SociologyUnit 3: Individuals within SocietyBy Timothy Bradley

Unit 3 Overview

Unit EQ: How does society shape the individual?

•Apply self-knowledge to explain what constitutes personality, and interpret both concepts of nature and nurture with regard to the development of personality.  •Compare and contrast Locke, Cooley, and Mead’s theories of personality.  •Use self-knowledge to discuss dating patterns from traditional times to modern day contemporary times.  •Explain why adolescence is not universal. •Explain Levinson’s Developmental Stages of Adulthood and how adult behavior changes from early adulthood through later adulthood. •Explain how the labor force has changed in the United States since World War II. •Use self-knowledge to apply challenges facing the aging adult.•Explain deviance using the three perspectives of sociology;

interactionist, conflict, and functionalist perspectives.

You will need to be able to “Do” the following:

• The dichotomy of nature versus nurture applies to personality development. • Locke’s Tabula Rasa, Cooley’s Looking Glass Theory, and Mead’s Role-Taking, Erving Goffman’s Impression Management are four major theories that explain the social self. • The most important agents of socialization are family, peers, school, and the mass media. • Adolescence is not universal. • Dating for romance is a novel idea, and why courtship is no longer practiced. • The functions that dating fulfills. • There are a myriad of social problems facing contemporary teenagers. • There are many stages to Levinson’s Developmental Stages of Adulthood. • The nature of work in the United States has changed due to composition, labor force, unemployment, and occupations. • The characteristics of life during late adulthood. • How deviance affects society.

You will need to be able to “Understand” the following:

Unit 2 Outline

• Personality & the Social Self – Lesson 1 2 3• Agents of Socialization – Lesson 4 • Adolescence & Dating – Lesson 5• Social Control & Deviance – Lesson 6• Work – Lesson 7• Adult Society – Lesson 8 9• Exam – 11

Unit EQ: How are culture and society related to human interaction?

Personality and the Social Self

Vocabulary

• Nature• Nurture• Tabula Rasa• Looking-glass self

EQ: 1)How is the development of an individual affected by nature and nurture?2) How do the theories of Locke, Cooley, and Mead explain the sense of self?

• Role-taking• Impression management• dramaturgy

“Heredity”

“Environment

”

Locke: Tabula Rasa• What do you remember about John Locke?• Each newborn is a tabula rasa (clean slate)• Anything could be written. Human could be molded

into anything.• We acquire our personalities from social experiences.• Psychologist John Watson would later make similar

claims.

Cooley: The Looking Glass Self• Cooley co-founded the interactionist

perspective and developed the idea of primary groups.• This theory puts a great deal of

responsibility on primary group interaction beginning in childhood.• 3 Step Process to our sense of self

1. We imagine how we appear to others2. Based on others reaction to us, we

determine whether others view us as we view ourselves

3. We use our perceptions of how others see us to develop feelings about ourselves.

Mead: Role-Taking

• Cofounder of interactionist perspective• Looking-Glass is only the beginning (internalizing

expectations)• We need to not just see ourselves as others see us, but

eventually take on (or pretend to) roles.• Significant others: people closest to us (important early on)• Generalized other: expectations of society (important later in

life)• Through this role-taking they develop sense of self• I – unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interested component• Me – socialized self, aware of expectations• Through life I becomes weaker and Me becomes stronger

Dramaturgy

• Social interaction is like a drama• People (acting as the audience) judge each others

performances to determine a person’s character.• Most people make an effort to play the role well and

manage impressions – impression management

Agents of Socialization

EQ: 1. How do the agents of socialization affect society?

Vocabulary

• Agents of socialization• Peer group• Mass media• Resocializaiton

Primary Agents of Socialization

Peer Group Mass Media

SchoolFamily

The Family• Most important agent in most

societies• Principal socializer of young children• Differs from family to family• Subgroups (race, class, religion)

affects

Deliberate UnintendedOvert teaching and instruction in terms of appropriate behavior.

Ex. Father teaches child the importance of telling the truth

Children learn through observation. (often has a greater affect)

Ex. Child observes his father’s lack of politeness to others.

The Peer Group• It is a primary group composed of individuals of roughly

similar age and social characteristics.• Particularly influential during pre-teen and teenage years• To win acceptance people willingly adopt values and norms• Values focus on subculture

The School• Large amount of time spent there in childhood• Contains deliberate and unintended messages• Teaches academic content and skills• Teaches socialization through extracurricular activities• Unintentional messages through observation of adults

and influence of peer groups

The Mass Media• Definition: Instruments of communication that reach large

audiences with no personal contact between those sending the information and those receiving it. (Ex. books, film, TV, radio etc.)

