual could have the ascribed statuses of white female and the achieved statuses of doctor and professor. She might have the embodied statuses of needing a wheelchair and being exceptionally beautiful. It is possible, that others will first classify her as needing the wheelchair or being very beautiful so that the embodied status becomes her master status. The master status can contribute to or be the

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result of stereotyping, the expectations for behavior that are driven by status and not individual behaviors.

You have a role set just as you have a status set. The role set is the expectations for behaviors that accompany your status. For example, you may be a spouse, a parent, an employee and a student. We often have role strain and role conflict when our role set is this complex. How do you manage the expectations of all of your roles? This is known as role conflict. The needs of the roles conflict with one another forcing the individual to choose an action that will fail at least one of the roles. Role strain occurs when there are contradictory expectations within a role. Role exit occurs when we leave a role.

The readings and videos from this module have introduced you to a variety of theoretical approaches to understanding culture and the process of socialization. The following activities will give you the opportunity to apply some of these theoretical approaches and test your knowledge of the basic concepts.

Image Citation: http://quest.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/search/139_2014032 Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton. http://quest.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/search/115_3864809 http://quest.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/search/300_1826750 Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton. http://quest.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/search/139_1908531 http://quest.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/search/157_1249341 Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2016). The real world: An introduction to sociology (5 ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

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