Socialisation & the Creation of Social Identity
- 1.1 Learning & socialisation (culture, roles, norms, nature vs nurture, agencies)
- 1.2 Social control, conformity & resistance (structure vs agency, ideology, power, deviance)
- 1.3 Social identity & change (class, gender, ethnicity, age → globalisation, choice, hybrid identities)
1.1 The process of learning & socialisation
① What is a society?
Idea: people in a society see themselves as having something in common with each other and as different from other societies. Two kinds of “space”:
- Physical space – a geographical area with a border (river / made-up line on a map).
- Mental space – beliefs about the similarities we share with “our” people & differences from others.
Even the physical border is a mental construction – we just give a line on a map meaning & importance.
Societies are mentally constructed by:
- geographic borders (born inside = belong)
- system of government (monarchy, parliament, civil service)
- common language, customs, traditions
- sense of belonging – “our” society ≠ others (e.g. Indians vs Pakistanis/Bangladeshis)
② Culture & the social construction of reality
Culture = a “way of life” that must be taught and learnt (primary + secondary socialisation). Cultures are dynamic (always changing).
Because objects carry different meanings, cultural interaction is complex and open to misunderstanding → need common meanings + predictable behaviour → order & stability.
③ Building blocks of culture: roles → values → norms (+ beliefs)
Roles are a building block because:
- Always played in relation to other roles (teacher ↔ student) → demands interaction + awareness of others → forms groups & communities. A role-set = a role with many relationships (doctor ↔ patients, nurses, other doctors, relatives…) → locks us into many relationships, each with its own routines & duties.
- Every role has a name/label that carries a sense of how people are expected to behave.
Values = general behavioural guidelines (a teacher should teach, a parent should care) – they give broad guidance only, not how.
Norms = specific rules showing how to act in a particular situation → roles performed predictably & acceptably.
- Merton (1938): without order/predictability behaviour is risky & confusing → anomie = people who don’t understand the norms react with confusion → anger → fear.
- Goffman (1959): norms are more open to interpretation & negotiation than roles/values → adapt quickly (strict vs friendly teacher; even the strictest relaxes sometimes).
Beliefs = important, deep-rooted ideas that shape values (and are shaped by them). All values express a belief, but not all beliefs express a value. They may or may not be true – what matters is they are believed. Combined with ideologies they structure society.
④ Nature vs nurture
Socialisation = process of being taught the behavioural rules needed to become a member of a society/culture and an able social actor.
| NATURE (biology) | NURTURE (socialisation) |
|---|---|
| Genes “programme” us; drives for procreation & self-preservation; instincts = fixed features we are born knowing (e.g. “mothering instinct”) | Behaviour is learnt through culture; cultural environment plays the major role |
| Weaker version: born with capabilities; nature gives “strong hints” but people are free to ignore them | Test it: study of feral / unsocialised children + variation between cultures |
⑤ Feral children – evidence for nurture
Feral = missed primary socialisation by humans. Evidence often unclear (uncertain how long alone) and some cases proved fake.
- Saturday Mthiyane – found 1987 aged 5 with a monkey pack, South Africa; years later still acted like a monkey (rare/unreliable evidence of animal-raised).
- “Genie” (Pines 1997) – found 1970, aged 13, California; isolated in a small room, not spoken to since infancy, malnourished, abused, no toys; could not stand erect, could only whimper.
- Dani – severely neglected for years (Fig 1.4).
More evidence – cultural variation: if instinct ruled, societies would be the same everywhere/always. But:
- Trivial: Billikopf (1999) – in Russia, a man peeling a banana for a lady = romantic interest.
- Fundamental: Wojtczak (2009) – Victorian Britain, most women “lived in a state little better than slavery”, sole purpose to marry & reproduce – not today’s Britain.
⑥ Mead – the “I” and the “Me”
Mead (1934): social context conditions behaviour; self-awareness (seeing ourselves as others see us) is learnt, not instinctive – it needs a concept of Self, which sets humans apart from animals.
⑦ Goffman – presentation of self (dramaturgy) & Cooley
Meaning of an act depends on context ⇒ self-awareness & identity are socially constructed. Goffman (1959): identity is built through how we present ourselves to others.
- Social life = a series of dramatic episodes; people are actors. Sometimes they write their own lines (personal identity), sometimes follow lines written for them (external influences, e.g. how society defines masculinity/femininity).
