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1. What is the primary difference between how structural functionalist theory and conflict theory explain socialization?
Answer: For structural functionalists, socialization is a positive thing for human societies because it supports their effective functioning. Socialization is necessary to re-create society repeatedly. Conflict theorists, in contrast, explain how socialization may, in fact, contribute to the re-creation of patriarchy and social inequality by re-creating gender and class relations that are based on the unequal distribution of power in human societies.
2. How might feminist theory explain the lack of women practising early sociological research?
Answer: Feminist theorists see gender relations as a primary determinant of behaviour in human societies and integral in the process of socialization. They might explain that these relations are defined by men possessing more social power than women. Sociology developed during a time period when this power was used to prevent women from acquiring a higher education. This patriarchal power rested partly in the process of socialization that raised individuals of all genders to believe women should only focus on family roles instead of finding paid work.
3. What factor potentially unites the explanatory power of both feminist theory and conflict theory and illuminates a path towards their theoretical teaming up?
Answer: The factor that unites these two theoretical perspectives is their shared focus on social power as determining social life, including the process of socialization. Conflict theory focuses on class conflict, or the conflict between capitalists and workers while feminist theory focuses on conflict between genders in a society defined by patriarchy, or male domination throughout social life. Both conflicts are rooted in the unequal distribution of social power and its influence on how we raise individuals to become members of societies. These shared roots allowed feminists to apply Marx’s ideas on conflicts about social power to gender inequality. In turn, conflict theorists have broadened their focus from solely class relations to class and gender relations simultaneously. The simultaneous influence of gender and class conflict on the process of socialization will continue to be a focus for sociological theories and research into the future.
4. How do primary and secondary socialization differ?
Answer: They differ based primarily on the question of scale in relation to human societies. In other words, primary socialization is defined as how we learn to become members of some larger society based on nationality, religion, or culture whereas secondary socialization is defined as how we learn to become members of some smaller group within the larger society; like a soccer team, for example, or at a place of work.
5. How did Goffman distinguish between the front stage and the backstage in his theory on social interaction?
Answer: Goffman looked at society as a theatre with individuals in society as actors. The front stage was where individuals performed a role to make an impression on others. The backstage was the private area where individuals could be themselves and not rely on impressing others with some sort of social performance. Goffman used restaurant workers to illustrate his point, arguing these workers performed on the front stage with customers to leave an impression with them but on the backstage, in the kitchen, for example, the workers did not have to perform any roles or impress anyone.