Socialization

This article is about the sociological concept. For the political and economic concept, see Socialization (economics).

Socialization (or socialisation) is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies. It may provide the individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society; a society develops a culture through a plurality of shared norms, customs, values, traditions, social roles, symbols and languages. Socialization is thus ‘the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained’..

Socialization, however, is not a normative term: it describes a process which may or may not affect the reflexive agent, and which may or may not lead to desirable, or 'moral', outcomes. Individual views on certain issues, such as race or economics, may be socialized (and to that extent normalized) within a society. Many socio-political theories postulate that socialization provides only a partial explanation for human beliefs and behaviours; that agents are not 'blank slates' predetermined by their environment. Some scientific research provides some evidence that people might be shaped by both social influences and their hard-wired biological makeup. Genetic studies have shown that a person's environment interacts with their genotype to influence behavioural outcomes, whilst the linguistic theory of generative grammar demonstrates how something such as the capacity for learning changes throughout one's lifetime.

Theories

Socialization is the means by which human infants begin to acquire the skills necessary to perform as a functioning member of their society, and is the most influential learning process one can experience. Sociologists use the term socialization to refer to the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture. Unlike other living species, whose behavior is biological set, humans need social experience to learn their culture and to survive. Although cultural variability manifests in the actions, customs, and behaviors of whole social groups (societies), the most fundamental expression of culture is found at the individual level. This expression can only occur after an individual has been socialized by its parents, family, extended family and extended social networks. This reflexive process of both learning and teaching is how cultural and social characteristics attain continuity.

Clausen claims that theories of socialization are to be found in Plato, Montaigne and Rousseau and he identifies a dictionary entry from 1828 that defines 'socialize' as 'to render social, to make fit for living in society' (1968: 20-1). However it was the response to a translation of a paper by Georg Simmel that the concept was incorporated into various branches of psychology and anthropology (1968: 31-52).

In the middle of the 20th century, socialization was a key idea in the dominant American functionalist tradition of sociology. Talcott Parsons (Parsons and Bales 1956) and a group of colleagues in the US developed a comprehensive theory of society that responded to the emergence of modernity in which the concept of socialization was a central right.

From the late 1980s, sociological and psychological theories have been connected with the term socialization. One example for this approach is the theory of Klaus Hurrelmann. In his book "Social Structure and Personality Development" (Hurrelmann 1989/2009), he develops the "Model of Productive Processing of Reality (PPR)". The core idea is that socialization refers to the personality development of a person. It is the result of the productive processing of interior and exterior realities. Bodily and mental qualities and traits constitute a person's inner reality; the circumstances of the social and physical environment embody the external reality. Reality processing is productive because human beings actively grapple with their lives and attempt to cope with the attendant developmental tasks. The success of such a process depends on the personal and social resources available. Incorporated within all developmental tasks is the necessity to reconcile personal individuation and social integration and so secure the I-dentity." (Hurrelmann1989/2009: 42)

Piaget's theory of cognitive development was formed by Jean Piagets (1896-1980) by watching his children grow. The theory identifies the stages of cognitive development. Stage one is the sensorimotor stage, where individuals experience the world only through their senses. The development of object permanence is one of the biggest accomplishments during this stage, which involves an understanding that object continue to exist even though they cannot be seen or heard. The pre-operational stage where individuals first use language and other symbols. Also, during this stage, a child gain the abilities of conservation (number, area, volume, orientation) and reversibility. Their thinking is more organized and rational; they can solve problems in a logical fashion, but are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically.The concrete operational stage is where individuals first see casual connections in their surroundings. Children begin to focus on why and how things happen, and are able to attach more than one symbol to a particular event or object. A child recognizing that their birthday falls on a Tuesday would be an example of the child's ability to link more than one symbol at a time. The formal operational stage is the final stage of human development at which individuals think abstractly and critically.

Lawrence Kohlberg's (1981) theory of moral development studied moral reasoning, which is how individuals judge situations as right from wrong. The first level is the pre conventional stage where children experience the world in terms of pain and pleasure. The conventional level appears in the teen years, when young people lose some of their selfishness as they learn to define right and wrong in terms of what pleases parents and conforms to cultural norms. The last stage of moral development is the post conventional level, people move beyond societies norm and consider abstract ethical principles.

Carol Gilligan compared the moral development of girls and boys, in her theory of gender and moral development. She claimed (1982, 1990) that boys have a justice perspective, in which they rely on formal rules to define right and wrong. Girls, on the other hand, have a care and responsibility perspective, where personal relationships are considered when judging a situation. She also studied the effect of gender on self esteem. She claimed that society's socialization of females is the reason why girls' self-esteem diminishes as they grow older. Girls struggle to regain their personal strength when moving through adolescence as they have fewer female teachers and most authority figures are men.

