SOC/100 v8
Reading Guide: Socialization and
Social Institutions
Review these notes to assist with your assignment this week.
Society and Social Interaction
Roles and Status
Role: a pattern of behavior expected of someone who has a certain social status or who performs a
particular social function
Status: a measurement of someone’s social value that allows them to experience certain responsibilities
and benefits according to their rank or role in society
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Ascribed status: the status outside of an individual’s control, such as sex or race
Achieved status: the status a person chooses, such as level of education or income
Role strain: stress that occurs when a role requires too much from someone
Role conflict: occurs when the roles associated with one status clash with the roles associated with a
different status
Socialization
Socialization: the process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of a social group to
behave in a way that society finds acceptable
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Socialization “describes the ways that people come to understand societal norms and
expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and to be aware of societal values” (p. 94).
Theories of Self
Self: our personal identity that is separate and different from all other people
• Cooley theorized that the self is developed through others’ perceptions; we view ourselves
through the eyes of others.
• Erikson theorized that the self is formed over eight stages of development throughout a lifetime.
• Mead theorized that the self is developed through social interaction; children learn it through roleplay.
• Kohlberg theorized that the self is shaped through moral development to determine what
behaviors are “good” versus “bad.”
• Gilligan theorized that the self is developed through moral development with a gender bias.
Nature vs. Nurture
Nature: behavioral traits are explained by genetics; our dispositions and characteristics are inherited at
birth instead of learned
Reading Guide: Socialization and Social Institutions
SOC/100 v8
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Nurture: relationships and environmental factors influence our behavior as we grow up; the self is learned
from our interactions with agents of socialization
Agents of Socialization
Agents of socialization: social institutions that transmit values, norms, and beliefs
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Family – the first and most significant agent of socialization in all societies; family teaches us
basic values and norms that shape our identities
Peers – people similar in age and status who provide different social skills than the family; peers
remain significant to socialization from childhood through adulthood
School – place where children are provided with education to become formally socialized in how
to mix with others and learn the social behaviors that will be important later in life
Media – mass distribution of generic information that influences social norms on a wide scale
Marriage and Family
Marriage: a legally recognized contract between two people who typically have a sexual relationship and
an expectation of permanence about their relationship
Family: socially recognized groups of individuals who share an emotional connection and may be related
by blood, joined by marriage, cohabitating in the same home, or adopted into the family; the basic
economic social unit of society
Nuclear family: two married parents with children living in the same household
Extended family: a household that includes at least one parent and child, as well as other relatives like
grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins
Single-parent family: only one parent in a household caring for children; number of single-parent families
in the U.S. has been increasing
Blended family: parents have children from previous relationships, but all the members come together as
one family unit
Cohabitation: when a couple lives together without being married and may have a sexual relationship;
practiced by an estimated 7.5 million people
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of households of same-sex couples has increased by
50 percent since 2000; 25-42% of these same-sex couples in each state are also married.
Theoretical Perspectives on Marriage and Family
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Functionalist perspective
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Families function to stabilize society, and members within a family function in certain roles for
the benefit of the family; families also teach children their social roles that help society
continue to function.
Conflict theorist perspective
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Families consist of people with varying levels of power, leading to power struggles over family
status roles, often associated with domestic responsibilities.
Symbolic interactionist perspective
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Family and the roles within a family group symbolize different meanings to different people;
their meanings continue to change because they are socially constructed through interaction
with others.
Religion
Religion: a system of beliefs, values, and attitudes about what a person holds to be sacred or spiritually
significant, along with the practices or rituals associated with those beliefs
Theoretical Perspectives on Religion
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Functionalist perspective
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Conflict theorist perspective
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Religion functions in society to create a place for groups to network with others who share
values and beliefs, and to offer each other emotional comfort and support during times of
crisis.
The institution of religion maintains social inequalities when religiously powerful people
concentrate wealth away from others by dictating beliefs and practices that lead believers to
accept circumstances as they are.
Symbolic interactionist perspective
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Beliefs and experiences are only sacred symbols if the individuals interacting in everyday
society consider them sacred.
Education
Education: a social institution that teaches knowledge, skills, and judgments according to cultural norms
to the children in a society
Theoretical Perspectives on Education
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Functionalist perspective
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Education is a highly important social institution that functions primarily to socialize children,
provide social control, offer paths to higher levels of social placement, and to transmit culture
to prepare them to be successful in society.
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Education also has latent, or secondary, functions that provide students with a place to
interact with others, integrate with different social groups, foster self-esteem and patriotism,
and to learn about social issues and how to cooperate with each other.
Conflict theorist perspective
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The public education system reinforces social inequalities due to an uneven distribution of
resources between groups; conflict arises from differences in class, gender, race, or ethnicity
that continue to track working-class students away from opportunities for more wealth or
prestigious social roles.
Symbolic interactionist perspective
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Individuals can be labeled according to their intelligence, aptitude, or academic
accomplishments by their teachers or other social groups in power; these labels can be
adopted by others in the school, impacting someone’s schooling through their everyday
interactions.
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Socialization and Self-Identity
SOC/100: Introduction to Sociology
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Personal Status
ASCRIBED STATUS
ACHIEVED STATUS
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Examples:
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Personal Roles
My Current Roles
Ascribed or Achieved?
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Role Conflict & Strain
ROLE CONFLICT
ROLE STRAIN
Definition:
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Example Scenario:
Example Scenario:
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My Role Conflict or Role Strain
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My Socialization Influences
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Theory of My Socialization Process
Sociological theory that best describes my socialization process:
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Influences on Socialization
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Socialization Across Lifespan
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References
Griffiths, H., Keirns, N., Strayer, E., Cody-Rydzewski, S., Scaramuzzo, G., Sadler, T., Vyain, S., Bry, J., & Jones, F. (2015).
Introduction to sociology (2nd ed.). OpenStax College, Rice University.
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