1.4: Human Social Theory

The Socialization Literature

There have been a number of different theories applicable to culinary arts as an applied discipline, which has tried to explain how people learn things from others. Reinforcement theory, growing out of the tradition of behaviorism, sought to explain human social learning as the product of conditioning. Social learning theory stands in contrast to reinforcement theory. Social learning theory attempts to explain human socialization as a product of observation and mimicry (Volkart, 1951). However, socialization theory has not been considered germane within the culinary arts literature in the past. The hospitality field is nonetheless a people oriented profession that requires teamwork, and strong communication skills. Hospitality organizations have increasingly become aware of the value for having strong organizational socialization tactics to improve newcomer entry and increase retention. Organizations now understand that losing good employees is a significant expense. Employee retention and proper newcomer socialization tactics are now on the front burner.

Elemental goals of socialization – conscience, performance, and values

Arnett (1995), in presenting a new theoretical understanding of socialization, outlined what he believes to be the three goals of socialization (1) impulse control and the development of a conscience; (2) role preparation and performance, including occupational roles, gender roles, and roles in institutions; (3) the cultivation of sources of meaning, or what is important, valued, and to be lived for.

• In essence, socialization is the process that prepares humans to function in social life. It is important for the intern to understand that socialization is culturally relative - people in different cultures socialize differently.
• This distinction does not and should not inherently force an evaluative judgment. Often, when you enter a new culture (like a restaurant) what’s going on may not seem to make sense until you become a part of that culture. Determine what is ‘normal’ in that environment – do not judge it, just listen learn, ease into it. We all form initial opinions – do not immediately act on those opinions. They tend to change, or they will confirm what you thought from the beginning. In either case, give it time.
• Socialization, because it is the adoption of culture, is going to be different in every culture.
• Socialization, as both process – what people do at work, or outcome – what the organization expects from the intern, cannot be judged as ‘better or worse’ in any particular culture (Decety, Michalska, and Akitsuki, 2008).

Theoretical understandings of socialization. Socialization, as a concept in social scientific research, has evolved over time. While the basic idea outlined above has been a component of most understandings of socialization, there has been quite a variety of definitions and theories of socialization. Some of these approaches are presented to provide definitional variety and include (Holland, 1970; Mortimer and Simmons 1978; Long and Hadden, 1985):

• Symbolic Interactionism - the student develops because of social interactions; as a result, socialization is highly dependent on the situations in which the intern finds him/herself; this approach also argues that socialization is a continuous, lifelong process as situations change.

Building relationships is an important part of the sophomore internship. Present yourself to others in ways that will lead them to view us in a favorable light. Remember, all they know about you is what you say and show through your actions. Be respectful, be attentive, be interested, be modest, and be willing to lend a helping hand.

• Role Theory - socialization is seen as a ‘process of acquisition of appropriate norms’, attitudes, self-images, values, and role behaviors that enable acceptance in the group and effective performance of new roles. In this framework, socialization is seen as a conservative force, permitting the perpetuation of the social organization in spite of the turnover of individual members through time.

At the sophomore level, determine who are the best and most effective workers – and emulate them. Maximize your effort to achieve at their level. You do not have to be perfect – you only need to be moving in that direction. Achieve growth in your abilities.

• Reinforcement Theory - the self develops as a result of cognitive evaluations of costs and benefits; this understanding assumes that the ‘socializee’, in approaching new roles, is an independent and active negotiator for advantages in relationships with role partners and membership groups.

Use positive reinforcement with your peers. A couple of examples of a positive response to a desired behavior would be praise, public recognition. When used correctly, positive reinforcement can be one of the most effective strategies by an employee, or employer, in the workplace.

• Internalization Theory - socialization is a series of stages in which the individual learns to participate in various levels of organization in society; this theory contends that the child internalizes a cognitive frame of reference for interpersonal relations and a common system of expressive symbolism in addition to a moral conscience. You become a part of your surroundings. As the environment changes – you change with it.

Remember that your first internship should also prepare you for your second. Become a part of the ‘positives’ at your internship site. Develop good skills and traits. Also, note behavior that you will not take with you when you leave.

