Sociology Writing assignment This is a simple question and written response. Section on choose four questions and bullet point under the question the written answer. Section two answer three and bulle

The Agents of Socialization

If we use the cases of the feral children of examples of incomplete socialization to a culture, then the question becomes, how were you taught the culture? How was it presented to you? You have learned the culture through what are called the agents of socialization. There are four main agents of socialization.
The first agent of socialization is the FAMILY. The family is the first unit of society that the child will have continuous contact with and the first context where socialization will take place. The first function the family performs is placing the child in a social context. The child begins their social life in the status of their family and that will stay with them for the early years of life and maybe all through their lives. Your family has a name and status attached to it. All of the early conceptions of your self are created by the family.
The sociologist Charles Horton Cooley created the wonderful concept of the looking glass self. A looking glass is a mirror. What Cooley thought happened when the self was being formed by the agents of socialization, was that the image you see reflected in the mirror depends on who holds the mirror up for you. If you were raised by Irene and Clark you would be drastically different than you are now. Your self, the person that you are is created by and through those agents of socialization as they pass the culture on to you.
At the same that the child is being placed by its family status, it is also participating directly in the activities that the family engages in. Is it a religious family, a rich family or a poor family, one that is open and friendly or closed and hostile??
The family is also the first place that the child learns about intimate and personal family relations. When the child is born, it is unaware that there are distinct persons. After a while it begins to distinguish between itself and mother and then later on its siblings and others around it. You are taught the early ideas of cooperation, competition and conflicts. The child learns such things as showing affection, being cared for, resisting, discipline, being a companion and a playmate.
The family is the child's first reference group. That is the first group whose, values, norms and practices the child adopts and refers to when they begin to evaluate their own behavior. Not only do the family members become role models for the child but they also demonstrate how patterns of interaction between members may become models. This is the concept from earlier in the semester of the reflected identity. You are reflecting the identity that others have given to you.
The impact of the family on the child's attitudes has been studied a multitude of times. For instance in the late 1960's research was conducted concerning the behavior of the student protesters. Troll and Bengtson showed that the student activists of the 1960's were actually perpetuating a family theme. That theme was dedication to a cause. Even though the students who were protesting were in opposition to the ideals of their parents, the desire to bring about change was a common theme in their families. For instance some of the parent's of the protesters were active in changing the actions of their church or local government. The socialization the children received was that if something is not "right" in your view then you should try to change it by the means that you see as appropriate. So that even when it appeared the students were acting against their parents, their behavior and ways of handling the situation were similar to those used by their parents.
The newest interest in socialization of the family is what is the influence of a working mother on children? Rallings and Nye found these impacts on socialization.
1. the child of a working mother is more likely to favor equality for women.
2. a working mother has a positive effect on the child's evaluation of female competence.
3. lower class boys whose mother's work have less esteem for their fathers than lower class boys whose mother's didn't work.
4. middle class boys whose mother's work tended to see their father's as warmer, more expressive and nurturing.
These are just few examples of the power of the family and its circumstances as an agent of socialization.

The Sociologist Inge Bell, in her book, discussed the fascinating concept of the ‘critical voice’. That is that ‘voice’ inside your head saying you are ‘good at this, bad at that, beautiful, ugly, perfect, obese, smart, gifted, special, unique, etc.’ – notice how no one is born with those conepts of the ‘self’ but they are created or constructed through your interactions.

An example of this creation of the critical voice’ happened a while ago but I think it is a good example of the socialization. I was walking through a store in the early evening, around 7:00 pm or so and there was a young child (about 3-4 years-old)in the store accompanied by an adult (I am guessing it was the child’s parent). The child, for whatever reason, began to misbehave and adult (who we are calling the parent since I am not certain) turned to the child and said, in a loud voice ‘you are such a pain in my a** I don’t why you were ever born!’ Now imagine that message was constantly conveyed to that child throughout their entire little lives, what type of ‘self-esteem’ would that child?

Another example of the power of family as an agent of socialization is the work on birth order. I do much more on this topic in my Sociology of the Family class but here are some general ideas from the birth order research:

The research describes these traits of a ‘first-born’ - you are a perfectionist, reliable, conscientious, list maker, well-organized, hard driving, natural leader, critical, scholarly, logical, do not like surprises, loves computers, exacting, expects much from people, expect others to be as organized and reliable as you.

