Paper 1
culture and socialization - SECTION A
5 marker - define, apply, expand, link
1. On quizlet
15 marker - how culture, norms/values, roles are passed/ socialised.
Process/ agencies of socialisation
Primary socialisation - First stage of socialisation where the norms and values are taught to a
child within the family. By responding to approval and disapproval of family members and
copying (learning language)
FAMILY - imitation and role modelling Where a child watches and copies their family members
like what to eat, what is appropriate to say or doRole models: people children imitate. Positive
and negative sanctions Child may be punished for incorrect behaviour or rewarded for
acceptable behaviour Eg boys discouraged from showing emotion as it's seen and
emasculating. Different expectations Parents may have different expectations in terms of
education, activities, behaviour, future aspirations. Gender role socialisation ann Oakley
Manipulation(Parents encourage behaviour that is normal and discourage the inappropriate like
boys don't cry), Canalisation(The 'channelling' of children towards toys and activities seen as
normal for their sex.) , verbal appellations(Parents using stereotypical feminine/masculine
language as descriptions.), different activities (Promoting different activies between boys and
girls) Unofficial forms of social control where people learn societal culture by watching those
around them.
Secondary Socialisation provided by school, peers, work, media etc in later life. Statham by
1986 saying cultural and social expectations were so powerful that children still behave in
gendered ways due to secondary socialisation.
EDUCATION - (formal curriculum ): V powerful agency. All sociologists agree schools socialise
children and prepare them for the world of work.Schools deliver knowledge of culture. Facts
given to children who don't query what they're being told. Althusser, says educations teaches
children that an unfair society is perfectly acceptable. Argued children are taught if they fail, it's
their own fault. (Hidden curriculum): Set of assumptions and beliefs taught unintentionally.
Includes values and benefits implicit in textbooks, rules Feminists in 70-80's pointed out
textbooks ignored presence of women only placing them in domestic roles. Abbots inescapable
truth Fewer men are able to connect the fabric of their lives to the traditional archetypes of
masculinityBoys are the victims of the feminised education system/ labour market dominated by
,service work. Anti-school subculture A group of people/peers who have norms and values that
go against the schools expectations, e.g. they misbehave, truant, do not complete work. Cultural
capital bourdieu The knowledge, attitudes, values, language and tastes and abilities that the
middle class transmit to their children. Bourdieu argues that educational success is largely down
to cultural capital - middle class children have an advantage. Ethnocentric curriculum The formal
curriculum has a focus on predominantly white history. Formal social control Processes by
which people are deliberately manipulated to ensure they learn to follow rules. This can happen
through education where children are taught to obey authority.A habitus is the cultural
framework and set of ideas possessed by a social class. Refers to cultural behavior such as
taste in food or definitions of beauty which appear 'natural' but are in fact 'learned' through
socialization.
peer groups: (don’t talk about if generations and adult roles) Same age and status. Probably
first people that you encounter as you develop independence from familyVery influential
especially in teenage yearsEarly friendships, children v responsive to others and from
friendships around 3-4 Develop group norms, and behaviour that differ from families. E.g Iona
and Peter opie demonstrated in their work that children often had a street culture from which
adults were excluded and this developed through play. Peer pressure - process where ppl
modify their behaviour in order to fit. Powerful force esp for children. Research has shown that
individuals are fearful of social rejection as groups can exert powerful pressures to individuals
who don't conform Teese and Bradley found that reckless behaviour usually occurs in peer
context. Bedroom culture Existence of a culture of femininity based on a close relationship with
their bestfriend and the ideology of romance. The culture of femininity usually exists in private
spaces.Unofficial forms of social control where people learn societal culture by watching those
around them. Hey studied friendship groups among teenage girls and looked at the power the
female peer group has over girls' behaviour, and how the norms of the female peer group are
rooted in patriarchy and expectations of how girls should be.
Work V important Ppl have to adapt to demands of their work positions This can be done
through formal training e.g doctors must have years of knowledgeInformal training e.g leaning
the social skills and how to behave Canteen culture: workers need to understand practices of
other employees, their beliefs and how to deal with certain problems.Expected to be punctual
and work hard. Mcdonaldisation of work: Ritzer describes how workers are trained not to show
intuitive. People expect if they go to any chain the behaviour of the staff will be predictive. Done
by insisting staff wear uniform/ workers behave the same. Work becomes repetitive, routine and
boring. Imagination and talent aren't necessary.Processes by which people are deliberately
manipulated to ensure they learn to follow rules.Although people are socialised into their culture
from birth, workers need new socialisation into the workplace. This is in terms of material culture
(e.g. how to operate the copy machine) and nonmaterial culture (e.g. whether it’s okay to speak
directly to the boss or how the refrigerator is shared). Different jobs require different types of
socialisation. In the past, many people worked a single job until retirement. Today, the trend is
to switch jobs at least once a decade.