- Impression management: we “perform” to control the impression others have of us; we see ourselves as others do and adjust (e.g. carry a textbook + folder to look like a good Sociology student).
- Cooley (1909) – looking-glass self: others are like mirrors; their behaviour reflects the person they think we are.
⑧ Alternatives to socialisation (biology & psychology)
- Social Darwinism – social life = “survival of the fittest”.
- Sociobiology – Wilson (1979): a “biological basis” for behaviour; not genetically determined but strongly influenced by “biogrammars” (biological programming).
- Parsons (1959a) (functionalist) – family roles reflect this: women = expressive role (caring); men = instrumental role (providing), partly based on evolutionary principles. People can swap, but it “makes less efficient use” of different capabilities ⇒ social problems.
- Evolutionary psychology – behaviours that are evolutionarily successful are selected & reproduced (family development, gender roles = adaptations to problems common to all societies, e.g. raising children while providing for them).
- Psychology is diverse: genetics (evolutionary psych) → neuropsychology → social psychology (like Mead/Goffman).
- Meins et al. (2002) – genetic instinct for babies to attach to primary care-giver, but affected by environment: key = care-giver’s ability to recognise & understand the child’s needs.
Agencies of socialisation & social control
| PRIMARY socialisation | SECONDARY socialisation | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | mainly family, then friends/peers, later work colleagues | schools, religion, media, workplace (secondary groups) |
| Relationship | close, personal; “emotionally charged identification” (Berger & Luckmann 1967) | “formality and anonymity”, detachment; instrumental relationships (what people can do for us) |
| Purpose | learn basic human behaviour (language), social relationships, roles | Parsons (1959a): liberate the individual from dependence on family attachments; prepare for strangers/adult world |
Why primary first? Infants need others to become human and members of a culture – the basic skills & values are needed before dealing with wider society (cf. feral children).
Primary agencies
① Family: few roles, but played over long periods (husband/wife → parent/step-parent; baby → infant → child → teenager → adult). Safe base of love, responsibility, duty ⇒ can make mistakes & learn without much harm. Parents = Mead’s significant others – teach basic values (how to address adults), moral values (right/wrong) and norms (“Mum/Dad”, when/where/how to eat & sleep).
| Positive sanctions (informal) | Negative sanctions (informal) |
|---|---|
| smiling, verbal approval (“good boy/girl”), gifts | disapproval (shouting) → physical punishment |
② Peers: similar age/status. Primary agency (we choose friends; they shape dress, talk, likes/hates) and secondary (a reference group – “models used for appraising and shaping attitudes, feelings, actions” – Hughes et al. 2002; e.g. hippies, punks). Peer pressure = social control.
- Roles: friend (very personal), acquaintance, colleague; value of friendship carried through life.
- Norms: often age-appropriate behaviour (children can’t smoke/buy alcohol by law; elderly doing extreme sports/dressing young seen as odd). Same behaviour, different reaction: swearing at grandparent ✗, among friends ✓.
- Sanctions (mostly informal): + approving gestures, laughing at jokes, seeking company; − disapproving looks, comments, refusing to speak, rejecting friendship, physical violence.
Secondary agencies
③ Education – two curricula: formal (subjects, knowledge, skills explicitly taught) and hidden (learnt from experiencing school: dealing with strangers, listening to authority, respecting the system). School = “learn to limit individual desires”; first long separation from parents; chance to show talent to a non-family audience.
- Values taught: hard work for qualifications, individual competition, teamwork, conformity to authority, achievement by merit. Often hidden in how school is organised (e.g. essay-writing valued above bricklaying; working together = “copying”).
- Bowles & Gintis (2002) – Marxist correspondence theory: school norms ↔ workplace norms → makes “uncomplaining workers”: daily attendance, being in the right place at the right time, obeying those in authority.
- Sanctions: + grades, qualifications, prizes, praise; − detention, suspension, exclusion, reputation for being unintelligent ⇒ prepares for bonuses / threat of the sack.
④ Mass media – impersonal secondary agency (we rarely meet those doing the socialising). Little evidence of direct long-term effect; stronger evidence of short-term effects (advertising changes buying behaviour). Potter (2003) short-term: imitation, desensitisation (repeated violence/poverty lowers emotional reaction), learning new ideas/places.
Indirect long-term effects (accepting socially constructed things as “natural”):
- Consumerism – endless pursuit of goods defining lifestyle & identity is taken as natural.
