Class 8: Childhood Socialization

Class Notes

Socialization is the way in which individuals can learn and recreate skills, knowledge, values, motives, and roles appropriate to their position or group in society (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers 2004).

Socialization has four components

(Michener, DeLamater, and Myers 2004)

1. Agent- the source of what is being learned (example: a child be socialized from parents, from school, from TV, and so on).
2. Process- how things are learned
1. Instrumental conditioning- a process wherein a person learns what response to make in a situation in order to obtain a positive reinforcement or avoid negative reinforcement.
2. Observational Learning- the acquisition of behavior based on the observation of another person's behavior and of its consequences for that person
3. Internalization- the process by which initially external behavioral standards (for example, those held by parents) become internal and subsequently guide the person's behavior
3. Target- the person who is being socialized
4. Outcome- the lesson (which can include values, behavior, skills, and so on).

Activity

Playing Children's Games- what sorts of lessons are children learning by playing these games? 
Games: Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Stratego, Old Maid, Monopoly

• What age group is your game appropriate for?
• Is it geared toward a specific gender, or is it unisex?
• What impression do you get from the designs on the box and its name?
• What does the game teach children about their culture?
• Do these come from the rules, the gameboard, or the objects of the game?  Give specific examples.

How susceptible do you think players of this game are to the ideas presented in it?  Do you believe that this game could influence how children view themselves and society?

See an explanation of this activity here: Glasberg, Davita S., Barbara Nagle, Florence Maatita, and Tracy Schauer. 1998. “Games Children Play: An Exercise Illustrating Agents of Socialization.” 26:130-9.

Works Cited

Michener, H. Andrew, John D. DeLamater, and Daniel J. Myers.  2004. Social Psychology. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning.