Sociology Project

Topic - A Discourse on theories of

socialization
Submitted By- Sumukh Tiwari | Group no. 2 |17066

Submitted To- Ms. Palma Preet Kelley Ma’aam

Assistant Professor of Sociology
 CONTENTS
Certificate .................................................................................................................................. 2
Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................... 3
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Meaning of Socialization ........................................................................................... 4
1.2 Definition of Socialization by various scholars ........................................................ 4
1.3 Types of Socialization ................................................................................................ 5
2 Theories of Socialization................................................................................................... 7
2.1 C.H. Cooley’s Theory Of ‘looking-Glass Self’............................................................ 7
2.2 George Herbert mead’s Theory of Self...................................................................... 9
2.2.1 Development of Self........................................................................................... 9
2.2.2 Two Sides of Self: Me and I...............................................................................10
2.3 Freud and His Concept of Human Mind ................................................................. 11
2.4 W.I. Thomas Theory of the Definition Of The Situation........................................ 14
2.5 Durkheim’s Theory of Collective Representations ................................................. 15
3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 17
4 Bibliography And References ..........................................................................................18

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project titled “A DISCOURSE ON THEORIES OF

SOCIALIZATION” has been prepared and well researched upon, by the bona fide
student Sumukh Tiwari, 1st year B.A LLB (Hons) of Rajiv Gandhi National University
of Law under the supervision of Ms. Pamal Preet Kelley Ma’aam, Assistant Professor
of Sociology. The concerned project has been found worthy of acceptance and is fit for
evaluation as the final project and is suitable for presentation.

___________________

Ms. Pamal Preet Kelley Ma’aam

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance
and I am extremely privileged to have got this all along the completion of my project. I
respect and would like to thank Ms. Pamal Preet Kelley ma’am who gave me the
opportunity to do this project work, I would also like to thank her for helping and guiding
me in completing my project. She helped me a lot in knowing the nuances of doing
research and also taught me a number of different things which might help me in my
future assignments as well. I would also like to thank the library staff who assisted in
finding the appropriate books for my project and also in collecting the relevant data that
came in handy in the construction of my project. Special thanks to my friends who kept
me motivated whenever I lost my enthusiasm and gave me new ideas that made my
project unique.

Sumukh Tiwari

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 MEANING OF SOCIALIZATION

At birth the human child possesses the potentialities of becoming human. The child
becomes a man or a person through a variety of experiences. He becomes that what the
sociologists’ calls ‘socialized’. Socialization means the process whereby an individual
becomes a functioning member of the society. The individual becomes socialized by
learning the rules and practices of social groups. By this process the individual develops a
personality of his own.

Man is man, because he shares with others a common culture. Culture includes not only its
living members but also members of past generations and those as yet unborn. Sociologists
have given more importance to socialization because man is a cultural being. Socialization
is often referred to as the ‘transmission of culture’, the process whereby man learn the rules
and practices of social groups. Socialization is an aspect of all activity within all human
societies. Just as we learn a game by playing it, so we learn life by engaging in it. We are
socialized in the course of the activities themselves. For example, if we do not know correct
manners, we learn them through the mistakes that we make and the disapproval that others
exhibit. We may learn the ways of behavior through the mistakes that we make and the
disapproval that others exhibit. We may learn the ways of behavior through imitation and
purposeful training. Education- purposeful instruction- is thus only a part of the
socialization process. It is not, and can never be, the whole of that process.

1.2 DEFINITION OF SOCIALIZATION BY VARIOUS SCHOLARS

1. Bogardus: Socialization is the “process of working together, of developing group
responsibility, or being guided by the welfare needs of others’.
2. W.F. Ogburn: “Socialization is the process by which the individual learns to
conform to the norms of the group.
3. Peter Worsley: He defines socialization as process of “transmission of culture, the
process whereby man learn the rules and practices of social groups.”

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 4. Harry M. Johnson: He understands socialization as “learning that enables the
learner to perform social roles”. He further says that it is “a process by which
individuals acquire the already existing culture of group they come into.
5. Lundberg: He was of the view that socialization consists of the “complex
processes of interaction through which the individual learns the habits, skills and
standards of judgement that are necessary for his effective participation in social
groups and communities”.
Conclusion: It is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society.
It encompasses both learning and teaching and thus help in development of an
individual as an overall person, in order to make him fit to live in the society.

