A-Level Sociology — Socialisation, Inequality & Debates

Culture and socialisation

• Culture (norms, values, beliefs, customs); types - subculture, high/popular/mass culture, cultural diversity and cultural hybridity; globalisation and a "global culture".
• Socialisation: primary (the family) and secondary (education, peers, media, religion, workplace) - how we learn culture; nature vs nurture (feral children, cross-cultural evidence show culture is learned); social control (formal/informal, sanctions).

The formation of identity

• Identity as socially constructed through socialisation and interaction; sources of identity - class, gender, ethnicity, age, nationality, sexuality, disability.
• Structural views (identity shaped by society - functionalism, Marxism, feminism) vs social action views (identity constructed and negotiated - interactionism; the self, labelling); postmodern views (identity as fluid, chosen and consumption-based).

Key debates

• How far identity is imposed vs chosen; the impact of globalisation, the media and consumption on modern identities.

Analyse identity as a product of socialisation and social structure vs individual agency/choice, using structural, action and postmodern perspectives - the core of the OCR "culture and identity" unit.

Diagram