- Fear – violent media → overestimate crime, terrorism, disaster risk.
- Agenda setting – Philo et al. (1982): media decide how something is debated (UK immigration = numbers, assumed “high is bad”, ignoring qualitative effects).
- Habituation (Potter) – the more we see an idea, the likelier we add it to our values. Media shape debates on nationality (“what it means to be Peruvian/Chinese”); promote some values (e.g. English papers “anti-EU”).
- Durkheim (1912) – “boundary-marking function”: promotes acceptable/unacceptable behaviour (campaigns to “save the family” or against racism).
| Media positive sanctions | Media negative sanctions |
|---|---|
| praise, positive pictures, uncritical features | negative pose/picture, critical articles, public criticism |
⑤ Religion – key in ceremonies (marriages, funerals) & moral values (Ten Commandments reflected in many legal systems; theft/murder condemned). A “design for living”, but also a source of conflict – between religions (Christians vs Muslims since 11th C) and within (Protestant vs Catholic in N. Ireland, last 50 yrs). Dress (hijab, turban) shows religiosity + ethnic identity.
- Patriarchy? Many religions have male-only leadership & encourage gender roles – yet offer love/care, shelter, belonging to women. Swatos (1998): religions becoming more “female friendly” (God loving not judgemental; clergy “helping professionals”).
- Positive sanctions: Hinduism – reincarnation (good life ⇒ rebirth into higher social position); Christianity – avoid sin for reward in heaven.
- Negative sanctions: Catholic excommunication; some forms of Islam specify punishments for breaking Shari’ah law – can apply to non-believers in theocratic states (e.g. Iran).
1.2 Social control, conformity & resistance
① Structure vs agency
| STRUCTURALISM (macro) | INTERACTIONISM (micro) | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | institutions: family, government, economy (system level) | individuals’ daily interactions |
| Claim | structural determinism – society is a powerful force that controls how we think & act | people have agency – they shape the social world; lives not decided by social forces |
| Roots/types | Durkheim & Marx; consensus (functionalism) and conflict (Marxism, feminism) | Mead, Goffman, Garfinkel, Schutz |
Structuralists: social action = product of deep forces beyond individual consciousness. E.g. poverty (part of structure) ⇒ crime rise; religious differences ⇒ different suicide rates.
② Consensus structuralism – Functionalism
Society = a social system whose parts (family, education, work…) work in harmony and depend on each other – like heart, lungs, brain forming a body. Parsons (1937): four functional sub-systems, each solving a problem every society faces:
Functional prerequisites (Parsons 1959a) = things that must happen for society to function; individuals must conform to the needs of institution & society. Each institution solves 4 problems – example: education:
| Problem | In a school |
|---|---|
| 1 Goal maintenance | provide goals – academic qualifications |
| 2 Adaptation | cooperative environment – classroom, teachers |
| 3 Integration | motivate via “sense of belonging” to school & wider society (qualifications sort adults in workplace) |
| 4 Latency | manage conflict; rules on attendance, behaviour, dress; punish deviance |
Socialise into shared values ⇒ consensus ⇒ consistent, predictable behaviour ⇒ order for everyone. Conformity encouraged by convincing people rules are in their interest; if that fails, agents of control – soft (teachers) or hard (police, armed forces).
③ Conflict structuralism
Society appears stable but rests on conflicts of interest; the system works to divide society so powerful groups control the relatively powerless. Marxism = economic conflict between social classes; Feminism = gender conflict (men more powerful).
Marxism
Work is the most important activity (nothing else – politics, family, culture – exists until people have found a way to survive) ⇒ how work is organised (who does it, what, who benefits) explains all other relationships: base & superstructure.
- Economic base = foundation, the world of work: relations of production (owner, manager, wage labourer) arranged in a hierarchy – higher = more power.
- Superstructure = political (government; agencies of control – police, judges, courts) + ideological institutions (religion, education, mass media).
- Means of production (tools, factories, machines) owned by the bourgeoisie (ruling class); majority own only their labour power, forced to sell it → part of the forces of production (labour power + technology).
- Workplace = key area of conflict. Bourgeoisie keep the profits ⇒ very rich.
Socialisation = ideological control: convinces people ruling-class interests are everyone’s interests, or that society is impossible to change; works long-term as people absorb capitalist ideology into their own value system (needs economic & political concessions to lower classes to keep cooperation). People are “fixed in” by the need to earn a living and by supportive ideas.
