Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Module 6 – Enculturation and Socialization

Key Topics:
1.) Introduction
2.) Identity Formation
3.) Norms and Values
4.1. Four Categories of Norms
4.) Status and Role
5.) Conformity and Deviance
6.) Social Control

Objectives:
1.) Explain the development of myself and others as a product of socialization and enculturation.
2.) Identify the context, content, processes, and consequences of enculturation and socialization.
3.) Identify the social goals and the socially acceptable means of achieving these goals.

Introduction

How is culture ingrained in children? Is it through biological inheritance (nature) or

through cultural inheritance (nurture)? The issue on nature and nurture has been a longstanding
debate in the fields of social sciences such as sociology and anthropology. Two primary opposing
perspectives are held by social learning theorists and sociobiologists.

Proponents of the social learning theory argue that the set of behaviors of an individual is
acquired through enculturation and socialization processes. The variation in human behavior is
attributed to the differences in cultural templates of every society that the individual learns from.
Proponents of sociobiology counter this perspective by advocating that humans acquire their
behavior genetically. More specifically, beneficial biological traits are naturally selected and
passed on to the next generation. As such, behavioral traits that are linked to biological traits
necessary for survival in a specific environment are naturally selected within a generation and get
passed on to the next.

Today, the social learning perspective is more accepted by sociologists and

anthropologists in explaining the development of behavior and attitude among humans.
Sociologists use the term socialization to refer to the process by which an individual is oriented
and taught by his or her society's norms. These norms include beliefs, attitudes, practices, and
behaviors. Similarly, this process is studied in anthropology through the concept of enculturation.

Victor of Aveyron

In instances when a person does not get socialized or enculturated, it is possible that his or
her behavior would resemble that of other animals. This was observed among feral children (wild
children) of France. They were labeled as such due to their display of animalistic behavior upon
their discovery. One of the most famous cases is that of Victor, who was popularly known as the
“boy of Aveyron.” Victor lived in the forest alone from his fourth to twelfth year. He was found in
1797 by locals and was taken in by Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, a physician who gave him his name.
For years, Itard and other scientists attempted to teach Victor spoken language to no avail. Recent
studies on the documents on Victor revealed that he may have been left in the forest by his parents
who physically abused him when he was six or seven. A probable reason for the abandonment is
Victor's mental condition, because he displayed signs of autism. The case of feral children was
also recorded in other parts of the world (Bettelheim, 1959). However, no conclusive scientific
study has still been conducted and accomplished about the topic.

Identity Formation

Through enculturation and socialization, an individual learns the norms of his or her
society. The compilation of the values, attitudes, and beliefs that individuals receive from their
family, peers, and community enables them to create a personal identity that simultaneously
separates them from the other members of the group and incorporates them in its system. Such
differentiation from the general social template is called individuation. This can be related to the
concept of personal identity.
Social identity is a person's notion of who he or she is in society. This includes the roles
and statuses that he or she performs in accord to what the society expects of him or her. There are
two primary types of identity that an individual takes on: primary and secondary. Primary
identity consists of the roles and statutes that an individual learns as a child. This includes the core
social identities that are often ascribed to an individual such as sex, age, and ethnicity. As a child
gets enculturated and socialized with his or her society's norm, he or she participates in the
construction of his or her secondary identity. This includes roles and statuses that are achieved
such as occupation, educational background, economic status, and gender.
This duality of identity produces the “me” and “I” dichotomy that humans have.

