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
A 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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