Page 99 - Class Portfolio2019

UNIT II
SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

Harry Stack Sullivan has developed the Theory of Interpersonal Relations. Sullivan
described friendships as providing the following functions:

(a) offering consensual validation, (b) bolstering feelings of self-worth, (c) providing
affection and a context for intimate disclosure, (d) promoting interpersonal sensitivity,

and (e) setting the foundation for romantic and parental relationships. Sullivan believed
these functions developed during childhood and that true friendships were formed
around the age of 9 or 10.

Social learning theorists such as John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Albert Bandura, all
argue for the influences of the social group in learning and development. Behaviourism,
Operant Learning Theory, and Cognitive Social Learning Theory all consider the role the

social world plays on development.
Positive Advantage of Peer Group

 Peer groups provide perspective outside of the individual's viewpoints.

 Peer groups can also serve as a venue for teaching members gender roles.

 Serve as a practicing venue to adulthood

 Teach unity & collective behaviour in life

 Peer groups (friends’ group) can help individuals form their own identity.

Negative Attributes of Peer Groups

 Peer pressure

 Future problems

 Risk behaviors

 Aggression and prosocial behavior

 Sexual promiscuity

We Groups and They Groups

- Also called as “US and THEM”

- Ingroups and outgroups

In sociology and social psychology, an ingroup is a social group to which a person
psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an outgroup is a social group with
which an individual does not identify.

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