MODULE 6:

ENCULTURATION AND
SOCIALIZATION
 How is culture ingrained in
children?
Is it through biological
inheritance (nature) or
through cultural
inheritance (nurture)?
 NURTURE (CULTURAL INHERITANCE)

Proponents of the social learning

theory argue that the set of behaviors
of an individual is acquired through
enculturation and socialization
processes.
 NATURE (BIOLOGICAL INHERITANCE)

Proponents of sociobiology counter this

perspective by advocating that humans
acquire their behavior genetically. This are
naturally selected and passed on to the
next generation.
NURTURE VS NATURE

Today, the social learning perspective is

more accepted by sociologists and
anthropologists in explaining the
development of behavior and attitude
among humans.
 NURTURE VS NATURE

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. Include beliefs, attitudes,
practices, and behaviors.
NURTURE VS NATURE

The Wild Boy of Aveyron was found in

the south of France, in the vicinity of
Aveyron. He was first spotted in the
woods there, running naked. It is
unknown how Victor of Aveyron came to
be abandoned, but he spent the first
twelve years of his life living alone in
the woods in the south of France. He
was captured several times and
escaped, eventually coming out of the
NURTURE VS NATURE

The study of the Wild Boy of Aveyron

demonstrates that exposure to human
language and culture prior to puberty is
required in order for a person to develop
normally as a human being. Even though
Victor of Aveyron was a healthy human being
with no mental disability or impairment of
hearing, he could not acquire much language
or socialization. This is because he grew up
isolated from society as a "feral child." Feral
children cannot learn language and culture
without exposure prior to the critical period of
 IDENTITY FORMATION

You have learned that through enculturation

and socialization, an individual learns the
norms of his or her society. Such values,
attitudes, and beliefs that individuals
receive from their family, peers, and
community.
 IDENTITY FORMATION

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.
 IDENTITY FORMATION

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.
 IDENTITY FORMATION

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.
 IDENTITY FORMATION

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.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED SO FAR?

What are the factors that

influence the creation of one’s
identity?
 NORMS AND VALUES

Cultural values are the ideas a society believes

are good, acceptable and right. These values
shape social goals. For example, individualist
societies value independence, while kinship-
based societies value family unity.
 NORMS AND VALUES

NORMS are the cultural standards or rules

that dictate acceptable and unacceptable
behavior within a society, guiding
individuals on how to act in various
situations.
 NORMS AND VALUES

VALUES are shared culturally defined ideas,

principles, or standards that indicate what
is considered good, right, acceptable, and
desirable within a society, guiding behavior
and acting as criteria for evaluating actions
and situations
 NORMS AND VALUES

Values are fundamental beliefs about what

is good, desirable, or important, while
Norms are the specific, action-guiding rules
that reflect these values and dictate
acceptable social behavior
 NORMS AND VALUES

From the conflict theory view, values and

goals can cause inequality and conflict
because not everyone has equal access to
them. For example, not everyone can
achieve wealth, prestige, and power.
 NORMS AND VALUES

From the functionalism view, values

create unity and order in society, like
how Filipino family values help build
strong, supportive communities.
 NORMS AND VALUES

Because societies have many values, conflicts

can happen. In the Philippines, strong family
values can harm democracy due to kumpadrino
system that leads to nepotism and political
dynasties. This shows the gap between ideal
culture (what society says it follows) and real
culture (what actually happens).
 NORMS AND VALUES

Even if societies share similar values, their

norms differ. For example, Western
societies may place elderly in nursing
homes, but in Asian societies this is usually
unacceptable.
There are four categories of
norms: folkways, mores,
taboos, and laws.
 FOLKWAYS
Folkways are everyday behaviors that
people see as polite or normal, but they
are not about morality. They are just
customs or traditions.
For example, in America, slurping soup is
seen as rude, but in China, it is
encouraged because it shows enjoyment.
 MORES
Mores are norms that are connected to morals
and religion. They guide what is seen as right or
wrong in a deeper sense.
For instance, using birth control is not accepted
in very religious societies, but in less strict
societies, it is allowed and even encouraged.
Some strong mores, when very strictly
prohibited, can become taboos.
 TABOOS
Taboos are actions that a culture sees as
completely forbidden. If someone breaks a
taboo, the punishment is very serious.
Examples are cannibalism and incest. However,
taboos are not the same everywhere—what is
forbidden in one culture may be allowed in
another. To stop people from doing these
behaviors, societies often support taboos with
laws.
 LAWS
Laws are official rules created by the
government to keep order in society.
Breaking a law has clear punishments
like fines, jail, or being rejected by
others. Laws are the strongest form of
social control.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED SO FAR?