Socialization theories per se are not at the heart of the internship but they do thread through the internship experience in applicable ways. Applicable theories follow.

Socialization and social class

What is normal in your own personal environment may be quite different from the environment and way others think about things. We all grow up differently – including the ways we view life - conforming versus creating. Find a mentor and develop contacts capable of moving your career forward. Develop your professional network.

Ellis, Lee, and Peterson (1978), developed a research agenda begun by Melvin L. Kohn (1969), to explore differences in how parents raise their children relative to their social class. Kohn found that lower class parents were more likely to emphasize conformity in their children whereas middle-class parents were more likely to emphasize creativity and self-reliance. Ellis et. al. proposed and found that parents value conformity over self-reliance in children to the extent that conformity superseded self-reliance as a criterion for success in their own endeavors. In other words, the authors verified that the reason lower-class parents emphasize conformity in their children is because they experience conformity in their day-to-day activities. For example, factory work is far more about conforming than innovation (Ellis, Lee, and Peterson, 1978).

College preparation classes and difference

You will be moving to a more challenging environment. Embrace the positive culture of the worksite - the adoption of the norms, values, beliefs, skills, and behaviors that successful organizations possess. Turn these elements into habits that stay with you when you return to the university. Being competent when you think about a task is one thing – unconsciously doing ‘right’ things is another – that is where you want to be. What do I want to learn? What do I need to improve? Learn and confirm.

Rosenbaum (1975), in his article The Stratification of Socialization Processes tested the effects of high school tracks on Intelligence Quotient (IQ). High school tracks are the different levels or types of courses students can take; for instance, many high schools now include college preparation tracks and general education tracks. Rosenbaum's hypothesis was that students who followed the lower tracks (non-college-preparation) would score lower on IQ tests over time than would students who followed the higher tracks (college-preparation). Considering that school is one of the primary contributors to socialization, it makes sense that participation in a given track can also result in the adoption of the norms, values, beliefs, skills, and behaviors that correspond to that track.

In other words, tracks can turn into a type of self-fulfilling prophecy: you may start out at the same level as someone in a higher track, but by the time you have completed the lower track you will have become like the other students in your track. To reduce confounding variables and ensure notable test effects, Rosenbaum selected a homogeneous, white, working class public school with five different, highly stratified classes. Rosenbaum then compared IQ scores for individuals in the different tracks at two time points. As it turns out, tracking does have a significant effect on IQ. People in lower tracks can actually see a decline in IQ compared to a possible increase among those in the upper track. In other words, tracks socialize their students into their corresponding roles which are especially applicable in the applied sciences (Rosenbaum, 1975).

Organizational Socialization

We all enter a workplace with certain expectations – some based on optimism, some based on fear. Sometimes we overvalue what we actually know, and sometimes we lack confidence in our knowledge. You will experience change. You will be blindsided. You will make mistakes. However, in all cases, if you take it in stride, you will learn and become stronger. Learning can be twofold – what to do, and what not to do moving forward. You will experience both. Learn to discern between the two.

Anticipatory socialization. An initial theoretical perspective, as a prelude to the discussion of organizational socialization, is “anticipatory socialization,” the process of “preparing to accept new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors” (Shepard and Greene, 2003: 22) that occur when an individual develops expectations and knowledge about possible jobs and positions. It is usually the first step that occurs in the search and acceptance of an individual into an organization.

• Porter and Steers (1975) postulate that, because of this process, individuals never enter an organization with a completely blank opinion and that they carry with them “cultural baggage.”
• While this sounds as if it causes bias within participants, Arnold (1985) found that graduate students who know more about working life before they enter into an organization are better able to find work that fits their personalities and skill sets.

Several other positive effects of anticipatory socialization have been found as well.

• For example, anticipatory socialization helps in the formation of the overall set of expectations that an individual holds in relation to their contributions to an organization and the response by the organization to their contribution.
• An organization expects things such as time, energy, skills, and loyalty and an employee expects to be compensated as such. Based on what the employee perceives to be fair and just (from what they have come to expect based on their anticipatory socialization) this contract of sorts can be renegotiated or changed (Rousseau, 1991).
• Anticipatory socialization comes from a variety of sources including family, peers, school and the media. This cultivation of ideas is often seen from the standpoint of adolescents while the actual socialization occurs at the adult level. Each of these groups can add a different level to the socialization some providing broad information about organizations in general, and some providing specific task information for specific roles within an organization. (Taylor, Flanagin, and Seibold, 2000).

