Notes for 4685 AIOU - Exam Preparation Notes of 4685

Notes for 4685

Socialization

is the lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire a self-identity and social skills needed for survival in society. Socialization helps people learn to function successfully in their social worlds.

Gender Socialization

Socialization process by which person acquires sense of self, identity; learns expectations of society that will hold individual accountable.

•        The process of gender socialization begins early in life.

•        Children develop an understanding of gender categories at a young age

•        By age three, children have formed their own gender identity. They have also begun to learn their culture’s gender norms, including which toys, activities, behaviors, and attitudes are associated with each gender.

Social groups often provide the first experiences of socialization. Families, and later peer groups, communicate expectations and reinforce norms. People first learn to use the tangible objects of material culture in these settings, as well as being introduced to the beliefs and values of society.

Agents of socialization

• The Family

• The School

• Peer Groups

• Mass Media

1.    Family

Family is the first agent of socialization. Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. For example, they show the child how to use objects (such as clothes, computers, eating utensils, books, bikes); how to relate to others (some as “family,” others as “friends,” still others as “strangers” or “teachers” or “neighbors”); and how the world works (what is “real” and what is “imagined”). As you are aware, either from your own experience as a child or from your role in helping to raise one, socialization includes teaching and learning about an unending array of objects and ideas.

Keep in mind, however, that families do not socialize children in a vacuum. Many social factors affect the way a family raises its children. For example, we can use sociological imagination to recognize that individual behaviors are affected by the historical period in which they take place. Sixty years ago, it would not have been considered especially strict for a father to hit his son with a wooden spoon or a belt if he misbehaved, but today that same action might be considered child abuse.

Sociologists recognize that race, social class, religion, and other societal factors play an important role in socialization. For example, poor families usually emphasize obedience and conformity when raising their children, while wealthy families emphasize judgment and creativity (National Opinion Research Center 2008). This may occur because working-class parents have less education and more repetitive-task jobs for which it is helpful to be able to follow rules and conform. Wealthy parents tend to have better educations and often work in managerial positions or careers that require creative problem solving, so they teach their children behaviors that are beneficial in these positions. This means children are effectively socialized and raised to take the types of jobs their parents already have, thus reproducing the class system (Kohn 1977). Likewise, children are socialized to abide by gender norms, perceptions of race, and class-related behaviors.

Key Points:-

• The most important and first agent of socialization

• The principle socializer of young children

• Teaches how to behave in socially acceptable ways, to develop emotional ties and internalize values and norms

• Individuals share the patterns of the larger culture, but retain unique values and behavioral traits as learned from their family

 • Socialization can be both deliberate (structured) and unconscious (unintended)”…do as I say not as I do”

Parental practices

• Parents socialize sons/daughters differently

• Fathers react more negatively to sons in cross-gender play (boys with Barbies) and boys believe fathers would do so.

 • Fathers spend more time with sons than daughters, engage in more physical play; expect more toughness from sons

• Mothers spend more time with children, more involved in daily care

• Cultural differences—higher socioeconomic children more gender stereotypical than  and lower socioeconomic backgrounds

2.    Peer group

A peer group is made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests. Peer group socialization begins in the earliest years, such as when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about taking turns, the rules of a game, or how to shoot a basket. As children grow into teenagers, this process continues. Peer groups are important to adolescents in a new way, as they begin to develop an identity separate from their parents and exert independence. Additionally, peer groups provide their own opportunities for socialization since kids usually engage in different types of activities with their peers than they do with their families.

Key Points:-

• Other peers that you encounter can also influence you

 • More influential as children grow older

 • To be accepted by our peers we often behave certain ways – we try to be the kind of person we think they want us to be

 • Desire to fit in - there’s a focus on group interests and acquiring skills needed to fit into a subculture

• Socialization is not “structured”

• Groups goals can be at odds with larger society/parents/schools

3.    School:-

After family the educational institutions take over the charge of socialization. In some societies (simple non-literate societies), socialization takes place almost entirely within the family but in highly complex societies children are also socialized by the educational system. Schools not only teach reading, writing and other basic skills, they also teach students to develop themselves, to discipline themselves, to cooperate with others, to obey rules and to test their achievements through competition.

Schools teach sets of expecta­tions about the work, profession or occupations they will follow when they mature. Schools have the formal responsibility of imparting knowledge in those disciplines which are most central to adult functioning in our society. It has been said that learning at home is on a personal, emotional level, whereas learning at school is basically intellectual.

Key Points:-

·        Plays a major part in our socialization because we’re in school for so long

•        Most socialization is deliberate: activities teach skills whether vocational, academic or social

•        Extracurricular activities teach us teamwork, practice

•        Anticipatory socialization for the world of work because of deadlines, schedules and learning how to fit in to the larger society

•        Transmission of values

•        Unintentional socialization – some teachers and peers become role models for students

•        Peer groups are abundant in school

4.    Mass media:-

From early forms of print technology to electronic communication (radio, TV, etc.), the media is playing a central role in shaping the personality of the individuals. Since the last century, technological innovations such as radio, motion pictures, recorded music and television have become important agents of socialization.

Television, in particular, is a critical force in the socialization of children almost all over the new world. According to a study conducted in America, the average young person (between the ages of 6 and 18) spends more time watching the ‘tube’ (15,000 to 16,000 hours) than studying in school. Apart from sleeping, watching television is the most time-consuming activity of young people.

Relative to other agents of socialization discussed above, such as family, peer group and school, TV has certain distinctive character­istics. It permits imitation and role playing but does not encourage more complex forms of learning. Watching TV is a passive experience.

Key points:-

•        Forms of communication that reach large audiences with no personal contact between those sending and receiving the information – TV, newspaper, radio, films, magazines, Internet, etc…

•        TV is the most influential of all mass media (there is at least one in every home – said to watch an average of 7 hours a day).

•        Positives and negatives of TV…

•        Where (geographically) would mass media NOT play a role?

 

Gender specific Nature of children Environment

As young children develop, they begin to explore gender roles and what it means to be a boy or a girl. Cultures provide expectations for boys and girls, and children begin learning about gender roles from the norms of their family and cultural background. They also hear messages about gender roles from the larger world around them. Through their interactions and their play exploration, children begin to define themselves and others in many ways, including gender. Children may ask their parents and teachers questions about gender, take on “boy” and “girl” roles in dramatic play and notice differences between the boys and girls they know. They may choose certain toys based on what they think is right for boys or girls. They may also make statements about toys and activities that they think are only for girls or only for boys.

For more than 50 years, child development researchers have studied how young children learn and think about gender

Research has identified several stages of gender development: Infancy. Children observe messages about gender from adults’ appearances, activities, and behaviors. Most parents’ interactions with their infants are shaped by the child’s gender, and this in turn also shapes the child’s understanding of gender (Fagot & Leinbach, 1989; Witt, 1997; Zosuls, Miller, Ruble, Martin, & Fabes, 2011).

18–24 months:-

Toddlers begin to define gender, using messages from many sources. As they develop a sense of self, toddlers look for patterns in their homes and early care settings. Gender is one way to understand group belonging, which is important for secure development (Kuhn, Nash & Brucken, 1978; Langlois & Downs, 1980; Fagot & Leinbach, 1989; Baldwin & Moses, 1996; Witt, 1997; Antill, Cunningham, & Cotton, 2003; Zoslus, et al., 2009).

 Ages 3–4.

 Gender identity takes on more meaning as children begin to focus on all kinds of differences. Children begin to connect the concept “girl” or “boy” to specific attributes. They form stronger rules or expectations for how each gender behaves and looks (Kuhn, Nash, & Brucken 1978; Martin, Ruble, & Szkrybalo, 2004; Halim & Ruble, 2010).

 Ages 5–6.

 At these ages children’s thinking may be rigid in many ways. For example, 5- and 6-year-olds are very aware of rules and of the pressure to comply with them. They do so rigidly because they are not yet developmentally ready to think more deeply about the beliefs and values that many rules are based on. For example, as early educators and parents know, the use of “white lies” is still hard for them to understand. Researchers call these ages the most “rigid” period of gender identity (Weinraub et al., 1984; Egan, Perry, & Dannemiller, 2001; Miller, Lurye, Zosuls, & Ruble, 2009). A child who wants to do or wear things that are not typical of his gender is probably aware that other children find it strange. The persistence of these choices, despite the negative reactions of others, show that these are strong feelings. Gender rigidity typically declines as children age (Trautner et al., 2005; Halim, Ruble, Tamis-LeMonda, & Shrout, 2013). With this change, children develop stronger moral impulses about what is “fair” for themselves and other children (Killen & Stangor, 2001).

Children need a safe and nurturing environment to explore gender and gender expression. It’s important for all children to feel good about who they are and what they can do.

 

Marxists Analysis of sexism

Solved Assignments

Language and Media

Media

Plays a large role in creating social norms, because various forms of media, including advertisements, television, and film, are present almost everywhere in current culture. Gender roles, as an example, exist solely because society as a whole chooses to accept them, but they are perpetuated by the media. Conspicuous viewers must be aware of what the media is presenting to them, and make sure they’re not actively participating in a culture of oppression.

