Are you a product of your cultural environment?

• 1. What does the term Dalai Lama refer to?

• 2. If someone gave you some Lapsang souchong what would you do with it?

• 3. What is Lhasa?• 4. What country is yak butter an

important part of? • 5. The English translation of the

word Chomolungma is “Goddess Mother of the World”. What do you think Chomolungma is?

Are you a product of your cultural environment?

• 1. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the people of Tibet, a region in the southwest of China

• 2. Labsang souchong is a type of tea, a favorite beverage of the people of Tibet, so you would drink it!

• 3. Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet• 4. Tibet is mountainous, the climate is

severe. The yak is one of the few animals that can survive in this harsh setting, they rely on the yak for food, clothing, and shelter. Yak butter is a major part of the Tibetan culture.

• 5. Chomolungma is a mountain - Tibetan name for Mount Everest

Are you a product of your cultural environment?

• Why did we do so poorly on this quiz? • You cultural environment influences what you

experience and learn. • Focused on culture in Tibet, in order to know the

correct answers you would need to know about life in Tibet. If you grew up in Tibet the answers would be obvious.

• Do people solely involved in the Tibetan culture know who our first president was?

• Partner work: • Writing Response 1 Create a 10 question quiz

for American culture. What would be familiar to most Americans but perhaps no to many people in other parts of the world?

• Let’s look at how these cultural values are instilled in the individual.

• In other words what factors in society teach us to function in a group – that enable us to socialize (or sometimes prevent us from socializing?

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION

FamilySchoolPeers

Mass Media

Human Nature?

There is no human nature—humans are responsible for how they create themselves. --Sarte

Human nature is an extension of animal evolution.. --Darwin

Human nature is aggressive—it is the satisfaction of unconscious drives and instincts. --Freud

Human nature is corrupted by society—we are the noble savage. --Rousseau

Labor defines human nature.

--Marx

Human nature is antisocial—we are naturally at war with each other—therefore, we need the government. Every man is enemy to every man.

--Hobbes

Sociology. the character of human conduct, generally regarded as produced by living in primary groups.-dictionary

SOCIETY MAKES US HUMAN

• Babies do not develop “naturally” into what we consider adults

• Humans require interaction to develop into adults

• Socialization is extremely important– From helpless

infant to independent person

SOCIALIZATION

• The process by which a society transmits its cultural values to its members

• In other words, how a society teaches its children to be successful members

Where are we without socialization?

• WR # 2: • 1. What would be the consequences

to an individual if they were completely cut off from all social factors?

• 2. Name the differences between an animal and a human

Isolation in Childhood

• Feral Child: ‘wild’ child – raised without the influence of a cultural environment – Few recorded instances – Either found living with animals or were

isolated in their homes by family – so no one knew they existed.

Feral Children • Feral Children

– Go over worksheet • Sociological studies of feral children

point strongly to the conclusion that our personality comes from our cultural environment

• Few human characteristics – other than appearance– Acquired no reasoning ability– No manners– No ability to control their bodily

functions– Lacked ability to move about like other

human beings

Anna – 1930’s

– Born to a single mother– Moved around until age of 6 months –

returned to mother– Confined to room – almost no human

contact• Not spoken to, held, bathed, or loved

– Discovered by a social worker 6 years old– could not walk, talk, or feed herself. Expressionless face – no interest in other people

– Over time – learned to walk, feed herself, and brush her teeth. Could only talk in phrases. Died at age of 10

Genie - 1970

• Confined from age of 20 months to a small bedroom tied to a potty-char.

• Beaten if made noise – when interacted with her father barked, growled, and bared his teeth at her like an angry dog

• Toys: two plastic rain coats, empty spools of thread, empty cottage cheese container

• Found at age 13: Could not stand straight and had social and psychological skills of a one year old.

• Genie never past the level of a third-grade student. Some language and conform to basic social norms.

• What do you think is the socialization factor that plays the biggest role first in a persons life?

FAMILY

• The first exposure to the world • Principle agent of young children

• Essential developments occur as a result of close interaction with a small (or large) number of people.

Family Factors 1. Deliberate and unintended

Examples? – Deliberate: telling you the importance

of telling the truth – Unintended: seeing your father be rude

(despite him telling you to be polite) • Which one do you think has more

influence? 2. Internalizing norms and

beliefs3. Capacity for intimate relationships

FAMILY4. Acquire self image

Cooley’s Looking Glass Self: We see ourselves in accordance with how others (i.e.,

our parents) see us

HARLOW’S MONKEYSEffect of no parent – child

socialization? • Monkeys were

given a choice:1. wire “mother” who provided milk

2. terry-cloth covered “mother” provided no food

HARLOW’S MONKEYS

Who do you think the monkeys preferred?

The terrycloth “mother”! Why?

• Did not provide food, but provided comfort

• Harlow's Monkeys

WHAT DOES THIS SAY?

• Shows the need we have for actual physical contact, but also the extreme value socialization has in our development!

• Consequences of no parent socialization: – abnormal interactions or inability to

interact with other monkeys

PARENTS SURVEY

• What do you think are the top 3 qualities that are the most important to parents to try to nurture in their young children?