Erik H. Erikson (1902-1994) explained the challenges throughout the life course. Stage 1- infancy: the challenge of trust versus mistrust. Stage 2- toddelrhood: the challenge of autonomy versus doubt. Stage 3- preschool: the challenge of initiative versus guilt. Stage 4- pre-adolescence: the challenge of industriousness versus inferiority. Stage 5- adolescence: the challenge of gaining identity versus confusion. Stage 6- young adulthood: the challenge of intimacy versus isolation. Stage 7- middle adulthood: the challenge of making a difference (versus self absorption). Stage 8- old age: the challenge of integrity versus despair.

George Herbert Mead's (1902-1994) developed a theory of social behaviorism to explain how social experience develops an individual's personality. Mead's central concept is the self; the part of an individual's personality composed of self awareness and self image. Mead claimed that the self is not there at birth, it develops with social experience. Humans find meaning in every action and social experience is the exchange of symbols. Seeking meaning leads us to imagine the intention of others by imagining their underlying intentions. Understanding intention requires imagining the situation from the others point of view. In effect others are a mirror in which we can see ourselves, he coined the term looking glass self, which means self-image based on how we think others see us. According to Mead the key to developing the self is learning to take the role of the other. With limited social experience, infants can only develop a sense of identity through imitation. Gradually children learn to take the roles of several others. The final stage is the generalized other which refers to widespread cultural norms and values we use as a reference for evaluating others.

Types

Main article: Primary socialisation

Primary socialization for a child is very important because it sets the ground work for all future socialization. Primary Socialization occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. It is mainly influenced by the immediate family and friends.For example if a child saw his/her mother expressing a discriminatory opinion about a minority group, then that child may think this behavior is acceptable and could continue to have this opinion about minority groups.

Secondary socialization Secondary socialization refers to the process of learning what is the appropriate behavior as a member of a smaller group within the larger society. Basically, it is the behavioural patterns reinforced by socializing agents of society. Secondary socialisation takes place outside the home, it is where children and adults learn how to act in a way that is appropriate for the situations that they are in.[1] Schools require very different behaviour from the home. Children act according to new rules. New teachers have to act in a way that is different from pupils and learn the new rules from people around them. [2] Secondary Socialization is usually associated with teenagers and adults, and involves smaller changes than those occurring in primary socialization. eg. entering a new profession, relocating to a new environment or society.

Developmental socialization Developmental socialization is the process of learning behavior in a social institution or developing your social skills.

Anticipatory socialization Anticipatory socialization refers to the processes of socialization in which a person "rehearses" for future positions, occupations, and social relationships.

Re-socialization Re-socialization refers to the process of discarding former behavior patterns and reflexes accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life. This occurs throughout the human life cycle (Schaefer & Lamm, 1992: 113). Re-socialization can be an intense experience, with the individual experiencing a sharp break with their past, and needing to learn and be exposed to radically different norms and values. One common example involves re-socialization through a total institution, or "a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff". Re-socialization via total institutions involves a two step process: 1) the staff work to root out a new inmate's individual identity & 2) the staff attempt to create for the inmate a new identity. An extreme example would be the process by which a transsexual learns to function socially in a dramatically altered gender role.

Organizational socialization Organizational socialization is the process whereby an employee learning the knowledge and skills necessary to assume his or her organizational role. As newcomers become socialized, they learn about the organization and its history, values, jargon, culture, and procedures. They also learn about their work group, the specific people they work with on a daily basis, their own role in the organization, the skills needed to do their job, and both formal procedures and informal norms. Socialization functions as a control system in that newcomers learn to internalize and obey organizational values and practices.

Agents/units of socialization

Main article: Institutions

In the social sciences, institutions are the structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human collectivity. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior. Types of institution include:

• The Family: The family is the most important agent of socialization because it is the centre of the child's life, as infants are totally dependent on others. Not all socialization intentional, it depends on the surrounding. The most profound affect is gender socialization, however the family also shoulders the task of teaching children cultural values and attitudes about themselves and others. Children learn continuously from the environment that adults create. Children also become aware of class at a very early age and assign different values to each class accordingly .
• Religion
• Peer Group: A peer group is a social group whose members have interests, social positions and age in common. This is where children can escape supervision and learn to form relationships on their own. The influence of the peer group typically peaks during adolescence however peer groups generally only affect short term interests unlike the family which has long term influence.
• Education
• Economic systems
• Legal systems
• Penal systems
• Language

Media and socialization

Theorists like Parsons and textbook writers like Ely Chinoy (1960) and Harry M. Johnson (1961) recognized that socialization didn’t stop when childhood ends. They realized that socialization continued in adulthood, but they treated it as a form of specialized education. Johnson (1961), for example, wrote about the importance of inculcating members of the US Coastguard with a set of values to do with responding to commands and acting in unison without question.

Later scholars accused these theorists of socialization of not recognizing the importance of the mass media which, by the middle of the twentieth century were becoming more significant as a social force. There was concern about the link between television and the education and socialization of children – it continues today – but when it came to adults, the mass media were regarded merely as sources of information and entertainment rather than moulders of personality.