Apprehension. Apprehension is our fear of what ‘might’ happen as opposed to actual stress, dealing with something that has happened. Apprehension subsides as a person begins to realize that they can work through the perceived difficulty they face. It is normal to be apprehensive of things to come, but do not stress over it – you are not at that point. For example, keeps things in the proper context. If you have a problem – think only about the solution. Nothing else deserved your consideration. Worrying will accomplish nothing. Your actual ‘problem’ is simply what you will do about it.

The focus of a large portion of “organizational communication” research is concerned with the anticipatory socialization of college graduates during their initial job search. However, this linear approach does not account for a lot of the socialization occurring during role and organization switches in a person's lifetime. Jablin (1985) sees anticipatory socialization to occur on two different levels; one as a vocational socialization which would occur only once or twice, and ‘choice’ socialization as roles and specific jobs change.

Theoretical foundations of organizational socialization

The natural tendency for workers is to be compliant – just do their work. For your first internship, compliance is important to develop necessary skills. You are there to also question and learn beyond cooking, but cooking is your first priority – your primary skill for development. Thus, questions and learning should focus initially on preparing and executing the menu – and learn why it’s doing that way. Do things their way because that is what their customers expect and what they will expect from you. Focus on the kitchen – then everything about that area of the restaurant. The people working, the management attitude, the culture of the site – how they do things, and what do they value.

Organizational socialization is the process through which organizational culture is perpetuated, and by which newcomers learn the appropriate roles and behaviors to become effective and participating members (Louis, 1990). The topic has been discussed from various perspectives including socialization stages (Wanous, 1992), socialization tactics (Volkart, 1951), person-situation interactionism, newcomer sense making (Louis, 1990), symbolic interactionism - the interpretation process that occurs between interactions that help people create and recreate meaning. It is the shared understanding and interpretations of meaning that affect the interaction between individuals, especially those working together. Individuals act on the premise of a shared understanding of meaning within their social/professional context. Thus, interaction and behavior is framed through the shared meaning that objects and concepts have attached to them. From this view, people live in both natural (family, social, school) and symbolic environments (work). (Reichers, 1987), and stress (Nelson, 1987).

Effective Socialization. Effective socialization has been discussed in the literature (Feldman, 1980, 1981; Schein, 1978) and it has been used interchangeably with other related constructs, such as effective adaptation (Louis, 1980). Other researchers view it more narrowly as a change in basic attitudes and beliefs that suggest an internal commitment to the organization, rather than just compliance with organization practices. Wanous (1992) considers effective socialization to be synonymous with organizational commitment. He focuses on the internal processes of the individual, not on the socialization process.

Every organization wants committed employees. Your focus should be on working hard and understanding what ‘commitment‘ looks like in the workplace. Find the best employees and learn from them - skills, attitude, and ‘ways of thinking’ about what they do.

Effective socialization is defined as the criteria through which the success of the organization's socialization programs and the newcomer's success through the entire socialization process are evaluated. It is conceptualized as the primary "outcome" of the socialization process that will enhance the achievement of individual and organizational outcomes. The organization teaches the newcomer the skills of the new job, and the norms and values or organizational culture that guide behavior and enhance the newcomer's performance. The information that is transmitted through different socialization programs and informal processes is the socialization content, and how successful newcomers are in acquiring it determines socialization effectiveness (Greenhaus, 1999).

Socialization content. Socialization content refers to what is learned during socialization or what is being imparted to the newcomer in the organization (Louis, 1990).

Begin to concentrate on the four content categories: (1) organizational values, goals, and culture – the way their do things, (2) work group values, norms, and friendships, (3) how to do the job, needed skills and knowledge, and (4) personal change relating to identity, self-image, and motives. The fourth content area requires you to think about the other three areas.

