SOCI 1001H Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Situation Two
14 Jun 2018
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The Micro-Level Perspective
Norms
• A norm is an established rule or a standard that governs our conduct in the social
situations in which we participate
• Almost all social behaviour involves such standards
• Societal expectations- to which we are expected to conform
Roles
• Roles demonstrate how individual activity is socially influenced, and thereby follows
regular patterns
• Structuralist perspective:
• Roles are prescribed patterns of behaviour expected of a person in a given
situation by virtue of his or her position in the transaction
• Roles are socially defined attributes and expectations associated with
social positions
• Role Expectations: A group’s or society’s definition of the way a specific role
ought to be played
• Interactionist perspective:
• We can’t just analyze social interaction by studying already determined roles
• Instead, we need to look at how people live out their roles, how they
perceive them, what conflicts they feel in living them out, etc.
• Steps to Role Enactment:
• 1. Identification of the role with self
• In any given situation, we need to ask who we are in that
particular situation
• 2. Behave in a manner appropriate to this identification
• Actively choose to act suitably to the role
• 3. Use the behaviour of others as cues
• 4. Evaluation of our performance
Socialization
• Socialization process:
• Complex learning process through which individuals develop selfhood and
acquire the knowledge, skills, and motivations required for the participation in
social life
• Essential process linking the individual and society
• Process through which we reach an understanding of norms and roles
• The process of socialization is universal
• Norms and roles people learn through their socialization are not
universal, different cultures learn different norms and roles
• Starts at birth and continues throughout entire life
• Primary socialization
• Socialization that takes place from birth through childhood
• Micro-world of primary groups
• Socialization is based on emotional relationships with significant others
• Significant others: caregivers who help child survive
• First year of child’s life is spent learning there is a world separate from them, and
they realize they are distinct from others, they develop a sense of self
• As a result they learn their actions can bring what they need, and that
their actions influence others
• Charles Horton Cooley (the looking-glass self):
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