Family As A Socialization Agent

What Are Agents Of Socialization?

Past Charlotte Nickerson, published July xi, 2022 | Fact Checked by Saul Mcleod, PhD

Agents of socialization are the people, groups, and social institutions that affect one'due south self-concept, attitudes, and behaviors. For example, parents, teachers, priests, television personalities, rock stars and so along.

Primary agents of socialization include people whom we take a close intimate relationship, such equally parents, and commonly occur when people are very young.

Agents of secondary socialization include secondary relationship (not shut, personal or intimate) and function to "Liberate the individual from a dependence upon the primary attachments and relationships formed inside the family grouping" (Parsons, 1951).

The family is normally considered the primary agent of socialization, and schools, peer groups, and the mass media are considered secondary socialization agencies.

Agents of socialization teach people what guild expects of them. They tell them what is right and wrong, and they give them the skills they demand to function equally members of their culture.

What is Socialization?

Socialization is the process of learning the norms and customs of a society. It is through socialization that people larn how to conduct in a way that is acceptable to their culture.

Socialization likewise helps to ensure that members of a society know and sympathise the rules that they are expected to follow, and so that they can function effectively in society or within a particular group (Ochs, 1999).

The process of socialization can happen throughout one's life, but information technology is most intense during babyhood and adolescence, when people are learning about their roles and how to interact with others.

Adult socialization may occur when people find themselves in new circumstances, especially when they are in a culture with norms and customs that differ from theirs.

There are several agents of socialization that play a part in shaping a person's identity, including family unit, media, faith, schools, and peer groups (Ochs, 1999).

The Purpose of Socialization

The purpose of socialization is to teach people the norms and community of their civilisation so that they tin can function within information technology.

Norms are the rules that dictate how people are expected to behave in a given state of affairs. Customs, meanwhile, are the traditional practices of a civilisation, such as its values, beliefs, and rituals (Ochs, 1999).

Socialization also helps to instill a sense of social control within members of a lodge, so that they conform to its rules and regulations.

Social control is the process past which a order tries to ensure that its members behave in an acceptable way. It can be done through punishments, rewards, or simply by instruction people what is expected of them. In some cases, social control is necessary to maintain order and prevent anarchy.

In other cases, it may be used to protect the interests of those in power or to promote a certain ideology (Ochs, 1999).

We normally refer to the people responsible for our socialisation equally agents of socialisation and, past extension, nosotros can also talk about agencies of socialisation (such as our family, the education arrangement, the media and and so forth).

1. Family unit

Family members tin can include parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The family is the first and most important agent of socialization for children.

Information technology is through families that people learn about civilisation and how to comport in a way that is acceptable to gild. Families likewise teach people about language and communication, how to chronicle to others, and how the world works.

For case, families teach their children the deviation between strangers and friends and what is real and imagined (Kinsbury & Scanzoni, 2009). Race, social class, religion, and other societal factors influence the experiences of families and, every bit a upshot, the socialization of children.

Families from some cultures may socialize for obedience and conformity while those from others may practice and so for creativity and individualism. Families from unlike social classes may take different lifestyles and provide their children with different opportunities for learning.

Gender norms, perceptions of race, and class-related behaviors likewise influence family socialization. For case, countries that provide paternity leave and have stay-at-home fathers in the social mural are more than likely to socialize male children to be more than willing to care for children when they are adults (Kinsbury & Scanzoni, 2009).

2. Schools

Schools are important secondary agent of socialization. Most students spend most of the solar day at school, immersing themselves in both academic subjects and behaviors like teamwork, post-obit a schedule, and using textbooks (Durkheim, 1898).

These school rituals reinforce what club expects from children. As Bowles and Gintis (1976) discuss, schools in much of the US and Western Europe instill a sense of competition into the way grades are awarded and the way teachers evaluate students.

Past participating in a race or math contest, children acquire that in order to succeed, they must be better than others. This is an important value in capitalist societies, where people are expected to strive for personal proceeds.

In contrast, schools may also place more than emphasis on working together and cooperating with others, equally this is seen every bit a style to reach the commonage good.

Alternatively, in countries like Nippon, children are expected to conform to group norms and not question teachers. The type of school a child attends also shapes their socialization. For example, children who nourish private schools are more probable to have parents who are wealthy and well-educated.