Four content categories have been identified in the literature: task, group, organizational, and personal. Although commonalities exist among the authors in their discussion of socialization content, they differ in their emphasis or focus on specific content categories. For instance, consistent with Louis (1980), and similar to Feldman (1981) and Schein (1980), Fisher (1986) specified four content categories:

1. Organizational values – what the organization considers to be important to its success, goals, and culture- the accepted ways of doing things,
2. Work group values, norms, and friendships,
3. Operational processes - how to do the job, needed skills and knowledge, and
4. Personal growth - personal change relating to identity, self-image, and motives. Within the socialization literature, measures of socialization content were developed in only one empirical study where the content categories identified were performance proficiency, people, politics, organizational goals, values, and history.

A general typology of the information that newcomers must acquire upon entry into the organization is nonexistent (Morrison, 1995). Building on previous studies in socialization and related areas (Feldman, 1981; Fisher, 1986; Louis, 1990; Morrison, 1995; Ostroff and Kozlowski, 1993; Schein, 1980), the content categories utilized to evaluate socialization effectiveness include: (1) task mastery, (2) functioning within the work group, (3) knowledge and acceptance of organization's culture, (4) personal learning, and (5) role clarity. These categories represent indicators of socialization effectiveness and they reflect salient aspects of information newcomers are expected to acquire in any organization. Indicators of Socialization Effectiveness include:

A general typology of the information that newcomers must acquire upon entry into the organization is nonexistent (Morrison, 1995). Building on previous studies in socialization and related areas (Feldman, 1981; Fisher, 1986; Louis, 1990; Morrison, 1995; Ostroff and Kozlowski, 1993; Schein, 1980), the content categories utilized to evaluate socialization effectiveness include:

• (1) task mastery,
• (2) functioning within the work group,
• (3) knowledge and acceptance of organization's culture,
• (4) personal learning, and
• (5) role clarity.
• These categories represent indicators of socialization effectiveness and they reflect salient aspects of information newcomers are expected to acquire in any organization.

Indicators of Socialization Effectiveness include

Task mastery

Your goal is always to master the things and areas assigned to you. Begin by learning to do things correctly then build proficiency and speed. Determine what is ‘normal’ then do, and excel. Normal works in each particular environment. “Normal’ can vary from one environment to another.

It’s time to take your skills to the next level. Set goals ahead of time. What elements of your internship will you master? Discuss this with the chef. Have a list when you arrive. Expand that list as you go. Evaluate your proficiency along the way. Each day – something improves.

Task mastery involves learning the tasks of the new job, gaining self-confidence, and attaining a favorable level of job performance (Feldman, 1981). Fisher (1985, 1986) noted the importance of task mastery to successful newcomer adjustment. Newcomers upon entry seem to focus most of their attention on task relevant information, critical to their adjustment and continued membership in the organization (Morrison, 1995).

Functioning within the work group.

Determine the ‘local rules of the road’ in your new environment and do that. Fit in to the flow of things. Observe, embrace, and think about why ‘normal’ at the site works in that particular context.

When employees join the organization, they need to learn and understand the way things are done within their work units/groups that is consistent with that of other relevant employees.

Indicators of successful functioning within the work group include getting along with coworkers and superiors, coming to feel liked and trusted by peers, understanding the group norms and values, and making a satisfactory adjustment to group culture (Feldman, 1981; Fisher, 1986). As such, learning how to function within the work unit is necessary for effective socialization.

Knowledge and acceptance of organization's culture. Knowledge reflects employees' understanding of the organization's culture. Acceptance relates to how fully the employees have internalized the culture of the organization. Every new employee has to be familiar with the organizational culture. The adjustment to organizational norms and values is beneficial when it leads to the internalization of pivotal norms and development of a new self-identity (Schein, 1988; Van Maanen and Schein, 1979). Learning the culture enables newcomers to develop a definition of the situation, and a scheme for interpreting everyday events (Louis, 1980).

Personal learning. This entails the newcomer learning about him or herself (Fisher, 1986). Personal learning has been identified by Fisher (1986) and Schein (1980) as an important component of the socialization process. Schein (1964) emphasized the importance of personal learning to new college graduates. According to Schein (1964), college graduates enter the work place with personal doubts about their competence in job performance and ability to cope with the anxieties and tensions of the work world. As such, the newcomer needs to learn the type of person he or she is and how he or she will function within the organization.