For a ‘middle-child’ the research finds you are a mediator, compromising, diplomatic, avoid conflict, independent, loyal to friends, have many friends, have always had many friends, a maverick, secretive, unconventional, unspoiled.

‘Last-born’ (youngest) children are described as manipulative, charming, blames others, attention seeker, tenacious, people person, a natural salesperson, precocious, engaging, good conversationalist, affectionate, loves surprises.

If you are an ‘only child’ (no siblings) you are described as very thorough, deliberate, were a grown up by age 10, high achiever, self-motivated, super achiever. ‘Only children’ also are described as fearful, cautious, loves to read, black and white thinker – no “gray” areas, use the words “very” extremely” and “exactly” a lot, hate to fail, have high expectations of self, more comfortable with people older or younger than you are, not very comfortable with those of your own age group.

Here are some other ideas related to birth order:

1. For young children growing up there is no greater influence early in life than his or her family. While it is true that children have many outside influences on them later in childhood, for the first few years of their life, the child’s primary influence is their family. Later on in life, school friends, work, and even media will play a part in how the child sees the world, but early in life it is the family that is the central influence on their lives. This influence is not only from parents but also from siblings. Your birth position plays a part in your personality development along with the relationships you have within the family. Whether a parent is critical, judgmental, rewarding, encouraging, fawning or unconcerned will influence how the child perceives themselves and the world around them.

2. The most intimate relationships you will ever have in your life are with you family. The family you are from (family of progenitor) and the family you make (family of creation). Even within these two families, the family you are from (progenitor) is the most important. Think about it along these lines, what is the maximum amount of time you could be married to a person? Maybe you could be married for 40, 50, 60 or even more years than that. Now how long have you had your brothers and sisters (siblings)? All of your life; no matter how long you live, you will always have had siblings longer than you would have had a husband or wife. The relationships you form and develop within in your family are like none you will ever have anywhere else on the earth. The impact that these relationships have on you will be with you all of your life. To me, that fact right there makes the family in all of its various forms worth studying.

3. Relationships within a family are fluid, dynamic and always changing; they are never stagnant. The relationship between parents and children is always changing. As the child ages, the relationship between parent and child changes as does the child’s relationship with each of their siblings; as each child is born and the family grows larger the dynamics of each family relationship changes. The only child who has a sibling born is now one of two, or more. When the second child is born the firstborn now has to contend with a younger sibling, the parents now have two children and there may be more on the way. When (if) a third child arrives, the second child moves from being the “baby” to now the middle. The newborn is now thrust into a family that already has a pattern and a way of doing things. Each new arrival changes the relationships of the parents to the children and of the children with each other. Whether we like to admit it or not, our family of progenitor plays a huge role in who were in the past, who you are today and who you will become on the future. The impact of the family of your childhood is life long for each of us.

These are just a few of the fascinating findings related to the FAMILY as your first, and most important, agent of socialization. I want you to remember that the family is ONLY ONE of the agents of socialization, we are influenced by the other agents of socialization as we progress through our lives.

