Deck 3: Socialization

Question 1

Is the attempted rehabilitation of criminal offenders-through boot camp programs, for example-a form of socialization or resocialization?

Answer 1

Resocialization is a process by which an individual need to reorient one's attitudes, values, and behaviors to suit the changed conditions. The resocialization may be voluntary or involuntary.
Examples of voluntary resocialization include, taking up a new employment, migrating to a new country, becoming part of a different family, etc. Involuntary resocialization may include situations where individuals are confined to prisons, geographically isolated places, hostile environments such as war torn city, etc.
Placing criminals in camps for rehabilitation can be classified as a resocialization process, because the individual is expected to change his/her attitude, response and behaviors towards the people in one's background and society in general.

Question 2

Consider the concept of the looking-glass self. How do you think others perceive you? Do you think most people perceive you correctly?

Answer 2

"Looking Glass self" is a concept created by a sociologist, Charles Horton Cooley, which proposes that the self concept of an individual is formed by various interactions with people and social entities around. An individual's self concept is highly influenced by how others perceive the individual.
The student of Sociology is considered as being educated, intelligent, knowledgeable and capable individual. However, people treat the student as lacking in leadership abilities. Many times the student is denied responsible roles and often assigned tasks that are intellectually oriented.
The student feels that others have a faulty understanding about his self and are not aware of the real capabilities.

Question 3

What are your "I" traits? What are your "me" traits? Which ones are stronger?

Answer 3

The social philosopher George Herbert Mead, proposes that there two aspects to the self concept of an individual. One is the "I" component and the other is "Me" Component. Both components coexist within an individual.
The "I" is the self expression formed by the natural traits of the individual, which acts spontaneously and creatively. The 'Me' aspect is learned by the individual through interactions with others. 'Me' represents the attitudes and normative behaviors expressed by the individual in the given situation.
The student of Sociology has "I" as the most dominant component. Often the student displays insightful, creative and spontaneous behavior while disregards the opinions of others, which indicate a weak 'Me' component.

Question 4

What are some different ways that you might study the effect of toys on the socialization of children? How could you isolate the toy variable from other variables that influence children's socialization?