Roles. The absence of role ambiguity or role clarity has been studied as one of the outcomes of newcomer adjustment in the organization (Fisher, 1985, 1986; Jones, 1986). Achieving role clarity suggests that the newcomer is clear or certain about the expectations of members of his or her role set as well as the scope and responsibilities of his or her new job (Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman, 1970).

Role conflict in organizations

In the classroom, you are the learner. However, in the workplace, you become both learner and teacher. This can be confusing. Have goals about what you want to learn from the experience then exceed those expectations. You have to determine what is important to know. The following sections of the book will help you with that.

Role conflict is a special form of social conflict that takes place when one is forced to take on two different and incompatible roles, or statuses, at the same time. While at times such conflict can motivate the individual to do more and better work, it can equally lead to frustration, anxiety, and reduced efficiency (Knowles and Saxberg, 1971). Another facet of personal conflict has to do with the multiple roles people play in organizations. Behavioral scientists sometimes describe an organization as a system of position roles. Each member of the organization belongs to a role set, which is an association of individuals who share interdependent tasks and thus perform formally defined roles, which are further influenced both by the expectations of others in the role set and by one's own personality and expectations. For example, in a common form of classroom organization, students are expected to learn from the instructor by listening to him, following his directions for study, taking exams, and maintaining appropriate standards of conduct. The instructor is expected to bring students high-quality learning materials, give lectures, write and conduct tests, and set a scholarly example. The system of roles to which an individual belongs extends outside the organization as well, and influences his functioning within it. As an example, a man's roles as husband, father, son, and church member are all intertwine with each other and with his set of organizational roles (Katz and Kahn, 1966).

Organizational man or protean career?

Your internship is about acquiring knowledge to build upon. You are not at the site to become a product of that environment alone. Your goal is to learn knowledge that will carry forward taking you to the next level, and then the next, and so on. How to do something is important to know – ‘why’ it works and ‘how to think about that’ is the greater takeaway.

In their review of the development of the idea of a psychological contract, Hall and Moss (1998) found that the very nature of the contract has changed as organizations have less of an effect on career management than employees have on determining the directions of their own careers. Consequently, the image of the organization man, the long-term, loyal employee has faded in favor of the protean career, a process that the person, not the organization, is managing. There are profound implications of a shorter-term, transactional relationship between employees and organizations at the point of organizational entry. As Edgar Schein (1988) has noted in a discussion of the impact of change versus stability in the socialization of professional managers, so long as we have a pluralistic society that itself values some degree of diversity, more individuals may be better able to operate in industries that thrive on innovation. Organizations that are more conformist may have a hard time finding people willing to make the necessary psychological contract. In other words, the capacity of an organization to be successful in the process of socialization of new employees especially those who bring new professional expertise that is critical to the desire of the organization to change may be contingent upon the extent to which the culture of the organization affects its psychological contract with new employees. By extension, success in socialization may also be affected by the capacity of new employees to make sense of the new organization, what is expected of them and what they can contribute in return, and how they will build their careers within the organization (Schein, 1988).

Two prominent perspectives on organizational entry: socialization and turnover

Your job is to become part of the fabric of the organization, learn what you can, then move on to learn more. Think of your internship site as a different form of classroom. Take the time to confirm what you think is correct or adjust your thinking as necessary. When your ‘class’ in the workplace has concluded, and you have learned your lessons – how will you transfer back to the university classroom what you learn in industry? What will make be a better student and professional in my field of study?

According to Louis, (1980), new employees will leave an organization prematurely because of either unmet or unrealistic expectations. Organizational entry is a major phase of organizational socialization, in which a new employee defines his or her relationship to the organization. Sense making has generally been applied in library and information science to study information need and use in its broadest sense, and in particular, in the information search process of library users. Yet, sense making is also significant to the study of organizational life and organizational identity. Weick (2001) argues that organizations resemble puzzling terrain because they lend themselves to multiple, conflicting interpretations, all of which are plausible (Louis, 1980).

