adolescence
A period stretching from puberty to about 18-years-old characterized by the role adjustment from childhood to adulthood.
Adolescence in general is a period stretching from puberty to about 18 years old, characterized by the role adjustment from childhood to adulthood.
agency
The ability to choose and act independently of external constraints.
The concept of socialization raises a classic problem of sociological analysis: the problem of agency.
anticipatory socialization
When we prepare for future life roles.
Just as young children pretend to be doctors or lawyers, play house, and dress up, adults also engage anticipatory socialization, the preparation for future life roles.
degradation ceremony
The process by which new members of a total institution lose aspects of their old identity and are given new ones.
First, members entering an institution must leave behind their old identity through what is known as a degradation ceremony.
doing gender
When people perform tasks based upon the gender assigned to them by society.
As the Thomas the Tank Engine example suggests, doing gender.
game stage
The stage in child development in which children begin to recognize and interact with others on the basis of fixed norms and roles.
During the game stage, children learn to consider several specific roles at the same time and how those roles interact with each other.
generalized other
The common behavioural expectations of general society.
Finally, children develop, understand, and learn the idea of the generalized other, the common behavioural expectations of general society.
hidden curriculum
The informal teaching done in schools that socializes children to societal norms.
Sociologists describe this aspect of schools as the hidden curriculum, the informal teaching done by schools.
I and me
The two components or phases of the self-reflective self.
The separation of I and me does not yet exist in an organized manner to enable the child to relate to him- or herself.
liquid modernity
The fluid and transitory nature of modern life, which is increasingly fragmented and cut into a succession of ill-connected episodes.
This experience is part of what Zygmunt Bauman has called liquid modernity.
looking glass self
The self or self-image that arises as the reaction to the judgement of others.
Cooley asserted that people’s self understanding is constructed, in part, by their perception of how others view them — a process termed “the looking glass self” (Cooley, 1902).
mass media
The distribution of impersonal information to a wide audience via television, newspapers, radio, and the internet.
Mass media refers to the distribution of impersonal information to a wide audience via television, newspapers, radio, and the internet.
moral career
A standard sequence of changes in a person’s moral capacity to be answerable for their actions.
Inmates in institutions of resocialization pass through a standard sequence of changes that Goffman refers to as their moral career.
moral development
The way people learn what is “good” and “bad” in society.
Moral development is an important part of the socialization process.
nature
The influence of our genetic makeup on self development.
From this perspective, then, who we are depends on nature.
nurture
The role that our social environment plays in self development.
Some experts assert that who we are is a result of nurture — the relationships and caring that surround us.
peer group
A group made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests.
This learning takes place through interaction with various agents of socialization, like peer groups and families, plus both formal and informal social institutions.
play stage
A time when children begin to imitate and take on roles that another person might have.
This is followed by the play stage, during which children begin to imitate and take on roles that another person might have.
preparatory stage
A time when children are only capable of imitation and have no ability to imagine how others see things.
During the preparatory stage, children are only capable of imitation: They have no ability to imagine how others see things.
resocialization
The process by which old behaviours are removed and new behaviours are learned in their place.
In the process of resocialization, old behaviours that were helpful in a previous role are removed because they are no longer of use.
rite of passage
A ritual that marks a life cycle transition from a previous status to a new status.
In some cultures, adolescence is marked and ritualized through a clear rite of passage, a ritual that marks a life cycle transition from a previous status to a new status.
role
The behaviour expected of a person who occupies a particular position.
Socialization occurs as people engage and disengage in a series of roles throughout life.
self
A person’s distinct sense of identity as developed through social interaction.
But first, we will turn to scholarship about self development, the process of coming to recognize a sense of a “self” that is then able to be socialized.
socialization
The process wherein people come to understand societal norms and expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and to be aware of societal values.
Socialization is the process through which people are taught to be proficient members of a society.
stages of child socialization
The four stages of child development (preparatory, play, game, and generalized other) in which the child develops the capacity to assume social roles.
Mead focused on the developing capacity to put oneself in the place of another: the four stages of child socialization.
total institution
An institution in which members are required to live in isolation from the rest of society.
The most common way resocialization occurs is in a total institution where people are isolated from society and are forced to follow someone else’s rules.
These terms were extracted from Introduction to Sociology – 2nd Canadian Edition by William Little, eCampusOntario (originally published by BCcampus, 2016) which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on Introduction to Sociology by OpenStax (© 2013 Rice University), licensed under CC BY 3.0.