• 98 % U.S. homes have a TV• On average, American children spend 900 hrs. a year in school

and 1,100 watching TV.• By 18 most have witnessed 200,000 fictional acts of violence

including 16,000 murders on TV.• Historically lacked diversity

Resocialization• Definition: Breaking with past experiences and learning new

values and norms. • This often occurs through radically changing a person's personality

by carefully controlling the environment. • Total institutions: a setting in which people are isolated from the

rest of the society for a period of time and under tight control• Step 1: Erode individuality and independence• Step 2: Systemic attempt to build a new personality or self

Adolescence and DatingEQ: 1) How has the concept of adolescence developed as a distinct stage of the life cycle?2)What are some of the social functions of dating?

• Adolescence• Anticipatory socialization• Social Integration• Dating• Courtship

Vocabulary

Adolescence • Definition: A defined period

between the normal onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood.

• Characteristics• Biological Growth/Development• Undefined Status• Increased Decision Making• Increased Pressure• The Search for Self

Undefined Status

Rites of PassageDefinition: Rituals marking the transitional phase between childhood and full inclusion into a tribe or social group.

Ex. Bar Mitzvah, Vanuatu Land Diving, Graduation, Quinceañera, and Walkabout

Increased Pressure

VS

Young people are under pressure to strike a balance between parental wishes and peer pressures

Search for Self

Anticipatory socialization: learning the rights, obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare for assuming that role in the future.

Can come in the form of• Part-time work• Club membership• Dating

Dating• Meeting people as a romantic

engagement• Did not emerge until after WWI• Found in societies where people

choose their own partners• Main purpose is entertainment or

“good time”• May lead to marriage

Courtship• Prior to the rise of dating this

was the primary form of interaction

• Was not casual and roles were strictly defined

• Rarely left alone• Conducted under supervision• Express purpose is marriage

Emergence of Dating

• Originally a primarily agricultural society required men to acquire property prior to marriage. (This often involved land transfer from family)

• Family property resulted in parents exercising considerable control over partner choice.

• Industrial revolution changed this system and created more economic freedom

• Coed public education resulted in large portions of time spent together

• Cars and telephones (post WWI) gave added freedom• Women entered workforce created more cross gender interaction• Dating became a form of entertainment and status• Partners were selected on good looks, nice clothes, and popularity

Dating Pattern: Traditional• The man arranges the date• Both sexes knew the expectations• A weekly timetable existed for arraigning a

date. • Ask Wednesday for Saturday (Date Night)• Accepting after this time equated to admitting

you weren’t the first choice.• No date on Saturday may result in shame

• Dates revolved around formal or set activities• Casual dating for a period may result in “going

steady”• Indicated through tokens. (jackets, class ring,

ect.)

Dating Pattern: Contemporary

• No set stages of dating• Both sexes initiate

dates• Either sex pays• Relationships are now

based on friendship or the group• More opportunity to

communicate through technology

Functions of Dating

• Entertainment• Socialization• Psychological needs

such as conversation, companionship, and understanding• Status attainment• Spouse selection

Social Control and DevianceEQ: 1) How to social norms become internalized?2) How does sociology explain deviance?

• Social control• Positive sanction• Negative sanction• Formal sanction• Informal sanction• Deviance• Stigma

Vocabulary• Anomie• Strain theory• Control theory• Cultural transmission

theory• Labeling theory

Social Control• Societies develop cultural values

that reflect norms. These norms are enforced in two ways.

• Internalization: Norm becomes part of an individual’s personality• Ex. “Properly” sitting in a chair.

• Sanctions: Rewards/Punishments that enforce conformity to norms• Positive Sanctions - Rewards• Negative Sanctions - Punishments

Formal Sanctions

A reward or punishment given by a formal organization or regulatory agency

Public Humiliation

Informal Sanctions

A spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval given by an individual or group.

The Nature of Deviance

•Individuals must be caught committing a deviant act and

be stigmatized by society.

•A stigma is a mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant

apart from the rest of society.

•Sociologists usually refer to the negative social reactions.

The Label of Deviance

•Some norms deal with fairly insignificant behaviors.

•Because there are so many norms, occasional violations

are unavoidable.

•Behaviors deemed deviant differ across times, cultures,

and situations.

Violating Norms

Behavior that violates significant social norms is called deviance.

Answer: Some behaviors are considered deviant in some situations and not others, or in one society and not another, or from time period to time period.

AnalyzeHow does behavior that is considered deviant

change based on context?

Reading Check

Deviance has some uses in society– Helps to clarify norms, unify the group, diffuse

tension, and promote social change– Serves to define the boundaries of acceptable

behavior– Punishment of deviance can prevent others from

same deviance– Draws lines of society and “outsiders”– Displays of minor deviance diffuse tensions– Provides legitimate jobs such as lawyers and police

Social Functions of Deviance

Answer: It helps to clarify norms, unify the group, diffuse tension, and promote social change. It also creates jobs, defines the boundaries of acceptable behavior, and draws the line between conforming and nonconforming members of society.

SummarizeHow can deviance benefit society?

