Nature and Nurture, in scientific early thought it was conceived that Nature was

conceptually more important to humanistic behavior when compared to nurture.

Later on this train of thought was changed and scientist thought of nurture as the
determining factor of a persons behaviors. Twin studies is an effective way to get a
glimpse into the ways these two determining factors, nature and nurture have on
moldings human personalities and behaviors. Studies done on twins have shown
that twins who have the same genetics and nature that were split apart from birth
have had similar habits and tendencies that were shared among the two although
growing up experiencing different environments. This gives us evidence that nature
and our genetic make-up contributes a great deal to the personality of humans. For
example a study of twins who grew up in totally different environments because
they were separated at birth, met later in life and came to the realization that they
were very similar. Things like toilet, eating, reading, and social habits when
compared were identical. Twins although having the same mannerisms did not
share a similarity in intelligence quotient, which was showed numerously in studies.
Some can excel at left brain activities while the other can excel at right brain
activities. In conclusion nature and nurture both share a vital role in shaping human
behavior and personalities. Genetics or nature gives determinants that might
create similar mannerisms in twins, while our environment also plays a vital role in
shaping who a person is.

Charles Horton Cooleys looking glass self explains that human personality and
actions is expressed by other peoples views of them. We can become who we are
base on how other people perceive us. First we imagine or model ourselves from
how others perceive who we are. Second we build an image in our heads of what
others perceive of us, and build a blueprint of ourselves from that judgement.
Thirdly we gain a belief of ourselves based on what others believe of us. This
blueprint in formed in our minds and we mold ourselves after this perception.
George Herbert Meads concepts are very similar to Cooleys in that a person comes
with a blueprint of who they are based on their friends, family and peers imagery of
who they are. We model ourselves based on those perceptions of the significant
others. The people who are most important to Me have the greatest impact on
the formation of Me. The I is when a person puts a signature touch on Me or
the perception based molding created by significant others. The I is when a
person shapes themselves based on what they feel comfortable being as a person
and is a more individualistic independent thought which creates a person. They use
their own views and thought to be an individual they desire to become. A
mentioned earlier significant others are those we impact and influence over a
person. They are in relation to self because they help shape or mold us through
influence. For example a father teaches his child gender roles in society and help
guide him into a direction the father deems fit and this is powerful because we
usually have daily interactions who our parents. We take bits and pieces from
friends, family, and peers and these collective influences shape and mold an
individuals personality. So in turn significant others give indirect influences to self.
The 3 stages, in the first stage a child can only imitate and this in turn shapes our

language and actions needed for life and roles later on in life. The second stage you
learn each individual roles and the importance of those roles. You can then play
around with different roles so you can see which better suits you. The final stage is
when you can develop your own signature character and become a unique
individual through your experiences you find what role suits you in life.

The dramaturgical approach is an approach on life. We are the directors of our own
movie and we experience life by observation. The world is our stage and we shift
who we are based on situational needs for a given social situation. We play ageist
roles and gender roles for example and those things shift as we age, creating a shift
from student to teacher or from child to father. The performance you put on is for
the sake of imprinting an image you want to exude onto others. For example you
put on a performance of team leader of a sports team and then you put on a
different type of performance as a father when you are with your family. We shift
who we are based on the necessity of the situation. Frontstage is where we control
a situation by acting out in a way to exude a given impression we want to bestow
upon others. For example when the president talks about the state of the economy
he because reassuring and confident in his mannerisms to calm peoples fears
about the future. In the backstage he could be with his consultants in fear of not
being able to fix the economy and relaying his real thought about the future of the
country. We chose to exude and disclose information to control a situation. Facework or a front is to maintain social interactions and relationships with others so
that we send a certain message that we desire.

The agents of socialization include, media, school, family, friends, peers,

community, work, and culture. Every aspect of society where socialization occurs
are factors in socialization. Schools are one of the main role players in gender role
socialization because of the fact that we encounter friends, role models and peers in
school. We have influences from friends to join a certain sport which are sometimes
dominate for a gender such as cheerleading or football. This peer influence creates
models of how to fit into stereotypical gender roles in society. The way our peers
dress also contributes to gender role socialization because children tend to mimic
was is perceived as the norm within their social group in fear of alienation. Another
key factor is the influence teachers have on students. For example in early preschool children might be encourage by teachers to play with certain toys because of
their gender and this reinforces stereotypical gender roles at a young age. Teachers
can also label and treat children differently based on their gender, such as lining
children up based on gender. Lastly teachers may or may not encourage traditional
gender behaviors further reinforcing gender roles. Technology has influence
socialization in both negative and positive ways. For example technology can
improve a shy persons social skills by giving them a way to interact with others
without the pressures of face to face interactions. They may help them break out of
their shells, but it may also create detachment from face to face interaction,
because of the lack of practice that can create comfortability and knowledge of how

to act in non-technological socialization situations. It can also help people expand

social circles because technology is so accessible and is able to reach a wider
audience this aids in the view of different perspective and to help others gauge how
people from other social groups feel about a subject matter. Twitter for example
can be accessed from almost all cellphones and this gives us instant virtual
connections to people around the world. Technology on the other hand can harm
vital human to human live interactions because of the ease of use some may deem
it unnecessary to interaction with others on a more personal face to face level.
Overall technology is change the face of socialization and the way we socialize and
it is still too early to see the longer term effects on future generations.

Total institutions are places where groups live and/or work together and are cutoff
from the rest of society for a substantial amount of time, examples of this is prisons
or off-shore drill workers who spends a significant time isolated from society.
Goffmans four types of total institutions include places where the impoverished,
elderly or orphaned go because they cannot take care of themselves. Second are
institutions that are established to isolate those we fear like criminals because they
are harmful. Third are those who are sick that may harm society like people with
Ebola who are isolated in camps. Lastly communities who have similar beliefs and
ideas like a cult or militia who band together in groups. Degradation ceremonies
strips a persons and culture away in order to reinforce external control more easily.
They strip ones self sense so that a group leader can set limits and rules for
behaviors.

In society medicine has advance thus leaving us with a greater deal of elderly. One
way society has tried to deal with the problem is to redefine elderly and raise the
retirement age to cut government spending on healthcare costs. Disengagement
theory suggest that as people age they naturally disengage with society and that
this type of behavior is natural for the elderly. An example is when the aging lose
their peers through death from old age making their circles smaller and making
them less socially active. The activity theory suggest that the more a person
socializes the more the aging process is delayed and quality of life increases. To
combat ageism we need to raise awareness for the aging population. Through
education of the public we can fight against stereotypes of the aging to help better
understand and help the aging population. There also needs to be more positive
reinforcement towards the aging in media. Instead of seeing it as a negative
connotation we need to promote the positives. We also need to promote the
positive impact the elderly has in contributing to society.