Soc 1100 Final notes

Soc exam notes Chapter 5 – socialization Socialization - The lifelong social experience by which individuals develop their human potention and learn culture Personality - A persons faily consistent patterns of thinking, feeling and acting Nature vs nurture - Bio sciences role of nature o Europeans linked cultural differences to bio - Soc sciences role of nurture o Behaviourism holds that behaviour is not instinctive but learned - Isolation can cause permanent developmental damage Sex researchers made contributions to human dev 1. Freud 2. Piaget 3. Kohlberd 4. Gilligan 5. Herbert mead 6. Erikson Freud’s elements of personality - Basic human needs o Eros and thanatos as opposing forces - Freuds model of personality o Id = basic drives o Ego = efforts to achieve balance o Superego = culture within - Personality development o Id and superego in constant conflict  ego balances the two - Critical review o Studies reflect gender bia o Influences the study of personality o Sociologists note freuds contribtions  Internalization of social norms  Childhood experiences have lasting effects Piaget’s theory of cognitive development - Cognition o How people think and understand - Stages of development o Sensorimotor  Sensory contact understanding o Preoperational  Use of a language and other symbols o Concrete operational  Perception of casual connections in surroundings o Formal operational  Abstract, critical thinking - Critical review o Differed from freud, viewed mind as active and creative o Cognitive stages are result of biological mutation and social experience Kohlbergs theory of moral development - Moral reasoning o The ways in which individuals judge situations as right and wrong - Three stages of moral development o Preconvetional  Young children experience world as pain or pleasure o Conventional  Teens lose selfishness  Define right and wrong by what pleases parents, and conform to social norms o Postconventional  Final stage  Considers abstract ethical principals - Critical review o Like piaget, viewed development in stages o Many people don’t reach final stage o Research limited to boys, generalized population Gilligans gender and moral development - Compared boys and girls moral reasoning o Boys develop justice perspective  Formal rules define right and wrong o Girls develop care and responsibility perspective  Personal relationships define ethical reasoning o Girls are socialized to be controlled and eager to please - Critica review o Does nature or nurture account for the diffences in boys and girls o Many feminists do not agree with essentializing diffences o Morals will become similar as more women enter the workplace Meads theory of social self - Self o The part of an individuals personality composed of self awareness and self image  Self develops only from social interactions  Social experience is the exchange of symbols  Understanding intention requires imagining situation from other POV  By taking the role of another we become self-aware - The looking glass self o The others present mirror in which we see ourselves (cooley) o Our self-image is based on how we think others see us o Meads I and Me:  The I (subjective element) is in consistent interplay with the Me (objective element) - Development of the self o Imitation  Infants mimic behaviour without understanding intentions o Play  Taking the role of significant others (like parents) o Games  Taking the role of several others at once and following rules o Generalized other  Widespread cultural norms and values we use as a reference in evaluating ourselves - Critical review o Mead dosent allow biological elements Eriksons eight stages of development - Stage 1 – infancy: trust vs mistrust - Stage 2 – toddlerhood: autonomy vs shame - Stage 3 – preschool: intiative vs guilt - Stage 4 - preadolescence: industry vs inferiority - Stage 5 – adolescence: identity vs confusion - Stage 6 – young adulthood: intimacy vs isolation - Stage 7 – middle adulthood: making a difference vs self absoption - Stage 8 – old age: integrity vs despair - Critical review o Personality as a life long process, success at one stage prepares for next o Not everyone confronts challeneges in same order o Not clear if failure in one predicts failure in other o Do other cultures share the definition of successful life Agents of socialization - Family o Most important  Loving family prodcues happy child  Gender socialization o Parental attention is important  Bonding and encouragement o Household environment  Stimulates development o Social status  Like social class or ethnitciy - School o Experience diversity  Racial and gender clustering o Gender socialization continues  Gender linked activites o Hidden curriculum  Informal, covert lessons o First vureaucoracy  Rules and schedual - Peer group o Similar interests and age in common o Sense of self beyond family o Peers = short term goals o Parents = long term goals o Anticipatory socialization  Learning that helps achieve a desired position - Mass media o Impersonal communications aimed at wide audience  Watch television before learning to read  Average child watches 21 hours of tv per week  Hours of viewing increases with age  Tv renders children less likely to use imaginations