Summary – Important Socialization Theory

There have been a number of different theories, which have tried to explain how people learn things from others. Reinforcement theory, growing out of the tradition of behaviorism, sought to explain human social learning as the product of conditioning. Social learning theory stands in contrast to reinforcement theory. Social learning theory attempts to explain human socialization as a product of observation and mimicry (Volkart, 1951).

The self and socialization.

• The formation of the “self” - the set of concepts we use in defining who we are - is a central part of the socialization process.
• The self emerges in the course of interaction with other people and represents the ideas we have regarding our attributes, capacities, and behavior. It typically includes an egocentric bias as expressed by Cooley, Mead, and Goffman (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers. 2004).

Charles Horton Cooley: The Looking-Glass Self.

Charles Horton Cooley's notion that our consciousness arises in a social context is exemplified by his concept of the looking-glass self—

• A process by which we imaginatively assume the stance of other people and view ourselves as we believe they see us.
• Self-image is differentiated from self-conception.
• Self-esteem is governed by reflected appraisals, social comparisons, and self-attribution. Personal efficacy is another aspect of self-evaluation (Michener, DeLamater, and Myers. 2004).

George Herbert Mead: The Generalized Other.

George Herbert Mead (1934) contended that we gain a sense of selfhood by acting toward ourselves in much the same fashion that we act toward others.

According to Mead, children typically pass through three stages in developing a full sense of selfhood: the play stage, in which the child plays roles modeled on a significant other; the game stage; and the generalized other stage (Hughes, Kroehler, and Vander Zanden, 2002).

Erving Goffman: Impression Management.

Erving Goffman pointed out that only by influencing other people's ideas of us can we hope to predict or control what happens to us.

• Consequently, we have a stake in presenting ourselves to others in ways that will lead them to view us in a favorable light, a process Goffman calls impression management (Hughes, Kroehler, and Vander Zanden, 2002).

Social Learning Theory. Social learning theory is derived from the work of Cornell Montgomery (1843-1904) which proposed that social learning occurred through four main stages of limitation:

• (1) close contact,
• (2) imitation of superiors,
• (3) understanding of concepts,
• (4) role model behavior.
• It consists of three parts observing, imitating, and reinforcements (Miller and Dollard, 1941).

Julian Rotter developed a learning theory. In Social Learning and Clinical Psychology (1954),

• Rotter suggests that the effect of behavior has an impact on the motivation of people to engage in that specific behavior.
• People wish to avoid negative consequences, while desiring positive results or effects. If one expects a positive outcome from a behavior, or thinks there is a high probability of a positive outcome, then they will be more likely to engage in that behavior.
• The behavior is reinforced, with positive outcomes, leading a person to repeat the behavior.
• This social learning theory suggests that behavior is influenced by these environmental factors or stimulus, and not psychological factors alone.

Albert Bandura’s (1977) book Social Learning Theory expanded on Rotter's idea, as well as earlier work by Miller and Dollard (1941), and is related to social learning theories of Vygotsky and Lave. This theory incorporates aspects of behavioral and cognitive learning.

• Behavioral learning assumes that people's environment (surroundings) cause people to behave in certain ways.
• Cognitive learning presumes that psychological factors are important for influencing how one behaves.
• Social learning suggests a combination of environmental (social) and psychological factors influence behavior.
• Social learning theory outlines three requirements for people to learn and model behavior include attention: retention (remembering what one observed), reproduction (ability to reproduce the behavior), and motivation (good reason) to want to adopt the behavior (Bandura, 1977).

Thomas Theorem. The “Thomas theorem” is a theory of sociology which was formulated by W. I. Thomas (1863–1947) in the year 1928 by which Thomas states:

• “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” (Thomas and Thomas, 1928: 571).
• In other words, the interpretation of a situation causes the action. This interpretation is not objective.
• Actions are affected by subjective perceptions of situations. Whether there even is an objectively correct interpretation is not important for the purposes of helping guide individuals' behavior.
• In 1923, Thomas stated more precisely that—particularly within common social worlds, any definition of the situation will influence the present. Not only that, but—following a series of definitions in which an individual is involved—such a definition also "gradually [influences] a whole life-policy and the personality of the individual himself" (Thomas, 1967: 42).
• Consequently, Thomas stressed societal problems such as intimacy, family, or education as fundamental to the role of the situation when detecting a social world "in which subjective impressions can be projected on to life and thereby become real to projectors" (Volkart, 1951: 14).

