Socialization and Social interaction

TOPICS
1. Social Interaction- the social being in action

2. Socialization
-as an activity /process;
-as an outcome; in context
- what happens without socialization- – examples of Genie

3. Theories of Socialization
-Attachment Theory -Harlow’s Monkeys; -
-Intersubectivity Theory

4. Mirror Neurons- contribution from the neurosciences

 Social Interaction
• The process by which individuals act,
interact, and react to one another in
the context of social relations
(Anderson, 2016, p. 170).
Social Interactionism (SI):
Self and Society
Foundations of Social Interactionism by:
• Max Weber
• George H Mead
• Charles H Cooley
• Erving Goffman
Foundations of SI in work of Max Weber,
G H Mead and C H Cooley-
• Weber’s definition of sociology -
https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/weber.htm

[Sociology is a science which attempts the

interpretive understanding of social action in
order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of
its course and effects.]
• Weber firmly asserts – individuals act according
to their interpretation of the word
• S I theorists Mead and Cooley introduce this
into American sociology in the 1920’s
Charles Horton Cooley 1864-1929
Cooley’s contributions to S I theory
•The “looking-glass self”
•The self as emergent
•Role played by “Primary groups”
 Self: a product of social interaction

Horton Cooley used the term Looking-Glass Self ; The

process of developing a self-identity or self-concept has
three phases
First, we imagine how we present ourselves to others—
to relatives, friends, even strangers on the street.
Then we imagine how others evaluate us (attractive,
intelligent, shy, or strange).
Finally, we develop some sort of feeling about
ourselves, such as respect or shame, as a result of these
impressions
self is the product of social interaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2YLAYCJvyk
 A tale that tells how our perception forms our reality

Two frogs fell into a deep pit and unable to come out the pit. Several frogs
gathered around the pit to witness the plight of the frogs. Both the frogs were
attempting their best to come out of the pit by jumping hard. All the frogs around
the hole started shouting loudly and advising against the foolish act as jumping
out of the pit looked a certain impossibility.
But both the frogs still went on trying their jumps. However all the gathered frogs
kept shouting how impossible the task is. One of the frogs got tired and also
heeded to the advice of group of frogs on the rim and gave up further jumping.
However the other frog kept jumping undeterred, its jumps became higher and
higher as the frogs on the rim of the pit shouted on him to give up. And eventually
one big leap and it came out of the pit, to every frog’s surprise. It turned out to be
deaf one, which mistook the shouting of the group of frogs to be cheering for his
efforts and encouragement to try even harder.

Bottom line : It is not the reality but it is the perception that shapes one’s reality.
George Herbert Mead 1863-1931
Theory of the social self
The generalized other
The I and the Me
 Herbert Mead
Mead developed a useful model of the process by
which the self emerges, defined by three distinct stages:
– The Preparatory Stage:
• Imitate
• Use of Symbol/gestures
– The play stage:
• Pretend to be other
• Role play
– The Game stage:
• Children age about 8-9 begins to consider several tasks and
relationships.
 Use of symbols
According to Mead:
Human communication involves significant
symbols/gestures, which
-are basis for human language
-hold the same meaning for all
-distinguish human from other species
-are equally understood by individuals making
the gestures and receiving these
 Examples of symbols

