Socialization Influence On American Culture

American culture has been referred to as a “melting pot.” Different cultures have added their own distinct aspects to society, making America a diverse country. Despite the plethora of cultures, certain norms, mores, and folkways are evident in American society. These ideas are vital to the function and stability of America. They provide guidelines for what is acceptable and not. In virtually every society, there are people who engage in deviant behavior and do not abide by the values that the rest of society follows. Theorists have debated if people are socialized into acting this way and if it is a social or personal problem. The sociological study of culture focuses on norms, mores, and folkways.

Broderick and Blewitt (2015) state how Erikson’s theory addresses the human characteristics such as maturity, cognitive changes, motor skills, attitudes, behaviors, and expectations throughout development. All these characteristics are concerns clients confront professional counselors about. Depending on the age, counselors can study the personality theory to indicate the significant event the client is experiencing. An example of a significant event would be a 17-year-old male who feels unsure towards his beliefs and desires. This stage is called “Identity Verses Role Confusion”. Broderick and Blewitt (2015) explain that this stage is where an adolescent might feel confused about their career path, which social group to associate with, and

In the early 20th-century, interest in the field of child development emerged. Researchers and theorists studied the ways in which children grew, learned, and, in some instances, were shaped by societal influences (Weiland, 1993). The study of child development enables us to appreciate and understand the social, emotional, physical, educational, and cognitive growth that children go through from birth to early adulthood. Grand theories attempt to organize and arrange concepts and aspects of development using a step approach. Such as that of Erik Erikson’s theory, the Psychosocial Identity Development theory, in which he addresses the development of personal, emotional, and social progression in an individual through stages (Pretorius et al., 2015). Erikson’s model for the approach of development involves the focus of overcoming conflicts that individuals encounter over the span of their childhood that influence their ego identity, or the conscious sense of self that develops and constantly changes due to new experiences and information that is acquired through daily interactions with others and events. In Erikson’s theory, he believed that each person experienced a conflict that served as a defining moment in their development that essentially shaped who they would become later on in life; he believed that unresolved problems of adult life echoed unresolved conflicts of one’s childhood (Berger, 2011).

Are you are confused as to where you are going in life? Do you sometimes feel like you just do not know who you are, or who you want to be? Do not worry, this is not uncommon. In fact, according to psychoanalyst Erik Erickson (1902-1994), most young people ages fifteen to twenty years of age feel the same way. Erickson, a psychoanalytic theorist, took the human life cycle and categorized it into eight stages. One such stage would be identity versus role-confusion. During this stage, adolescents begin to truly form who they are in life. They form their present off of the good and bad experiences of their past. Erickson believes that the stages in the life cycle apply to nearly everyone. It does not

American Lore is just like any other lore it has myths, legends, and fairy tales, but American lore shows the history of America and how we live today, with a twist to the story. With Legends, myths, and fairy tales it expresses the way americans think and how creative we can be to come up with these stories from things that could actually happen. Legends are based on historical facts Myths are based on religion and gods and goddesses. Fairy Tales are made believe not real, includes special creatures. Tall tales and legends are more based in American lore and is heavily based on history and the many traditional stories that are spread from generation to generation. American lore is based on, “power social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources. Achievement which is a personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards . Hedonism pleasure or sensuous

One of the theorists to investigate the development of identity would be Erik Erikson. According to Erikson (1968), throughout an individual’s life-span, they experience conflicts. These conflicts arise at certain points in life and need to be successfully resolved for the progression in to the next of Erikson’s eight stages (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). The specific stage relevant to the development of identity formation in adolescence would be the ‘identity versus role confusion’ stage. Identity development involves exploring options and making commitments to obtain a relatively stable self-perception (DeHaan & MacDermid, 1996). In contrast, role confusion occurs when individuals are not able to commit specific life choices (DeHaan & MacDermid,

It outlines the struggle an individual faces in finding stability between developing a sense of forming a unique identity while still being accepted and “fitting in” with society. Erikson believed that when teenagers adequately navigated their way through this crisis, they would transpire into having a clear understanding of their individual identity and easily share this new ‘self’ with others. However, if an individual is unable to navigate their way through this crisis period, they may be uncertain of who they are which can result in a lack of understanding, leading to disconnection from society and the people around them. If youth become stuck at this stage they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults, according to Erikson’s theory. This period of an individual’s life allows them to investigate possibilities which will lead them to discovering their own identity based upon the result of their explorations.

