Socialization and Theoretical Perspectives Lesson

Of the four major agents of socialization identified in the last lesson, two were social institutions. If religion is included on this list, then three were social institutions. Of the other two, the concept of a peer group is very familiar to most people. This leaves only one agent of socialization that needs further explanation, the mass media. With each decade, the concept of the mass media has changed. Once upon a time, mass media was found only in books and newspapers. Later, radio and movies were added to the list. Ever since the advent of television, mass media has changed in description by leaps and bounds. While some forms of mass media are printed on physical entities, others fly along cables or through airwaves. Yet, all of the changes in mass media over the years are attributable to developments in technology.

In the 1950s, a former World War II cryptographer entered the field of Sociology. Gerhard Lenski first focused on religion in society but eventually shifted to Sociocultural Evolution. A topic in macro sociology, "Sociocultural Evolution" was Lenski's term for the transformations in society due to the acquisition of new technology. As you can see, Gerhard Lenski argued that "societal survival has been largely a function of a society's level of technological advance relative to the societies with which it has been in competition." He encouraged his peers to expand beyond the common practice of only studying the present to explain societal behavior and begged that they remember the past while creating current theories. No study of macro sociology, which is the study of broad social structures that shape society as a whole or socialization would be complete without an exploration of Lenski's theories.

Lenski's Technology Timeline

In keeping with the premise that sociologists should study the past in order to better explain social changes in the present, Lenski scrutinized the history of mankind according to periods based on technological advancements. Within each period, Lenski explained how the presence of new technology changed society and its effects on socialization.

As you can see, Gerhard Lenski found correlations between the formations of societies and the type of technology available. Society is defined as the people who inhabit a specified territory and share a particular culture. As socialization is the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture so as to partake in society, Lenski would determine that technology also influenced human socialization patterns. While Lenski would argue that improvements in technology have increased the productivity of man, he would not make the leap to calling these technologically enhanced societies better than others. At most, Lenski would point out that with enhanced technology came a society's ability to increase their knowledge of and ability to spread notions on norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors which directly impacted socialization patterns.

Gerhard Lenski defined society by its level of technology. Though his work has been very influential, it has not become one of the three major theoretical perspectives in sociology. That list is still limited to the Structural-Functional Approach, the Social-Conflict Approach, and the Symbolic-Interaction Approach (Quick reminder: The Structural-Functional Approach originated with Emile Durkheim, the Social-Conflict Approach originated with Karl Marx and the Symbolic-Interaction Approach originated with Max Weber.) Each of these perspectives interprets society differently; which, in turn, means that they derive patterns of socialization from different sources and interpret the consequences of socialization differently.

Theoretical Perspectives

	According to the Structural-Functional Approach, society is defined by its type of solidarity. Socialization is crucial to passing on the knowledge of culture and role expectations to new members of society to perpetuate solidarity.
	According to the Social-Conflict Approach, society is defined by the type of social conflict present. Socialization is seen as a way to perpetuate social inequality within society.
	According to the Symbolic-Interaction Approach, society is defined by the ideas or ways of thinking found within the society. Socialization is necessary so that society will have a shared system of symbols and meanings to communicate those ideas or ways of thinking.

Socialization: The Life Course

Watch the Video on Socialization the Life Course.

Regardless of which approach a sociologist takes in studying socialization, all agree that it is:

a process that takes a lifetime to complete,
that it is fundamental in the development of individual personalities as well as humanity,
and that without socialization, both personal and societal development suffers.

Socialization Key Terms Review Activity

Work through the following activity to prepare for your key terms quiz.

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