Raymond Hsu

SOC 001
Prof. Prior
7 June 2015
Socialization Nature vs Nurture
1. The nature vs nurture debate goes back to the beginning of time, some argue
that we are born with everything about our self set in stone, while others will argue that
we are the result of everything around us combined. However, if anything, these twins
studies proves that our self is a combination of both nature and nurture. There are no
doubt some aspect of our behavior that are affected by our genes, but at the same time
our behavior are also shaped by the world around us. Biologically, some aspects of our
behavior will be set in stone due to the influence of heredity. For example, researchers
have noticed, through twin study, that most identical twins brought up in similar
environments will obtain very similar scores on intelligence tests, even more so than if
one person were to take the test twice. Another example of heredity influences is ones
temperament, which studies have shown to be able to inherit from ones parents.
2. Self is our sense of who we are, distinct from others and shaped by the unique
combination of our social interaction (Witt 76). There are many theories as to how we
become who we are, and sociologist Charles Horton Cooley came up with the theory of
looking-glass self. There are three phases to the looking-glass self. Phase one is
when we imagine how others sees us, how do we look through other peoples eyes.
Phase two is when we imagine what they think of us after seeing us. Say for example, if
someone sees a person walking with his or her head buried in a book, the person might
think he or she is intelligent. Finally, phase three is when we define ourselves based on
our imagination of how others perceive us as. If I imagine myself looking like an
intelligent person, I will then define myself as an intelligent person. George Herbert

Mead is another sociologists that uses multiple stages to describe self; however, Mead
uses I and me, and the three stages, preparatory stage, play stage, and game
stage to describe how we become our self. Mead theorized that we actually have two
different self, the I self is our self that handles the actions, usually without consciously
thinking about them, like smiling for example. The me self, is the self that handles
social interactions, that do require active planning and thinking, which is where the three
stages come in. During the three stages, Mead believed that there are people who will
make more impact than others on our self, and those people are our significant others.
Now, the first stage, the preparatory stage. During the preparatory stage, which lasts
until about age three, we simply mimic and imitate others without knowing much about
socialization. Then comes the play stage, which comes at about three to five years old,
we begin to develop communication skills, and through that begin to understand and
acknowledge the existence of others that have their own self. Finally, the game stage is
when we learn to appreciate the interpersonal relationships.
3. The dramaturgical approach looks at the world as one big drama, where were
the actors. The front stage is where we perform and act out our self to our audience, the
rest of the world. The backstage is where we are able to gather our props, get ready, and
practice acting out our self, like in the comfort of our rooms. Goffmans idea of
impression management and face-work can be used to explain some behaviors where it
seems odd, or behaviors that does not align with our self.
4. There are six agents of socialization: family, school, peer groups, mass media
and technology, workplace, and religion. School is arguably one of the most important
one, due to how early we are exposed to it and how long we have to stay in school for.
For most people, school is our first contact with people of other genders that are not our
family. School has an especially large role in our gender socialization because of that,
and also because of the popularity system in schools, with each gender ranking each
aspect of our self differently. Technology is also another huge agent of socialization in

modern societies. Nowadays, most people have access to the internet, or some other
source of media, which allows them to gain knowledge societies much different from the
ones they live in. Also, technology such as instant messaging and Facebook has now
allowed people to keep in contact despite being far away, and changed the face of
socialization; however, at the same time, because of these new technology, the need to
socialize with people face to face also decreased, and once again changing how we
socialize.
5. A total institution is an institution that regulates all aspects of a persons life.
Goffman defined a total institution as an institution that: has all aspects of life conducted
in the same place under one single authority, conducts all activities in the presence of
another, has rules and schedules planned out by the authority, and designed to fulfill the
purpose of the institution or organization. Degradation ceremonies are often held to
make one conform to the institution by stripping them of their sense of self, and forcing
them to be like everyone else in the institution.
6. How societies deal with elderly populations depends on their culture. For
example, Japan takes quite good care of their elderly, treating them with respect, while
the Fulani of Africa regard them as already dead (Witt 92). There are two theories as to
how the society interacts with the elderly population, and the first is the disengage
theory. The disengage theory states that as people gets older, they and the society with
start to mutually sever their relationships, thus the disengage. The second theory is the
activity theory which suggests elderly people to engage in social activities because it will
not only improve their quality of life but also their health.

Works Cited and Consulted

Witt, Jon. Soc. 2014 ed. New York City: McGraw HIll Education, 2014. Print.