Socialization

1
Socialization

• How we become who we are

2
Nature vs. Nurture (Review)

• Twin Studies
• Monkey Studies (Harlow Experiments)
• Isolated/Feral Children
• Genie Introduction
• Genie Follow-up
• Feral Children

3
Basic Conclusions

• The limits of certain and physical and mental
  abilities are established by heredity (such as
  sports ability and math ability), but basic
  orientations to life such as attitudes are the
  result of environment
• Thus, for some parts of life, the blueprint is
  drawn by heredity but even here, the environment
  can redraw those lines. For other parts, the
  individual is a blank slate and it is entirely up
  to the environment to determine what is written
  on it.

4
How do we develop a self?

• Symbolic Interactionist theories on self
  development.
• Charles Horton Cooley The Looking-Glass Self
• George Herbert Mead Role Taking
• Irving Goffman - Dramaturgy

5
Cooley on Socialization

• The Looking-Glass Self
• I am not what I think I am.
• I am not what you think I am.
• I am what I think you think I am.

6
Cooley on Socialization

• We imagine the way we appear to others.
• We then imagine others judgment of that
  appearance.
• And finally, we react to that imagined judgment.

7
Mead on Role Taking

• 2 Stages in the Development of the Self
• Play Stage Taking the role of significant others
• Game Stage Taking the role of the generalized
  other

8
Taking the Role of Significant Others
Play Stage
9
Taking the Role of the Generalized Other
Game Stage
10
Agents of Socialization

• Family
• Friends/Peers
• Education
• Religion
• Media
• Which is most important?

11
Impact of Media as an Agent of Socialization

• 87 of American households have more than one
  television
• 50 of children have televisions in their room
• The average American child watches 28 hours of
  television a week
• By the age of 18 the average American child will
  have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000
  acts of violence

12
Impact of Media as an Agent of Socialization

• In 1972, the Surgeon General released a report
  based on a review of existing literature and
  specifically commissioned research. The report
  concluded that there was strong evidence to
  indicate that over several measures of aggressive
  behavior there was a significant and consistent
  correlation between television viewing and
  aggressive behavior. Second, the report
  concluded, on the basis of experimental evidence
  that there was a directional, causal link between
  exposure to televised violence and subsequent
  aggressive behavior by the viewer.

13
NIMH Report

• 10 years later, the National Institute of Mental
  Health released the following After ten more
  years of research, the consensus among most of
  the research community is that violence on
  television does lead to aggressive behavior by
  children and teenagers who watch the programs.
  This conclusion is based on laboratory
  experiments and on field studies. Not all
  children become violent, of course, but the
  correlations between violence and aggression are
  positive. In magnitude, television violence is
  as strongly correlated with aggressive behavior
  as any other behavioral variable that has been
  measured. The research question has moved from
  asking whether or not there is an effect to
  seeking explanations for the effect.

14
Other Research

• During the next 10 years, research had uncovered
  several new findings
• The effects are not gender specific (both boys
  and girls are affected)
• The amount of violence had not decreased since
  the Surgeon Generals report in 1972.
• Viewers were learning more than aggressive
  behavior from violent programmingmay learn to
  identify with the victims of crime leading to
  fear and apprehension about being a victim of
  crime.

15
Commission on Youth and Violence(American
Psychological Association 1993)Six Conclusions
on Youth and Violence

• Universal exposure
• Strong correlations with aggression and
  desensitization
• May be lifelong consequences
• Even those that do not become violent are
  impacted
• Fear of being victimized
• Behavioral apathy
• Increased appetite for violence
• Distorted views of violence against women
• Effects can be mitigated

16
American Psychiatric Association

• In 1996, the American Psychiatric Association
  released a statement claiming, The debate is
  over.
• The statement referenced the National Television
  Violence Study which found
• The majority of all television programming
  contains violence
• Perpetrators of violence were unsanctioned in 73
  of violent scenes
• Commercial programming for children is 50-60
  times more violent than prime-time programming
  for adults

17
What the Public Wants?

• The response from media executives is frequently
  that they are just giving the public what it
  wants. In response to this claim, the AMA
  conducted a study that found that 75 of adults
  with children have walked out of a movie or
  turned off the television because the content
  was too violent.

18
Further Support

• In the wake of these reports, the Centers of
  Disease Control and the National Academy of
  Science have come forward with support for these
  findings.

19
Judiciary Committee on Media Violence

• The study takes a different approachit starts
  with the premise that violent media can be
  harmful to children and then asks the following
  questions
• Do the motion picture, music recording and
  electronic game industries promote products they
  themselves acknowledge warrant parental caution
  in venues where children make up a substantial
  percentage of the audience?
• And, are these advertisements intended to attract
  children and teenagers?
• After a comprehensive 15-month study, the
  researchers concluded that the answer to both
  questions is yes.