The mass media are the means for delivering impersonal communications directed to a vast audience. The term media comes from Latin meaning, "middle," suggesting that the media's function is to connect people. Since the mass media have enormous effects on our attitudes and behavior, notably in regards to aggression, they are important contributors to the socialization process.

Some sociologists and theorists of culture have recognized the power of mass communication as a socialization device. Denis McQuail recognizes the argument:

… the media can teach norms and values by way of symbolic reward and punishment for different kinds of behaviour as represented in the media. An alternative view is that it is a learning process whereby we all learn how to behave in certain situations and the expectations which go with a given role or status in society. Thus the media are continually offering pictures of life and models of behaviour in advance of actual experience.

—McQuail 2005: 494)

In 1996 the American Medical Association issued the statement that violence on television and film had reached such a high level that it posed a hazard to health. Almost two thirds of television programs contain violence and, in most such scenes, violent characters show no remorse and are not punished. This has a large impact on the level of aggressive behaviour in children.

Gender socialization and gender roles

Henslin (1999:76) contends that "an important part of socialization is the learning of culturally defined gender roles." Gender socialization refers to the learning of behavior and attitudes considered appropriate for a given sex. Boys learn to be boys and girls learn to be girls. This "learning" happens by way of many different agents of socialization. The family is certainly important in reinforcing gender roles, but so are one’s friends, school, work and the mass media. Gender roles are reinforced through "countless subtle and not so subtle ways" (1999:76).

Re-socialization

Main article: re-socialization

Re-socialization refers to the process of discarding former behavior patterns and reflexes accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life. This occurs throughout the human life cycle (Schaefer & Lamm, 1992: 113). Re-socialization can be an intense experience, with the individual experiencing a sharp break with their past and needing to learn and be exposed to radically different norms and values. An example might be the experience of a young man or woman leaving home to join the military, or a religious convert internalizing the beliefs and rituals of a new faith. An extreme example would be the process by which a transsexual learns to function socially in a dramatically altered gender role. Re socialization are efforts to effect radical change in an inmate's personality by carefully controlling the environment in a total institution. A total institution is a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff. Their main characteristics are: staff members supervise all aspects of daily life, life in a total institution is standardized and formal rules dictate how inmates perform their daily routines .

Racial socialization

Racial socialization has been defined as "the developmental processes by which children acquire the behaviors, perceptions, values, and attitudes of an ethnic group, and come to see themselves and others as members of the group". The existing literature conceptualizes racial socialization as having multiple dimensions. Researchers have identified five dimensions that commonly appear in the racial socialization literature: cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, egalitarianism, and other. Cultural socialization refers to parenting practices that teach children about their racial history or heritage and is sometimes referred to as pride development. Preparation for bias refers to parenting practices focused on preparing children to be aware of, and cope with, discrimination. Promotion of mistrust refers to the parenting practices of socializing children to be wary of people from other races. Egalitarianism refers to socializing children with the belief that all people are equal and should be treated with a common humanity.

Other uses

To "socialize" may also mean simply to associate or mingle with people socially. In American English, "socialized" has mistakenly come to refer, usually in a pejorative sense, to the ownership structure of socialism or to the expansion of the welfare state. Traditionally, socialists and Marxists both used the term "socialization of industry" to refer to the reorganization of institutions so that the workers are all owners (cooperatives) and to refer to the implementation of workplace democracy.

See also

• Acculturation
• Cultural assimilation
• Enculturation
• Internalisation
• Indoctrination
• Organizational socialization
• Political socialization
• Reciprocal socialization
• Socialization of animals
• Social construction
• Social identity
• Social skills
• Structure and agency
• Shame society
• TPI-theory
• Guilt society
• Value (personal and cultural)
• Circle of friends (disability)
• Memetics

&Nature versus nurture

• Structure and agency

Further reading

• Chinoy, Ely (1961) Society: An Introduction to Sociology, New York: Random House.
• Clausen, John A. (ed.) (1968) Socialization and Society, Boston: Little Brown and Company.
• Hurrelmann, Klaus (1989, reissued 2009) Social Structure and Personality Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Johnson, Harry M. (1961) Sociology: A Systematic Introduction, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• McQuail, Dennis (2005) McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory: Fifth Edition, London: Sage.
• Parsons, Talcott and Bales, Robert (1956) Family, Socialization and Interaction Process, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• White, Graham (1977) Socialisation, London: Longman.
• Michael Paul Rhode, Smithsonian Dep. of Anthropology
• Bogard, Kimber. "Citizenship attitudes and allegiances in diverse youth." Cultural Diversity and Ethnic minority Psychology14(4)(2008): 286-296.
• Mehan, Hugh. "Sociological Foundations Supporting the Study of Cultural Diversity." 1991. National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning.
• Robert Feldman, Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Child Development Third Edition

External links

• Sprachsozialisation einiger nicht-europäischer Kulturen im Vergleich.