Review Notes 4 
Becoming a Member of Society 
 
 
Contents 
Competencies Covered 1 

Key Points 1 
Identity Formation 1 
Norms and Values 2 
Statuses and Roles 2 
Social Control 3 
Deviance 4 
Human Dignity, Rights, and the Common Good 5 

Synthesis 5 

Practice 6 

Tips 9 

Bibliography 9 

Answer Key 10 

 
Review Notes 4 
Becoming a Member of Society 
 
Competencies Covered 
In this note, we will discuss the important concepts about the 
following competencies:  
● Explain the development of one’s self and others as a 
product of socialization and enculturation;  
● Identify the context, content, processes, and consequences 
of enculturation and socialization; 
● Identify the social goals and the socially acceptable means of 
achieving these goals; 
● Advocate inclusive citizenship; and 
● Promote the protection of human dignity, rights, and the 
common good. 
 

Key Points 
Identity Formation 
● Socialization  is  the  lifelong  social  process  where  people 
develop  their  individual  potentials  and  learn  or  adopt 
culture. It starts when a baby is born and ends upon death. 
● Enculturation  is  the  process where an individual or a group 
learns  culture  through  experience  or  observation. It enables 
the culture to be shared among members of society. 
● There  are  different  theories  that  explain  how  individuals 
form their identities. 
○ Sigmund  Freud’s  Psychodynamic  Theory  -  Human 
beings  have  a  basic  need  to  express  their  sexual 
tensions  and  aggression,  and  because  these  are 
typically  not  acceptable  mechanisms  in  society, 
human  beings  suffer  from  anxiety  that  paves  the  way for the development of 

 
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neuroticism and other psychological fixations. 
○ Jean  Piaget’s  Theory  of  Cognitive  Development  -  Human  identity 
development is influenced greatly by cognitive processes. 
○ Lawrence  Kohlberg’s  Theory  of  Moral  Development  -  Human  beings 
develop  moral  identities  as  influenced  by  their  environmental  and 
interpersonal experiences. 
○ Erik  Erikson’s  Post-Freudian  Theory  -  Human  development  does  not  end in 
childhood but at old age. 
○ George  Herbert  Mead’s  Theory  of  the  Social  Self  -  Personality  and  identity 
development is a product of social experience.   
 
Norms and Values 
● Norms  are  rules  or  expectations  that  guide  the  behaviors  of  members  of society.  It 
sets  the  standards  of  what  is  acceptable  and  unacceptable  behavior  within  the 
group. 
○ Mores  -  These  are  norms  that  are  widely  observed  in  society and pose heavy 
moral significance. An example is teasing about bombs in public transport. 
○ Folkways  -  These  are  norms  that  are  observed  in  casual  or  routine 
encounters  and  are  considered  less  significant.  An  example  is  submitting  an 
assignment beyond the deadline.  
● Norms  are  forms  of  social  control  or  ways  by  which  people’s behaviors and actions 
in society are regulated or controlled. 
● Values  are  culturally-defined  standards  that  people  see  as  good,  acceptable,  and 
desirable that serve as broad guidelines of living. 
○ Values are developed through socialization. 
○ Values change over time. 
 
Statuses and Roles 
● A status is a social position that a person holds. 
● A status set is composed of various statuses that a person holds at once. 
● There are two types of status: ascribed and achieved. 
○ Ascribed  is  a  position  that  a  person  receives  at  birth  or  involuntarily  later  in 
life. An example is being born into a royal family. 
○ Achieved  is  a  social  position  that  is  voluntarily  acquired  and  reflects  a 

 
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person’s  effort  and  ability.  An  example  is  a  rank-and-file  employee  who  rose 
from the ranks to become a director. 
● A  master  status  is  a  status  that  is a significant part of one’s social identity and often 
shapes a person’s entire life. 
● A role is a behavior expected from someone who holds a particular social status. 
● A role set is defined as the roles attached to a single status. 
● Role  conflict  occurs  when  different  statuses  pressure  us  to  respond  to  conflicting 
scenarios  in  order  to  fulfill  various  roles.  An  example  of  it  is  the  role  of  a  working 
mother. 
● Role  strain  occurs  when  there  is  tension  involved  with  just  one  status.  An  example 
of this is the role of professors to students. 
● Role exit is the process by which people disengage from certain roles. An example of 
this is leaving the seminary to start a family. 
 