• Shouting “fire” in a theatre or in the classroom

• Frowning
• Smile
• Tears
• Clenched fist
Symbols and meaning
 Mead’s theory
The ‘self’ is divided into two: the ‘me’ and the ‘I’
‘Me’: the conception of myself that I receive from outside world
‘I’: my response to others, the source of originality and creativity
Development of the “self” occurs in a mutual way that requires
both “the self” and “the others” (individuals, groups and the larger
society)
“self” is a constant dialog between what others conceive of the
“self” and how it reacts on those conceptions. Societal norms affect
conception and reactions
Self-consciousness is produced through the interpretation of
experience with others
“Self” cannot be constructed without social conditions and
responses from others. Social conditions encompass others’
performance, concurrence etc.
 Erving Goffman (1922-1982)
Dramaturgical metaphor
Impression management
 Erving Goffman 1922-1982
• Some of the most important work on the
presentation of self in every-day social
interaction
• known for his work on the ways in which people
conduct themselves during social encounters.
• work helps us to understand the often taken-
for-granted aspects of, and conventional views
about, human social interaction.
 Goffman’s Dramaturgical Metaphor- social
interaction as a performance
• Goffman compares social life to a series of performances
or by social actors who play specific roles- ‘social self is a
dramatic effect arising from a scene that is presented’
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/individuals
-and-society/social-interactions/v/dramaturgical-approach
Front stage/backstage/outside
• As social actors we all seek to control the interaction-
“impression management”
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/individuals
-and-society/social-interactions/v/impression-managemen
t
• Goffman says we all use props to make our audience
believe the roles we play are genuine. These props are
• the front stage -that part of the social
performance that is used to define the situation
in a general way for an audience.
• the backstage - where whatever is pertinent to
the performance, but not allowed on the front
stage, might appear. Backstage behaviour is
depicted by Goffman as comfortable and relaxed
because the audience is absent.
• an outside, which is neither front or back stage.
"impression management"
• the activity engaged in by a performer in order to
guard against the unexpected such as unintended
gestures, improper use of language, and social faux
pas, such as dressing inappropriately for an occasion,
• Goffman was interested in the various methods
social actors used to consciously manage the
impression they give others, compared to the
impressions they unwittingly “give off”
• settings, the physical props and scenery that
have to be present if a social actor is to give a
credible performance.
• personal front -the props that an actor needs to
make his audience believe that the role being
played is genuine. Often institutionalized.
• Appearance -all those items or props used by a
social actor to indicate her status, as for
example the doctor’s lab coat and stethoscope.
• Manner conveys to the audience the kind of
role the social actor expects to play
 Social Interaction
Status/role; role strain, role conflict
Status- culturally defined social position an individual holds in a group or society:
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/individuals-and-society/social-int
eractions/v/status
• Achieved Status vs. Ascribed Status:
http://study.com/academy/lesson/social-status-definition-types-examples.html

Social role- set of expected behaviours and obligations based on the individual’s
place in society- e.g. being a student

Role strain- difficulty in meeting the requirements/responsibilities of a particular

role.

Role conflict- conflict between two or more role positions occupied by an individual
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/individuals-and-society/social-intera
ctions/v/role-strain-and-role-conflict

Role conflict or role strain?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLsTs4DRv18

 Sample questions

Based on your personal experience, describe the

front stage, backstage, and outside
performances.

Drawing on an example from your own life,

explain how you use impression management to
present yourself in a particular situation to
others.
Socialization
What is the socialization process that gets us from this.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7nqwGt4-I
To this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY&list=RDlih0Z2IbIUQ&
index=2
To this.... ?
socializing a young boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otwb08HxFdM
Socialization is the active processes
group members engage in when they
make novices into full members.
• Human infants are born with certain mental structures
already in place
HOWEVER
• “The self” requires an enormous amount of interaction with
others in order to be a fully functioning human adults.
• The outcomes of placing a child in an environment where it
experiences interaction and isolation are completely
different
Interaction (human contact/social bonds)
 Socialized children human behavior

Isolation (deprivation and separation)

 Feral children animal behavior
Socialization requires:
participants - agents of socialization and
novices
process - member-creating and member-
incorporating activities
requirements- conditions that must be met for
group membership. (Long & Hadden 1983:5-7).
1. Socialization- as an activity/process

