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Calvin and Hobbes 1986 Universal Press Syndicate. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

At birth, human beings cannot talk, walk, feedthemselves, or even protect themselves fromharm. They know nothing about the norms ofsociety. Then, through interaction with their socialand cultural environments, individuals are trans--ormed into participating members of society. This

reractive process through which individualsearn the basic skills, values, beliefs, and behaviorpatterns of the society is called socialization.

A number of theories exist to explain how weoecome socialized and develop a sense of self. Ourself is our conscious awareness of possessing a. tinct identity that separates us from other mern-

oers of society. We will consider three of these- eories-those of Locke, Cooley, and Mead.

eke: The Tabu/a Rasa

The English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704)isted that each newly born individual is a tabula

'asa, or clean slate, on which can be written justabout anything. Locke claimed that each of us isoorn without a personality. We acquire our per-sonality as a result of our social experiences.

eke believed that human beings can be moldedto any type of character. He further believedt, given a newborn infant, he could shape the

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individual into whatever type of person hewanted. More than two centuries later, the psy-chologist John B. Watson was to make a similarclaim.

Few people today would take such an extremeview. Nevertheless, many of our basic assump-tions about socialization are related to Locke'sviews. Most sociologists think of socialization as aprocess by which we absorb those aspects of ourculture with which we come into contact. Throughthe socialization process, we develop our sense ofbeing a distinct member of society.

Cooley: The Looking-Glass Self

Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) was anAmerican social psychologist and one of the foun-ders of the interactionist perspective in sociology .In addition to developing the notion of the pri-mary group, Cooley is most noted for his theoryexplaining how individuals develop a sense of self.Central to his theory is the concept of the looking-glass self. The looking-glass self refers to theinteractive process by which we develop an imageof ourselves based on how we imagine we appearto others. Other people act as a mirror, reflectingback the image we project through their reactionsto our behavior.

According to Cooley, the development of thelooking-glass self is a three-step process. First, weimagine how we appear to others. Second, basedon their reactions to us, we attempt to determinewhether others view us as we view ourselves. And

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Chapter 5 Socializing the Individual 109

The earliest influences on the self-image of achild come 'from interaction within the familysetting. According to Cooley, parents whotreat their children as capable contribute tothe children's sense of self-worth.

finally, we use our perceptions of how othersjudge us to develop feelings about ourselves.

The process of identity development beginsvery early in childhood. According to Cooley, anewborn baby has no sense of person or place.The entire world appears as one mass. Then, var-ious members of the child's primary group--par-ents, brothers, sisters, other family members, andfriends-interact with the growing infant. Theypick up the child. They talk to him or her. Theyreward or punish the child's behavior. In short,they provide the child with a mirror that reflectshis or her image. From this interactive process,the child develops a sense of self.

This theory puts a great deal of responsibilityon parents and other primary group members whohave contact with children. Parents who think littleof a child's ability, and let their feelings be known,will likely give rise to feelings of inferiority in thechild. On the other hand, parents who treat theirchildren as capable and competent are likely toproduce capable and competent children.

Cooley was quick to note that while this processstarts early in childhood, it continues throughoutour lives. We continually refine our self-images aswe alter our interpretations of the way we thinkothers view us.

110 Unit 2 The Individual in Society

Mead: Role-Taking

The American sociologist George Herbert Mead(1863-1931), another founder of the interaction-ist perspective, added to Cooley's theory of so-cialization and the emergence of the self. Accord-ing to Mead, seeing ourselves as others see us isonly the beginning. Eventually we come not onlyto see ourselves as others see us, but actually totake or pretend to take the role of others. Thisact of role.taking forms the basis of the social-ization process by allowing us to anticipate whatothers expect of us. We thus learn to see ourselvesthrough the eyes of others.

According to Mead, we first internalize the ex-pectations of those closest to us-our parents,brothers and sisters, relatives, and other specificpeople who have a direct influence on our social-ization. Although Mead did not use the term,sociologists now refer to the people closest to usas signific:ant others. As we grow older, how-ever, the expectations and attitudes of society takeon added importance in guiding our behavior andreinforcing our sense of self. Mead called the in-ternalized attitudes, expectations, and viewpointsof society the generalized other. We come tointernalize the generalized other through the pro-cess of role-taking.

Children are not automatically capable of role-taking. They must develop the necessary skillsthrough social interaction. Mead visualized role-taking as a three-step process involving imitation,play, and games.

Under about three years of age, children lack asense of self. Consequently, they only can imitatethe actions of others. Young children most oftenimitate the gestures and actions of family mem-bers and others in their immediate environment.Such mimicking is not role-taking, but ratherpreparation for learning role expectations.

At about the age of three, children begin toplay and act out the roles of specific people. Theymay dress up in their parents' clothes, play house,'or pretend to be doctors and nurses. For the firsttime, the children are attempting to see the worldthrough someone else's eyes.

By the time children reach school age, theybegin to take part in organized games. Organizedgames require children not only to take on rolesof their own but also to anticipate the actions and

Glildren everywhere participate in gamesat help to further the socialization process.

expectations of others. Because it requires inter-nalizing the generalized other, the game stage ofrole-taking most closely resembles real life.

Through role-taking, individuals develop asense of self. According to Mead, the self consistsof two related parts-the "I" and the "me." The I=- the unsoClalized, spontaneous, self-interestedomponent of our personailty and self-identity.

tiie me, on the other hand, is that part of ourentity that is aware of the expectations and~at-

-l,udes of society-our socialized self.As children, the I component of our personalitystronger than the me component. Through the

rocess of socialization, however, the me gainswer over the I, bringing our actions in line withe expectations of society. Nonetheless, the mever totally dominates the I, and both aspects of

ur personality are needed if we are to be well-unded individuals.

SECTION Z REVIEW

DEFINE socialization, self, significantothers, generalized other

mEN1lFY John Locke, Charles HortonCooley, George Herbert Mead

1. Summarizing Ideas Describe JohnLocke's theory of the socializationprocess.

2. Organizing Ideas (a) What is thelooking-glass self? (6) List and de-scribe the three steps involved in thedevelopment of the looking-glass self.

3. Identifying Ideas (a) What is role-taking? (6) What three stages do chil-dren go through in developing the skillsneeded for role-taking?

4. ComprehendingIdeas According toMead, what are the two components ofthe self and how are they related?

Chapter 5 Socializing the Individual 111