Social Control 
● There  are  two  basic  forms  of  social  control  acknowledged  by  sociologists  today: 
informal and formal means of control. 
○ Informal  means  of  control  refer  to  an  individual’s  inner  capacity  to  sense 
what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong,  which  decreases  the  tendency  of  an 
individual to deviate from norms. 
■ The  social  values,  sanctions,  rewards,  and  punishments  utilized  by 
informal means of social control are learned through socialization. 
■ According  to  Edward  Ross,  informal  means  of  control  are  effective. 
Human  beings  have  a  natural  propensity  for  sympathy,  sociability, 
sense  of  justice,  and  resentment.  They  also  have  the  natural 
disposition towards conformity. 
○ Formal  means  of  control  refer  to  the  system  of  rewards  and  punishments 
that  become  structuralized  in an institution.  The methods of formal means of 
control  are  utilized  by  governments  and  organizations  to  prevent  chaos  in 
society. 
■ The  formal  means  of  control  is  a  social  contract  where  individuals 
agree  to  follow  the  rules  set  by  an authority they have chosen in order 
to ensure peace and prosperity for everyone in society. 
■ Coercion is the use of force against social deviance. 

 
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Deviance 
● Deviance refers to a recognized violation of cultural norms. 
○ It is defined by its social context. 
○ It is not an inherent trait of human beings; it is a product of social processes. 
● Formal  deviance  refers  to  the  violation  of  formally  enacted  laws.  Crimes  are 
examples of formal deviance. 
● Informal  deviance  refers  to  violations  of  informal  cultural  norms.  Talking  while  the 
mouth is full is an example of this deviance. 
● John  Hagan  introduced  a  typology  for  classifying  deviant  acts  in  terms  of  their 
perceived  impact  on  society,  the  degree  of  norms  violated,  and  the  severity  of  the 
social control. 
○ Consensus  crime - There is almost unanimous agreement on the seriousness 
of  the  act  of  deviance—morally  intolerable,  injurious,  and  subject  to  harsh 
penalties like murder and rape. 
○ Conflict  crime  -  There  is  a  considerable  disagreement  about the seriousness 
of  the  deviant  act,  like  others  tend  to  justify  it.  An  example  of  this  is  smoking 
marijuana,  which  is  justified  by  others  to  be  medically  correct,  thus  must  not 
be considered a crime. 
○ Social  deviation - These are deviant acts that are not actually declared crimes 
but  regarded  as  harmful.  A  good  example  of  this  is  a  master  of  the  house 
being  inconsiderate  or  mean  to  the  household  helpers.  It  is  not a crime to be 
mean to others, but it is emotionally harmful. 
○ Social  diversion  -  These  are  deviant  acts  that  are  not considered a crime but 
regarded  as  distasteful  or  objectionable.  An  example  of  this  is  a  man  spitting 
in  public.  In  the  Philippines,  it  is  not  considered  a  crime  and  does  not  harm 
others, but still, it is an objectionable behavior in public. 
● Robert  Merton  developed  the  strain  theory  of  deviance.  It shows that conformity 
and  deviance  are  nothing  more  than  individuals’  responses  to  the dominant cultural 
patterns. 
○ Conformity  -  In  this  response,  people  believe  in both the established cultural 
goals of society as well as the normative means of attaining those goals. 
○ Ritualism  -  In  this  response,  people  do  not believe in the established cultural 
goals  of  society  but  believe  and  abide  by  the  normative  means  of  attaining 

 
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those goals. 
○ Innovation  -  In  this  response,  people  believe in the established cultural goals 
of society but reject the conventional methods of attaining those goals. 
○ Retreatism  -  In  this  response,  people  reject  both  the  cultural  goals  and  the 
accepted means of attaining those goals. 
○ Rebellion  -  In  this  response,  people  reject  both  the  cultural  goals  and  the 
accepted  means  of  attaining  those  goals  and  substitute  new  goals  and  new 
means of attaining these goals. 
 
Human Dignity, Rights, and the Common Good 
● Human  dignity  refers  to the idea that every human being has the right to be treated 
with  respect  and  value.  It  is  honoring  one’s  autonomy,  personhood, and free will.  It 
is universal. 
● Human dignity may be violated in four ways. 
○ Humiliation  -  It  refers  to  any  action  that  may  diminish  the  self-worth  of  an 
individual or a group. 
○ Instrumentalization  or  Objectification  -  It  refers  to  the  act  of  treating 
another individual as a means to achieve some goal. 
○ Degradation - It refers to the act that degrades the value of human beings. 
○ Dehumanization  -  It  refers  to  acts  that  strip  a  person  or  a  group  of  all  its 
human characteristics. 
● Human  rights,  according  to  the  United  Nations,  are  rights  inherent  in  all  human 
beings regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, or any other status. 
● The  International  Bill  of  Human  Rights  provides  a  legal  standard  for  the  basic 
economic, social, and cultural rights countries must accord their citizens. 
● The  common  good  is  the  values,  structures,  and  processes  that  are  shared  and  are 
beneficial for all members of the same culture or society. 
 

