Socialization prepares people for social life by teaching them a group's shared norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors. Describe the three goals of socialization and why each is important
In his 1995 paper, "Broad and Narrow Socialization: The Family in the Context of a Cultural Theory," sociologist Jeffrey J. Arnett outlined his interpretation of the three primary goals of socialization. First, socialization teaches impulse control and helps individuals develop a conscience. This first goal is accomplished naturally: as people grow up within a particular society, they pick up on the expectations of those around them and internalize these expectations to moderate their impulses and develop a conscience. Second, socialization teaches individuals how to prepare for and perform certain social roles—occupational roles, gender roles, and the roles of institutions such as marriage and parenthood. Third, socialization cultivates shared sources of meaning and value. Through socialization, people learn to identify what is important and valued within a particular culture. The term "socialization" refers to a general process, but socialization always takes place in specific contexts. Socialization is culturally specific: people in different cultures are socialized differently, to hold different beliefs and values, and to behave in different ways. Sociologists try to understand socialization, but they do not rank different schemes of socialization as good or bad; they study practices of socialization to determine why people behave the way that they do. Is nature (an individual's innate qualities) or nurture (personal experience) more important in determining physical and behavioral traits? Discuss both sides of the nature versus nurture debate, understanding the implications of each
Sociobiology examines and explains social behavior based on biological evolution. Discuss the concept of sociobiology in relation to natural selection and Charles Darwin, as well as genetics and instinctive behaviors
Sociobiologists believe that human behavior, like nonhuman animal behavior, can be partly explained as the outcome of natural selection. They contend that in order to fully understand behavior, it must be analyzed in terms of evolutionary considerations. Natural selection is fundamental to evolutionary theory. Variants of hereditary traits, which increase an organism's ability to survive and reproduce, are more likely to be passed on to subsequent generations. Thus, inherited behavioral mechanisms that allowed an organism a greater chance of surviving and reproducing in the past are more likely to survive in present organisms. Following this evolutionary logic, sociobiologists are interested in how behavior can be explained as a result of selective pressures in the history of a species. Thus, they are often interested in instinctive, or intuitive behavior, and in explaining the similarities, rather than the differences, between cultures. Sociobiologists reason that common behaviors likely evolved over time because they made individuals who exhibited those behaviors more likely to survive and reproduce. Many critics draw an intellectual link between sociobiology and biological determinism, the belief that most human differences can be traced to specific genes rather than differences in culture or social environments. Critics also see parallels between sociobiology and biological determinism as a philosophy underlying the social Darwinian and eugenics movements of the early 20th century as well as controversies in the history of intelligence testing. Social deprivation, or prevention from culturally normal interaction with society, affects mental health and impairs child development. Explain why social deprivation is problematic for a person (especially children) and the issues it can lead to
Attachment Theory: This film provides an explanation of John Bowlby's Attachment Theory.
Maternal Deprivation: This clip is of footage from a 1952 study on maternal deprivation that found babies suffer emotional damage when separated from their mothers Social isolation refers to a complete or near-complete lack of contact with society, which can affect all aspects of a person's life. Interpret why social isolation can be problematic for a person in society and the importance of social connections
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age. Analyze the differences between the fictional and real-life depictions of feral children
Institutionalized children may develop institutional syndrome, which refers to deficits or disabilities in social and life skills. Discuss both the processes of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization, as they relate to issues juveniles may have
Deinstitutionalization is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health service for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. Deinstitutionalization can have multiple definitions; the first focuses on reducing the population size of mental institutions. This can be accomplished by releasing individuals from institutions, shortening the length of stays, and reducing both admissions and readmission. The second definition refers to reforming mental hospitals' institutional processes so as to reduce or eliminate reinforcement of dependency, hopelessness, learned helplessness, and other maladaptive behaviors. CC licensed content, Shared previouslyCC licensed content, Specific attribution |