A. Imagination/CreativityE. IndependenceB. Good manners F. ObedienceC. Religious Faith G. Sense of responsibilityD. Strong work ethic

PARENTS SURVEY

Qualities Important to Instill in Children

• Good manners (B) 21%• Religious faith (C) 21%• Imagination/Creativity (A) 16%• Obedience (F) 16%• Sense of Responsibility (G) 14%• Independence (E) 9%• Strong Work Ethic (D) 2%

PARENTS SURVEY

• What do you think is the top contributor to the erosion of good manners in children?A. Increase in the amount of stress in parents’ livesB. Negative influences from peers/peer pressureC. Negative media influencesD. Negative things that children see, i.e., terrorism, warsE. Parents do not think it’s that importantF. Parents not spending enough time with childrenG. Rise in # working momsH. Rise in # single parent householdsI. Rise in # divorces

PARENTS SURVEY• Factors Contributing to Erosion of Good

Manners• F. Parents not spending enough time

w/kids 66%• E. Parents do not think it’s important

31%• C. Negative media influences

26%• B. Negative influences from peers

20%• D. Negative things kids see around

them 13%• G. Rise in # working moms

12%• H. Rise in # single parent households

11%

Article Read – Chinese parents

• Discuss results of article • Misconception strict and obedient

oriented parenting among Chinese parents leads to abuse– Severe parent-to-child aggression

higher for U.S. born Chinese parents than immigrant parents

• Not concerned about self-esteem lead to eating disorders– Higher percentage of eating disorders

for Chinese influenced by American culture

SCHOOL

School plays a major role in socialization between ages 5 and 18

Most socialization at school is deliberate

• Class activities are planned to teach reading, writing, and other skills

• Extracurricular activities (dances, clubs,sports) are intended to prepare the student for group life

SCHOOL

Some socialization at school however, is unintentional

Examples? • Teachers may become role models in

manners of speech and morals • Peer groups within the school may

influence their members’ habits

American schools

WR # 1: 1. Positive aspects of current school system? 2. Flaws of current school system? 3. How can it improve?

Get one other classmate to contribute one factor for each question 1 – 3. Write down their thought and have them sign it.

SCHOOL’S MAIN OBJECTIVE?

• To prepare students for the adult world—– Does it really succeed?

• Rules for Life handout• WR # 2 1. Do you agree these rules are important to teach in the school system? Why or why not? Refer to the article in your answer 2. Does BHS teach any of these? Explain

Race to nowhere • Where are the top performing

students? • Shanghai

– WR #3: What are some of the factors different from U.S.? contributing to their success?

• Finland – WR #4: What are some of the factors

different from U.S.? contributing to their success?

• Stupid in America – WR # 5: What are some of the flaws of

American schools from the documentary? Did it align with your thoughts in WR # 1?

– How can it be changed?

WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT PEER INFLUENCE

• Are you more likely to engage in an activity if your friends are doing it?

• Are you more confident that you will get away with something when you are with friends?

WHAT EXPERTS SAY

• Peers not only influence participation in activities, risk-taking behavior also goes up in groups

• Example: Nobody ever goes T.P.’ing alone!

WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT PEER INFLUENCE

• Which of these behaviors could be affected by peer pressure if you were out with friends?

WHAT EXPERTS SAY

• Peers tend to encourage the “status quo”—standing out is implicitly discouraged

• May not be stated outright, but rather encouraged

WHAT YOU SAY ABOUTPEER INFLUENCE

• Are popular people more likely to be instigators of rebellious activity?

• Are popular people more likely to drink and/or do drugs?

Experts have found popular kids are typically the ones who encourage good behavior and do not break the rules.

WHAT YOU SAY ABOUTPEER INFLUENCE

Which characteristics do you think most popular people possess?

WHAT YOU SAY ABOUTPEER INFLUENCE

• Do the values your friends promote differ greatly from your parents’ values?

• Does the peer pressure you experience typically encourage you to do bad things?

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY– Can have positive OR negative

influence!– Often, values of family are NOT

different from values of friends– Peer support article

PEERS

• As an agent of socialization, it is the only agent where there are no subordinates—meaning peers are relatively on an equal basis

• You do not have the same inherent power structure as you see in a family, school, or the media

• Peers have their greatest influence during pre-teen and early teenage years

WHAT YOU SAY ABOUTPEER INFLUENCE

• Do you believe your peers encourage masculine or feminine behavior?

• Do you see differences in the way girls and boys show disapproval of their peers?

• Which gender seems to have the most damaging methods of showing disapproval?

PEERS

• How do you think males and females are socialized to show their disapproval?

• Is it nature?– Female monkeys shun to show

disapproval, male monkeys show aggression

• Or are we taught this?– Less socially acceptable for women to

show outright disapproval, male dominance is more socially acceptable, etc.

MASS MEDIA

• Consists of television, radio, books, magazines, websites, newspapers, etc.

• Plays a major role throughout life• By age 20, you will have seen 1

million commercial messages (going up?)

• You will spend an entire year of your life just watching TV

• By age 16, the average American has seen 20,000 homicides on TV

MASS MEDIA

• What type of influence do you think media has on the individual?

Social Media

• Article • Discussion Questions

• http://documentarylovers.net/killing-us-softly-4-advertising-women/

• Skip 27:00 and 28:40

SOCIALIZATION, ACCORDING TO A FUNCTIONALIST

• Functionalist– Families, peers, and schools work

together to socialize children.– Without these agents, society would

be fragmented and chaotic.• Newer generations would not know

how society is supposed to work• Provides feelings of comfort and love

that humans need

SOCIALIZATION, ACCORDING TO A CONFLICT THEORIST

• Conflict Theory– Socialization perpetuates the status quo

– those who goes against it are treated unequally • People are socialized to accept their

family’s values and beliefs and not others

– Agents might exploit the weaker

SOCIALIZATION, ACCORDING TO A SYMBOLIC

INTERACTIONIST• Symbolic Interactionist

– Socialization is the major determinant of human nature (otherwise, have feral children)

– Through socialization, children develop a sense of self• Recall Cooley’s Looking Glass Self

– we think of ourselves according to the ways others think of us

SOCIALIZATION, ACCORDING TO A SYMBOLIC

INTERACTIONIST• Mead’s Role Taking

Process– Children go from

imitating to pretending to internalizing the roles that are shown to them

• Children develop a sense of who they are in comparison to others