Television for a long time has been a tool in promoting the stereotypes of gender roles and tends to show them as being natural. The television industry is usually male dominated therefore most of what is produced tends to take a male perspective therefore bringing about male gaze. Through such productions girls get to learn that this is a man’s world and hence they get to change their personalities. ‘It is a very powerful and highly influential means to make and communicate gender equality and gender culture of society are mass media technologies which have become an essential part of individual daily lives and culture in the world over’ (Craig, 2003, p.93). The mass media are able to genuinely make legal gender ideas and philosophy shaped by gender politics and beliefs, and to increase the likelihood or chance of their reception by the general audiences.

The mass informs and also gives great pleasure and full entertainment. It is a dominant influence in distinguishing the roles of men and women in a civilized world. Morley in his work opines that, ‘The younger generations are especially influenced by its depiction of gender roles. Even though television has improved very well in its representation of gender, women are still stereotype in conventional roles, and under-represented, while men are revealed or seen as dominant figures’ 

Media Define Masculinity:-

Families, friends, teachers, and community leaders all play a role in helping boys define what it means to be a man. Mainstream media representations also play a role in reinforcing ideas about what it means to be a “real” man in our society. In most media portrayals, male characters are rewarded for self-control and the control of others, aggression and violence, financial independence, and physical desirability.

A more recent study found similar patterns in how male characters were portrayed in children’s television around the world: boys are portrayed as tough, powerful and either as a loner or leader, while girls were most often shown as depending on boys to lead them and being most interested in romance.

Recent study points:-

The report observes that:

·         the majority of male characters in media are heterosexual

·         male characters are more often associated with the public sphere of work, rather than the private sphere of the home, and issues and problems related to work are more significant than personal issues

·         Non-white male characters are more likely to experience personal problems and are more likely to use physical aggression or violence to solve those problems.

The portrayal and acceptance of men by the media as socially powerful and physically violent serve to reinforce assumptions about how men and boys should act in society, how they should treat each other, as well as how they should treat women and children.

  Impact of Gender Inequality “It’s like a normal thing for women to be treated by their husbands as punching bags. The Nigerian man thinks that a woman is his inferior.

Gender representation in the media

Various studies have confirmed horizontal and vertical labor market segregation within media industries. A key overarching finding is that women are under-represented in the media workforce, particularly at senior, decision-making levels. According to a study conducted by Skillset in the UK (2008), which was based on a labor market census, women are a minority in virtually every segment of the media sector in the UK, including mainstream news and television, creative industries, gaming, and other digital media industries. Further, the study found an important driver for this inequality is the loss of women beyond middle age. Despite more women than men entering the sector as graduates, women in the UK media workforce are far less likely than men to have dependent children living with them, suggesting that women who have children are leaving the industry.

In several countries, women substantially outnumber men in journalism training and enter the profession in (slightly) greater numbers, but relatively few rise to senior jobs, and the pay gap between male and female journalists remains wide.

Research by the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP, 2015) suggests that women still make up a minority of reporters and presenters, with very little improvement since 2000.

Media in Health Care:-

Media is one of the most powerful instruments of communication. the communication medium can be radio" television" cinema" magazines" newspapers" and/or internet based web sites. These mediums often play a varied and vital role in our society. !n today’s world" media has made a very special place for itself in our lives. !f we say media has become almost as important as food and clothing" the majority of us will agree. 

Health awareness is considered to be one of the most essential ingredients of life. People do not value their good state of health until they experience one form of sickness or another. 

Key points:-

·        Media help in spreading awareness.

·        It can help people by telling them the causes and provide the basic instruction regarding diseases.

·        It help in better living and better diet.

·        Those people who have no access to any health care unit also aware/acknowledge.

·        Life expectance improve because of media awareness.

Language Role

Even in this modern day, language still plays a great role in defining gender, to the extent that if affects gender roles in society. Protagoras, a Greek philosopher, introduced the grammatical concepts of gender with the use of masculine, feminine.

The manner of speaking

Aside from the actual words being used, the manner in which they are being spoken also contributes to gender difference. For instance, there are certain countries in which there is a strong order for women to pay high respect when talking to men. They are not allowed to talk back or argue with men. They are also not allowed to look at men directly in the eyes. In some cases, they are not even allowed to socialize with men outside their family at all.

Some Difference In Men & women Talk:-

The question of whether men and women as groups have different conversational styles must be considered in the context of cross-cultural communication.

According to Lakoff, women’s talk has the following properties:

 1) A large set of words specific to their interests: e.g. color words like magenta, shirr, dart (in sewing), etc.

2) “Empty” adjectives such as divine, precious, lovely, cute, etc.

3) Tag questions and rising intonation in statement contexts: What’s your name dear? Mary Smith?

