Sociology

BY
Ebrahim Bin Najam
Lecture No. 2
Welcome back guys. In the last lecture we discussed the different
perspectives and in this lecture we will study some more about the interactionist
perspective.
The interactionist sociologists focus on the micro scale view of
society. They put emphasis on the symbols in the forms of actions, events and
tangible objects that mean a certain something to everybody. There are certain
aspects that are important in the interactionism persective.
1. Values: A value is a belief that something is good or valuable. It defines
what is important, worthwhile, and worth striving for.
2. Norms: The word Norm may cover many types of rules, including customs,
conventions, social etiquette, morals and laws.
3. Roles: Roles can be defined as a set of normative expectations. This
especially is very important as it is these roles that allo social cohesion to be
built and that allow for social order to be established.
4. Status: The term “Status” refers to the level of social honour or prestige
given to someone by others, either as a result of the formal role they are
playing in their social position, or for the individual skills and talents they
display.
All these concepts are intangible and are the means by
which individuals look at each other and attach importance to others.
 Socialisation
Now let’s move onto socialization, we often regard it as people going out
together and having fun, but it actually means, the process of learning the roles,
norms and values as well as beliefs that form the culture of that society.
Without socialization we would not know how to walk, talk and even eat properly.
Whatever we learn since we are born, we learn from those around us, our
parents, teachers, friends, colleagues etc.
Socialisation actually exists to help us do what is considered
acceptable to the society. For instance, society would never want males to be
weak and emotional, this is reflected by the discriminaton received by those who
have such unwanted qualities. This discrimination can be in the form of taunting,
scolding, calling names or punishing. And this happens to be as much a part of
socialization as any.
Now we will consider the views of sociologists from various
perspectives regarding this social phenomenon.
Durkheim, from Functionalism perspective says that society is a “one-way
process” in which societies through agencies such as” family, education system
and peer groups inculcates individuals into the roles already prescribed for them”.
He essentially believed the society to be greater than all of us and his view about
the obedience of humans to socirty is known as totalitarian view of society.
Talcott Parsons, another functionalist emphasizes upon socialisation’s
importance in maintaining social order. Consequently, he termed deviant or
criminal behavior as lack of socialization among certain individuals.
G.H. Mead, an interactionist, went one step further by sying that there
are two stages of socialization. Primary socialization, when a child learns the basic
norms and values as well as learning its identity. And secondary socialization,
when a the person adapts or takes in the generalized other, or accepts his or her
role.
Socialization in childhood is the only thing that stands between a human and
an animal. Without socialization in childhood, human grow to become people like
Tarzan, or worse. In the United States, two girls Anna and Isabella, in the 1940s
were discovered and they were found to have been living in almost toal isolation
from human contact. As a result neither of them could walk, talk or feed
themselves properly as they were unsocialized and walked on all fours. After being
taken into medical care and intensive socialization, they quickly recovered and
made good progress.
Is socialization responsible for gender difference? Or are our
natural instincts and sexual differences responsible? This is a very debatable issue
and Tiger and Fox(1972) take the view that women have been involved in child
bearing and light weight tasks that require smaller energy than those activities
performed by men. Hence, over a period of time, men and women have been
“biogrammed” differently making them what they are aggressive as opposed to
meek and tough as compared to delicate. Hence, they say that this biological
make up causes men and women to be different not the culture or society they
live in. However, feminists like Margaret Mead say otherwise. According to her,
women are not meek and passive in all societies as in the Arapesh tribe, men and
women both participate in domestic activities and child bearing, however, the
Tchambuli tribe

Social Order
Social Order is the system in a society that consists of a set quota of norms,
values and beliefs, and it influences and controls the way people behave.
There are two types of social controls. Informal Social Control and Formal
Social control. Informal social control refers to the mechanisms used to reinforce
socialization. It is based on rewards snd encouragement for correct behavior and
sanctions such as ridicule, gossip and comment for incorrect behavior. In tribal
and primitive societies, religion is a major source of informal social control as it
can define the very principles of a person’s personal as well as public life.
Formal social control is used as a last resort when legal forms of
controlling the population have to be employed. This type of social control is used
in instances of serious deviance which call for police, and courts.
For Thomas Hobbes, an English Philosopher who was writing during the
civil war in England said that humans are constantly competing in a relentless
struggle and without a certain degree of social order they would be locked in
intense competition. Similarly for Durkheim, Society “ is in essence its moral
codes” and that it is these moral codes that prevent humans from going on in
search of unlimited desires.
 Marx however, says that social order arises from the capitalist way of
living that dictates the poor and due to economic supremacy forces the proletariat
into accepting the way of life and conditions of pay force on them by the
Bourgeoisie.

Well, that is it for now, I will be back with more lectures, till then Bye.
FAQs
Q:1 Discuss the importance of socialization.
Ans. Socialization is the process in which an individual takes in the norms, values,
beliefs and traditions of his or her society.
It is important in shaping the individual to be a useful member of the
society. Without socialization, human don’t learn their own identities and basic
actions. An example is that of Anna and Isabella, two girls in the 1940s who were
found in a forest in America at separate instances. They were hidden by their
parents for being illegitimate. Consequently, they were cut off from the world and
left to their own devices. As a result, they could not walk, talk, or feed themselves
properly, often walking on all fours. However after being exposed to an intensive
socialization program they started to act humane.
This goes on to show the immense importance of socialization without
which a human might as well be an animal.