Through the purposeful actions of group

members, (on-going activity) the novice (child,
adolescent or adult) gradually acquires social
and cultural fluency
• The child becomes both self-aware and skilled
in the ways of the social group or the society
into which s/he is being socialized
• In this sense, the individual is the product of the
activity or process of socialization.
2. Socialization is an outcome- internalization
• The individual becomes skilled in the ways of the
social group or the society into which s/he is
being socialized. In this sense the individual is the
product or the outcome of the activity of
socialization
• The individual has take on the values, beliefs,
norms, practices, habits of their family, group,
organization, society etc and make them their
own. Sociologists talk about this as
“internalization”
“
When children are raised in a particular religious institution, then, it is not e
nough to believe; they must also learn 
how to worship as others around them do”.
https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/12/07/baby-worshipper-an-example-of-religious-socialization
/
Video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gmrYQgg1Po
Socialization as a process
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-8dw5DtPXU

Socialization as an outcome (and a process, too)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dpr4-CHGVg
 What 21st c. cognitive science has to say
about humans’ capabilities at birth

Human infants are born with:

• capacity to perceive a cause and effect relationship
http://fitelson.org/woodward/leslie.pdf
• Some math skills
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/10/babies-are-born-some-math-skills

• a basic theory of the minds of others

• a rudimentary or insipient social “self”
http://psychology.emory.edu/cognition/rochat/Differential%20rooting.pdf
• some understanding of collective entities, (and
hence an elementary form of the sociological
Imagination). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11934407
 But- without socialization the outcomes are
disastrous
The “forbidden experiment” – 20th century
example is Genie Wiley
Genie: Secret Of The Wild Child (1970s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eL7O3RsVDE

• Genie Wiley – TLC Documentary (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E
Interview with Dr. Susan Curtiss- on Genie and language
acquisition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E&t=9s
 Theories of socialization:
Sociologists and cognitive/behavioral scientists
agree that:
• Inborn abilities are growing potentials
• Socialization builds on potentials
• Development of a ‘self’ requires adequate
types and amounts of interaction with others
• Two theories of socialization are Attachment
theory, and the theory of Intersubjectivity
Attachment theory (Bowlby and Ainsworth):
• Social stimulation and affection is necessary
for human growth and development
• Emotional tie between an infant and its
mother

Intersubjectivity theory (Benjamin, 1988):

• Two-way interaction between the infant and
the caregivers
• Interaction between a child and his/her
immediate caregivers
 Attachment theory
• John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth- on
attachment theory –
• http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/inge_origi
ns.pdf

• Contemporary research on attachment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwxjfuPlArY
Harry Harlow- Forbidden Experiments - “Mother Love”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsA5Sec6dAI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6sKo-OKAuE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jurRryx2a8I
 Rock-a-bye-Baby – Harry Harlow’s Rhesus
monkeys
Rock-A-Bye Baby
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRI8VKApgsU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6sKo-OKAuE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jurRryx2a8I
Monkey, love, and the 20th century
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0UyThOc4OY
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryhj_SGjfAQ&feature=related
 New Evidence of the social nature of the self
from the neuro-sciences

VS Ramachandran on Mirror Neuron

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0pwKzTRG5E
 Please do not laugh
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFkoP8y9
648
 How do mirror neurons intervene in our everyday
lives?
Humans are social beings programmed to learn from others
(through the firing of neurons). Mirror neurons
•allow us to learn through imitation
•enable us to reflect body language, facial expressions, and
emotions
•are responsible for yawning when we see someone else yawn
•act when we see someone sad or crying and in turn feel sad
•act to respond to smile or laugh (the way laughter can be
contagious)
•become activated when we see someone touching another
person the same way it activates when we are the ones being
touched.
Source: https://blog.cognifit.com/mirror-neurons/
 Sample questions

Bowlby suggests that maternal care is essential

to mental health in children. Discuss some of the
implications of his argument.

Discuss the differences between Durkheim’s

approach to studying society and the approach
taken by symbolic interactionists
 Recommended reading
• All links inside the slides
• Pages 170-179, 196-218 Anderson (2016)