SOC-102 Narrative Outline for Essentials of Sociology:

A Down-to-Earth Approach

Chapter 3 - Socialization

Part 1: Chapter 3 – Socialization. This chapter outlines the role of society in the formation of human beings. It begins by demonstrating the large difference between those individuals that have been born and raised in a society compared to those that have not, such as feral children. It then goes on to discuss various theories of socialization, such as Cooley's looking glass self analysis. Furthermore, it discusses Freud and the idea of learning personality as opposed to it being an inhernet part of our genetics. Other aspects of the chapter include the discussion of various agents of socialization and the various ages in which we are suscpetible to changes in personality.

Part 2: Divide the chapter into three sections by content as it is organized in the book and write a summary of each.

Section 1 – Social Upbringing

This section discusses the effect of where and how one is raised. It is all about how society influences our personality and uses examples such as feral children to demonstrate this point. However, this chpater also demonstrates the effect of children that are raised in isolation and institutions. Language, for example, is not an innate part of the human mind; this conclusion is reached by studies of isolated children that have no natural language nor ability to speak.

Key Definition(s): Nature: The characteristics that we are born with. Nurture: The characteristics and behaviors that are learned.

Key Word(s): Common sense, natural language, socialization.

My Take-Away: The section on feral and isolated children really surprised me. I always understood that society would affect us, however, such drastic examples really came as a shock to me.

Section 2 – Socialization Theories

This section explores a few of the leading theories on socialization. The first of which is Cooley's looking glass self. This suggests that our sense of self develops from interaction with others. After this, George Mead's theory of role taking is explored. He suggests that through play and interaction with others we learn to take the role of others.This section then explores Piaget's theory of the development of reasoning and the four stages that go along with this; The sensorimotor, the preoperational, the concrete operational and the formal operational stages

Key Definition(s): Self: The identity that is assigned to an individual based on factors such as personality.

Key Word(s): Role taking, looking-glass self.

My Take-Away: This section introduced me to some common theories of socialization and allowed to have a greater appreciation of the processes by which personalities are formulated.

Section 3 – Learning Personality and Emotion

This section explores further the processes by which we learn our personality and emotional responses. Freud is discussed and his theory on the development of personality is covered. Essentially, we are sexual, pleasure-seeking beings according to Freud. He believes that personality consists of three things; the id, the ego and the superego. After Freud, this section discusses what we feel and how we express our emotions.The later half of this section then explores the role of gender and emotion and how individuals learn of the gender roles that are placed in society. Also, some of the major agents of socialization are described, such as religion, neighborhood, and family. Finally, the various stages of personality formation are explored.

Key Definition(s): Emotions: Essentially, what we feel as humans in response to particular events.

Key Word(s): Culture, Ego, Resocialization

My Take-Away: This section provides a lot of information. I learned that personality and emotion are certainly complex things. Their formation is the result of a long, interactive process with society. Furthermore, I learned of the ages in which our personalities are likely to be largely influenced and reflected on how and when aspects of my own personality were formed.

Chapter 4 – Social Structure and Social Interaction

Part 1: This chapter explores the various structures of society and how this affects them and the individuals within them. Furthermore, it explores the ways in which people interact within a society. Culture, macro and micro sociology, social class, social status, groups roles and much more are discussed in this chapter. Furthermore, the different types of socities, such as an agricultural or industrial society, are compared.

Part 2: Divide the chapter into three sections by content as it is organized in the book and write a summary of each.

Section 1 – The Macrosociological perspective: Social structure

This section discusses the various forms of social structure. It begins by exploring some key terms such as culture and social class. Social status is also described. There are various aspects of status, and some characteristics are simply given to you with birth. After this, the section explores groups and the roles that individuals can play in a group. These roles vary, but are essential to the structure of a socialized group.

Key Definition(s): Social structure: Typical patterns of a group, such as its usual relationships between people.

Key Word(s): Culture, Group, Role.

My Take-Away: I learned of the various ways by which society is structured. This, I found out, plays a large role in how a society functions. I also learned about the various aspects of status and roles in society.

Section 2 – Microsociology

This section discusses the social interaction of everyday life. It explains some of the ways in which we interact, and some of the things that we do to protect ourselves from or open ourselves to others. Personal space, smiling and applied body language are all aspects of interaction that are explored. Also in this chapter, the idea of dramaturgy is discussed. This theory suggests that life is like a drama; the events in our lives are like scenes in a play. Another sociological term that was discussed was ethnomethodology.

Key Definition(s): Social interaction: The ways in which people within a society communicate and interact with one another.

Key Word(s): Impressions, role conflict.

My Take-Away: I found that some of the everyday things that we do are actually very complex. The signs that we give via body language have such a large influence on how we relate to people. It was also interesting to read about personal space and how it differs from culture to culture.

Section 3 – Social construction of Reality

This small section explores the way that we behave as a result of what we understand to be reality. The way that we interpret a situation will determine how we act in such a situation. Our interpretation will ultimately rely upon our previous experience and knowledge. An example given in this chapter describes a watermelon stand in Morocco. When purchasing a watermelon, the Western man noticed that the knife used to cut the fruit was very dirty and old. He pointed this out and asked that it be cleaned. The owner obligingly bent down and rinsed the knife in a puddle of dirty water. This describes how knowledge affects our behavior. The Western man decided against having the fruit cut due to his knowledge of germs, while this knowledge was obviously not available to the Moroccan local. They both acted as they thought was appropriate due to their construciton of reality.

Key Definition(s): Subjective interpretation: The unique way in which individuals interpret information based on their viewpoint.

Key Word(s): Reality.

My Take-Away: I found this portion particularly interesting as it describes a lot of the conflict that occurs between cultures. We should not be so quick to judge someone's actions, perhaps they occur out of genuine ignorance.