Socialization and the life course - Childhood (birth-12) o Care free time, o Hurried child dress and behave much older - Adolescence (teen years) o Turmoil attributed to cultural inconsistincies - Adulthood o Early (20-40) managing daily affairs o Middle (40-60) concerns over health, appearance, carrer and family - Old age ( mid 60s+) o Anti elderly bias will diminish as proption of elderly increases o Leaving roles, demands new learning - Dying o Average lifespa is 79 years o Stages of dying  Denial  Anger  Negotiation  Resignation  Acceptance - Cohort o Category of people with a common characteristic, usually age Resocialization - Total institutions o A setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff o Erving Goffman’s three characteristics  Staff supervise all daily life activities  Environment is standardized  Formal rules and daily scheduals - Resocialization o Radically changing someones personality by carefully controlling the environment o Two part process  Staff erode inmates  Staff rebuilds personality using rewards and punishment o Can leave people institutionalized without the capacity for independent living CHAPTER 6: Social interaction in every day life Social structre - Social interaction o The process by which people act and react in relation to others o Through interaction we create reality in which we live - Social structure o Any relatively stable pattern of social behaviour Status - A social position that a person holds - Status set o All the statuses a person holds at one time  Teen boy  Student  Son to mother  Forward on hockey team Ascribed and achieved status - Ascribed status o A social position a person receives at birth or assumes involuntary  Race  Class  Age group - Achieved status o A social position a person assumes voluntary that reflects ability and effort  Honor student  Olympic athlete - Master status o A status that has special importance for a social identity, often shaping a persons life  Disease/disability  Occupation  Recognizable family name Role - Behaviour expected of someone who holds a particular status - A person holds a status, and performs a role - Role set o A number of roles attached to a singe status  Professor = teacher, colleague, researcher Role conflict and role strain - Role conflict o Conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses  Police officer catches own kid using drugs  Parent + officer - Role strain o Tension among roles connected to a single status  Manager balances concern for workers with task requirements Role exit - Becoming an EX o Disengaging from social roles can be very traumatic without proper preparation o Process:  Doubts form about ability to continue with certain role  Examination of new roles leads to tipping point when one decides to persue new direction  Learning new expectations associated with new role  Past role might influence new self Social construction of reality - Process by which people creatively shape reality through social interation o Foundation for symbolic interaction approach - The Thomas theorem o Situations we define as real become real in their consequences - Ethnomethodology o The study of the way people make sense of every day surroundings  Break the rules and observe reactions  E.g. rules about responding to how are you? Class and culture - Interests and social backgrounds affect our perceptions o E.g. people who live in different parts of a city experience it differently - People around the world have different realities o People have different meanings for specific gestures Dramaturgical analysis: “the presentation of self” - The study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance o The presentation of self or impression management  A persons effort to create specific impressions in the minds of others Performances - Role performance includes: o Stage settings o Use of props, costume, tone of voice, gestures - Example: Doctors office o Front and back region o Medical books, framed degrees, stethoscope, big desk, white lab coat, etc Non-verbal communication - Communications using body movements, gestures, and facial expressions - Body language o Smiling, eye contact, gestures - Body language and deception o Unintended body language can contradict our planned meaning Gender and performances - How we carry ourselves is a clue to social power - Personal space o The surrounding area where a person makes some claim to privacy  Men often inrude a women’s space and the opposite is seen as a sign of secual interest  Eye contact and staring  Meaning of touching between men Idealization - We conduct performances to idealize our intentions o Professionals describe work as making a contribution etc o Less honorable motives such as money and power Embarrassment and tact - Embarrassment o Discomfort following a spoiled performance o Goffman  Embarrassment is “losing face” - Tact o Helping someone “save face” o Audience often overlooks flaws to allow actor to avoid embarrasement o Goffman  Although behaviour is spontaneous, it is more patterned than we think Emotions - Biological side of emotions o 6 basic emotions and people everywhere use same face to express them  Happy  Sad  Angry  Fear  Disgust  Surprise Cultural side of emotions - Culture plays an important