Socialization And Culture Essay

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Socialization and culture are the shared values, beliefs, and norms of a specific group of people that allow them to integrate into society. What would the ideal society look like? The ideal society may described in the imagination of thoughts of all individuals. One key possessed by a multicultural society can be valuing individuality no matter differences. Allowing all to be equally treated with respect and opportunity. Three components which will be discussed in relation to society are key components, theory, and people. Key components address culture and socialization and how values, norms, and beliefs apply. Cultural psychologists and social anthropologist believe culture affects personality as well as gender differences. Patterns …show more content…

The idea of childhood experiences was studied in 1874 by a scientist named Ernst van Brucke whose key concept is known as the “psychodynamic perspective,” which links human behavior to feelings and emotions and their relation to childhood experiences. Another association to childhood or past experiences and the way they shape the feelings of thought and behavior comes from “Freuds theory of psychoanalysis,” in his assumption that our mental life is “unconscious” (courses.lumenlearning.com). From the “behavioral perspective,” our behaviors occur through our experiences and the environment. Norms are considered behavior which is acceptable in a certain group. What may be acceptable in one culture may be the complete opposite of another. Socialization is the process that an individual acquires to conform to norms which can be language, social skills, and values (businessdictionary.com). Therefore, the things that are important in a culture are based on values, beliefs and norms which shape our behaviors in society. The development of culture and socialization can be looked at through three basic theories within sociology, which are conflict, functionalism and symbolic interactionism. However, Cooley’s three part theory of the looking-glass and Mead’s theory of formation of self also take shape in culture …show more content…

An example of social conflict might be a pyramid of hierarchy which shows students with degrees, the power struggle might be when a student gets chosen for a job over another student based on a better college. Structural Functionalism can be thought of an organism with interlocking systems (circulatory, blood, bones) all systems are structured and give meaning to the whole and sometimes unexpected things can happen. Finally the last, symbolic interaction can be seen as an American flag which symbolically has shared meaning to society. Some have a sense of the same meaning such as pride, and nationalism, while others may have different thoughts and meanings among people’s patterns in interactions (Davis, 2013). Charles Cooley’s concept of the looking glass reveals the steps of how we see ourselves based on perceptions of how others perceive us. The idea is useful to recognize how the self can grow and learn from perceptions of others. The structure of the looking glass follows three steps. The first is based on, how we appear to others. Second is our reactions of how others view us, and thirdly a person recognizes and evaluates oneself based on thoughts of others. This theory connects with socialization and culture as connections are framed

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