Feminist theory
All forms: societies are patriarchal to some degree; men’s interests are treated as more important. Order & control rest on male power:
- Interpersonal power – physical violence; exploitation of female labour in the family.
- Cultural power – male-dominated structures oppress & exploit women; men dominate top economic, political, cultural institutions.
| Type | Key form of control / source of oppression |
|---|---|
| Liberal | sexual discrimination |
| Marxist | class inequality gives the context (capitalism exploits women’s market weakness e.g. time out for pregnancy) |
| Radical | patriarchy itself, in all known societies: public sphere (women paid less, lower status) + private (women do most unpaid domestic work) |
④ Interactionism (social action approach)
Order & control are created “from the bottom up” – people create & re-create society daily through routines. “Society” = a term people use to explain limits on behaviour: it doesn’t exist physically but does mentally; people act as if it were a real force ⇒ order.
- Social life = encounters (separate but linked episodes) that last only as long as we act to maintain them.
- Garfinkel (1967) – disrupted people’s routines → they became upset, confused, angry ⇒ beliefs about order are weak/fragile.
- Order is psychologically preferred; imposed through meanings: ① need shared definitions of a situation (teacher: “teaching time”; students: “fun time” ⇒ disorder); ② negotiated meanings can change (masculinity/femininity identities changed in 30 yrs).
- Schutz (1962): “subjective meanings give rise to an apparently objective social world.” Meaning of anything (phone, language, clothes) is never completely clear, depends on context, can be negotiated.
- Wrong (1961): criticised the “oversocialised conception of man” – behaviour is NOT governed entirely by socialisation; people have a degree of freedom from social environment.
- Labelling theory (Fig 1.13): naming/categorising (“male”/“female”) attaches a set of characteristics that guide our behaviour/attitude to the named. Meanings change ⇒ identities change (Western female identity: once marriage, motherhood, caring → now e.g. single career woman).
⑤ Structuration – Giddens (1984)
Both structure and action matter. We are individuals, but our choices are influenced, limited and improved by social structures (rules + responsibilities); can’t imagine society without individuals or people without structure.
- Why some rules are made/accepted and others rejected? → social resources & power relationships.
- Negotiated rules (friendship = unwritten, unspoken rules developing over time) vs non-negotiable (laws on murder – forced by powerful groups).
⑥ Why do individuals conform?
Most people conform most of the time – social life would be impossible otherwise. Agencies of socialisation = agencies of control; specialised ones: police, legal system.
| FORMAL control | INFORMAL control | |
|---|---|---|
| What | written rules (laws; rules of a school/factory) applying equally to all in the group | everyday, unwritten “unofficial rules” (esp. primary groups, family, casual groups) |
| Enforced by | agencies: police, courts, employers | ridicule, sarcasm, disapproving looks, personal violence |
| Breaking = deviance | fine, prison, sacking | swearing among friends OK; at your parents → sanction |
- Positive sanctions (rewards): smile, praise, encouragement, gifts. Negative sanctions (punishments): not talking, frowns, fines, loss of liberty, prison, ultimate = killing.
- Social pressure – wanting to belong with others’ approval; ostracism (exclusion from the group) = very strong negative sanction.
- Self-interest – need to cooperate to survive; others are less likely to support those who act in ways they disapprove of ⇒ conform because it benefits you.
- Social exchange – people give goods/status/approval to create obligations → likely to get something back; weigh consequences, choose benefit ⇒ follow norms & values.
Mechanisms maintaining order
Ideology
Ideology = set of beliefs whose purpose is to explain something: meaning of life (scientific/religious), family organisation (familial), superiority/inferiority of groups (sexist/racist), how society should be governed (political). Often used for ideas the speaker thinks are untrue – a partial/biased account used to justify attitudes & the social structure. Dominant ideology = most widely accepted set of ideas, usually imposed by a powerful group.
- Marxists: ideology is controlling/manipulative – capitalist-controlled media present a reality favourable to the ruling class; state institutions impose it (Althusser’s ISAs: education, family, media, religion).
- Adorno & Horkheimer (1944) (Frankfurt School) – culture industry (film, magazines, comics, newspapers) consumed uncritically & passively; ruling class controls the means of mental production (how people see/think).
- False class consciousness – working class believes system is fair; low position = their own failure. Exploitation hidden. If they see through it and protest → RSAs (police, army) use force.
