Lesson 5 - Socialization, The Self and Social Interaction

George Herbert Mead believed the self is created through social interaction. These girls are all friends and will individually grow from being with each other.  They will grasp an image of themselves through the reactions they receive from their peers.

 Mother and child representing nature vs. nurture. The debate on wether genetics is responsible for a persons character or rather it is being raised by parents that shapes who we are.

My sister is portraying the looking glass self based off Charles Cooley's belief that one's sense of self depends on seeing one's self reflected in interactions with others.

 My younger sister is playing the role of a student by doing her homework and studying to receive good grades. In being a student, studying is a behavior expected from her status.

Family is the most important agent of socialization. From family we learn values and how to be a functioning part of society when we grow up.

Lesson 12 - Pop Culture

This photo from the Emmys shows the peoples mass appreciation for television shows.  The people shown are easily recognized by the general
American public. The viewers participate in collective activity because the all watch and appreciate the shows being awarded.

 This display of shoes in the mall is playing to its vast demographic of customers.  This wall of shoes is only a small portion of all the options a customer has to choose from.  The store realizes that every customer has a different tastes or preference for their own personal style.

The mall is a main place where consumerism exists.  Shoppers go there to see things they do not need but get the idea that they do. Also customers have the urge to stay with this seasons latest fashion trends.  They want to stay with the most popular belief of what everyone is wearing.

These mannequins set a standard of how one should look and dress. They put and expectation of how someone who shops at this store should dress like.  They are socially constructing how they want their customers to dress.

The Lakers are a big part of popular culture especially here in Los Angeles. They fit the description of what popular is. They are well liked, well recognized, have vast commercial media, and they relate to the people.

Lesson 11 - Life At Home

 This is my family. We are a nuclear family living in the same household and are bound by legal, biological, and emotional ties.

 This is my extended family. This is a larger group of family consisting of four generations. We all gather in one household for major holidays one being thanksgiving.

 My parents practice monogamy. They have been married for 20 years and are in a relationship with only each other.

 My grandmother is doing the instrumental task of cooking a meal for the entire family.  This is a practical task necessary to maintain family life, as well as having the rest of the family contribute to help do chores around the house.

For birthdays in my family's house, my parents have made us pancakes on the morning of our birthday. They make a stack consisting of as many pancakes as age we are turning.  This is an expressive task that contributes to the emotional work necessary to support our family members.

Lesson 6 - Life In Groups

This is a group, a collection of people who share attributes, identify with one another and interact with each other. 

This group of marathon runners represents Aggregate.  They are all sharing the same physical location but know nothing about each other. They are only in contact because they are running the same race.

 This is my primary group. I am closely associated with them and we all belong together.

 My sisters soccer team is a secondary group.  They are together for a reason and for a specific activity.  They interact only to accomplish the task of playing together as a team.

My youngest sister and her two friends are a triad. They will continue to exist even if one is no longer in the picture.  They are more stable at the cost of intimacy.

These best friends are a dyad. They will have a closer bond withe each other than the triad does but is also more unstable because if one person leaves the group, it no longer exists.