Urban Literature

Dogan and Kasarda (1988:13) indicate that the size of cities continue to increase so that by the year 2010 there will be 511 metropolises exceeding a million inhabitants and by the year 2025, that figure will advance to 639. What interns feel is important about entering, living, and working in urban environments are an important consideration because size impacts mobility, safety, cultural orientation, and the formation of social relationships. As the population of a place increases, so does the number of strangers in direct proportion (Orum and Feagin, 1991, Lofland, 2007: 283).

Zukin. Cities are physical, social and cultural structures. Physical structures can be powerful directive symbols of what is going on and who is welcome to participate. Zukin (1995) asserts that culture is more and more the business of cities and the basis of their tourist attractions and their unique competitive edge. Culture has also become a more explicit site of conflicts over social differences and urban fears, and a powerful means of controlling cities symbolizing “who belongs” in specific places. Restaurants involve more than the consumption of food, they infer social and cultural standing and separation, and are equally forces of economic power and influence. Global business alliances are often forged in restaurant settings. The social, cultural, and economic meaning constructed in and associated to restaurants is manifold - as are the people who fully, or partially, participate in the operational functions and contexts of restaurants.

Lofland. The three realms. The theoretical work of Lofland (2007) is particularly helpful regarding ways to think about the urban environment in terms of specific space at the microlevel of the street narrowing Zukin’s macro components relating to population, physical structure, and culture. Lofland posits that the brevity of the human encounter with the city may not tell the whole story. Interns could experience anti-urban feelings combined with the belief that the city is “unnatural” and therefore an impermanent human habitat which might affect his or her ability or desire to acquire knowledge that is different and not pertinent to the world to which they will return (2007: 3). She argues that the crucial dynamic of public space emerges from the fact that not only do many of its inhabitants not know one another in the biographical sense they are often unknown in a cultural sense as well.

Therefore, public space is populated not only by people who have not met but often, as well, by people who do not share “symbolic words” (2007:8). Lofland more clearly discerns the ways interns might be taught to think about space through the use of three realms: the private realm consisting of household, friend, and kin networks; the parochial realm of neighborhood, workplace, or acquaintance networks; and the public realm, the world of strangers. Therefore public space within a metropolis can be public, private, parochial, or coexist together. Lofland (2007:10) indicates that the dangers associated with realms typically occur at the border of established realms which concern the student intern’s ability to discern within which realm they are entering, leaving, or currently positioned. This realm perspective could be utilized to explain to interns how to observe the interaction of their urban surroundings and help them determine when to attempt interaction with urban residents and with regard to their safety when to avoid interaction all together.

Zussman. When considering the restaurant site as both place and space physically and socially constructed, the theoretical work of Zussman (2004) is particularly useful for my study. He argues studying people in places, allows the researcher to look at multiple levels of social life. The study of people in places typically draws on case studies which are applicable in a variety of ways. By connecting people and places, I will be able to consider externs and sites as joint enterprises as well as shared circumstances, draw on various types of data, examine both individuals and institutions, and attend to both structure and agency. Something happens: A change in policy, an economic disruption, a cultural switch, and this “something” has consequences: people are happier or unhappier, more equal or less equal. Exactly how this something works out, its consequences are left unexplained or, at best, left to plausible by unsupported speculation. In many cases, the context of places alerts us to inputs and to outputs of the human consequences of those inputs which are sometimes surprising. The importance lies in that people are as much engaged in building institutions as institutions are in building people. A focus on people in places makes no assumptions about whether the macro precedes the micro or the micro precedes the macro. It is compatible both with various forms of structural argument and with various form of symbolic interaction that stress the ongoing creation of an interaction order – perhaps a way to look at both the structure and agency of ownership, without assuming the priority of either. Thus within the intern’s lived experience, cause and effect relationships affecting students ownership hold that exist, or emerge, within the social and physical contexts of the site, may become evident and usefully considered.