1.3 TYPES OF SOCIALIZATION

Although socialization occurs during childhood and adolescence, it also continues
in middle and adult age. Thus, socialization is a life-long process. Accordingly, it
can be said that there are various types of socialization, primarily being:
I. Primary Socialization: Primary Socialization refers to socialization of
the infant in the primary or earliest years of his life. It is a process by
which the infant learns language and cognitive skills, internalizes norms
and values. The infant learns the ways of a given grouping and is molded
into an effective social participant of that group.
The norms of society become part of the personality of the individual.
The child does not have a sense of wrong and right. By direct and indirect
observation and experience, he gradually learns the norms relating to
wrong and right things. The primary socialization takes place in the
family.
II. Anticipatory Socialization: Anticipatory socialization refers to a process
by which men learn the culture of a group with the anticipation of joining
that group. As a person learns the proper beliefs, values and norms of a
status or group to which he aspires, he is learning how to act in his new
role.

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III. Developmental Socialization: This kind of learning is based on the
achievements of primary socialization. “It builds on already acquired
skills and knowledge as the adult progress through new situations such as
marriage or new jobs. These require new expectations, obligations, and
roles. New learning is added to and blended with old in a relatively
smooth and continuous process of development”. – Ian Robertson
IV. Re-Socialization: Re-socialization is a process in which a person is
taught new norms, values, and practices that foster their transition from
one social role to another. Re-socialization can involve both minor and
major forms of change and can be both voluntary and involuntary. The
process ranges from simply adjusting to a new job or work environment,
to moving to another country where you have to learn new customs,
dress, language and eating habits, to even more significant forms of
change like becoming a parent.
Examples of involuntary Re-socialization include becoming a prisoner or
a widow, among others.
Re-socialization differs from the formative, lifelong process of
socialization in that the latter directs a person's development whereas the
former redirects their development.

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2 THEORIES OF SOCIALIZATION

2.1 C.H. COOLEY’S THEORY OF ‘LOOKING-GLASS SELF’

The above mentioned picture clearly depicts the idea of Charles Horton Cooley about
looking-glass self. The picture is about a person who at the front of the image is looking
into four mirrors, each of which reflects someone else’s image of him back to him.

Explanation- Cooley´s concept of the looking glass self, states that a person’s self grows
out of a person´s social interactions with others. The view of ourselves comes from the
contemplation of personal qualities and impressions of how others perceive us. Actually,
how we see ourselves comes from the contemplation of personal qualities and impression
of how others perceive us. Actually, how we see ourselves does not come from who we
really are, but rather from how we believe others see us.

The main point is that people shape their self-concepts based on their understanding of
how others perceive them. We form our self-image as the reflections of the response and
evaluations of others in our environment. As children we were treated in a variety of ways.
If parents, relatives and other important people look at a child as smart, they will tend to
raise him with certain types of expectations. As a consequence the child will eventually

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believe that he is a smart person. This is a process that continues when we grow up. For
instance, if you believe that your closest friends look at you as some kind of superhero, you
are likely to project that self-image, regardless of whether this has anything to do with
reality.

The concept of the looking glass-self theory constitutes the cornerstone of the sociological
theory of socialization. The idea is that people in our close environment serve as the
“mirrors” that reflect images of ourselves. According to Cooley, this process has three
steps.

1. First, we imagine how we appear to another person. Sometimes this imagination is

correct, but may also be wrong since it is merely based on our assumptions.

2. Second, we imagine what judgments people make of us based on our appearance.

3. Lastly, we imagine how the person feels about us, based on the judgments made of
us. The ultimate result is that we often change our behavior based on how
we feel people perceive us.

Critical Perspective: It has been argued that the looking glass self-conceptualization of
the social self is critically incomplete in that it overlooks the divergent roles of in-groups
and out-groups in self-definition. That is, it has been demonstrated that while individuals
will converge upon the attitudes and behaviors of in-group members, they will also diverge
from the attitudes and behaviors of out-group members. The neglect of the latter scenario
is attributed to the looking glass approaches’ implicit focus on in-group member appraisals.
This alternative perspective is derived from the self-categorization theory analysis
of social influence. Indeed, it is further argued that the looking glass self-metaphor fails to
reflect the fact that influence derives from the self-categorization of other individuals as
part of the self. In other words, people are not shaped by the reflections from ‘others’, but
rather are shaped by the creation of a collective social identity that contrasts
‘us’ against relevant ‘others’.

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2.2 GEORGE HERBERT MEAD’S THEORY OF SELF

George Herbert Mead, a sociologist from the late 1800s, is well known for his theory of
the social self, which includes the concepts of 'self,' 'me,' and 'I. Mead's work focuses on
the way in which the self is developed. Mead's theory of the social self is based on the
perspective that the self emerges from social interactions, such as observing and interacting
with others, responding to others' opinions about oneself, and internalizing external
opinions and internal feelings about oneself. The social aspect of self is an important
distinction because other sociologists and psychologists of Mead's time felt that the self
was based on biological factors and inherited traits. According to Mead, the self is not there
from birth, but it is developed over time from social experiences and activities.

