Culture and Socialisation Key Terms

Norms

Unwritten rules of behaviour for specific social situations.

Values

Beliefs that are seen as important and worthwhile in society.

Culture

The shared, learned way of life of a social group. Based around shared norms and values.

Social Construction

What is meaningful to people is not natural but instead agreed on by people. Culture is a product of the society within which we live.

Value Consensus

According to Durkheim, a shared set of norms and values is crucial to a healthy, functioning society.

Anomie

Durkheim suggested that when people in society are unsure of what norms and values they are expected to have it leads them to become emotionally distressed.

Cultural Transmission

Another way of saying learning a society's culture. This happens through socialisation.

Cultural Diversity

There can be different subcultures within societies. There are also different cultures in societies around the world.

Subcultures

These share many aspects of the wider culture that dominates a society. However, they will also have some of their own norms and values that are different.

Deviant Subcultures

Groups with norms and values that go against those held by the rest of society.

Anti-School Subcultures (ASSCs)

Groups of students who misbehave and resist the norms and values taught in schools.

Socialisation

The life long process of learning the culture of society. A person will learn the norms and values of their society through six agents of socialisation.

Primary Socialisation

Parsons argued the first stage of learning society's norms and values occurs in the family. This helps society to function smoothly.

Secondary Socialisation

Parsons argued the second stage of learning society's norms and values happens through agents of socialisation like education, peers, the media, religion and the workplace.

Agents of Socialisation

The institutions of society where the norms and values of society are learnt and culture is passed on.

Nature/Nurture Debate

Argument whether behaviour and identity are mainly inherited (genetic) or acquired (learned).

Feral Children

Human children who have lived isolated from human contact during their early years (0-5 years old).

Instinctive Behaviour

Feral children are reduced to natural, innate actions like eating, sleeping and drinking because they don't experience primary socialisation.

Social Change

The shared norms and values people in society hold usually shift over time.

Instrumental Role

According to Parsons, the male parent in the family is more suited to fulfilling the financial needs of the family through work.

Expressive Role

According to Parsons, the female parent in the family is more suited to fulfilling the emotional needs of the family by looking after the children, keeping the household clean and cooking.

Roles/Social Roles

The part or function a person plays in a situation, organisation or group. Different roles will have different expectations and responsibilities that come with them.

Role Conflict

When the demands and expectations of one role clash with those of another. The individual must decide which roles' expectations they will prioritise as they cannot fulfil both. E.g. Choosing between role of a parent in family and role of a manager in the workplace.

Adult Roles

The part or function that individual adults have in society. Often these are influenced by gender socialisation so are linked to gender roles. Examples include occupations (jobs), being a mother or father, or a husband or wife.

Status

A person's social position or standing in society. Different roles will have different amounts of this attached to them.

Ascribed Status

This is fixed from birth or given involuntarily.

Achieved Status

This is earnt by an individual.

Social Mobility

In societies based on achieved status this exists as people will have opportunities to move up and down the levels of hierarchy/ the social scale in society.

Gender Roles

The norms and values that men and women are expected to have.

Gender Role Socialisation

The process by which girls and boys learn the norms and values they are expected to follow and believe.

Masculinity

Norms, values and roles that are associated with men and boys. Sociologists believe this is, to a large extent, socially constructed.

Femininity

Norms, values and roles that are associated with women and girls. Sociologists believe this is, to a large extent, socially constructed.

Canalisation

According to Oakley, this is a process where parents channel their children into use of toys and activities seen as the norm for their gender.

Verbal Appellations

According to Oakley, parents speak to children in a way that reinforces gender roles, such as saying 'pretty girl' or 'brave boy'.

Media Stereotypes of Gender Roles

Butler argues these are so powerful that it is very difficult to avoid gender role socialisation.

Social Identity/ Identity

A sense of self developed through social interactions with others.

Gender Identity

How people see themselves in terms of society's expectations of men and women.

Class Identity

A person's perception of their position in society, particularly in the respect of their income and occupation.

Ethnic Identity

How an individual is influenced by the history, traditions and beliefs of their culture, often passed down by ancestors.

National Identity

How an individual is influenced by the place(s) in which they were born/grew up.

Three Key Processes of Socialisation

Imitation and Role Models, Rewards and Sanctions, Formal and Informal Social Control.

Imitation and Role Models

A person that someone looks up to. If they admire that person and want to be like them, they will copy their behaviour.

Rewards

A positive outcome that encourages an individual to repeat a behaviour.

Sanctions

A negative outcome that stops a behaviour.

Formal Social Control

The use of clear rules or laws to manage people's behaviour.

Informal Social Control

The use of unwritten rules and social pressure to manage people's behaviour.