- Ideologies = “mental maps” – tell us where a society has been (history) & wants to go; give the social world meaning, stability, order; locate events in wider contexts.
Power
- Dugan (2003): active – “the capacity to bring about change”. Lukes (1990): passive – power to “do nothing” by making others believe nothing has to change.
Dimensions of power (decision-making): ① the ability to make decisions (teacher decides what students do) ② preventing others making decisions (stop students gazing out of window) ③ removing decisions from the agenda – “doing nothing” because others are convinced no decision is needed.
Reality is socially constructed through a complex relationship: beliefs, ideologies & power (broad structure of culture) ↔ everyday roles, values, norms. (Activity 1.13: classify people you meet – stranger, acquaintance, friend, close friend, best friend – how does it change your behaviour?)
Consensus (functionalist view)
Order = general agreement on values, not imposed by a ruling class but the outcome of the majority accepting it. Authority punishes those who break consensus (crime) with societal support; punishment strengthens the value system by reminding everyone of the limits. Reinforced by collective rituals (religious ceremonies, flags, national anthem). Consensus changes as opinion changes → laws change ⇒ society stable despite change.
Deviance, non-conformity & resistance
① Subcultures
Complex societies have more than one value system → groups with different values = subcultures. Miller (1962) – working-class “focal concerns”:
Looks like non-conformity to wider society, but they conform to their subcultural values – in that sense they are not deviant.
② Other explanations of deviance
| Explanation | Key points |
|---|---|
| Under-socialisation | socialisation partial/unsuccessful: family may tolerate deviance (criminals have families) or fail through lack of care/time ⇒ child doesn’t internalise moral values (right/wrong) or can’t judge what is appropriate |
| Marginalisation | groups pushed to economic & political fringes (UK working-class inner-city youth): poor facilities/schools/jobs, no politicians speaking for them, high unemployment, “no future” ⇒ dominant ideology’s hold weakens ⇒ resistance subcultures or drug-taking, minor crime |
| Cultural deprivation | some groups (e.g. working class) lack attitudes/values for success; e.g. deferred gratification (long-term view, working hard, postponing leisure) helps in education; working-class children socialised into immediate gratification ⇒ under-achievement, limited prospects |
| Resistance | see below – conflict view |
③ Resistance (neo-Marxist)
- Assumes a dominant group whose power can be resisted ⇒ linked to conflict views.
- Neo-Marxists: powerless groups, resentful of their disadvantage but not understanding capitalism, express anger through deviant behaviour – can’t become a revolution and may even strengthen the system.
- Youth are relatively free to resist (fewer financial commitments, families, jobs to lose) – a “weak point” for dominant ideology. Solve problems temporarily by rejecting society’s values via style, appearance, behaviour (mods, skinheads, punks).
1.3 Social identity & change
Class, gender, ethnicity and age are used to create social identities that fix people within particular cultures & societies.
① Class identities
Crompton (2003): occupation is a good general measure → working, middle, upper class; also shows how identities grow out of work experiences.
| Class | Identity |
|---|---|
| Traditional working | centred on manual work & manufacturing; close, urban communities reinforced beliefs; “working-class Self” vs “middle/upper-class Other” (identity = what you are and are not) |
| New working | from decline of manufacturing + rise of service jobs (banking, computing, lesser-status service). Goldthorpe et al. (1968): privatised/home-centred & instrumental (work = means to comfortable home/family life). Devine (1992): still a strong sense of “being working class” – differs from middle class. |
| Middle | professionals (doctors: education + autonomy + decisions); managers (Brooks 2006: career progression, power, control over others/work); intellectuals (lecturers: knowledge & information); consultants (sell knowledge/skills nationally & globally); routine service workers (shop assistants – bottom of middle class: non-manual work, e.g. nursing has higher status; status matters in all middle-class identity) |
| Upper | landed aristocracy (historic land ownership, links to monarchy; power declined in 20th C but still significant) + business elite (great income/wealth from owning national/global companies) |
② Gender identities
Connell et al. (1987): we are not born men/women – we become them through social construction. Sex = biological characteristics; gender = social characteristics given to each sex. Lips (1993): differences don’t come naturally from biology; gender identities vary historically & cross-culturally ⇒ learnt & relative.
Connell (1995) – two dominant identities:
- Hegemonic masculinity – “traditional”: strong body shape; leaders, providers, unemotional, rational, calm, cool.