2.2.1 Development of Self

According to Mead, three activities develop the self: language, play, and games.

Language develops self by allowing individuals to respond to each other through symbols,
gestures, words, and sounds. Language conveys others' attitudes and opinions towards a
subject or the person. Emotions, such as anger, happiness, and confusion, are conveyed
through language.

Play develops self by allowing individuals to take on different roles, pretend, and express
expectation of others. Play develops one's self-consciousness through role-playing. During
role-play, a person is able to internalize the perspective of others and develop an
understanding of how others feel about themselves and others in a variety of social
situations.

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Games develop self by allowing individuals to understand and adhere to the rules of the
activity. Self is developed by understanding that there are rules in which one must abide
by in order to win the game or be successful at an activity.

2.2.2 Two Sides of Self: Me and I

According to Mead's theory, the self has two sides or phases: 'me' and 'I.'

The 'me' is considered the socialized aspect of the individual. The 'me' represents learned
behaviors, attitudes, and expectations of others and of society. This is sometimes referred
to as the generalized other. The 'me' is considered a phase of the self that is in the past.
The 'me' has been developed by the knowledge of society and social interactions that the
individual has gained.

The 'I', therefore, can be considered the present and future phase of the self. The 'I'
represents the individual's identity based on response to the 'me.' The 'I' says, 'Okay.
Society says I should behave and socially interact one way, and I think I should act the
same (or perhaps different),' and that notion becomes self.

The 'me' and the 'I' have a didactic relationship, like a system of checks and balances. The
'me' exercises societal control over one's self. The 'me' is what prevents someone from
breaking the rules or boundaries of societal expectations. The 'I' allows the individual to
still express creativity and individualism and understand when to possibly bend and
stretch the rules that govern social interactions. The ‘I’' and the 'me' make up the self.

Critical Perspective: George H. Mead shows a psychological analysis through behavior

and interaction of an individual's self with reality. The behavior is mostly developed
through sociological experiences and encounters. These experiences lead to individual
behaviors that make up the social factors that create the communications in society.
Communication can be described as the comprehension of another individual's gestures.
Mead explains that communication is a social act because it requires two or more people
to interact. He also explains that the self is a social process with communication between
the "I", the pure form of self, and the "Me", the social form of self. "I" becomes a response
to the "Me" and vice versa. That same "I" deals with the response of an individual and the
"Me" is considered the attitudes you take on, both being related to social selves.

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2.3 FREUD AND HIS CONCEPT OF HUMAN MIND

Freud (1900, 1905) developed a topographical

model of the mind, whereby he described the
features of the mind’s structure and function.
Freud used the analogy of an iceberg to
describe the three levels of the mind. On the
surface is consciousness, which consists of
those thoughts that are the focus of our
attention now, and this is seen as the tip of the
iceberg. The preconscious consists of all which
can be retrieved from memory.

The third and most significant region is the

unconscious. Here lie the processes that are the
real cause of most behavior. Like an iceberg,
the most important part of the mind is the part
you cannot see.

The unconscious mind acts as a repository, a ‘cauldron’ of primitive wishes and impulse
kept at bay and mediated by the preconscious area. For example, Freud (1915) found that
some events and desires were often too frightening or painful for his patients to
acknowledge, and believed such information was locked away in the unconscious mind.
This can happen through the process of repression.

Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary
assumption of Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater
degree than people suspect. Indeed, the goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious
conscious.

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Division of Human Mind
by Sigmund Freud: Freud
(1923) later developed a
more structural model of
the mind comprising the
entities id, ego, and
superego (what Freud
called “the psychic
apparatus”). These are not
physical areas within the
brain, but rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important mental functions.

Freud assumed the id operated at an unconscious level according to the pleasure principle
(gratification from satisfying basic instincts). The id comprises two kinds of biological
instincts (or drives) which Freud called Eros and Thanatos.

Eros, or life instinct, helps the individual to survive; it directs life-sustaining activities such
as respiration, eating, and sex (Freud, 1925). The energy created by the life instincts is
known as libido.

In contrast, Thanatos or death instinct, is viewed as a set of destructive forces present in all
human beings (Freud, 1920). When this energy is directed outward onto others, it is
expressed as aggression and violence. Freud believed that Eros is stronger than Thanatos,
thus enabling people to survive rather than self-destruct.