4) Use of hedges

 5) Use of intensive “so”

6) Hypercorrect grammar: women are not supposed to talk rough

7) Super-politeness

8) Ask more questions

Man’s Talk Characteristics:-

But surely men talk to their friends too! And here are the topics:

•        Work

•        Sports

•        Institutional power

•        Politics

•        Not so much about family Personal issues are not expected to feature prominently in the conversation

•        Men interrupt women more than vice versa.

•        Men speak more comfortably in public than women.

 

AIDS

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus, which is the virus that causes HIV infection. The abbreviation “HIV” can refer to the virus or to HIV infection. 

AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection.

What is AIDS?

AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. Once HIV infection develops into AIDS, infections and cancer pose a greater risk.

Without treatment, HIV infection is likely to develop into AIDS as the immune system gradually wears down. However, advances in ART mean than an ever-decreasing number of people progress to this stage.

By the close of 2015, around 1,122,900 people were HIV-positive. To compare, figures from 2016 show that medical professionals diagnosed AIDS in an estimated 18,160 people.

Causes

People transmit HIV in bodily fluids, including:

• blood
• semen
• vaginal secretions
• anal fluids
• breast milk

In the United States, the main causes of this transfer of fluids are:

• anal or vaginal intercourse with a person who has HIV while not using a condom or PrEP, a preventive HIV medication for people at high risk of infection
• sharing equipment for injectable illicit drugs, hormones, and steroids with a person who has HIV

A woman living with HIV who is pregnant or has recently given birth might transfer the disease to her child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

The risk of HIV transmitting through blood transfusions is extremely low in countries that have effective screening procedures in place for blood donations.

Progression to AIDS

The risk of HIV progressing to AIDS varies widely between individuals and depends on many factors, including:

•        the age of the individual

•        the body's ability to defend against HIV

•        access to high-quality, sanitary healthcare

•        the presence of other infections

•        the individual's genetic inheritance resistance to certain strains of HIV

•        drug-resistant strains of HIV

Symptoms

For the most part, infections by other bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites cause the more severe symptoms of HIV.

These conditions tend to progress further in people who live with HIV than in individuals with healthy immune systems. A correctly functioning immune system would protect the body against the more advanced effects of infections, and HIV disrupts this process.

Some people with HIV do not show symptoms until months or even years after contracting the virus.

However, around 80 percent of people may develop a set of flu-like symptoms known as acute retroviral syndrome around 2–6 weeks after the virus enters the body.

The early symptoms of HIV infection may include:

•        fever

•        chills

•        joint pain

•        muscle aches

•        sore throat

•        sweats. particularly at night

•        enlarged glands

•        a red rash

•        tiredness

•        weakness

•        unintentional weight loss

•        thrush

These symptoms might also result from the immune system fighting off many types of viruses.

However, people who experience several of these symptoms and know of any reason they might have been at risk of contracting HIV over the last 6 weeks should take a test.

Late-stage HIV infection

Without medication, HIV weakens the ability to fight infection. The person becomes vulnerable to serious illnesses. This stage is known as AIDS or stage 3 HIV.

Symptoms of late-stage HIV infection may include:

•         blurred vision

•         diarrhea, which is usually persistent or chronic

•         dry cough

•         a fever of over 100 °F (37 °C) lasting for weeks

•         night sweats

•         permanent tiredness

•         shortness of breath, or dyspnea

•         swollen glands lasting for weeks

•         unintentional weight loss

•         white spots on the tongue or mouth

During late-stage HIV infection, the risk of developing a life-threatening illness increases greatly. A person with late-stage HIV can control, prevent and treat serious conditions by taking other medications alongside HIV treatment.

HIV and AIDS myths and facts

Many misconceptions circulate about HIV that are harmful and stigmatizing for people with the virus.

The following cannot transmit the virus:

•        shaking hands

•        hugging

•        kissing

•        sneezing

•        touching unbroken skin

•        using the same toilet

•        sharing towels

•        sharing cutlery

•        mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or other forms of "casual contact"

•        the saliva, tears, feces, and urine of a person with HIV

Treatment:-

No cure is currently available for HIV or AIDS.

However, treatments can stop the progression of the condition and allow most people living with HIV the opportunity to live a long and relatively healthy life.

Starting ART early in the progression of the virus is crucial. This improves quality of life, extends life expectancy, and reduces the risk of transmission. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the use of HIV medicines to treat HIV infection. People on ART take a combination of HIV medicines (called an HIV treatment regimen) every day.

ART is recommended for everyone who has HIV. ART prevents HIV from multiplying, which reduces the amount of HIV in the body (called the viral load). Having less HIV in the body protects the immune system and prevents HIV infection from advancing to AIDS. ART can’t cure HIV, but HIV medicines help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives.

ART also reduces the risk of HIV transmission. A main goal of ART is to reduce a person’s viral load to an undetectable level. An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. People with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partner through sex.