Influential socialization


By Jim Killebrew

[October 14, 2014]  The post asked a question about the President's low approval ratings. "Are you surprised that Obama's poll numbers are plunging so fast they're creating wind currents on the way down? This is just the beginning. Not even his most strident supporters can defend his incompetence any longer."

I felt compelled to respond: "Perhaps it is because he relies too heavily on his upbringing in Kenya and Indonesia; after that, the completion of his socialization of growing up in the customs of native Hawaii. He identifies much more with the Islamic viewpoint than that of the Judeo-Christian ethic on which this country was founded. When transplanted into the throes of Washington, DC and the epicenter of the political structure of American politics, is it any wonder he has no clue?"

Another responded with, "I'm no fan of President Obama, but what the heck are the 'customs of native Hawaii' and what do they have to do with anything?"

Perhaps the answer to that lies in the socialization period for the President. That is the period of Individual Value Development.
 

Dr. Morris Massey, a sociologist born in 1939, developed a theory of development based on the significant emotional events that occurred in a person’s period of socialization development in the decade of life that he called the “socialization period.” His postulate was that a person’s personality was formed, along with his values, during a period of time in his early life where he was influenced deeply by the significant others in his life at that time. As the individual grows the influence begins to move away from the direct control of the parents toward those the individual deems his peers. Although imprinted with truths and realities embedded in personality and value-structure, the acceptance of those like-minded peers have as much or more significant influence on the continued development of personality and values through modeling. In later adolescence the individual continues the growth of personality and values by synthesizing the values of others into a personal value structure and system of a developing world-view. This “socialization” period reaches out to include the world community at large to examine and accept the values from peers, media and educational/vocational endeavors. In essence we become who we are as we pass through those defining periods of significant change as we begin to grow through the important decades of our earliest life. Indeed, those “significant emotional events” which occur in our “socialization period” shape in some fashion the rest of our lives. Morris Massey has described at least three major periods of our life during which values are developed.

1. The Imprint Period. Up to the age of seven, we are like sponges, absorbing everything around us and accepting much of it as true, especially when it comes from our parents. The confusion and blind belief of this period can also lead to the early formation of trauma and other deep problems. The critical thing here is to learn a sense of right and wrong, good and bad. This is a human construction which we nevertheless often assume would exist even if we were not here (which is an indication of how deeply imprinted it has become).

2. The Modeling Period. Between the ages of eight and thirteen, we copy people, often our parents, but also other people. Rather than blind acceptance, we are trying on things like suit of clothes, to see how they feel. We may be much impressed with religion or our teachers. You may remember being particularly influenced by junior school teachers who seemed so knowledgeable—maybe even more so than your parents.
 

3. The Socialization Period. Between 13 and 21, we are very largely influenced by our peers. As we develop as individuals and look for ways to get away from the earlier programming, we naturally turn to people who seem more like us. Other influences at these ages include the media, especially those parts which seem to resonate with the values of our peer groups.

Specifically related to the President is the environmental tenor in Hawaii prior to Obama's birth. In 1954, before Obama was born, a nonviolent revolution of industry-wide strikes, protests and other civil disobedience transpired. In the territorial elections of 1954 the reign of the Hawaii Republican Party in the legislature came to an abrupt end, replaced by the Democratic Party of Hawaii. Democrats lobbied for statehood and gained the governorship from 1962 to 2002. The Revolution also unionized the labor force, hastening the decline of the plantations. These sugar plantations had been the crux of power in Hawaii for many years.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admission Act on March 18, 1959 which allowed for Hawaiian statehood. After a popular referendum in which over 93% voted in favor of statehood, Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state on August 21, 1959.

For many Native Hawaiians, the manner in which Hawaii became a US territory is a bitter part of its history. Hawaii Territory governors and judges were direct political appointees of the US president. Native Hawaiians created the Home Rule Party and seek greater self-government. Hawaii was subject to cultural and societal repression during the territorial period and the first decade of statehood. Along with other self-determination movements worldwide the 1960s Hawaiian Renaissance led to the rebirth of Hawaiian language, culture and identity.

On the mainland, the decade of the 1960s began a movement as well. The sixties were the age of youth, as 70 million children from the post-war baby boom became teenagers and young adults. The movement away from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking and real change in the cultural fabric of American life. No longer content to be images of the generation ahead of them, young people wanted change. The changes affected education, values, lifestyles, laws, and entertainment. Many of the revolutionary ideas which began in the sixties are continuing to evolve today.

With the support of Hawaii Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, Congress passed a joint resolution called the "Apology Resolution" (US Public Law 103-150). It was signed by President Bill Clinton on November 23, 1993. This resolution apologized "to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893... and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination." The implications of this resolution have been extensively debated.[16][17]

Akaka proposed what is called the Akaka Bill to extend federal recognition to those of Native Hawaiian ancestry as a sovereign group similar to Native American tribes.

To match up the Individual Value Development period for the President we start with his birth and look at that decade. Obama's parents married in Wailuku on Maui on February 2, 1961. Obama was born on August 4, 1961. Matching up with Massey's imprint period, from birth up to seven years of age, there were several significant events in the President's life. Obama's parents separated when, in late August 1961, Obama's mother moved with their newborn son to attend the University of Washington in Seattle for one year. She returned with her son to Hawaii in 1962. Obama's parents divorced in March 1964. His contact with his father was minimal; Obama Sr. returned to Kenya in 1964, when Barack was only three years old, where Barack's father remarried; he did not visit with Barack in Hawaii until 1971, which was only one visit in those years.

In 1963, Obama's Mother met Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian East–West Center graduate student in geography at the University of Hawaii, and the couple were married on Molokai on March 15, 1965. After two one-year extensions of his J-1 visa, Lolo returned to Indonesia in 1966, followed sixteen months later by his wife and stepson in 1967, with the family initially living in a Menteng Dalam neighborhood in the Tebet sub-district of south Jakarta, then from 1970 in a wealthier neighborhood in the Menteng sub-district of central Jakarta. From ages six to ten, Obama attended local Indonesian-language schools: St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School for two years and Besuki Public School for one and a half years, supplemented by English-language Calvert School homeschooling by his mother.

Obama returned to Honolulu in 1971 to live with his maternal grandparents. Barack was 10 years old when he returned to Hawaii to be raised by his grandparents. He began the decade of the 1970s in Hawaii after having lived through the turbulent changes described above during his first ten years of life.

Decade of the 1970s

The chaotic events of the 60s, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70s. Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration. Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60s gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture. Amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings, American culture flourished. Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade. Legalized abortion had its birth in America.

When one views the President's decisions and actions while in office, it is easy to see the effect his socialization periods have made in his life. Many of the issues in Hawaii during the decades of the 50s, 60s and 70s have influenced the President's actions today.

[By JIM KILLEBREW]