The ego develops from the id during infancy. The ego's goal is to satisfy the demands of
the id in a safe a socially acceptable way. In contrast to the id, the ego follows the reality
principle as it operates in both the conscious and unconscious mind.

The superego develops during early childhood (when the child identifies with the same sex
parent) and is responsible for ensuring moral standards are followed. The superego operates
on the morality principle and motivates us to behave in a socially responsible and
acceptable manner.

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The basic dilemma of all human existence is that each element of the psychic apparatus
makes demands upon us that are incompatible with the other two. Inner conflict is
inevitable.

For example, the superego can make a person feel guilty if rules are not followed. When
there is a conflict between the goals of the id and superego, the ego must act as a referee
and mediate this conflict. The ego can deploy various defense mechanisms (Freud, 1894,
1896) to prevent it from becoming overwhelmed by anxiety.

Critical Perspective: Freud's theory is good at explaining but not at predicting behavior
(which is one of the goals of science). For this reason, Freud's theory is un-falsifiable - it
can neither be proved true or refuted. For example, the unconscious mind is difficult to test
and measure objectively. Overall, Freud's theory is highly unscientific.

Despite the skepticism of the unconscious mind, cognitive psychology has identified
unconscious processes, such as procedural memory (Tulving, 1972), automatic processing
(Bargh & Chartrand, 1999; Stroop, 1935), and social psychology has shown the importance
of implicit processing (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). Such empirical findings have
demonstrated the role of unconscious processes in human behavior.

However, most of the evidence for Freud's theories are taken from an unrepresentative
sample. He mostly studied himself, his patients and only one child (e.g., Little Hans). The
main problem here is that the case studies are based on studying one person in detail, and
with reference to Freud, the individuals in question are most often middle-aged women
from Vienna (i.e., his patients). This makes generalizations to the wider population (e.g.,
the whole world) difficult. However, Freud thought this unimportant, believing in only a
qualitative difference between people.

Freud may also have shown research bias in his interpretations - he may have only paid
attention to information which supported his theories, and ignored information and other
explanations that did not fit them.

However, Fisher & Greenberg (1996) argue that Freud’s theory should be evaluated in
terms of specific hypotheses rather than as a whole. They concluded that there is evidence
to support Freud’s concepts of oral and anal personalities and some aspects of his ideas

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on depression and paranoia. They found little evidence of the Oedipal conflict and no
support for Freud’s views on women’s sexuality and how their development differs from
men.

2.4 W.I. THOMAS THEORY OF THE DEFINITION OF THE SITUATION

The views of W.I. Thomas concerning the
process of socialization can be understood by an
analysis of his theory of “The Definition of the
Situation”. According to Thomas, the situation
in which the child finds himself has already been
defined for him. The rules according to which he
must behave are determined by the group into which
he is born. The child cannot behave according to his
own whims and fancies. He must act according to the
expectations of the group and compromise his wishes
with those of the group. The wishes and the
expectations of the group always call for restraint,
order, discipline and self-sacrifice in the child. A
kind of conflict may take place between the wishes
of the child and those of the group. Though not
always, the group usually wins out in such a conflict.
Thomas has described this situation graphically in
his ‘The Unadjusted Girl’.

Thus according to Thomas any deliberate action calls for an appraisal of the situation within which
the person finds himself. Once the situation is defined for him, he can act appropriately in it in the
normal course. His role also becomes apparent. Thomas has pointed out, that in infancy situations
are defined for infant by the mother and other members. The parents define the situation through
speech and other signs and pressures. The parents may give instructions to their child to correct his
behavior. Thus, they may instruct: “Be Quiet”, “Sit Up Straight”, “Blow your Nose”, “Wash Your
Face”, “Mind your Mother”, “Be kind to sister”, “Pray God”, and so on. The child’s wishes and
activities are inhibited by these instructions or definitions. Thomas has argued that by definitions
within by the family, by playmates, in the school, by formal instruction, and by signs of approval
and disapproval, the child, that is, the growing member, learns the norms of his society.

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2.5 DURKHEIM’S THEORY OF COLLECTIVE REPRESENTATIONS

Among Christians, the cross is a symbol

that represents selfless sacrifice, the love of
God and Jesus Christ, triumph despite an
unrighteous death, and forgiveness of sins.
The cross is one example of a collective
representation.

Collective representations are symbols or

images that have a common significance
amongst members of a group in that they
convey ideas, values, or ideologies.
Collective representations give meaning to
the world and social interactions and help
humans make sense of their existence. The
cross is an example of a collective representation because it is a symbol that has a common
significance and meaning for Christians.