This model presents a fourfold understanding of human identity, which are categorized as
follows: the existential “I,” the doing “me,” the cultural “I,” and the performing “me.” These
categories promote a holonic concept of the self—the self is both a whole and a part. The self in
the context of the personal pertains to the wholeness of an individual's identity. This leads back to
the uniqueness of every individual. The self in the context of it being a part of a whole reflects on
the ascribed roles that it plays within the context of society.
 Norms and Values

The concept of cultural values refers to all those ideas held in society that are considered
good, acceptable, and right. Cultural values inform the types of aspirations that members of
society aspire for, and these are labeled as social goals. A society that is rooted in individualism
would have one of its social goals to have its dependent population emancipated from parental
support at an earlier age. While a society that is rooted in extensive kinship system would have the
pooling of family members within one territory as a social goal. Such goals are achieved through
socially approved norms that constitute beliefs, behaviors, and material possessions.
Because a society has a plethora of values and goals, conflicts in the practice of these are
possible. The value that Filipinos put on family sometimes poses a great threat in the practice of
democratic governance in the country due to the kumpadrino system that leads to nepotism and
political dynasties (McCoy, 2009). In this case, the ideal culture of a democratic society is
countered by the real culture of family-run political institutions. An ideal culture is what a society
believes that it follows, whereas the real culture is what the society actually follows.
Reinforcing the continuity of values and goals in society are the norms that are established.
These consist of the rules and regulations on behavior. Although societies may have similar values
and goals, the norms that are created in reference to these values may vary. For example, the values
placed on family are displayed differently across cultures. The act of placing an aging family
member in a nursing home may be a norm in Western societies, but it is almost unacceptable, or
even unthinkable, in most Asian societies.
There are four categories of norms: folkways, mores, taboos, and laws. Folkways are the
socially approved behaviors that have no moral underpinning. This includes a variety of actions
that constitute acceptable or expected behavior drawn from customs and conventions. For example,
some societies (e.g., Americans) consider it rude for a visitor to make slurping sounds when
consuming soup, whereas others (e.g., Chinese) encourage it. Mores are the norms related to moral
conventions. These include behaviors that are considered acceptable in relation to religious
practices. The use of artificial contraceptives, such as condoms and birth control pills, is frowned
upon in highly religious societies, whereas it is accepted, and even encouraged, in others that do
not strictly follow the conventional dictates of religious doctrine. Some cultural prohibitions are
strictly implemented than the others, which make them taboo. Taboos are behaviors that are
absolutely forbidden in a specific culture. Performances of taboos are met with stricter
punishments. Examples of taboos are cannibalism and incest. It must be noted that taboos are not
universal. Some societies do allow behaviors that are considered repugnant in others. Reinforcing
the non-practice of tabooed behaviors are the laws that are enacted by the state. Laws consist of
the rules and regulations that are implemented by the state, making them the prime source of social
control. Violations of laws are met with punishments, fines, ostracism, and imprisonment.

Status and Role

Our forms of social interaction are always within the context of our status and that of the
people we are interacting with. This is to say that we speak and behave differently toward different
sets of people. You have a set of vocabularies and nonverbal cues that you use for your parents,
which you may not use with your peers. A status is an individual's position in his or her society,
which carries with it a set of defined rights and obligations. Your status as a student comes with
obligations and rights, which are defined as your roles.
Roles are the sets of expectation from people who occupy a particular status. From the
vocabulary that they would use to their performance of their statuses, these are all within the
framework of roles. The behavior of an individual within a social space in accordance to his or her
status is called role performance. Sometimes, a status has multiple roles attached to it. This
multiplicity of roles within a given status is called a role set. Hence, your teacher's role is not just
to educate you. He or she also has the role of being your guardian while you are away from your
parents.
As humans are capable of occupying various statuses simultaneously, conflicts may arise
in the variety of roles that they have to perform. A single mother who is working full-time has two
equally important roles. She has the role of being a single parent who must provide for her child.
However, given her other status which requires her to perform the role of a wageearner, a conflict
on which role she needs to prioritize sometimes arises. Role conflict stems from the divergent
expectations of the statuses that an individual simultaneously occupies. Such conflicts may create
role strain on the individual. This implies that the individual is having difficulty in performing
the role required of him or her. In the case of the single mother with a full-time job, role strain
might cause her to choose which role she will have to continue performing and which role she
needs to discontinue. This process of discontinuing with a role is labeled as role exit. Individuals
would often have a role exit to either address a role strain or to indulge in a new role set.

