Introduction to Sociology and Anthropology

Shimlin Jahan Khanam

Lecturer, Department of Population Science,
Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal, Mymensingh.
B.S.S & M.S.S, University of Dhaka.
Email: [email protected]

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 Culture,Cultural lag:
• A set of patterns of human activity within a community or social group and the symbolic
structures that give significance to such activity. Customs, laws, dress, architectural style,
social standards, and traditions are all examples of cultural elements.
• Culture unites people of a single society together through shared beliefs, traditions, and
expectations. The two basic types of culture are material culture, physical things produced
by a society, and nonmaterial culture, intangible things produced by a society.
• The major elements of culture are symbols, language, norms, values, and artifacts.
Language makes effective social interaction possible and influences how people conceive
of concepts and objects.
• The difference between material culture and non-material culture is known as cultural
lag. The term cultural lag refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with
technological innovations, and the resulting social problems that are caused by this lag.
• Cultural lag can occur when there are differences in the rate of change between different
groups within a society. For example, if one group adopts a new technology more quickly
than another group, this can lead to a gap in knowledge and understanding between the
two groups.

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 Socialization
• Socialization is a process that introduces people to social norms
and customs. This process helps individuals function well in
society, and, in turn, helps society run smoothly. Family
members, teachers, religious leaders, and peers all play roles in a
person's socialization.
• This process typically occurs in two stages: Primary
socialization takes place from birth through adolescence, and
secondary socialization continues throughout one's life.
• Adult socialization may occur whenever people find themselves
in new circumstances, especially those in which they interact
with individuals whose norms or customs differ from theirs.

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Socio-biology and the nature-nurture debate
• Sociobiologists study the ways that behavior is affected by
biology. On the other hand, nurture is the idea that human
thoughts, feelings and actions are the result of society and culture.
In this argument, human behavior is learned through the influence
of society, thus can be changed as societies change.
• Nature explanations argue that biological inheritance and genetics
determine human behaviour;
• Nurture explanations argue that society, culture and social
processes such as socialization explain human behaviour.
• Nature is what people think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by
genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is
generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception
e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an
individual.
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 Theories of Socialization
When we are born, we have a genetic makeup and biological traits.
However, who we are as human beings–our identity–develops through
social interaction. Many scholars, both in the fields of psychology and in
sociology, have described the process of self-development as a precursor
to understanding how that “self” becomes socialized.

• Psychological Perspectives on Self-Development

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was one of the most
influential modern scientists to put forth a theory about how people
develop a sense of self.
He divided the maturation process into stages, and posited that people’s
self-development is closely linked to their early stages of development.
According to Freud, failure to properly engage in or disengage from a
specific stage results in emotional and psychological consequences
throughout adulthood.

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• Psychologist Erik Erikson (1902–1994) created a theory of
personality development based, in part, on the work of Freud.
• However, Erikson believed the personality continued to change over
time and was never truly finished. His theory includes eight stages of
development, beginning with birth and ending with death.
• According to Erikson, people move through these stages throughout
their lives.
• In contrast to Freud’s focus on psychosexual stages and basic human
urges, Erikson’s view of self-development gave credit to more social
aspects, like the way we negotiate between our own base desires and
what is socially accepted (Erikson 1982).

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Sociological Perspectives on Self-Development

• One of the pioneering contributors to sociological perspectives on self-

development was Charles Cooley (1864–1929). He asserted that one’s self
understanding is constructed, in part, by our perception of how others view
us—a process termed “the looking glass self” (Cooley 1902), which was
discussed when we first introduced symbolic interactionism.
• This concept is central to sociological perspectives on self-development
because it demonstrates the importance of social interaction in the
development of one’s identity.
• Later, George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) studied the self, a person’s distinct
identity as developed through social interaction. In order to engage in this
process of “self,” an individual has to be able to view him or herself through
the eyes of others.
• This is not an ability that is innate (Mead 1934). Through socialization we
learn to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and look at the world through
their perspective.
• This assists us in becoming self-aware, as we look at ourselves from the
perspective of the “other.”
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Methods of Socialization
Methods of socialization includes affective methods, operant
methods, observational methods, cognitive methods,
sociocultural methods, and apprenticeship methods.
Each method of socialization are important tools to help
children grow in many areas of their development.

• Agents of socialization:
Socialization agents are a combination of social groups and
social institutions that provide the first experiences of
socialization.
Families, early education, peer groups, the workplace, religion,
government, and media all communicate expectations and
reinforce norms.
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 The Life Course: Childhood, adolescence,
mature adulthood, old age, death.

• The life-course perspective has three stages; childhood,

adulthood and old age. Each stage of the life-course perspective
is a social construct. Society, itself, creates a social construct thus
age is a social construct.
• People have developed a perception that depending on our age
things are socially acceptable or not.
• This includes the clothes we wear, our actions and our lifestyle.
The life-course perspective can be seen as useful in helping us to
perceive social construction of age and it is a lifelong process.
• Thus the life-course perspective can be seen as significant in
helping us understand social construction of age.

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Developmentalists break the life span into nine stages as follows:

• Prenatal Development
• Infancy and Toddlerhood
• Early Childhood
• Middle Childhood
• Adolescence
• Early Adulthood
• Middle Adulthood
• Late Adulthood
• Death and Dying

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