HHS4U
Unit 4: What Shapes Family Dynamics?
Activity 2: Functions of the Family: Socialization and Theory Application
Parenting Quotes
Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.
They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel
If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.
Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.
Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
Parenting Quotes
Select one of the above quotations that resonated with you, and consider the following questions:
- Why is this quotation significant or meaningful to you?
- Do you agree or disagree with the message about the role of parents?
The Function of Families
In the last activity you learned that the functions of families included:
- physical maintenance and care of family members;
- addition of new members through adoption or procreation;
- socialization of children;
- social control of its members;
- production, consumption and distribution of goods and services; and
- affective nurturance (love).
Family and Parenting Roles
There are many different family types and everyone has a different circumstance. In order to meet the needs of a family, members take on different roles.
Think About...
In your own family situation:
- Who takes the children to the doctor?
- Who pays the rent or mortgage for shelter?
- Who disciplines the children?
- Who goes grocery shopping?
- Who pays the bills?
- Who provides love and support?
- Who takes children for haircuts or ensures they are bathed?
Caregiving and Housework Tasks
Read the following article. If you want to view any links in this pdf, right click and select "Open Link in New Tab" to avoid leaving this page.
Review the data in the following table from Statistics Canada.
Caregiving Responsibilities and Roles
Once you have completed the “Who Does What” activity, read the article, and analysed the table above, consider your thoughts.
- What trend do you notice regarding gender roles, and caregiving and housework tasks?
- Are gender roles with regards to caregiving and housework changing with time? Provide examples from your own situation or from the article in your response.
- Speculate on the factors that might influence gender roles in caregiving and housework (e.g., culture, education, work, wages, etc.).
Functions of Family: Socialization
In the next section of this activity, you will focus on another function of the family, socialization.
Did You Know?
Some Facts about Socialization
- Individuals learn to think and act in certain ways through social contact.
- It allows new members to learn the accepted ways of behaving within a certain culture.
- It can be intentional (on purpose) or unintentional (not planned).
- The types of social contacts or influences are called agents of socialization.
Agents of Socialization
- Family
- Peers
- School
- Mass Media
- Culture
- Religion
- Government
Throughout life, different agents of socialization take on varying levels of importance. Sometimes the impact of an agent of socialization is subtle and unintentional. For example, you may directly teach a child to say please and thank you when addressing people. What you may not realize is that children observe and learn from unintentional messages too. For instance, if you yell and throw things each time you get angry, your child will learn that is the way to deal with anger. Take a look at the following video to get a deeper understanding how of agents of socialization work.
the process by which individuals gain the knowledge, language, social skills, and values of a group or community
Socialization Video: My Thoughts
After you have viewed the socialization video clip, respond to the following questions.
- Select one of the areas of focus relating to socialization concepts shown in the video clip. Areas of focus include:
- Primary Socialization
- Anticipatory Socialization
- “Hidden Curriculum” in Schools
- Study of Teenage Social Groups
- Role of the Media
- Total Institutions
- Describe the key concepts or main facts presented in the video related to your area of focus. In your response, consider which agents of socialization or social institutions are responsible for this area, and the impact they have.
- Why is the information on this area of socialization important or significant?
The Family as an Agent of Socialization
In this next section of the activity, you are going to focus on primary socialization and the role that parents and families play in socializing children.
For most people, your first social interactions happen with family members, and for this reason the family is often considered the most important agent of socialization. Most of a child’s early family socialization happens through parenting.
Agents of Socialization: The Family
Read the following excerpt from “Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World”. Make notes on the factors that influence how parents socialize children. If you want to view any links in this pdf, right click and select "Open Link in New Tab" to avoid leaving this page.
How Important are Families?
After viewing the video clips and reading the section on families as agents of socialization, write a personal reflection based on the questions below.
Safe Space
The information that may be discussed below involves your family situation. It may trigger strong emotions in some students. Please be sure that the information that you share is appropriate for school and does not reveal sensitive personal information.
- Do you agree that family is the most important agent of socialization? Why or why not?
- Describe how your parent (or caregiver) socialized you when you were young.
- Was your socialization from your family members different than the socialization experiences your parents had from their family? That is, does socialization differ throughout generations? Explain your opinion about culture, social class and values. Make reference to specific examples from the readings and videos from this unit.
Parent-Child Relationships
Safe Space
In the upcoming sections of this activity, you will consider parenting. Please be aware that when examining the parenting role, it is important to be inclusive. The parenting tasks and responsibilities can be can fulfilled by a child’s biological parents, extended family members, adoptive parents, foster parents or any other caring person who assumes that position.
The relationship children develop with their parent impacts their growth and development. Early in life, a parent begins to build a relationship with the child by responding to an infant’s cries. How parents respond, whether it be with care and nurturing or with disregard and frustration, begins to shape the child and his or her self-concept and view of the world around them.
Theoretical Perspectives on Parent-Child Relationships
Below are some theories that examine the impact of the parent-child relationship. As a reminder, theories offer a perspective or explanation for behaviour; they are not absolute. As you read, pay particular attention to how the parent’s behaviour impacts the child’s growth and development. You may wish to use this template to help you organize your notes on these theories:
If you're working on a tablet, click here to open the following interactive in its own window instead of using the embedded version below.
Safe Space
The following activity may evoke strong emotions in some students, as mental illness, blended families, neglect, foster families and adoption are discussed.
Applying Theories
For this task, select and read one of the case studies below, then answer the following questions. Use this template to organize your information.
- Parent-Child Theories
- Apply one of the parent-child theories to the people in the case study. Be sure to follow the correct format that you learned in Unit 1, Activity 3 (key point, example, explanation) to apply theories.
- Social Science Theories
- Apply a second theory to explain the relationships and situation demonstrated in the case study. However, this time the theory should be one of the social science theories you examined in Unit 1, Activity 3 (Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, Feminist).
Isolated Children
Isolates is the term sometimes used to describe children who have been raised in isolation from families and/or society. Using search engines and databases, investigate isolates. You may wish to specifically look at the story of Genie Wiley in your search for information.
Examine what happens to children if early socialization is disrupted and they are raised in isolation. What is the long-term prognosis?
Learning Goals and Success Criteria
Learning Skills and Work Habits
Rubric 1