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Transcript of Culture and Socialization. “we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds of...
Culture and Socialization
“we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds of lives but end having lived only one.” Clifford Gertz
Key Questions How do people become socialized into
particular cultural worlds? How do we acquire culture? How do child-rearing experiences differ
around the world?
Look for these themes How universal predispositions become
shaped in culturally specific ways.
How do people’s experiences as infants and children influence the way they think and act.
Sensitive periods Time in development that allows for ease of
acquiring skills
Provides evidence of preprogramming.
Language acquisition Human are capable of recognizing around
150 phonemes; no language uses more than 70.
Sound categorization
Language Within a year we begin to loose the ability
to understand phonemes not in our native language.
Shibboleths “Lollapalooza”
Fig. 4.1
Is there a sensitive period for cultural learning? Methodologically difficult to study Why?
Minoura (1992) looked at when Japanese born children left Japan
<9 felt relatively distant from Japanese culture 9-15 in between >15 experienced America through Japanese
cultural lense
Fig. 4.2
Divergent childhood experiences Imagine your first weeks in the world. What
was your life like? Consider your environment, your caretakers, your routines?
Weisner (2002) “Parents and children are engaged in
activities, which in turn are loosely organized into a daily routine of life, and in turn, into a ‘cultural career’—a way of life that engages the self, identity, and our sense of personhood and meaning”
Contentious claims? 1. Healthy development and well-being donot
necessarily require many of the scripts and activities that currently preoccupy Western parents.
Well-being is the engagement in everyday activities and routines deemed desirable by one’s cultural community an the psychological experiences produced by that activity
Well-being is found outside the self
Outside ‘pedagogical’ verbal stimulative, achievement driven pathways
Outside just parent/child dyad
Sleeping arrangements Burton and Whiting (1961) surveyed 100
societies and found the US was the only to provide a separate room in the first months of life.
Shweder et al. (1995) Orissa India and Chicago.
Socialization is the process by which a person becomes a member of a new culture
Is something that emerges from thousands of exchanges between caregivers and infants and later peers.
Bidirectional
Individualism and Collectivism Individualism: person pursues autonomy,
independence and personal achievement at the expense of the group
Collectivism: emphasis is on group success and individual aspirations are at times put aside for attainment of group goals
Write 5 words that describe yourself
I Expresses the notion of personal
distinctness and separateness with an emphasis on personal attributes, instead of social responsibility and duty.
I persons describe themselves as independent, assertive, competititive, self assured, efficient, self-sufficient.
C InterdependentConnected with other human beings and experience themselves
as part of an encompassing social relationship
Orientation towards social norm is suppose to maintain social harmony
Your place is often defined through an assigned role (sometimes rooted in religion) India
C person describes self as attentive, respectful, dependent, empathic, self controlled.
Individualistic/Independent
Industrialized west
Collectivistic/Interdependent
Traditional/east
Attachment styles Attacment theory hypothesizes that infants
and parents are biologically prepared to establish close attachment (Bowlby, 1969).
Biological affordance; can look at how it varies cross culturally
Attachment Secure (62%) Avoidant (23%) Anxious/ambivalent (15%)
Attachment is influences by who the child spends time with as well as the most common practices in the culture.
Developmental transitions Terrible 2’s
Riding on the bus in Africa
Adolescence HRAF study of 175 cultures All socieities thought of it as distinct period of
restructuring and role learning (not cultural invention)
Opportunities and choices
Individualistic/Collectivistic response difference
Autonomy and independence may be the key
Dependency conflict in West American middle class “oh what a good
boy, you did that all by yourself, no come here and give me a hug”
“You are so independent, I’m so proud of you. Good job”
Independence is praised but rewards are sought.
Rebellion is found in cross cultural evidence but not universal (44% for boys and 18% for girls).
Individualism and modernity seem to increase difficulties.
Sleeping arrangements What were your sleeping arrangements.
Consider number of rooms, gender and age.
Did it change with time? If so, what meaning to you attribute to that?
Fig. 4.3
India Incest avoidance Protection of the vulnerable Female chastity anxiety Respect for hierarchy
America Incest avoidance Sacred couple Autonomy ideal
Dominican Republic
Definitions Traditional: make living directly from the
land, have not become disconnected from the land
Industrialized: to organize the production of something as an industry: food, clothing, etc. Takes these things out of the personal domain
San Bushman
Ache of Paraguay
Gusii of Kenya
Japan
US