- Emphasised femininity – defined by accommodating men’s needs; complements hegemonic masculinity; passive, emotional, serving others. Kitchen (2006): “complicit femininity”.
| Masculinity | Meaning / example |
|---|---|
| Hegemonic | dominant “traditional” masculinity (strong, provider, unemotional) |
| Subordinate | seen as “lesser forms” – men unable/unwilling to perform hegemonic masculinity, e.g. men with physical disabilities (Schauer 2004) |
| Subversive | alternative that challenges & undermines hegemonic masculinity, e.g. the “serious student” who works hard rather than joining a disruptive gang |
| Complicit | newly feminised “new man”: paid work + share of housework/childcare; sees women as equals – as women gain power, male identities change (Connell 1995) |
| Marginalised | men pushed to the margins of family life by long-term unemployment, can’t be money-earner/provider; “good family man” ideal clashes with reality (Willott & Griffin 1996) |
Female identities – Oakley (1972)
Girls & boys socialised differently (clothes, toys, treatment). 4 ways into gender roles – mnemonic M-C-V-D:
| Manipulation | stress appearance for girls, bravery/strength for boys |
| Canalisation | channel interests: girl helps mum cook, boy plays sport with dad |
| Verbal appellation | how children are spoken to (“pretty”) |
| Different activities | what they see parents do (women cook/clean) |
| Oakley’s 3 femininities | Features |
|---|---|
| 1 Contingent | framed by male beliefs & demands – normalised (secondary role to men: mothers, girlfriends, partners; Chambers et al. 2003: struggle to produce “a femininity that will secure male approval”) and sexualised (made through male eyes/fantasies; women as sexual objects) |
| 2 Assertive | women breaking from traditional femininity but not fully apart from men – girl power, modernised, ageing femininities |
| 3 Autonomous | competition with men on female terms – highly educated, successful, professional middle class, career-focused |
- Assertive – Froyum (2005): adopted “to resist male power without actually threatening to overthrow such power”. Girl power (Hollows 2000): sex as fun, female friendship, “coping with masculinity”, excludes older women. Modernised (McRobbie 1996: “individualism, liberty and the entitlement to sexual self-expression”, within traditional gender relations). Ageing: right of elderly women to be fashionable, active, sexual.
- Autonomous – Evans (2006): female individualism, “new gender regime” freeing women from pregnancy/childcare; non-committal heterosexual attachments, marriage possible but children unlikely.
③ Ethnic identities
Ethnicity = combination of cultural differences: religion, family structures, beliefs, values, norms. Winston (2005): develops when people see themselves as distinctive because of shared culture/history. Song (2003): common ancestry, “memories of a shared past”; symbolic elements: family/kinship, religion, language, territory, nationality, physical appearance – the key is being conscious of belonging, not actual evidence of distinctiveness.
- Sources: country of birth/common location; traditions & customs; shared histories (slavery – Black Caribbean/African; the Holocaust – Jewish); religious beliefs & worship.
- Unlike racial identities, ethnic identities can be negotiated – change with external factors (contact with other cultures) and internal (age/class/gender clashes within the group). Need constant maintenance: festivals, celebrations, religious gatherings; artefacts (dress, food, crafts).
- Wimmer (2008): defined in relation to other groups ⇒ boundaries: positive (belonging; protection against racism) or imposed via stereotypes (may even reinforce the group’s identity).
- “Otherness” – majority defines minorities as “They” vs “Us” → strengthens both identities but can portray minorities as a threat: cultural (beliefs challenge way of life) or physical (after 9/11 media linked “Muslims” and “terrorism” in US/Britain).
④ Age identities
Age = more than years lived: a social construction – what “young/old” means depends on the society & time.
| Industrial / Western | Traditional (e.g. African) |
|---|---|
| chronological age very important – gives/blocks rights & duties; status linked to occupation & income ⇒ children & old people (dependent/low income) have low status | may not know exact age; time marked by events/seasons; age set matters – group initiated together into adulthood (stages: children → warriors → elders); elders = knowledge & experience, high status |
Age cohort = people who share growing up at the same point in history → same significant events; whatever the gender/ethnicity differences, all born in a year share a cohort (school-leaving, retirement at similar ages).
Older people: traditional societies respect elders (wisdom, dispute-solving); less obvious in industrial societies with weaker communities/extended families. The Elders – group founded by Nelson Mandela (2007) to use collective wisdom on world problems (“global village”). Old age is sub-divided: 65–74 young elderly · 75–84 old elderly · 85+ very elderly.
