6.1 - Culture, Subcultures, and Organizational Socialization

After reading Box 4.5, Baseball and Culture (p.90), I decided to reflect on the last eight years of: attending, volunteering, coaching, and watching little league baseball. When I think about little league in the functionalist perspective, I find many positive attributes for the child and the parents involved. As an organization, the hundreds of volunteers all contribute to the culture of fair play, team building, competition, gaining skills, and promoting the game that we (as parents) either played or enjoyed watching. From the practices with the boys; conducting drills; diagramming plays; giving speeches before games; and counseling; the parents coaching the kids were providing some guidance and building a better community.

On game day, the stands would fill with parents, friends, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Most of the time they cheered and many times they were impressed with the skills of the boys. For 2.5 hours on game day, the boys could leave their real world behind and be a part of a team that recognized them; that looked to them for contribution. For some of the boys, it was an opportunity to be a part of an organized group that had welcomed structure and hierarchy.