Synthesis 
● All members of society interact with one another. As they do, they engage in multiple 
social processes that help mold their individual characteristics, preferences, and values. 
● Conformity and deviance are twin processes that flow from the enculturation and 
socialization processes. 

 
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● When individuals become members of society, they each submit to the norms of 
society. They are accountable under the norms and laws of that society from which they 
seek protection. 
● Culture provides human beings a framework by which they ought to live their lives. It is 
a system that enables individual members to forego their own desires in order to 
ensure the maintenance and persistence of an entire society. 
 

Practice 
 
Shade the circle beside the correct answer for each question.  
 
1. What are the rules of expectations that guide the behaviors of members of society? 
◯ norms 
◯ roles 
◯ statuses 
◯ values 
 
 
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2. What  is  the  idea  that  every human being has the right to be treated with respect and 
value? 
◯ human rights 
◯ human dignity 
◯ common good 
◯ dehumanization 
 
3. What is the recognized violation of cultural norms? 
◯ conformity 
◯ deviance 
◯ folkway 
◯ more 
 
4. Which of the following acts best describes humiliation? 
◯ an act that degrades the value of human beings 
◯ an act that may diminish the self-worth of an individual or a group 
◯ an act that strips a person or a group of all its human characteristics 
◯ an act of treating another individual as a means to achieve some goal 
 
5. Which of the following is an example of an ascribed status? 
◯ race and ethnicity 
◯ becoming an athlete 
◯ a millionaire declared bankruptcy 
◯ a rank-and-file employee who rose from the ranks 
 
6. What theory explains that human identity development is influenced greatly by 
cognitive processes? 
◯ psychodynamic theory 
◯ theory of the social self 
◯ theory of moral development 
◯ theory of cognitive development 
 
 
 
 
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7. What makes informal means of control effective? 
◯ sympathy, sociability, social values, and rewards 
◯ social values, sanctions, rewards, and punishment 
◯ sense of justice, resentment, social values, rewards 
◯ sympathy, sociability, sense of justice, and resentment 
 
8. How do conformists act in society? 
◯ reject cultural goals and the accepted means of attaining those goals 
◯ believe in the cultural goals and the accepted means of attaining those goals 
◯ believe  in  the  cultural  goals  but  reject  the  conventional  methods  of  attaining 
those goals 
◯ do  not  believe  in  the  established  cultural  goals  but  believe  in  the  normative 
means of attaining those goals 
 
9. Which of the following exemplifies the concept of role strain? 
◯ role of being a child 
◯ role of a working mother 
◯ role of a professor to students 
◯ a seminarian leaving the seminary to start a family 
 
10. Which of the following statements is true? 
◯ An example of social deviation is sexual assault. 
◯ An example of conflict crime is domestic violence. 
◯ An example of a consensus crime is smoking marijuana. 
◯ An example of social diversion is having excessive tattoos. 
 
Why are human rights necessary? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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Tips 
 
● To gain full knowledge of the topics, it is best to search and read more articles and 
studies about becoming a member of society. 
● Distractions are everywhere. Be aware of what distracts you and know how to steer 
clear of these distractions. 
● Try creating acronyms in memorizing items or steps.   
● In answering multiple-choice tests, use the process of elimination. 
 

  Bibliography 
 
Contreras, Antonio et al. Understanding Culture, Society, & Politics. Quezon City: Phoenix 
Publishing House, Inc., 2016. 
 
“Human Rights,” United Nations. Accessed from 
https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/human-rights/, November 14, 2019. 
 
Persell, Caroline. Understanding Society: An Introduction to Sociology. New York: Harper & Row 
Publishers, Inc., 1990.  
 
Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World. Minnesota: University of Minnesota 
Libraries Publishing, 2016. 
 
Whorms, Mina. “Conformity: are we afraid to stand out?,” Youtube. Accessed from 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiC0Gi0nK9g&list=PLQCXXbtutyI0oUGrKiomkBb9
U6bMrdDxs, November 14, 2019. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
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Answer Key 
 
Answers to the Multiple-Choice Test 
1. norms 
2. human dignity 
3. deviance 
4. an act that may diminish the self-worth of an individual or a group 
5. race and ethnicity 
6. theory of cognitive development 
7. sympathy, sociability, sense of justice, and resentment 
8. believes in the cultural goals and the accepted means of attaining those goals 
9. role of a professor to students 
10. An example of social diversion is having excessive tattoos. 
 
Possible Answer and Explanation to the HOTS Question  
Human rights are necessary so people can take full advantage of all opportunities. 
Human rights protect people against abuse by those who are more powerful. 
 

 
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