Concept of Socialization
Socialization is a process that entails teaching cultural, society or group members about becoming fully responsible and incorporating and observing set principles and norms. Apparently, people learn about what society expects of them and puts it into practice. Furthermore, socialization plays two major roles including imparting essential skills that satisfy the basic human needs and enhance continuous existence and survival in society. In addition, the process sets standards for people to observe therefore creating a harmonious living in society, Scarr (1997).
The Meaning of Socialization
Socialization is a process that begins at infancy when a child begins communication. Similarly, it is a long-term procedure that builds up as one continues to grow and experience life events like parenting and attending school. Socialization varies from family to family as each has its different perspective, beliefs and norms. Furthermore, there are four agents of socialization that play the most significant role in shaping our social interactions. They include the family, school, peers and the media.
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The Family
According to McIntyre (2011), the family is an institution where people first develop emotional and social bonds with their parents and siblings. Additionally, it is an institution where parents teach their children about the ethics of society and how to become mature and responsible. It defines the role of every member more so based on gender. For instance, mothers bear children and instill good mannerisms in them. On the contrary, fathers are the heads andproviders of their families. Therefore, the same is expected of their children when they become of age. Basically, family has the longest lasting impact on a person’s life.
The Schools
School is the first away from home experience from children, therefore imperative in shaping their social life. The learning facility judges children based on their academic performance and behavioral patterns like punctuality, discipline and hard work. At school, children interact with other students, teachers and the non-teaching staff who teach them different socialization aspects from what they are taught at home. Since children spend more time at school than at home, schools are encouraged to take up a more responsibilities like educating the young minds on alcohol, violence, drugs and sex.
Peers
This is a group of people that are of the same age and display the same social traits. Peers act as role models to young people compared to their parents. Additionally, they are more likely to form subcultures that focus on their interests, therefore ignoring the control of parents. Apparently, some young people drop their own values with the intention of fitting in a certain peer group. For instance; some of them can take up habits like driving under the influence of alcohol, engaging in unsafe sex and taking drugs. Basically, peer groups can be a source of success or failure for upcoming adults, Scarr (1997) states.
The Media
Since the intrusion of television and internet usage into homes, the corresponding behaviors of children have been greatly affected. Apart from providing information and entertainment, the media has altered the values, beliefs and norms of people. For instance, teenage girls look up to their celebrity role models in the media for their dressing code, unlike before where parents dictated what they wore.
Resocialization
According to McIntyre (2011), resocialization is a social process where a person takes up new social traits and drops the ones that he or she is used to as a way of adjusting in a new society with different norms. For instance, prison is a good place where individuals adjust to the new rules and norms away from their homes. Additionally, people who have never socialized can be taken to resocialization institutions to revitalize their social lives. Such cases include severely abused children.
Comparison of Freud and Piaget’s Socialization Theories
Sigmund Freud and Piaget’s socialization theories state that people develop habits through socialization, Scarr (1997). Freud goes ahead to elaborate on the three components that make a human being including the id, the ego and the superego. Apparently, they influence people’s behaviors since each one of them is in conflict with the other. Piaget gives an example of an abused girl child as a way of explaining how people develop habits through socialization. Apparently, the child was secluded in a room through her infancy and was unable to interact with other people. Upon her discovery at the age of 13, people realized that she was unable to communicate with other people and had developed unsocial like characters. The authorities charged her parents with child abuse because they discovered that she was mentally retarded. According to Piaget, children only communicate in a language that they are familiar with.
Contrast of Freud and Piaget’s Socialization Theories
According to McIntyre (2011), Piaget’s social theory states that children communicate by imitating the speech of other people. Upon successful pronunciation of words, a child receives encouragement from the mother therefore motivating him to repeat the behavior. Conversely, Freud’s theory states that people develop character traits through an unconscious state. Furthermore, it elaborates on the forces that impact peoples’ behaviors.
References
McIntyre, L. J. (2011). The practical skeptic: Core concepts in sociology . McGraw-Hill.
Scarr, S. (1997). Behavior-genetic and socialization theories of intelligence: Truce and reconciliation. Intelligence, heredity, and environment, 3 (12), 41-45.
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