Component 1 introduces the big ideas of culture, socialisation and identity, then develops them through one optional topic: Families and relationships, Youth subcultures, or Media. It is designed to help students think about how people become social beings, how identities are shaped, and how society influences everyday life.
Component 1: What is this part of the course about?
This part of OCR sociology is all about some of the most important sociological questions:
- How do people learn the norms and values of society?
- Why do people from different groups develop different identities?
- How far are our choices shaped by culture?
- How do families, peers, schools and the media influence who we become?
- Why do different sociologists disagree about identity, behaviour and social change?
What students will study in Section A: Introducing socialisation, culture and identity
Culture
Students begin by looking at what sociologists mean by culture.
Key ideas include:
- Norms – the unwritten rules about how to behave
- Values – the beliefs a society sees as important
- Culture as relative – what seems normal in one society may seem unusual in another
- Cultural diversity – the fact that different groups live with different beliefs, practices and traditions
- Cultural hybridity – when cultures mix and blend together
- Different types of culture:
- subculture
- high culture
- popular culture
- global culture
- consumer culture
What this really means for students:
- You will learn that culture is not fixed.
- You will explore how lifestyles, tastes, beliefs and identities vary between groups.
- You will begin to think sociologically about why people do not all see the world in the same way.
Socialisation
Students then study socialisation, which is the process through which people learn the culture of society.
Key ideas include:
- Primary socialisation – early learning, especially in childhood
- Secondary socialisation – later learning through wider social institutions
- Socialisation as a lifelong process
- The role of key agencies of socialisation:
- family
- peer group
- media
- religion
- education
- workplace
Students also look at:
- The nature vs nurture debate
- How behaviour may be shaped by biology versus society
- The link between socialisation and the creation of identity
- How society controls behaviour through formal and informal social control
Social control
A really important part of this topic is understanding how people are encouraged to conform.
Students will study formal agencies of social control, such as:
- police
- law and the legal system
- courts
- government
- military
They will also study informal agencies of social control, such as:
- family
- peer groups and subcultures
- media
- religion
- education
- workplace
This helps students explore:
- how rules are enforced
- how behaviour is shaped without people always noticing
- how social order is maintained in everyday life
Identity
Students then move on to the idea of identity.
Key ideas include:
- identity as something that is socially created
- the influence of socialisation on who we think we are
- the different aspects of identity:
- ethnicity
- nationality
- gender
- social class
- sexuality
- age
- disability
- hybrid identities
- changing identities
- the idea that identities can intersect and overlap
What students should take from this:
- Identity is not just personal — it is also social.
- People often belong to several social categories at once.
- Some identities matter more in some situations than others.
- Sociology helps explain why identity can be shaped by power, inequality and culture.
What happens next in Component 1?
After Section A, students study one of three option topics:
- Families and relationships
- Youth subcultures
- Media
By clicking on the links, you can discover more information about each of the topic areas.
Below you can rate your own knowledge of this area of the specification by completing the following checklist and rating your knowledge of the different areas.
Section A: Culture, Socialisation and Identity
This revision page focuses only on the core Section A specification points. Rate your confidence in each area from 1 = poor to 5 = expert, then use the printable checklist summary to save just your checklist as a PDF.
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Printable Checklist Summary
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1. What is culture?
2. What is socialisation?
3. What is identity?
1. What is culture?
These areas focus on culture, different types of culture, and the idea that norms and values vary across groups and societies.
Culture, norms and values
- What culture means
- The meaning of norms
- The meaning of values
- How norms and values shape behaviour
Types of culture
- Subculture
- High culture
- Popular culture
- Global culture
- Consumer culture
Cultural diversity and cultural hybridity
- Cultural diversity
- Cultural hybridity
- Mixing of cultures
- Cross-cultural comparisons
2. What is socialisation?
These areas cover the lifelong process of socialisation, key agencies, the nature/nurture debate, and formal and informal social control.
3. What is identity?
These areas focus on how identities are created, the different aspects of identity, and the idea that identities can overlap, change and become hybrid.
The concept of identity
- What identity means
- How identities are formed
- Links between identity and socialisation
Aspects of identity and cultural characteristics
- Ethnicity
- Nationality
- Gender
- Social class
- Sexuality
- Age
- Disability
Hybrid identities
- Mixed identities
- Cultural blending
- Belonging to more than one social world
Intersection and changing identities
- Overlap between identities
- Intersection of class, gender, ethnicity, age and more
- Changing identities over time