SOAN 201 Notes Topic 3, Fall 2012

3.   Societies, Culture, Socialization and the Life Course We all live in a society that has a normative structure. Are all societies the same or are there different rules that apply to social interaction in everyday life? How much of it is related to culture? What is culture and why does it differ from one place to another? What is the difference between monoculture and multicultural societies? What are subcultures and countercultures? Why and when do we experience culture shock? What is the difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism? Values and norms are important elements in every culture. We learn through the use of sanctions how to behave appropriately according to the rules of the society we live in. Language, verbal and non-verbal communication, helps us interact with one another. Our focus will shift here to the micro level of analysis and the discussion of H.Garfinkel's Ethnomethodology and Goff man’s Dramaturgical Approach to help us apply some important concepts to your everyday life. So, "Who are you?" Did you ever ask yourself this question? How are you different from other people? How does your "self" develop? Are you born being the person you are or do you learn to become who you are today? We will look at different perspectives that emphasize nature vs. nurture in the formation of the self. Is the biological component more important or does the environment play a heavier hand in molding us into whom we are? What does socialization mean? What are the agencies that help in the socialization process and what role do they play in our life? C.W Mills: values are abstract ideas whereas norms are rules which are tangible. Agencies of socialization: Family is the primary agency of socialization Friends, school media, religious groups, sports team, work are secondary agencies of socialization Social reproduction Social transformation Innovation Diffusion: putting things together from other cultures -Culture, values informal and formal -Cultural universals: same situations expressed differently -Culture lag -Material culture -Non material culture, not tangible mentality -Sanctions formal and informal -Folkways not serious sanction -Mores – laws, strongly sanctioned norms -subculture, ethnicity within the dominant culture -counterculture: going against the values and norms. -cultural shock: losing point of reference -Ethnocentrism -Cultural relativism Interaction, communication, verbal/non-verbal, body language P.Elkman FACS: facial action coding system Innate emotions: disgust, fear, anger, happiness, sadness Garfunkel: Shared understandings Ethnomethodology: what people say according to their culture? Context/situation, rules of interaction Conversation analysis Interactional vandalism: breaking the rules of interaction related to power, status, role and gender Goff man: Dramaturgical approach: life nothing but drama. Give and give off, impression management. Front region/back region Civil inattention: pretending you don’t see Unfocused interaction Focused interaction Brackets Markers: focus interaction starts and ends Openings Personalized stage Socialization: agencies of socialization primary/secondary Life course/rites of passage Anticipatory socialisation Re- Socialisation: total institutions that put you back on track like jail and rehab Degradation ceremonies strip you away from what makes you unique Artie Hoch child: accommodating the people I have interaction with Territories of the self 1- Personal space: claim, claimant, counter claimant 2- Stall: space temporarily claimed 3- Use space: territory immediately around individual 4- The turn: order to which a claimant receives something 5- Stealth: skin that covers body, clothes over skin 6- Information preserve: set of facts about oneself 7- Conversational preserve: control over who can summon one 8- Possession territory: set of objects identified with the self and arranged around the body The self Nature vs. Nurture: am I born the way I am or am I just a product of society? Freud: Id-self centered Superego, others centered Ego, social self-balances between biological instinct and what society wants you to be. Piaget: Cognitive Theory Development 1- Sensorimotor stage 0-2 2- Pre operational stage 2-7 3- Concrete operational stage 7-11 4- Formal operational stage 11-15 Behaviorists: Pavlov: conditioning Watson: Little Albert Skinner: Isolation to avoid failure Kohlberg: Moral Development Theory 1- Pre-conventional, self-formed morality (reward/punishment) 0-9 2- Conventional, others focused morality (obligations/expectations) 3- Post-conventional, higher focused morality, adulthood (debate issue) Nature vs. Nurture Sociology vs. Constructionists CH Cooley: The looking glass self 1- Imagine how we are to others 2- Interpret their judgement 3- React – self-concept. G.H Mead: Symbolic Interactions Approach 1- Preparatory stage: imitating 2- Play stage: role taking 3-Game stage: rules (8-9) Significant others vs. Generalized other Everything comes with interaction Self-identity: ‘’I’’ acting self vs. ‘’me’’ social self