- Grandparents: more people know their grandparents (Anderson 1985: 18th-C woman died ~12 yrs before last grandchild born; 1970s woman lived ~25 yrs after). Later childbearing ⇒ grandparent from late 30s to 80s ⇒ varied role identity.
- Positive roles: contribute financially, childcare (esp. both parents work), part in primary socialisation, nurturing & emotional support, keep cultural traditions alive. Distance may mean planned visits, not daily help.
Children: Aries (1962) – childhood in the modern sense didn’t exist in the Middle Ages (same clothes, work, recreation as adults); printing press + formal education created a separate world of childhood ⇒ socially constructed; now whole professions assume children are vulnerable, need protection.
Postman (1994): TV, computers, video ⇒ children exposed to the adult world earlier (sex, violence), cites child crime & adult-like dress – “disappearance of childhood”; the internet has probably shortened innocence further.
Teenagers: “youth/teenager” = modern idea, only in Western societies 2nd half of 20th C; 1950s affluence → spending money → music & fashion industries; fear of a “generation gap”.
- Functionalist – Eisenstadt: teen years = difficult, status anxiety (industrial societies stress achieved not ascribed status) → rely on peer group, share norms ⇒ youth culture, which is functional (eases transition to adulthood); some norm-breaking = testing boundaries.
- Neo-Marxist: from 1950s subcultures rebel against dominant values – resistance to capitalism; youth less held back by responsibilities; music/clothing designed to provoke (e.g. punk mid-1970s).
How identities are changing
Postmodernists: old certainties of identity are giving way to uncertainty. Before: identities stable, fixed, decided by birth (gender, class), few choices, clear rules strongly enforced. Now (esp. developed societies):
- Globalisation – global economic & cultural influences open communities to new behaviours/ideas (UK: food from USA/India/Thailand, clothes from China, music from Korea) ⇒ fragmented identities, more choice.
- Increased choice → consumerism: what we buy, wear, where we spend leisure = “background presentation of the self”; display of wealth shows status; consumption linked to identity.
- People still socialised into roles/values/norms, but identities no longer set certain standards ⇒ personal narrative – influenced by others, not determined. Structuralists: socialisation controls individual; interactionists: covers a range of possibilities – each new choice changes the pattern ⇒ explains why siblings in the same family develop different personalities.
- Rampton (2002): identity in postmodern societies = “assembling, or piecing together a sense of identity from many changing options”. Village market stall (narrow choice = identities of the past) vs shopping mall (“shop for identities”) vs online (wider still).
Changing class identities
- Peele (2004): global economic change ⇒ “blurring of traditional class identities”; working- & middle-class tastes/consumption join up ⇒ harder to define class; boundaries changed but not gone.
- Savage (2007): class still a source of identity but meaning changed – emphasis on individual not collective experience undermines class (collective by nature) ⇒ working-class identities more varied; class becoming fluid – ability to choose who you want to be.
Changing gender identities
- Benyon (2002): crisis of masculine identity from long-term unemployment, loss of manufacturing jobs, lower educational achievement than girls, rise of female-friendly service industries. ⇒ marginalised masculinities lose the economic base for “provider” masculinity.
- Result: retributive masculinities – exaggerated attempt to win back traditional masculinity from “emasculated” peers: heavy drinking, fighting, romancing women. Identity is: patriarchal, aggressive, oppositional (rejects complicit masculinities), reclamational. Seen in e.g. violence against women & sexual minorities.
- Femininities: equality ideas spreading ⇒ women move into work-based identities (though some, e.g. domestic servant, remain linked to the feminine role). Globalisation: women from developing countries migrate as domestic servants/nannies sending remittances ⇒ “care deficit” at home (grandparents raise the children); also women in the global sex trade, often trafficked.
Changing ethnic & age identities
- Ethnic: globalisation ⇒ more ethnically mixed societies via immigration (groups meet physically) and cultural globalisation (internet exposes cultures). Identities change by drawing on new influences + re-establishing old ones. E.g. White English youth identities include music (rock, rap, hip-hop), food (burgers, Asian cuisine, German beer), slang, jeans & T-shirts. Mixing happens at the margins – specific features, not total change: British Indian/Chinese/Italian food with a “British” twist; jeans & T-shirts in global ethnic styles; Bhangra cross-over music.
