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Socialization and its agents-Family,Peer Group,Media






Socialization

is the lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire a self-identity and social skills needed for survival in society. Socialization helps people learn to function successfully in their social worlds.

Gender Socialization

Socialization process by which person acquires sense of self, identity; learns expectations of society that will hold individual accountable.
        The process of gender socialization begins early in life.
        Children develop an understanding of gender categories at a young age
        By age three, children have formed their own gender identity. They have also begun to learn their culture’s gender norms, including which toys, activities, behaviors, and attitudes are associated with each gender.

Social groups often provide the first experiences of socialization. Families, and later peer groups, communicate expectations and reinforce norms. People first learn to use the tangible objects of material culture in these settings, as well as being introduced to the beliefs and values of society.

Agents of socialization

• The Family
• The School
• Peer Groups
• Mass Media

1.    Family


Family is the first agent of socialization. Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. For example, they show the child how to use objects (such as clothes, computers, eating utensils, books, bikes); how to relate to others (some as “family,” others as “friends,” still others as “strangers” or “teachers” or “neighbors”); and how the world works (what is “real” and what is “imagined”). As you are aware, either from your own experience as a child or from your role in helping to raise one, socialization includes teaching and learning about an unending array of objects and ideas.
Keep in mind, however, that families do not socialize children in a vacuum. Many social factors affect the way a family raises its children. For example, we can use sociological imagination to recognize that individual behaviors are affected by the historical period in which they take place. Sixty years ago, it would not have been considered especially strict for a father to hit his son with a wooden spoon or a belt if he misbehaved, but today that same action might be considered child abuse.
Sociologists recognize that race, social class, religion, and other societal factors play an important role in socialization. For example, poor families usually emphasize obedience and conformity when raising their children, while wealthy families emphasize judgment and creativity (National Opinion Research Center 2008). This may occur because working-class parents have less education and more repetitive-task jobs for which it is helpful to be able to follow rules and conform. Wealthy parents tend to have better educations and often work in managerial positions or careers that require creative problem solving, so they teach their children behaviors that are beneficial in these positions. This means children are effectively socialized and raised to take the types of jobs their parents already have, thus reproducing the class system (Kohn 1977). Likewise, children are socialized to abide by gender norms, perceptions of race, and class-related behaviors.

Key Points:-

• The most important and first agent of socialization
• The principle socializer of young children
• Teaches how to behave in socially acceptable ways, to develop emotional ties and internalize values and norms
• Individuals share the patterns of the larger culture, but retain unique values and behavioral traits as learned from their family
 • Socialization can be both deliberate (structured) and unconscious (unintended)”…do as I say not as I do”

Parental practices

• Parents socialize sons/daughters differently
• Fathers react more negatively to sons in cross-gender play (boys with Barbies) and boys believe fathers would do so.
 • Fathers spend more time with sons than daughters, engage in more physical play; expect more toughness from sons
• Mothers spend more time with children, more involved in daily care
• Cultural differences—higher socioeconomic children more gender stereotypical than  and lower socioeconomic backgrounds

2.    Peer group


peer group is made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests. Peer group socialization begins in the earliest years, such as when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about taking turns, the rules of a game, or how to shoot a basket. As children grow into teenagers, this process continues. Peer groups are important to adolescents in a new way, as they begin to develop an identity separate from their parents and exert independence. Additionally, peer groups provide their own opportunities for socialization since kids usually engage in different types of activities with their peers than they do with their families.

Key Points:-

• Other peers that you encounter can also influence you
 • More influential as children grow older
 • To be accepted by our peers we often behave certain ways – we try to be the kind of person we think they want us to be
 • Desire to fit in - there’s a focus on group interests and acquiring skills needed to fit into a subculture
• Socialization is not “structured”
• Groups goals can be at odds with larger society/parents/schools

3.    School:-


After family the educational institutions take over the charge of socialization. In some societies (simple non-literate societies), socialization takes place almost entirely within the family but in highly complex societies children are also socialized by the educational system. Schools not only teach reading, writing and other basic skills, they also teach students to develop themselves, to discipline themselves, to cooperate with others, to obey rules and to test their achievements through competition.
Schools teach sets of expecta­tions about the work, profession or occupations they will follow when they mature. Schools have the formal responsibility of imparting knowledge in those disciplines which are most central to adult functioning in our society. It has been said that learning at home is on a personal, emotional level, whereas learning at school is basically intellectual.

Key Points:-

·        Plays a major part in our socialization because we’re in school for so long
        Most socialization is deliberate: activities teach skills whether vocational, academic or social
        Extracurricular activities teach us teamwork, practice
        Anticipatory socialization for the world of work because of deadlines, schedules and learning how to fit in to the larger society
        Transmission of values
        Unintentional socialization – some teachers and peers become role models for students
        Peer groups are abundant in school

4.    Mass media:-


From early forms of print technology to electronic communication (radio, TV, etc.), the media is playing a central role in shaping the personality of the individuals. Since the last century, technological innovations such as radio, motion pictures, recorded music and television have become important agents of socialization.
Television, in particular, is a critical force in the socialization of children almost all over the new world. According to a study conducted in America, the average young person (between the ages of 6 and 18) spends more time watching the ‘tube’ (15,000 to 16,000 hours) than studying in school. Apart from sleeping, watching television is the most time-consuming activity of young people.
Relative to other agents of socialization discussed above, such as family, peer group and school, TV has certain distinctive character­istics. It permits imitation and role playing but does not encourage more complex forms of learning. Watching TV is a passive experience.

Key points:-

        Forms of communication that reach large audiences with no personal contact between those sending and receiving the information – TV, newspaper, radio, films, magazines, Internet, etc…
        TV is the most influential of all mass media (there is at least one in every home – said to watch an average of 7 hours a day).
        Positives and negatives of TV…
        Where (geographically) would mass media NOT play a role?

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