Erikson’s stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion (13-19 years old), was a crucial time for my brother and I, as my parents decided to put us back in public school. I was thirteen-years old at the time, just entering the eighth grade as a “new kid” in a very small rural community. This was beyond some of my toughest

Ideas, Belief and Culture Culture and the arts are always changing on a national scale and can affect many aspects of a society. The role of culture and the arts in the 19th and 20th century movements for social and political change were highly influential. In the different time periods between these two centuries, culture and the arts affected many movements that called for some sort of change. These movements included slavery, territorial expansion, technology, etc.

America is one of several countries in the world in which almost all people are immigrants. So there are people from all over the world, which brought different cultural traditions to this country.

Culture embraces religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we greet visitors and everything else pertaining to the way a group of people or nation do things. Considering how enormous America, is and the fact that it is the third largest country in the world with a population of over 300 million people, America is considered to be one of the most diverse countries in the world. Americans come in all colors, have all types of religions, and speak many languages from all over the world, Resulting in it to be one of the most culturally diverse places on the planet.     Nearly every region of the world has influenced American culture, as it is a country of immigrants, therefore, it’s culture can be expressed through multiple ways. The United States is sometimes described as a huge pot in which different cultures have contributed their own flavors to American culture or in this case the dish.

For my life journey I have chose to use Eric Erikson’s theory I have decided to use his theory because to me his theory suited my life appropriately. Eric Erikson is a well known theorist from the twentieth century, he has produced many theories. One of his most known and recognized theory is the psychosocial development. This theory describes the steps a person goes through in life. There are nine stages in his theory. Originally his theory only eight steps, but his wife found the last step after his death and published it. The nine stages are: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy and soliditary vs. isolation, generativity vs. self absorption and stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Although, I have not gone through all of these steps yet due to my age I am only twenty two. I will speak about the steps I have gone through so far.

In my opinion, I feel like I have already passed Erikson’s stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion. Up until two years ago, I was however still in the midst of that phase. I was not troubled by the development of an ethnic or religious identity, but I was definitely trying to understand what to do with my life in general. I especially had two concerns: understanding what career I wanted to pursue and whether I wanted to go back to my native country. In these two years I have undertaken many different experiences that allowed me to grow tremendously and that really helped me to understand what my life goals are. In fact, I understood that I want to pursue a career in the healthcare field, more specifically I dream to become an orthopedist, that I would like to keep living in the United States at least until the

From the moment someone knows they are going to be a parent, while awaiting for adoption or during pregnancy, they begin to imagine how their daughter or son will be. Most parents attempt to become the agents for their children’s gender socialization, but rather are converted to actors involved in a more complicated process of accomplishing gender with and for their children .Have you ever heard the phrase “money makes the world go round,” it infers that without money or some kind of currency the world wouldn’t function the way it is today. Quite frankly, I believe it to the outmost extent. People are not going to resort back to trading commodities. This country has gone through time periods of different influences like wars and industrialization, but perhaps the biggest of all time would be the era of The Media. We as consumers, provide the monetary power that provides that influence to the world. Most of the environment of almost every child 10 and above, growing up in the United States or any industrialized country, is the everyday use of different forms of media. Essentially it amounts to the creation of a new source of socialization. Of course the media has become part of the new social environment of people of all ages, but their potential role in the socialization of gender identity in adolescents is perhaps especially strong.

Erikson’s theory of identify versus role confusion, the psychological conflict of adolescence, was evident in my early adolescent years. My parents divorced shortly after I was born and due to a custody agreement, I grew up switching household’s everyday. This meant I had two different school busses, two neighborhoods, two sets of friends, and two very different parents with vastly opposing parenting styles and expectations. My dad was always very authoritative and somewhat forced independence onto me. He worked a well paying but stressful job and wasn’t home often. His absence meant my sisters and