Socialization

Socialization is the process of learning norms, values, beliefs, customs, culture as an individual of a
society.

W.F. Ogburn defines “Socialization is the process by which the individual learns to conform to the norms
of the group.”

A.W. Green opines, “Socialization is the process by which the child acquires a cultural content, along
with selfhood and personality.”

Socialization is a lifelong process. Socialization occurs throughout our life, but some of the most
important socialization occurs in childhood. So let's talk about the most influential agents of
socialization.

Family

There is no better way to start than to talk about the role of family in our social development, as family
is usually considered to be the most important agent of socialization. As infants, we are completely
dependent on others to survive. Our parents, or those who play the parent role, are responsible for
teaching us to function and care for ourselves. They, along with the rest of our family, also teach us
about close relationships, group life, and how to share resources. Additionally, they provide us with our
first system of values, norms, and beliefs - a system that is usually a reflection of their own social status,
religion, ethnic group, and more.

Educational Institutions:

Family, school, peers, mass media, public opinion, and religion each play a major role in the socialization
and, ultimately, the education process. From the moment a child is born, his or her education begins. At
first, education is an informal process in which an infant watches others and imitates them. As the infant
grows into a young child, the process of education becomes more formal through play dates and
preschool. Every civilized society, therefore, has developed a set of formalized agencies of education
(schools, colleges, and universities) which have a great bearing on the socialization process. It is in the
educational institutions that the culture is formally transmitted and acquired. Once in grade school,
academic lessons become the focus of education as a child moves through the school system. But even
then, education is about much more than the simple learning of facts.

In terms of socialization, the modern system of mass education is second only to the family in
importance. It promotes two main socializing tasks: homogenization and social sorting. The educational
institutions not only help the growing child in learning the language and other subjects but also instill
the concept of time, discipline, teamwork, cooperation and competition. Through the means of reward
and punishment, the desired behavior pattern is reinforced.

Religious Institution
Religion plays a very important role in socialization. Agents of socialization differ in effects across
religious traditions. Some believe religion is an ethnic or cultural category, making it less likely for the
individuals to break from religious affiliations and be more socialized in this setting. Parental religious
participation is the most influential part of religious socialization—more so than religious peers or
religious beliefs.

Peers

Another agent of socialization that relates to school is our peer group. Unlike the agents we've already
discussed - family and school - peer groups give us an opportunity as children to form relationships with
others on our own terms plus learn things without the direction of an adult. Our peers have an
incredible amount of influence on us when we're young, so it's understandable that parents worry about
the type of friends we choose. Often, we discuss topics and learn behavioral norms from our peers that
our parents do not or would not approve of.

However, our peers also give us a chance to develop many of the social skills we need as adults. For
instance, Alexander will certainly experience moments when his friends' behavior and/or values
contradict the norms and values he obtained from his family. He has to learn to decide which norms and
values to keep, reject, or use and follow in certain situations.

Culture

Culture is the collection of beliefs, assumptions and values that people from a certain cultural
background share. Socialization is the process of transmitting these beliefs, assumptions and values
from one generation of people to the next. Through the process of socialization, we are learning the
wisdom that the generations before us have acquired about all different aspects of life, whether that is
how to construct a house, or how to build positive relationships, or what the best way is to make a
noodle soup.

Neighbor

A neighborhood is a geographically localized community within a larger city, town, or suburb.

Neighborhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among
members. Neighborhoods are typically generated by social interaction among people living near one
another. In this sense, they are local social units larger than households, but not directly under the
control of city or state officials. In some preindustrial urban traditions, basic municipal functions such as
protection, social regulation of births and marriages, cleaning, and upkeep are handled informally by
neighborhoods and not by urban governments; this pattern is well documented for historical Islamic
cities. In addition to social neighborhoods, most ancient and historical cities also had administrative
districts used by officials for taxation, record-keeping, and social control.

Ideology

An ideology is a set of ideas that constitute one’s goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be
thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things, as in several philosophical
tendencies, or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society.
The main purpose behind an ideology is to offer either change in society, or adherence to a set of ideals
where conformity already exists, through a normative thought process. Ideologies are systems of
abstract thought applied to public matters and thus make this concept central to politics.

In the Marxist account of ideology, it serves as an instrument of social reproduction. In the Marxist
economic base and superstructure model of society, base denotes the relations of production, and
superstructure denotes the dominant ideology (religious, legal, political systems). The economic base of
production determines the political superstructure of a society. Ruling class-interests determine the
superstructure and the nature of the justifying ideology—actions feasible because the ruling class
control the means of production. Similarly, Louis Althusser proposed a materialistic conception of
ideology using the concept of the ideological state apparatus. For Althusser, beliefs and ideas are the
products of social practices, not the reverse. What is ultimately important for Althusser are not the
subjective beliefs held in the “minds” of human individuals, but rather the material institutions, rituals,
and discourses that produce these beliefs.

Many political parties base their political action and program on an ideology. A political ideology is a
certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths, or symbols of a social movement, institution,
class, or large group that explains how society should work and offers some political and cultural
blueprint for a certain social order. A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power
and to what ends it should be used. Some parties follow a certain ideology very closely, while others
may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically embracing any one of
them.

Mass Media

The last agent of childhood socialization we're going to discuss in this lesson is mass media, which
includes television, Internet, radio, movies, books, and magazines - just to name a few. This is another
agent that our parents are understandably concerned about. As with our peers, we often learn things
through mass media that our parents would probably rather we didn't. Especially today, children are
exposed to a wide variety of content, including violence and sex, which many deem inappropriate. Mass
media also seems to reinforce gender and other stereotypes.

For example, Alexander loves to watch cartoons, but they perpetuate the idea that men are more
important than women. Women are usually portrayed as supporting characters - mothers, girlfriends, or
damsels in distress. As a result, Alexander is continually provided with evidence that women are not as
brave and intelligent as men.