Section G Homework Assignment

1. Identify a specific role you currently occupy that you want to use for the
following exercise: Mother

2. Internalization of norms:
A) Family- My family is very close and very large on my moms side. The actions of my family taught me at a young age what my expected role in society were suppose to me. When you grew up you got married and had children. That is what everyone around me did and that was a norm for my family. As a women in my family the dominant role was a mother. When I was growing up very few
mothers worked outside the home. The mothers job was to take care of the kids
and the house. The role of parenting is moving away from the mother being the primary care provider in this society. This has been changed by men who are now being stay at home father will there wives work.
Education- When I was in school we had to take care of an egg pretending it was our child. Neglect or abuse would leave the egg broken. We were to take care of this egg 24 hours a day, treating it as a real child. We were not allowed to let anyone else take care of our child. We also had to keep a diary of what we would need to do, at what time and how we did the care for our child. A passing grade was not give to anyone who did not have a diary or if they egg was not in it’s original condition. Schools still do this today, only now they have computerized dolls that cry. These dolls are programmed to cry every so often and the program can tell the teachers whether the doll has been neglected or abused. Schools are using this as a way to try to discourage children from having children. Though in the meantime they are teaching the kids how to take care of a child and be parents when the time comes.
Media- When you watch TV notice that women are happiest when they are
parents. People are horrified when they read, watch or hear of parents that have
done something that harmed there children. Most parents are taught that they should die for there children and most parents would.
The biggest effect media has on the way I parent is what is available to watch. These days the language, nudity, and violence is everywhere. My norms and values are not the same as what it seems most of society is. Even though the media offers this type of so called entertainment I as a parent have decided that you need to limit was can and can not be watch.
Government- The government decides what forms of birth control should be available to people. They decided whether abortions were legal or not. This affect the decision whether or not people become parents.
The government decides the age at which a parent should start there child in
school and what test scores are required in order for the child to move on to the next grade. This is a government norm that some parent in today’s society are trying to fight. Schools are being designed by parents allowing them to choose different ways there child learns best. Education is a method of social control that is being changed. Society is creating a new norm for educating children.
The government also decides when a child becomes a adult. The government can draft at 18 years old. You can vote at 18. This is a method of social control. It’s the norm of our society. When a child is 18 they are responsible for there own actions.
B) Social rewards for obeying norms:
One of the social rewards of being a mother is how your child interacts with
others in society. No parent wants there child to be the school bully or the problem child. We get our rewards by the way the teacher talks about our child at a parent teacher conference. We are rewarded by other children when they are friends with our child. We are rewarded when we are praised by others or they take the time to come and watch our child in an activity.
When you go out in public with a baby, you are being rewarded by everyone
who comes up to you and asks how old is your baby, tells you how cute they are or
just smiles at you. This is your nod of approval that you are doing a social norm in
society that we as a person did not create.
The government gives people a deduction for each child. This method of
social control is something millions of parents do every year when they do there
taxes, we take our deduction. We are rewarded by the government for having
children, people without children don’t have a special deduction for not having
them. We didn’t create this norm, but we gladly taking that deduction every year.
C) Sanctions or threat of sanctions for disobeying norms:
Society holds parents responsible when there children do something wrong.
Some states have laws holding parents financially responsible for damages a child
may do. Society feels that the parent who disobey the norms should be held responsible. The parents may not have use societies idea of values and norms to raise there child, yet are held accountable for societies values and norms that they did not create or may not believe in.
The biggest threat to a parent is that of judgment by society. If people
choose not to become parents, society wonders why. When people decide to have
children, you are judge on so many levels. What you feed you child (formula or breast milk). When they go to bed. Who you allow them to hang around with. Society has all these methods of social control when it comes to having children, but every parent chooses there own norms and values.
I guess what it comes down to is, society can have all this mechanisms of
social control, but the method of family values and norms can overcome some of
these social control if the person believes in them strong enough.