Another agent of socialization is SCHOOL. The school represents the first time that the children come under the supervision of someone other than family. This is the first time to moving them from the personal ties of family to the more impersonal ties of society. The school begins to loosen ties to just family and encourage other loyalties and sentiments. The school allows the child to form attachments to non-family members and allows the child to begin to see their life in its larger interactive components.
The school may also teach the common background that the children have, pass on cultural beliefs, and ideals. The school may teach respect for the established social order and the political order.
By the end of the sixth grade, the average child has spent about 7,000 hours in the classroom. The first thing this teaches is that the child must learn to cope with acting a multi-person situation since few children have individual teachers. They learn to wait their turn, must learn to not let outside disturbances distract from their work. They must be active participants even if they do not get chosen each time they volunteer. Children learn that the beginning and end of activities does not always correspond with their interest in them. Maybe they are not ready to begin an activity but the teacher says it is time to and time is called before they are finished.
Not only does the school convey those aspects of the culture, but also the children are taught they will be evaluated. The child will be evaluated by teachers for grading, classmates will frequently judge the child (return to your earlier work on Durkheim and the impct of ‘bullying’ or the formation of ‘social bonds), self-judgments, report cards and conferences. Evaluation begins in Kindergarten and continues through school and into work. This is the socialization to the cultural beliefs of accountability and responsibility. Notice how the sets of values and norms that constitute the culture must be passed on to the child through the agents of socialization. The educational system also teaches that someone else controls your actions. You can be told what to do.
The evaluation done in school contributes to socialization in three ways.
1. The evaluation becomes processed into the child's developing self. In school ,you are called neat, good in math, good in English, a good student or a bad student.
2. Children are acquiring an academic reputation that affects the way teachers treat them. Your his sister or her brother. Rosenthal and Jacobson have probably done the most famous study of the idea as to how teacher's and how children are labeled. What they did was to administer an IQ test called the Harvard Test of Inflected Acquisition. This test was to tell teachers which students would bloom in the next year. The teachers were asked not to talk about the results to parents or students. They then randomly selected 20% of the children in the class (not connected with the test results) and told the teachers at the start of the academic year that these children would bloom. Since it was a random drawing, the only difference was the teacher believed that these children would bloom. At the end of the year IQ tests were done again and the children who were to bloom added 12 points to their IQ while the rest of the students added an average of 8 points. The results showed that those students who were expected by the teachers to bloom actually did more than those who the teacher did not expect this from. Think back to the looking glass self and the concept of how we are labeled throughout our educational history.
3. Building up a cumulative reputation or record. The quality of this reputation leads to further opportunities. These opportunities may be related to College, work, or other parts of the child's future.
I return to the work of Inge Bell when she discussed the fascinating concept of ‘praise junkies’. These are students so focused on the letter grade they earn they forget the purpose of the class is to learn. It is almost as if the ‘letter grade’ becomes a part of the student’s identity and personality. Refer back to the ideas about the ‘critical voice’ mentioned in the section on the family.

A third agent of socialization is FRIENDS OR PEERS. This is the first social group that the child chooses for itself. The function of friends as an agent of socialization is that friends are responsible for teaching those things that parents and schools cannot or will not teach. Obviously, the two most widely known aspects of culture that friends are responsible for teaching are those related drugs and sex.
I would find it very difficult to believe that it was your parents that taught where to buy it, how to roll it, and how to smoke it. That knowledge, for most people, came from people in their age group. Peers or friends.
The same holds true for sex. We are surrounded by the debate about sex education. Where should that be taught? In the home or in the schools. The thing that everyone must remember is that parents and schools can teach about sex as much as they want but the actual practice part. The awkward learning stages that everyone must go through can only come about through people in your similar age group. A parent would not want their child's teacher to physically show them here is what happens during sex. The same is true with parents. Our norms prohibit sexual contact between a parent and a child. So yes, parents and schools can teach about sex as much as they want but there will always be a part of learning the culture that remains with your friends or people in your similar age group.
Friends may provide us the ability and new contacts that allow us to begin to distance ourselves from our families. They may aid in our independence. Sharing all of the things that friends teach us, ideas on popularity, success, dancing, sexual activity, leadership, getting around the rules, and the fashions that we share, the slang, the words, songs, experiences, all work to create a level of solidarity with your generation. Peers can help create that feeling in a person of belonging somewhere of assisting in developing your generational identity.

The fourth agent of socialization is MEDIA. Media as an agent of socialization becomes our 'catch all' category.

Chapter 8 in your textbook deals with the concept of Media and Technology as a form of socialization.

In this section, we could include magazines as they advertise products, body images, and norms. Music can be identified as a part of media as socialization. Video games, simulation games, interactive technology, and many other examples can be identified as media as part of socialization.

Literature is a part of media as socialization. We can study children's books as example of media as an agent of socialization. Pick up a child's book and read it with a sociological eye and see the norms that we are creating in a child. In Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas the young child is socialized to the cultural belief that there is more to Christmas than the ribbons and the bows, the packages, boxes and bags. Consider the age at which you begin to read a child books and they begin to understand the story and now see the tremendous amount of cultural information that is stored in one small child's book.
Another example of media as an agent of socialization is television. One way to see the influence of television is to study a place that did not have television. Finding a place on the earth that does not have access to television is nearly impossible to day but in 1973, researchers found a small town in Canada that due to geography did not yet have television but was expecting to get the signal shortly. To compare the impact of the arrival of television they designed a study comparing three towns. They called the town without television, Notel, a city with only one channel was called Unitel, and a larger city with many stations they called Multitel.
For Notel after television the level of social participation dropped for children under 12 from a score of 13.45 to 9.62. For Multitel children, the numbers increased from 5.1 to 7.57. For total community participation, the average for all ages dropped from 64.03 to 41.38.
The reading scores for the children of Notel were higher before television than the other two cities but two years after the introduction of television the scores for all three cities was the same.
The children in Notel also had more egalitarian beliefs about sex roles than the children in the other two cities but after the introduction of television, the children of the three cities were nearly identical. Sex typing of behavior had increased for the children of Notel after the introduction of television.
The same findings showed in aggressive behavior. The children of Notel were less aggressive than the children in the other two cities while the other two cities before the arrival of television but after television's arrival in Notel the scores all tended to be the same.