Reading Check

• A 1973 article explored the different views that townspeople held of two teenage gangs, one called the Saints and one called the Roughnecks.

• Article claimed that even though both gangs were violent, delinquent, and disruptive, townspeople agreed that the gang from the higher social class was not as much trouble as the gang from the lower social class.

• While objective observation concluded that both gangs were equally destructive, the differing views revealed much about the social preconceptions that were at work in the town.

Case Study: The Saints and the Roughnecks

Functionalist Perspective: Deviance• Strain theory: deviance is the natural outgrowth of the values,

norms, and structure of society• Pressure on individuals to meet standards that they can’t meet• Anomie: the norms of society are unclear or no longer apply • Results in confusion over rules for behavior

Why would a teenage boy lock himself in his room and hide from society?

Conflict Perspective: Deviance• Sees social life as a struggle between the ruling classes and

lower classes• Says people commit deviant acts to gain or maintain power• Ruling class deems any behavior that threatens its power as

deviant

Interactionist Theories: Deviance• Control theory: states that deviance is normal and studies why

people conform; states that people conform when they have strong ties to the community

• Cultural transmission theory: states that deviance is a learned behavior; deviants are socialized into deviant behavior instead of acceptable behavior; individuals will adopt the behavior and goals of whomever they are in contact with

• Labeling theory: focuses on how people come to be labeled “deviant;” suggests there are two types of deviance• Primary deviance: occasional violation of norms; neither self nor

society labels person “deviant”• Secondary deviance: deviance as a lifestyle; both self and society

label person “deviant”

Work• EQ 1: How has nature of work and the labor force

changed?• EQ 2: What factors contribute to job satisfaction?

• Work• Labor force• Unemployment

Vocabulary

Activator:

What is your dream job? Why?

Bad Jobs

The World of Work• The world of work is a major component of adult life. In the

last 100 years, major changes have transformed the organization of work and the composition of the labor force.

Work• Work involves performing all of the tasks necessary to

produce goods and provide services that meet human needs.

• The basis for the economy• American workers often spend nearly 50 years in the

labor force, making the world of work one of the most important components of adult life.

Labor Force• All individuals age 16 and

older who are employed in paid positions or who are seeking paid employment.

• People who are not paid for their labor are part of the informal economy.

• In 2007, 66 percent of U.S. population over age 16 was in the labor force.

• Recent decades have seen increase in number of working women and Hispanics.

Changing Nature of Work • In 1900:

– 35 percent worked in agriculture– 45 percent worked in

manufacturing– 20 percent worked in professions,

management, office work, and sales

• In 1950:– Manufacturing dominated

• Today:– 13 percent work in agriculture

and manufacturing– 76 percent work in professions,

management, office work, and sales

Unemployment• Unemployment occurs when a person does not have a job but is

actively seeking employment• Unemployment rate is the percentage of the civilian labor force

that is unemployed but actively seeking employment• Underemployment - part-time workers who want full-time work

and overqualified workers

Normal National Avg. 5%For more data visit

http://www.bls.gov/home.htm

Impact of GlobalizationNew technology has changed the economy.Many manufacturing jobs have been outsourced, or sent to countries where labor is less expensive.

Job SatisfactionFactors for dissatisfaction

• On-the-job stress• Retirement and insurance

benefits• Salary• Recognition• Chances for promotion

Factors for satisfaction

• Interesting nature of their work

• Salary• Working hours• Workplace safety• Relations with co-workers

Job and career changes•Changing jobs and/or careers is a well-established pattern in the United States•Average worker changes companies nine times, careers five to six times

Adult SocietyEQ: According to Levinson, what is the general pattern of adult development?

• Life structure• Early adulthood• Middle adulthood• Late adulthood

Vocabulary

Adult Male Development

Early Adulthood

• Ages 17 through 22• Going to college or getting a

job• Transition into the adult

world• Expected to explore

opportunities as well as make commitments

The Age 30 Transition

• Ages 28 through 32• Crucial because lives often

change direction here• Ends the novice phase,

when men prepare to enter full adulthood

Settling Down

• Ages 33 through 39• Major task is achieving success• Try to establish themselves in

society, usually through occupational advancement

• Commit to things that are important to them

• Separation from mentors in order to define own identity

The Midlife Transition

• Ages 40 through 44• A bridge between early and

middle adulthood• Major goal is to escape the

pressure of unattainable dreams from youth

• Becoming a mentor can lessen the stress associated with this stage

• The degree of difficulty that an individual experiences in a period depends on his success in mastering the previous period.

Three Phases Specific to Adult Female Development

1. Leaving the Family2. Entering the Adult World• Most become mothers in their 20s

• Dual roles of motherhood and career cause added strain

• A break in employment for childbearing can limit career

3. Re-entering the World of Work• Occurs when children reach school

age

• Commitment to career at same time husband is doubting his career

Study for the

Individual within Society Exam

Lesson Activator

Any questions prior to the Individual within Society Exam?