OCR A-Level Sociology H580
Introducing Socialisation, Culture and Identity
Families and RelationshipsComponent 01
Youth SubculturesComponent 01
MediaComponent 01
Research Methods and Researching Social Inequalities
Understanding Social Inequalities
Globalisation and the Digital Social World
Crime and DevianceComponent 03
EducationComponent 03
Religion, Belief and FaithComponent 03
Introducing Socialisation, Culture and Identity
Media, religion, education and the workplace as agencies of socialisation
- 3 things to know
- Component 01
Overview
Recall questions on the media, religion, education and the workplace as agencies of socialisation: how far the media shape audiences, Durkheim's and the Marxist and feminist views of religion, functionalist views of education, the hidden curriculum, Bowles and Gintis's correspondence principle, and how the workplace socialises adults.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Define the hidden curriculum.
Explain how the workplace socialises adults.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
How does the media act as an agency of socialisation?
Model answer
The media supply role models, representations and stereotypes that show audiences what counts as normal or admirable in appearance, behaviour and lifestyle, increasingly through social media as well as broadcast content.
- 2
Do sociologists agree about how powerfully the media socialise audiences?
Model answer
No — the hypodermic syringe model treats audiences as passively absorbing media messages, while uses and gratifications and other active audience approaches argue people select, interpret and often reject what they see, so media effects remain contested.
- 3
How does religion socialise its members, according to Durkheim?
Model answer
Durkheim argued that shared worship, ritual and rites of passage teach a moral code and bind believers together, reinforcing the collective conscience and social solidarity.
- 4
How do Marxists and feminists differ from functionalists on religion as an agency of socialisation?
Model answer
Marxists argue religion transmits ruling-class ideology and, as the opium of the people, encourages the poor to accept inequality, while feminists argue it socialises women into subordinate patriarchal roles.
- 5
What functions do functionalists give education as an agency of socialisation?
Model answer
Durkheim saw the school as society in miniature, transmitting shared culture and creating social solidarity, while Parsons saw it as a bridge taking children from the particularistic standards of the family to the universalistic, meritocratic standards of wider society.
- 6
Define the hidden curriculum.
Model answer
The hidden curriculum is the set of norms, values and expectations pupils absorb incidentally from the way schooling is organised — punctuality, obedience, hierarchy and competition — rather than from the formal lessons.
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