Conformity and Deviance

Do you act differently from what others expect of you? How do they respond to your
statements and actions? These are questions that must be considered when discussing the concept
of deviance and conformity.
Conformity is the act of following the roles and goals of one's society. This behavior is
often met with rewards and acceptance from other members of the society.
Deviance is the act of violating the prescribed social norms. Acts of deviance are often
associated with a stigma. A stigma is a strong sense of disapproval on nonconforming behavior
from members of a society. When deviance is within the context of legal structures, it may even
be considered a crime or a violation of a law.
Because deviance is always juxtaposed with a norm, which changes based on
environmental factors, it is also constantly changing. As it is socially constructed, the actions that
are considered deviant vary per society and per social status.
There are several theories that explain the existence of deviants (humans/groups) and deviance
(acts). These are as follows:
• Social control theory – Deviance is primarily caused by a lack in stronger social bonds
within a society. As an individual feels less attached to his or her society, there is a higher
chance for him or her to deviate from social norms.
• Rational choice theory – The individual's decision to follow or to go against social norms
is dependent on their perceived cost and benefit of such action. This implies that humans
weigh the impact of following a norm. If following a norm would cost them more than
what they could spare, such a norm is set aside and they would choose to perform a deviant
act.
• Differential association theory – Conformity or deviance is learned by an individual from
those he or she associates with. Hence, if an individual has stronger associations with a
group of deviants, then it is most likely that he or she would conform to deviant behavior
than that of what the general public considers as a norm. Interestingly, what is deviant for
the general public may be considered as a norm among a group of deviants.
• Labeling theory – Actions are initially not considered deviant until they are labeled as
such by members of the community. Based on this theory, there are two stages of deviance:
primary and secondary. Primary deviance is a type of act that does not end with the
individual being labeled as such. This is due to the age and intensity of the deviance
committed. Secondary deviance is the type of act that results from being labeled by society
as a deviant. This presents the theory's key argument that humans who are labeled as
deviants would often commit deviant acts due to societal pressure brought about by stigma.
Hence, a person who is labeled a thief may resort to being one as a response to economic
ostracism caused by social stigma.
• Conflict theory – Society consists of opposing groups of people whose access to power is
unequal. The group that has access to power determines which actions are deviant based
on their perceived advantage. Usually, the set of behaviors of the elite is created and
reproduced as the norm, and those of the powerless are considered deviant.
• Structural-functionalist theory – This theory proposes two perspectives in the formation
of deviant behavior. On the macro level, deviance is a product of the breakdown of social
norms which produces anomie or social disorganization. On the microlevel, deviance is a
 product of the role strain that an individual experiences due to lack of resources to cope
with the demands of the social norms.

Social Control
To maintain social order and stability, social control is needed. The two elements that
promote social control are internalization and sanctions. Internalization is an integral part of
communicating and incorporating social norms to an individual's personality. It is in this process
that an individual is made to automatically conform to the dictates of his or her society through a
cost-benefit orientation. One key element in ensuring that individuals are able to internalize social
norms is the establishment of sanctions.
What happens if you decide not to do your homework? Possible outcomes include the following:
1.) Getting a zero score or rating for the activity from your teacher
2.) Getting a stern warning on how to be a better child from your parent
3.) Being labeled as lazy by your classmates

Considering all these possible repercussions of not completing your homework, would you
opt to complete it or still sidestep it?
Sanctions are powerful in leading an individual to conform to social norms. Despite an
individual's disinclination to conform, when the sanction is strong, there is a high possibility that
he or she will decide to follow the norm. Sanctions can be categorized into three types.
1.) Formal sanctions – These are the rewards or forms of punishment that are formally awarded
by an institution such as a government, a council, or an establishment.
2.) Informal sanctions – These are the rewards and forms of punishment that are spontaneously
given by an individual or a group of people as a response to a behavior that was either accepted or
disapproved.
3.) Positive sanctions – These are actions or statements that reward a particular behavior, which
reinforce its repetition.

These are actions or statements that punish or threaten to punish an unacceptable behavior,
which enforce conformity to the deviant.
These general categories can be combined to form specific typologies of sanctions. See Table 6.1.