role in guiding human emotions o Culture determines the trigger of an emotion  Is this event defined as happy? - Culture provides rules for display of emotions - Culture guides how we value emotions - We construct emotions o Called emotion management Language: the social construction of gender - Language communicates not only on surface but also deeper levels of meaning o One level is gender o Language defines men and women differently - Power o Men refer to things they own as “she” and women traditionally take mans name - Value o What has greater value, force or significance is treated masculine - Attention o Directing greater attention to masculine endevours Foundations of humor - The greater the opposition the greater the humor The dynamics of humor - Getting a joke means you are an insider - Humor is tied to a common culture Theoretical perspectives of humor - The functions of humour o Humor can act as a safety valve  “it was just a joke” - Humour and conflict o Humour can oppress others  Put downs - Sense of humour allows us to assert our freedoms and prevents us from being a prisoner to reality CHAPTER 7: groups and organization Social groups - Two or more people who identify and interact with one another - Non groups o Category  Those with a status in common such as ethnicity or occupation o Crowd  Non-interacting groups, such as an audience o Common experience could turn a non group into a group  E.g. power outage Primary groups - Small group whos members share personal and lasting relationships - Cooley called this type of group primary because: o Are the first groups we experience o Shape attitues, behaviour, identity o Provide economic and other assistance o Are bound by emotion and loyalty Secondary groups - Large and impersonal groups whose members pursue a specific goal or activity - Characteristics o Weak emotional ties o Little personal knowledge of eachther o People who look to one another strategically o Part of a secondary group could become a primary group Group leadership - Important element of group dynamics - Small circles of friends may have no leader - Large secondary groups place leaders in formal chain of command Two leadership roles - Instrumental o Focuses on completion of tasks  Make plans, give orders  Secondary ties of respect - Expressive o Focuses on groups well being  Raise group morale and minimalize conflict  Primary ties of affection Three leadership styles - Authoritarian o Makes decisions, demand members obey  Appreciated in crisis - Democratic o Member involvement in decision making  Draw on creative ideas of members - Laissez- faire o Lets group function on its own Group conformity - Groups influence behaviour of members by promoting conformity - Asch’s research o Two non similar lines but says they are similar o Shows willingness to compromise our own judgement to avoid being different - Milgram’s research o Compared peoples compulsion to obey authority figures vs. conformity to group leader o Groups are more likely to influence peoples behaviour - Janis’s research o Groupthink  Tendency of group members to conform resulting in narrow view of some issue  E.g. failure to forsee attack on pearl harbor Reference groups - Social groups that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions - Stouffer’s research o Soilders misperceived their own chances of being promoted o We do not make judgements about ourselves, nor do we compare ourselves with just anyone In groups and out groups - In group o Social group toward which people feel respect and loyalty  Competitive sports teams members to one another - Out group o A social group toward which a person feels a sense of competition or opposition  Competitive sports teams towards members of teams other than their own Group size - Dyad o Two member group o Very intimimate but unstable given its size - Triad o Three member group o More stable than a dyad and more types of interaction are possible Social diversity: race, classs and gender - Large groups turn inwards o Members have relationships among themselves o May promote separatism - Heterogeneous groups turn outward o Diverse membership promotes interaction with outsides - Physical boundaries create social boundaries o If segregation of group takes place, chances for contact are limited Networks - Webs of weak social ties o People with occasional contact o Woithout a sense of bounderies and belonging o Can be powerful source to find a job or become established o Gender can shape networks o Web links many, but not entire world Formal organizations - Large secondary groups organized to achieve goals efficiently o Utilitarian  To gain material rewards  Jobs o Normative  To gain morally worth wile goals  Volunteer organizations o Coercive: to punish or treat  Total institutions Characteristics of bureaucracy - Organizational model rationally designed to perform tasks efficiently - Max weber’s key elements o Specialization o Hierarchy of offices o Rules and regulations o Technical competence o Impersonality o Formal, written communications Organizational environment - Factors outside an organization that affect its operation 1. Technology 2. Political and economic trends 3. Current events 4. Population patterns 5. Other organizations The infor