Self in Society
Identify one core value or belief that defines your “self.” Refer back to Lesson 3 discussions to identify a value or belief at the core of your self-concept.
Describe and discuss how at least three different institutional agents of socialization influenced this particular value or belief at the core of your self-concept.
In Lesson 3 discussions you examined how social group agents of socialization (i.e., your family and friends) shaped a core value or belief of your self-concept. In this paper, think broader about how social institutions (including school, work, mass media [and social media], religion, the legal system, economic system, medicine, etc.) influenced or impacted this value/belief in your life. These institutions may have influenced you via experience with or participation in these institutions, the way the institutions operate and/or are structured, by way of changes in the ways institutions operate or are structured, and more. Employ your sociological imagination and think about the ways that society influenced this value–try to think above and beyond individual interactions to how the way that society is organized and structured influence(d) your value/belief. (A good exercise is to imagine yourself in a different time period or culture because then you can see institutional influences that we take for granted in the here and now.)
Identify, briefly define/discuss, and apply the following concepts in your analysis of this value: self, sociological imagination, agents of socialization, and self-fulfilling prophecy (or labeling).
Be sure to include full reference citations for every resource invoked in your paper (even assigned readings and videos—There should be at least 2 references to course materials in your paper.
