Sociology: Stages of Child Development Outlined by George Herbert Mead

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
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GEORGE HEBERT MEAD
Contrast the four stages of child development outlined by George Herbert Mead.
The first stage of child development is the preparatory stage (page 149) whereby the child is only capable of imitation. In this stage, the child is not able to imagine how people see things, but instead, they have the ability to copy the actions of people who they interact with regularly, for example, their mothers, fathers, and siblings. In this stage, there is the separation of the I and Me and does not exist to make the child relate the I and Me to themselves. The second stage is the play stage whereby the child begins to imitate and start taking roles (page 149).In the playing stage, the child assumes the functions of a grown up behavior, for example, dressing up and acting some the role of moms or even by imitating their father by talking on a toy cell phone. In the play stage, the child has no ability to take on roles in a coherent and consistent manner. The next step that follows is the game stage whereby the child starts to learn by considering specific roles at a given time and how these functions tend to interact with each other. The child becomes aware of different responsibilities of people working in a restaurant. The last stage of child development is when the child now becomes able to develop, understand and even learn ideas like the behavioral expectation in the society (page 150)
How do children learn to "do gender"?
Doing gender refers to being able to perform various tasks depending on the gender assigned to them by the society (page 151). Children learn gender mostly through the direct feedback the get from others. This process of doing gender begins when the child develops the awareness of self. According to Freudian model children become aware of their genitals and then generates the erotic fantasies making them identify their mothers and fathers. The child will then develop gender schema that will enable them to start making decisions on the appropriate behavior and the styles of play (page 151). The child starts integrating the sense of self into the developing schema and gradually begins to adopt regular and consistent gender roles. For example, the "throwing like a girl" which is a physical expression becomes a new gender schema if a girl joins a softball game. Children who can group photos correctly based on gender demonstrate the gender specific play can select the equivalent sex play group whereby girls are less aggressive in the game. Such children can integrate their sense of self and behave accordingly into their gender schemes (page 152).
What is the logic behind biological explanations of human behavior, and why do sociologists argue that these statements are misguided? To what degree is the human life more than a function of biology? From a sociological point of view, what is the popular appeal of biological determinist arguments, and what are their problems or dangers?
The human societies mainly adapt to the biological and environmental situations or ms of organizing families to raise children and even reproduce the species. Culture, therefore, is the key on how humans and other species successfully adapt to the environment. The...