What are the similarities of

enculturation and
socialization?
 STATUS AND ROLE
The way we interact with others always
depends on our status and the status of the
people we are dealing with.
In other words, we act and speak differently
depending on who we are talking to. For
example, the way you speak to your parents is
not the same as how you talk to your friends.
 STATUS AND ROLE
A STATUS is a person’s position in society,
and it comes with certain rights and
responsibilities. For instance, as a student,
you have the right to learn but also the
responsibility to study and follow school
rules. These responsibilities are called your
roles.
 STATUS AND ROLE
ROLES are the expectations placed on
someone who occupies a particular status.
How you behave, what you say, and how
you act are all part of these roles. When
someone actually carries out the behavior
expected from their status, this is called
role performance.
STATUS AND ROLE

Sometimes, one status can involve many

roles, called a ROLE SET. For example, a
teacher is not only expected to teach but
also to act as a guide and guardian to
students while they are away from home.
STATUS AND ROLE

Since people can have several statuses at

the same time, conflicts may happen. This
is called ROLE CONFLICT. For example, a
single mother who also works full-time
has two important roles: caring for her
child and earning money for the family.
These roles may sometimes compete with
each other.
 STATUS AND ROLE

When it becomes difficult to handle the

demands of a role, it is called ROLE
STRAIN. In the case of the single mother,
she may feel strained because she cannot
fully give her time to both her child and
her job. life.
 STATUS AND ROLE

This may force her to choose which role to

continue and which one to let go. The
decision to leave or stop performing a role
is called ROLE EXIT. People usually do this
either to reduce stress or to take on a new
role in
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Do you sometimes behave in ways that

others don’t expect? How do people
react to what you say or do? These are
important questions when talking
about deviance and conformity.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Conformity means following the

accepted rules, roles, and goals of
society. People who conform are
usually rewarded and accepted by
others.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Deviance, on the other hand, means

breaking or going against the accepted
social norms. People often attach a stigma
—a strong sense of disapproval—to deviant
behavior. If deviance breaks laws, it can
even be considered a crime.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Because deviance is always compared to what is

“normal,” and because norms can change
depending on time and place, what counts as
deviant also changes. Since deviance is created
by society, actions seen as deviant can differ
between cultures, communities, and social
groups.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

There are many theories that explain why

people (or groups) become deviants and
why deviance (rule-breaking acts) happens.
These include the following:
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Social Control Theory

This theory says deviance happens when people
have weak or broken connections with society.
The less a person feels attached to their
community, the more likely they are to break
social rules or norms.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Rational Choice Theory

According to this theory, people decide whether
to follow or break social norms by weighing the
possible costs and benefits. If following a rule
feels too costly or inconvenient compared to
breaking it, a person may choose the deviant act
instead.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Differential Association Theory

This theory says people learn both conformity
and deviance from the groups they spend time
with. If someone mostly interacts with people
who break rules, they’re more likely to also
break rules. What’s considered “wrong” by the
public might actually be “normal” within a group
of deviants.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Labeling Theory
According to this theory, actions are not
automatically deviant. They only become deviant
when society labels them as such. It talks about
two stages:
Primary deviance – rule-breaking that does not
lead to a person being labeled as deviant (often
because it’s minor or rare).
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Labeling Theory
Secondary deviance – rule-breaking that happens
after society labels someone as deviant. The
stigma of being labeled can push the person to
keep acting that way.
For example, someone labeled as a thief might
continue stealing after being excluded from
normal opportunities.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Conflict Theory
This theory views society as made up of
competing groups with unequal power. The group
with more power decides which behaviors are
acceptable and which are deviant—usually in
ways that protect their own interests. As a
result, behaviors of the powerful are seen as
“normal,” while behaviors of the less powerful
are labeled as “deviant.”
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Structural-Functionalist Theory
This theory explains deviance from two angles:
Macro level: Deviance comes from a breakdown
of social norms, which creates confusion and
instability (called anomie or social
disorganization).
Micro level: Deviance comes from “role strain,”
when a person lacks the resources to meet
society’s expectations, making it hard to follow
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Based on this theory, Merton (1957) proposed a

model showing how people respond to society’s
goals and the approved ways of achieving them:
Cultural goals are the values and achievements
society considers important.
Institutional means are the accepted ways to
achieve those goals, provided by systems like
government, schools, religion, and families.
COMFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

In Merton’s typology, people who accept both society’s goals and

the approved ways to achieve them are called CONFORMISTS.
Those who accept the goals but use different or unapproved
methods are INNOVATORS.
People who follow the approved ways but no longer believe in the
goals are showing RITUALISM.
Individuals who reject both the goals and the methods show
RETREATISM, while those who try to create new goals and new
methods are engaging in REBELLION.