C2: BECOMING A MEMBER OF SOCIETY
The Individual and Society
● Reading: “Review of Albert Schaeffle, Bau und Leben des Sozialen Korpers: Erster Band” (Emile
Durkheim)
Socialisation
Aging and Socialisation
● Reading: “Growing Up is Harder to Do” (Frank F. Furstenberg Jr, Sheela Kennedy, Vonnie C.
McLloyd, Ruben G. Rumbaut, and Richard A. Settersten Jr)
The Performance of Social Roles
● Reading: “The Presentation of Self” (Erving Goffman)
Key Terms
The Individual and Society
Reading: “Review of Albert Schaeffle, Bau und Leben des Sozialen Korpers: Erster Band” (Emile
Durkheim)
● Lays foundation for his influential theory of society (continued to develop over course of career)
● Discusses Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas of human nature
○ Began theories of human nature by thinking about what humans would be like before society
existed
○ Thought that humans could exist before there were societies
■ Humans were “happy savages” who did not interact and had no language
○ Thought that the stage before society was the best stage (b/w primitive and modern extreme
civilisation)
○ Thought that society corrupts humans and leads to our “decay”
○ Durkheim disagreed with this theory:
■ Thought humans cannot exist w/o society or develop w/o interaction w/ other
humans
■ Argued that society is good because it helps people feel integrated
Socialisation
● Socialisation: process of learning society’s norms, customs, and ideologies which in turn help us
integrate into a society and develop a sense of identity and self
● 3 core theoretical perspectives:
○ Structural Functionalism: explains how society functions effectively
■ Looks at how different structures/institutions in society work together to create
consensus and social cohesion
■ Socialisation is a top-down process
● Children internalise social rules and values via socialisation and learn to
conform to roles and expectations of society
● More thoroughly members accept and adopt dominant rules and values =
more smoothly functioning society
○ Conflict Theory: human behaviour and social relations result from the underlying conflicts
that exist between competing groups
■ Developed by Karl Marx
■ Society is based on the conflict b/w social classes (capitalists vs workers)
■ Socialisation helps to re-create society as it is now in a negative way
■ Socialisation is a top-down process
● Similar to structural functionalism BUT children can learn from one another
○ Symbolic Interactionism: examines how socialisation is negotiated through our connections
w/ other people
■ People actively participate in our socialisation
The Individual and Society
● Reading: “Review of Albert Schaeffle, Bau und Leben des Sozialen Korpers: Erster Band” (Emile
Durkheim)
Socialisation
Aging and Socialisation
● Reading: “Growing Up is Harder to Do” (Frank F. Furstenberg Jr, Sheela Kennedy, Vonnie C.
McLloyd, Ruben G. Rumbaut, and Richard A. Settersten Jr)
The Performance of Social Roles
● Reading: “The Presentation of Self” (Erving Goffman)
Key Terms
The Individual and Society
Reading: “Review of Albert Schaeffle, Bau und Leben des Sozialen Korpers: Erster Band” (Emile
Durkheim)
● Lays foundation for his influential theory of society (continued to develop over course of career)
● Discusses Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas of human nature
○ Began theories of human nature by thinking about what humans would be like before society
existed
○ Thought that humans could exist before there were societies
■ Humans were “happy savages” who did not interact and had no language
○ Thought that the stage before society was the best stage (b/w primitive and modern extreme
civilisation)
○ Thought that society corrupts humans and leads to our “decay”
○ Durkheim disagreed with this theory:
■ Thought humans cannot exist w/o society or develop w/o interaction w/ other
humans
■ Argued that society is good because it helps people feel integrated
Socialisation
● Socialisation: process of learning society’s norms, customs, and ideologies which in turn help us
integrate into a society and develop a sense of identity and self
● 3 core theoretical perspectives:
○ Structural Functionalism: explains how society functions effectively
■ Looks at how different structures/institutions in society work together to create
consensus and social cohesion
■ Socialisation is a top-down process
● Children internalise social rules and values via socialisation and learn to
conform to roles and expectations of society
● More thoroughly members accept and adopt dominant rules and values =
more smoothly functioning society
○ Conflict Theory: human behaviour and social relations result from the underlying conflicts
that exist between competing groups
■ Developed by Karl Marx
■ Society is based on the conflict b/w social classes (capitalists vs workers)
■ Socialisation helps to re-create society as it is now in a negative way
■ Socialisation is a top-down process
● Similar to structural functionalism BUT children can learn from one another
○ Symbolic Interactionism: examines how socialisation is negotiated through our connections
w/ other people
■ People actively participate in our socialisation