- Older people (developed countries): more opportunities – pensions, health care ⇒ more active years; the “grey pound” → holidays/cruises aimed at them; some use social media to keep in touch. But ageing population (life expectancy ↑, birth rate ↓): last years often declining health, reliance on family/state care. Retirement age rising (pension costs) ⇒ perceptions of when old age begins are changing.
- Children/young: fewer children in developed countries ⇒ highly valued, child-centred societies, industries aimed at children ⇒ consumer choices shape identity. Developing countries: far more young people (Africa: 77% under 35 ≈ 770 million), mobile/social-media access ⇒ greater identity choices, awareness of developed-world lifestyles; without growth, many aspire to migrate.
- Extended adolescence: longer compulsory education + more in higher education ⇒ dependent on parents longer, living at home into adulthood (few jobs, rising rents) ⇒ later marriage & first child.
Cheat-sheet: who said what
| Thinker | Key idea |
|---|---|
| Anderson (1983) | societies = imagined communities |
| Merton | manifest/latent function (1957); anomie (1938) |
| Goffman (1959) | dramaturgy, impression management; norms negotiable |
| Cooley (1909) | looking-glass self |
| Mead (1934) | self = I + Me; significant & generalised others |
| Wilson (1979) | sociobiology – biogrammars |
| Parsons | expressive/instrumental roles; 4 subsystems; school as bridge |
| Berger & Luckmann (1967) | primary = emotional, secondary = formal/anonymous |
| Bowles & Gintis (2002) | correspondence: school ↔ work |
| Potter (2003) / Philo (1982) | media short-term effects / agenda setting |
| Thinker | Key idea |
|---|---|
| Durkheim (1912) | media boundary-marking |
| Althusser | RSAs & ISAs; interpellation |
| Adorno & Horkheimer (1944) | culture industry |
| Weber (1922) | force vs authority (charismatic/traditional/rational-legal) |
| Foucault (1983) | opaque power, surveillance |
| Garfinkel (1967) | disrupting routines → order is fragile |
| Wrong (1961) | oversocialised conception of man |
| Giddens (1984) | structuration |
| Miller (1962) | working-class subculture focal concerns |
| Hodkinson (2002) | Goth subculture ethnography |
| Thinker | Key idea |
|---|---|
| Connell (1995) | hegemonic masculinity / emphasised femininity |
| Oakley (1972) | 4 ways of gender socialisation; 3 femininities |
| Frosh & Phoenix (2002) | young masculinities, boys 11–14 |
| Benyon (2002) | crisis of masculinity → retributive masculinity |
| Aries (1962) / Postman (1994) | childhood socially constructed / disappearing |
| Eisenstadt | youth culture is functional |
| Hall (1992) | Enlightenment → sociological → postmodern subject |
| Rampton (2002) | identity = assembling from many options |
| Peele (2004) / Savage (2007) | blurring / fluid class identities |
| Savage et al. (2013) | Great British Class Survey: 7 classes, precariat |
- Socialisation: culture, roles, values, norms, beliefs, ideology, power & status construct reality; nature vs nurture (feral children favour nurture); agencies: family, education, peers, media, religion (primary vs secondary).
- Control & conformity: structure (functionalism – consensus; Marxism/feminism – conflict) vs agency (interactionism); Giddens bridges them. Conform because of sanctions, social pressure, self-interest, social exchange.
- Order: power, ideology, force, consensus.
- Deviance: subcultures, under-socialisation, marginalisation, cultural deprivation, resistance.
- Identity: class, gender, ethnicity, age → changing through globalisation, choice, hybrid identities; critics: structure/class still matter.
Exam practice & how to answer
| Set | Part 1 (10 + 6 marks) | Part 2 (26 marks) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Fixed gender roles are important for making societies stable” – (a) Explain [10] (b) one argument against [6] | Evaluate: class identities are no longer as important as they used to be |
| 2 | “Globalisation is changing gendered identities” – (a) [10] (b) [6] | Evaluate: nature is more important than nurture in shaping behaviour |
| 3 | “Globalisation is giving people greater choice over their identities” – (a) [10] (b) [6] | Evaluate: families are the most important influence on identity |
| 4 | “Nature is more important than nurture” – (a) [10] (b) [6] | Evaluate: age identities are changing |
Improve it: add theory – functionalism (consensus, stability); contrast Marxists & feminists, who see the family transmitting ruling-class / patriarchal norms ⇒ analysis & evaluation.