Émile Durkheim, a famous French sociologist, is credited with defining and developing
the concept of collective representations. Durkheim, one of the founders of the field of
sociology, was highly interested in social solidarity, or how societies would survive and
remain functional with an increasing relinquishment of religion. Religion was, after all, the
glue that held many societies together and provided the structure for division of labor and
social interactions. To Durkheim, collective representations were symbols that provided
some solidarity in a society.

Collective representations are called 'collective' because their meaning and importance
have been decided by a communal entity. These symbols, ideas, values, or ideologies have
not been decided by one person; they have been established by a large group of people over
the course of time.

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Critical Perspective: Though Emile Durkheim has not directly talked anywhere in his
writings about the development of the sense of self or the process of socialization of the
individual, he has definitely described the role of the society in the formation of personality
(attitudes, beliefs and behavior) of the individuals. In his theory of ‘collective
representation’, Durkheim insisted that the individual becomes socialized by adopting the
behavior of his group.

He maintained that the individual’s thought and behavior are determined by collective
representation. By collective representation, he meant the body of experiences, a system of
ideas, patterns of behavior, attitudes and values held in common by a group of people.

Durkheim’s main interest in the relationship of the individual to the group was the group
control over the individual. For him, socialization is a one-way process because he focused
his attention on how society develops and molds the individual to fit into the group.
Durkheim’s conception left little room for individual’s initiative and freedom in the process
of socialization.

This is a great weakness of his theory of collective representation. Durkheim did not
recognize any role of the individual in the process of socialization. How do these
representations become a part of the individual or how does collective representation exert
pressure over the individual is not fully explained by Durkheim. He utilized his theory of
collective representation (theory of socialization) in explaining the causes of suicide, the
social phenomena of religion and the concept of social solidarity etc.

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3 CONCLUSION
The above mentioned theories suggests that human behavior is not instinctive, but is learnt
in nature. The human child comes into the world as a biological organism with animal
needs. It is the society which moulds him into a social being and makes him learn the social
ways of acting and feeling. The existence of society is not possible without this process.
No individual could become the person and no culture could exist without it. This process
of moulding and shaping the personality of the human infant is called socialization.
Socialization being subjective in nature has been defined by different scientists in different
ways. C.H Cooley considers socialization as “looking into self” through the perspective of
society, Mead propounds the theory of self which sounds same as that of Cooley’s, but it
differs from that as it talks about the ‘role playing’ by an individual, i.e. the more he
interacts, more he becomes aware of himself, and thus Mead completes the theory of
Cooley as it clarifies the difference between whether an individual sees himself through
the society or he is simply converged on the behavior of the others. But both of these
theories were more about the society and less about the individual, thus Sigmund Freud’s
theory, comes into the picture which increases the ambit of socialization and centres it
around the human mind, rather than the process of socialization. To explain, this
phenomenon he gave the concept of Id, Ego, and Super Ego, which explains that how
human instincts, his reality and his morality are different and complementary to each other.
Socialization can also be seen as a situation which has been already defined for an
individual, this concept of socialization by given by W.I. Thomas in which he defines it as
“The Definition of the Siuation”.Though Thomas is partly correct in his theory but his
theory suggests that every situation is defined in nature, which somewhat sounds flawed,
as there are instances which are not likely to be defined and thus aren’t fit in his theory.
Socialization can also be seen as a body of experiences and ideas, which leads us to
Durkheim’s theory of ‘Collective Representations’ which shifts the focus on process of
socialization. According to Durkheim, Collective Representations are objects or factor of
social value. These objects are symbol-products and are mutually owned and mutually
proclaimed. But Durkheim’s theory socialization to a one way process only, and thus
suppresses the individual initiatives and freedom of a person.

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 4 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
I. C.N. Shankar Rao. Principles of Sociology With an Introduction To Social
Thought. New Delhi: S.Chand, 2009. Print. P. No. 205-226
II. T.K. Oommen, C.N. Venugopal. Sociology. Lucknow: EBC Publications, 2010.
III. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/socialisation-definitions-aims-and-
mechanism-of-socialisation/35090
IV. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/4-theories-of-socialisation-
explained/35088
V. http://www.iep.utm.edu/durkheim/#SH3f
VI. http://study.com/academy/lesson/primary-socialization-agents-definition-and-
theory.html
VII. https://www.enotes.com/research-starters/thomas-theorem
VIII. https://www.colorado.edu/Sociology/gimenez/soc.5001/durk1.html
IX. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html
X. https://www.enotes.com/topics/george-herbert-mead/critical-essays

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