As a result, these children learn different values and beliefs than those who nourish public school. Still, schools everywhere teach children the essential features of their societies and how to cope with hierarchy, rules, expectations, waiting their turn, and sitting still for hours during the day (Bowles & Gintis, 1976).

iii. Community / Neighborhood

Communities or neighborhoods consist of a group of people living in the same geographic area under common laws or groups of people sharing fellowship, a friendly association, and mutual interests.

The community is a socializing agent because information technology is where children learn the office expectations for adults likewise equally themselves. The community provides a sense of identity to individuals and helps to define what is right or wrong.

Children can acquire this socialization by modeling adults, having rules enforced on them, or experiencing consequences for their behavior (Putnam, 2000).

It likewise teaches children how to interact with people who are different from them in terms of race, ethnicity, social grade, and religion. For instance, children learn that it is polite to speak quietly in the library, but they tin be loud when they are playing with friends at the park.

The community besides offers opportunities for children to explore their interests and talents. For example, some communities accept youth clubs, sports teams, and scouting groups. These activities let children to attempt new things, make friends, and develop a sense of responsibleness (Putnam, 2000).

four. Peers

People learn from their peers (the people of their own age and similar social status) how to dress, talk, and conduct. People also learn about what is important to ane's peer group and what is not.

During adolescence, peers become fifty-fifty more important every bit agents of socialization. This is because adolescents are exploring their identities and trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in the world.

Peers provide support and guidance during this time, and help people larn almost the norms and values of their culture — likewise every bit what to wear, consume, watch, and where to spend fourth dimension.

On the downside, boyish peer influences take been seen every bit responsible for underage drinking, drug use, delinquency, and hate crimes (Agnew, 2015).

During peoples' 20s and 30s, peer groups tend to diminish in importance. This is considering people are more than likely to exist working and have less free fourth dimension. In add-on, people are more likely to be married or in a committed human relationship.

As a issue, they are less likely to spend time with friends and more likely to socialize within their families.

However, parents with young children may broaden their peer groups further and have more influence, as they attain out to their surrounding communities to treat their children (Vandall, 2000).

5. Mass Media

The media works by providing information to a wide audience via television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. This broad dissemination of data greatly influences social norms (Roberts, Foehr, and Rideout 2005).

The media teaches people well-nigh material objects, current events, and way, only also enforces nonmaterial culture: behavior, values, and norms. It too teaches people how to remember about and react to political events, such as elections.

In addition, it provides information about what is happening in other parts of the globe, how people in other cultures live, and how people from a particular club should perceive the fashion that others live.

half-dozen. Religion

Religions tin be both formal and informal institutions, any is an important avenue of socialization for many people.

Synagogues, temples, churches, mosques, and similar religious communities teach participants how to interact with their religioon'south material culture — for example, the mezuzah, a prayer rug, or a communion wafer.

The ceremonies upheld past faith tin oftentimes relate to family structure — similar wedlock and nativity rituals, and religious institutions can reinforce gender norms through socialization. This reinforces the family's power dynamics and fosters a shared ready of values transmitted through the rest of society (Pearson-Merkowitz & Gimpel, 2009).

Historically, religious institutions have played a pregnant office in social alter. For case, the civil rights movement in the Usa was led by religious leaders such as Reverend Martin Luther Male monarch Jr. Similarly, the women'due south suffrage movement was too partly motivated by religious beliefs.

Today, religion continues to shape people'southward socialization experiences. For case, some religions encourage members to protest wars and volunteer to assist the poor. In all of these cases, religious institutions socialize people to behave in a manner that favors once vulnerable groups (Pearson-Merkowitz & Gimpel, 2009).

7. Government

The government is another agent of socialization. Information technology enacts laws that uphold social norms and values, and it too provides institutions and services that support citizens.

Authorities is notable in that it can fund a number of institutions that encourage socialization. For example, the government funds public schools, which play a fundamental role in children's socialization.

The government also funds other programs that provide opportunities for social interaction, such equally afterward-school programs, parks, and recreation centers (Oberfield, 2014). The military is another example of how the authorities tin can influence people's socialization experiences.

For case, the military teaches people how to work together in a hierarchy, follow orders, and use violence to achieve objectives. People who serve in the military often come from dissimilar backgrounds and have unlike values. Every bit a result, the military can be an agent for socializing people to collaborate with those from disparate races and classes against a common opponent (Oberfield, 2014).

