SOCS 185N Week 2
SOCS 185N Week 2 Quiz
SOCS 185N Week 2 Discussion: The Games Children Play
In the article noted in this activity, the authors point out that most introductory sociology textbooks identify the main socialization agents as family, peers, schools, media, work, and religion. “…[W]hat is far less often acknowledged is the contribution that children’s toys and games play in representing and reinforcing dominant conceptions of ‘appropriate’ social identities found in social discourse and in institutional arrangements.” Toys and games can allow us to experience the subtleties of race, class, gender, and political socialization that are embedded in play. Sometimes players may challenge and subvert these images and messages at the delight or disgust of other players. For the initial post, address the following:
- What toys did you have as a child that you think of as agents of socialization?
- How did you use toys to understand relationships, or prepare for new ones?
- What specific theoretical perspectives on socialization from this week’s reading (symbolic interactionist, functionalist and/or conflict theoretical perspectives) best help you understand your childhood toys as agents of socialization and why?
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification and/or include perspectives from outside scholarly sources shared in the discussion forum by classmates and/or the instructor.
