(PART A)
SOCIALIZATION
The word socialization can mean “the process of making social” the act of adapting behavior to the
norm of a culture or society is called socialization, it can also mean going on and meeting people or
hanging out with friends.
WHAT IS SOCIALIZATION
It a process by which children and adults learn from others.
Many people think that socialization is especially important for infants and children.
Psychologist now realizes that socialization continuous all across the life span, as long as people
continue to learn from social experiences.
FACTORS OF THE PROCESS OF SOCIALIZATION
IMITATION: It’s copying by an individual of the action of another.
SUGGESTION: it’s the process of communicating the information which has no logical or self
evident basis.
IDENTIFACATION: in early ages, the child can’t make any distinction between his organism and
environment; most of his action is random.
LANGUAGE: it’s the medium of social interaction. It’s the mean of cultural transmission.
HOW SOCIALIZATION IS IMPORTANT
1-Socialization converts man, the biological being into man, the social being.
Man is not born social.
Various instances like that of Kampar Hauser, Anna, the wolf children of India and others have
made it clear that only through constant training the newborn child becomes social in nature.
2-Socialization contributes to the development of personality.
Personality is the product of society.
Socialization is the process through which the personality of the new born child shaped and
molded.
Through the process, the child learns an approved way of social life.
At the same time, it also provides enough scope for the inviduals to develop his individuality.
3-Helps to become disciplined.
Socialization is the social training.
It’s the values, ideals, aims and the objectives of life nod the means of attaining them.
4- Helps to enact the different roles.
Every individual has to enact different roles in his life.
Every role is woven around norm and is associated with different attitudes.
The process of socialization assists the individuals not only to learn the norms associated with
roles but also to develop appropriate attitudes to enact these roles.
5- Provides the knowledge of skills.
Socialization skills help the individual to play economic, professional, educational, religious and
political roles in his letter life.
In primitive societies for example, imparting skills to the younger generation in specific
occupations was an important aspects of socialization.
AGENTS OR AGENCIES OF THE SOCIALIZATION
The socialization that we receive in childhood has a lasting effect on our ability to interact with
others in society. In this lesson we indentify and discuss four of the most influential agents of
socialization in childhood, family, school, peers, and media.
FAMILY:
There is no better way to start than to talk about the role family in our social development, as family is
usually considered to be the most important agent of socialization. As infants, we are completely
dependent on others to survive. Our parents, or those who play the parent role, are responsible for
teaching us to function and care for ourselves. They along with rest of our family also teach us about our
close relationships, group life and how to share resources. Additionally, they provide us with our first
system of values, norms, and beliefs a system that is usually a reflection of their own social status,
religion, ethnic group and more.
SCHOOLS:
The next important agent of the childhood socializations is the school. Of course the official purpose of
school is to transfer subject knowledge and teach life skills, such as following directions and meeting,
deadlines. But students don’t just learn from academic curriculum prepared by the teacher and school
administrator. In school, we also learn social skills through our interactions with teachers, staff and
other students, for example we learn the importance of obeying authority and that to be successful, we
must learn to be quiet, to wait and sometimes to act interested even we are not.
PEER GROUP:
Another agent of socialization that relates to school is our peer group, unlike the agents we have already
discussed family and the school, peer group give us an opportunity, as children to form relationship with
others on our own terms, plus learn things without the direction of an adult. Our peers group have an
incredible amount of influence on us when w are young, so it’s understandable that parents worry about
the type the friend we choose. Often we discuss topics and learn behavior norms from our parents don’t
or wouldn’t approve for.
MASS MEDIA
The mass media include many forms of communication such as books, magazines, radio, T.V, that reach
large numbers of people without personal contact between senders and receivers. Since mass media
has enormous effects on our attitudes and behavior notably in regards to aggression, it’s an important
contributor to socialization process. Mass media has an important effect in encouraging individuals to
support the existing norms and values or oppose or change them. They are the instrument of social
power. They influence us with their messages.