The regime tin also create roles through legislation. For instance, governments usually ascertain an "adult" as being at least eighteen years sometime, the age at which a person becomes legally responsible for themselves.

Meanwhile, 65 brings the onset of "one-time age," as seniors go eligible for benefits. These roles motivate people to exist socialized into a dissimilar category, learning to conform to both the regime'south and broader society's expectations of age (Oberfield, 2014).

Other Agents of Socialization (Ethnicity and class)

Ethnic socialization is the process by which people larn almost their indigenous group's culture and history. Information technology is a type of socialization that occurs inside ethnic groups.

Ethnic socialization helps set children for the challenges and opportunities they will face as members of an ethnic grouping. Information technology also helps them develop a positive sense of self and a strong sense of identity.

It can too atomic number 82 to the conquering of patterns of speech, behavior, perceptions, and attitudes of an ethnic group by an individual, who comes to see themselves come to run across themselves and others as members of that grouping.

Both parents and peers are main indigenous socialization agents, but agents as big as the media and the wider community likewise play a function (Conger & Dogan, 2007).

Class socialization is the process past which people larn well-nigh their social class and how to conduct in a manner that is advisable for their form. It is a type of socialization that occurs within social classes.

Similar ethnic socialization, grade socialization helps prepare children for the challenges and opportunities they will face as members of a social grade.

Children who undergo grade socialization learn to discern other members of their social form as well every bit develop attitudes of trust and mistrust toward those from other social groups (Conger & Dogan, 2007).

What is the Difference Betwixt Socialization and Enculturation?

Enculturation is a process by which people acquire the customs and traditions of their culture. Socialization, on the other hand, is the process by which people learn the norms and values of their lodge.

While socialization is the process of learning socially acceptable behavior in every civilization, enculturation is the procedure of socialization in a detail culture. That is to say, enculturation is a product of socialization (Cromdal, 2006).

What is the difference between civilisation and socialization?

Civilisation is the unique gear up of behavior, values, customs, and noesis of a group of people. Socialization is the procedure by which people learn the norms and values of their culture. Culture is passed down from generation to generation through socialization (Cromdal, 2006).

1 way to think most the difference between civilization and socialization is that civilisation is what people believe, and socialization is how those beliefs are transmitted.

For instance, American culture is often classified as highly individualistic. Individualism is the idea that each person is responsible for themselves. This belief is passed downwardly through socialization experiences such as parents teaching their children to be contained.

Charlotte Nickerson is a member of the Class of 2024 at Harvard University. Coming from a research groundwork in biology and archaeology, Charlotte currently studies how digital and concrete space shapes human behavior, norms, and behaviors and how this tin can be used to create businesses with greater social touch.

Content is rigorously reviewed past a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Nosotros rely on the about current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked later on it has been edited and earlier publication.

This article has been fact checked by Saul Mcleod, a qualified psychology instructor with over 17 years' experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in psychology journals including Clinical Psychology, Social and Personal Relationships, and Social Psychology.

Nickerson, C. (2022, July 11). What Are The Agents Of Socialization? Simply Folklore. https://simplysociology.com/agents-of-socialization.html

Further Information

Agreement Socialization in Folklore Examples of Socialization Social Institutions

References

Agnew, R. (2015). General strain theory and malversation. The handbook of juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice, 2, 239-256

Bowles, South., & Gintis, H. (2011).Schooling in capitalist America: Educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. Haymarket Books.

Cromdal, J. (2006). Socialization.

Conger, R. D., & Dogan, S. J. (2007). Social Class and Socialization in Families.

Kingsbury, N., & Scanzoni, J. (2009). Structural-functionalism. In Sourcebook of family theories and methods (pp. 195-221). Springer.

Parsons, T. Due east., & Shils, E. A. (1951). Toward a full general theory of activity.

Pearson-Merkowitz, S., & Gimpel, J. G. (2009). Faith and political socialization. The Oxford handbook of organized religion and American politics, 164-190.

Oberfield, Z. West. (2014). Condign bureaucrats: Socialization at the front lines of regime service. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Ochs, E. (1999). Socialization. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 9(1/2), 230-233.

Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling lonely: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon and schuster.

Rideout, V., Roberts, D. F., & Foehr, U. G. (2005). Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-xviii Year olds. Executive Summary.

Vandell, D. L. (2000). Parents, peer groups, and other socializing influences. Developmental psychology, 36(6), 699.