,Media V powerful agency. Early Marxism theory suggesting media acts as a drug injected into
the brain. Media images dominate and distort the way we see the worldPeople can't escape
media as it's everywhere, accepting messages sent from them. Claimed to be a link between
youth violence and the media Bandura 1963 copycat behaviour claims that children imitate ye
behaviour of role models they see on television. Increasing numbers of film and video games
appear to glamorise mass murders and killing spressE.g 2008 6 teenagers went on an all night
rampage in New York carrying baseball bars/crowbars, smashing and robbing. Local police
officer determined they were emulating characters in grand theft auto game. Hypodermic
syringe model - Marxist theory that media acts as a drug directly injected into peoples minds
affecting their beliefs, accept messages that are passed on w/o question. Children more
vulnerable as they can't tell difference between fiction and reality E.g in children tv shows,
violence is often shown as heroic to solve problems rather that discussing. Butler 1990 Media
stereotyping of gender roles is so powerful it's difficult to avoid gender socialisation. Naomi wolf
gender roles in media Complained the idea of a perfect body was means to control and exploit
women, which contributes to eating disorders, emotional problems. Unofficial forms of social
control where people learn societal culture by watching those around them.Marxists see the
media as a form of repressive social control, lulling the masses into passive,
unquestioning and mindless conformity through the consumption of mass culture, and
reproducing negative stereotypes of different social groups
social control
Agencies of socialisation can also be seen as mechanisms of social control, ways through
which our behaviour is controlled. Behaviour is controlled and reinforced by using sanctions.
These are used to positively reinforce a behaviour in order to encourage it or to negatively
reinforce a behaviour, to discourage it.
1. Formal mechanisms of social control are the police, courts and the criminal justice
system, the government and military. They pass enforcements of the law, these
institutions directly control behaviour of the population. In the UK, it's rare the military is
used to control citizens. The workplace can be seen as a form of formal control, in terms
of codes and conducts. Sanctions used by formal mechanisms of control include:
warnings from police, sentences from the court, dismissal from work or exclusion from
school.The RSA is an example of formal mechanisms of control. It's comprised of the
government, the armed forces, the police, and criminal justice system.
2. Informal mechanisms of social control include our peer group, education, religion, family,
workplace and the media. Different types of sanctions may include: socially excluding
someone from a social group, disappointed reactions from parents, being passed over in
promotion at work, or having your account deleted on social media. Informal control may
be less obvious, but just as influencing as formal control.The ISA is an example of
informal mechanisms of control, which socialises us into accepting ideologies, for
example the family, the media, religion, education etc.
Material culture refers to the physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use
to define their culture. These include homes, neighborhoods, cities, schools, churches,
, synagogues, temples, mosques, offices, factories and plants, tools, means of
production, goods and products, stores, and so forth. All of these physical aspects of a
culture help to define its members' behaviors and perceptions. For example, technology
is a vital aspect of material culture in today's United States. American students must
learn to use computers to survive in college and business, in contrast to young adults in
the Yanomamo society in the Amazon who must learn to build weapons and hunt.
Non‐material culture refers to the nonphysical ideas that people have about their
culture, including beliefs, values, rules, norms, morals, language, organizations, and
institutions. For instance, the non‐material cultural concept of religion consists of a set
of ideas and beliefs about God, worship, morals, and ethics. These beliefs, then,
determine how the culture responds to its religious topics, issues, and events.
When considering non‐material culture, sociologists refer to several processes that a
culture uses to shape its members' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Four of the most
important of these are symbols, language, values, and norms.
Gender and identity
Many would argue that gender is one of the most significant aspects of an individual's identity.
Whether you are a male or female will have an effect on how others see you. Gender identity is
something that's fluid and always changing. The way women are seen in the media and
expectations around their appearance, roles have changes around the last recent years.
However, male identities are also changing in society, with expectations of masculinity.
Gender as a social construct relates to the nature/nurture debate, sine argue that gender is
based on biological differences between males and females, most sociologists argue that
gender is a social construct.
The biological view, suggested by Wilson argues that the need to reproduce requires men to be
more promiscuous and spread the seed, but women on the other hand have to nurture one child
and stay faithful to the father of their child to ensure its help in upbringing.
Parsons argues that females have an expressive role in the family, which is reinforced by
socialization.
Males have an instrumental role in the family, the breadwinner and protector. This is also
natural, based on their physical strength, but reinforced through socialization. These roles are
functional for family and also society.
However, most sociologists argue that gender identities are socially constructed, and learned
through socialization.
Feminists argue that gender identity is socially constructed by the patriarchy, this means the
male dominated society creates and reinforces stereotypes of how males and females should
be. It's not only the family that contributes to social construction of gender.