Of all of the thousands of studies done on the influence of television on a child, what is the result? The answer is that we do not know what role television plays in influencing a child's behavior. We know television has power but we do not know how this power influences children. Does it make them more aggressive, more afraid of violence, less freethinking, how all this interacts with parents, friends and school we do not have a final answer.

Now factor in the role of ‘social media’ as it plays a part in our lives and you can understand the interest in understanding the impact that MEDIA plays on each person throughout the course of their lifetime.

To give you an example of the discussion surrounding the impact of social media, here is the portion of an article published in Quartz Magazine in 2017. The author is Lauren Alix Brown.

“… In a panel on “Education in the Post-Truth World” at WISE 2017’s summit for education, (Fareed) Zakaria contrasts how the barrage of media effect how young people take in and process information.

I say this to my kids all of the time, ‘you can graze all these headlines and tweets and blog posts you like—at the end of the day the way you develop real knowledge about a subject still remains that you have to go deep; still remains that you have to actually read books; still remains that you have to talk to experts, travel to countries.

All you do is put yourself at a competitive disadvantage if you don’t handle these things. I think this is one of the great challenges we face.

I don’t mean this to suggest it’s putting down young people. I grew up in India with no television. TV came to India in about 1975, I was 10 years old—One channel, black and white, they would show channels about Indian agriculture that nobody watched. There was one Bollywood movie on Sunday nights.

I read voraciously because that’s what you could do.

If I had a supercomputer in my pocket called an iPhone that could stream all the entertainment in the world all the TV shows, I don’t think I would’ve read that much but I don’t think I would’ve had the career that I have. I don’t know where that takes you.

Children are going to have to learn something that I didn’t have to learn as much which is discipline, intellectual discipline—the ability to say no. There was no choice if I went to a store.

The world my children are growing up in is exactly the opposite an explosion of choice, an explosion of options, an explosion of opportunity.

This ability to focus isn’t simply about using fewer apps or reducing the number of screens kids access at once but applying rigor to the source of the information they take in. In other words, students need to return to the fundamentals of education where you question the information and the source, which allows you to gain a greater understanding.

The majority of teens are accessing news from networks like Twitter and Snapchat where reports from individuals are unverified. A large Stanford study (pdf) from 2016 found an overwhelming majority of young people, from middle school to high school to the undergraduate level could not: tell the difference between news and sponsored content, source evidence, or evaluate claims on social media.

The report concludes: “Overall, young people’s ability to reason about the information on the Internet can be summed up in one word: bleak.”

Our primary sources of information come from the internet and social media but this, in turn, becomes a minefield for sorting out fact from fiction. We’re at an inflection point where paring down and drilling deep into information is going to be a necessity.

The future is always uncertain but what seems clear is that one of the most powerful tools anyone can harness is the single-minded pursuit of mastering how to seek the truth from information.”

This is just one of thousands of articles and research reports on the impact of social medial on socialization and human interaction.

What we do know about all of our data on socialization is that all of the agents of socialization play a key part in forming your identity, stabilizing it or even altering it. Think of the process of socialization this way. Culture is this huge body of knowledge that sits out there beyond each of us, that knowledge must be conveyed to each of us from the time of our birth if we are to ever succeed in this culture. This knowledge must be conveyed to us somehow. That is the function of the agents of socialization. Their mission is to create in us a sense of what the culture expects of us and how we go about living according to the culture.

I like to use the analogy of a funnel for the concept of socialization.

CULTURE

(This knowledge needs taught to each person)

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION

(These are the groups responsible of conveying this knowledge to each person)

FAMILY SCHOOL PEERS MEDIA WORK RELIGION

(As the agents of Socialization do their job – that creates your identity)

YOU