Tura Christian College

BA. 2nd Semester

Paper II Foundations of Educations
Unit VI
-Socialisation

Socialization is a process of making an individual social. In other words, specialization is a

process through which society develops an individual according to its ideals, beliefs and traditions
and bestows, recognition as social being. In short, the whole process of socialization falls within
the scope of interaction or the social act as said by Kimball Yang. The individual, inspired by the
ideals of social service and social welfare through interaction, makes himself well adjusted with
his family, neighbours and other social groups so that he himself becomes a true social being.

The process of socialization is life long process that begins from birth and ends with death
and is said to occur in two phases such as primary and secondary. The primary stage denotes the
socialization in infancy and childhood during which period a child acquires the most intense form
of cultural learning. This stage marks the acquisition of basic knowledge of language and
behaviour patterns laying the foundation for all the learning which happens later. Secondary
socialization maps the period in later childhood and adolescence when the child receives training
in institutional or formal settings such as school. This level runs parallel to primary socialization.
But, unlike in the family settings where children are accepted unconditionally by parents, in
schools they are trained to conform to authority. They learn to interact in large groups. Their
exposure to new culture makes this phase more complex and challenging.

According to Havighurst and Newgarton “ Socialization is the process by which children

learn the ways of their society and make these ways part of their own personality”

In the words of Bogardus “ Socialisation is the process whereby persons learn to behave
dependably together on behalf of human welfare and in so doing experiences social self control,
social responsibility and balanced personalities”

Agencies of Socialisation

Socialization is a lifelong process during which we learn about social expectations and
how to interact with other people. Nearly all of the behavior that we consider to be 'human nature'
is actually learned through socialization. And, it is during socialization that we learn how to walk,
talk, and feed ourselves, about behavioral norms that help us fit in to our society, and so much
more. 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. These are the
people or groups responsible for our socialization during childhood - including family, school,
peers, and mass media.

Family: The child‘s first world is that of his family. It is a world in itself, in which the
child learns to live, to move and to have his being The young child’s relationship with her/his
family is one of the most significant, fateful and determining influences on the child. The family
is said to be the ‘cradle of social virtues’. It is here that the child’s orientation to core values like
cooperation, tolerance, self sacrifice, love and affection occur. The way a child establishes her/his
relationships for better or worse with the rest of the world later in life is shaped, to a great extent,
by her/his primary socialization in the family. The family as a basic social institution has always
been regarded as a core component for the development of the individual as well as for the society
and the mankind. As the primary agents of childhood socialisation, parents play a critical role in
guiding children into their gender roles deemed appropriate in a society. Families also teach
children values they will hold throughout life. They frequently adopt their parents‘ attitudes not
only about work but also about the importance of education, patriotism and religion.

School: The next important agent of childhood socialization is the school. School is a
miniature society where children of different families, different religions, different castes and
economic status come together, take part in collective activities and learn to adjust to the society.
After family the educational institutions take over the charge of socialisation. In some societies
(simple non-literate societies), socialisation takes place almost entirely within the family but in
highly complex societies children are also socialised by the educational system. Schools not only
teach reading, writing and other basic skills, they also teach students to develop themselves, to
discipline themselves, to cooperate with others, to obey rules and to test their achievements
through competition. Social control comes to be exercised by the school and the increased
professionalisation of teaching helps to undermine the authority base of the family as a socialising
agency. Again, the content of socialisation as well as the knowledge to be transmitted become the
focus of the curriculum and syllabi and a set of carefully prescribed practices. What parents did or
do by instinct and with love, professionals must do with clear regulations and justifications.

Peer Group: 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 relationship with others in our own terms plus learning things without the
direction of an adult. Besides the world of family and school fellows, the peer group (the people
of their own age and similar social status) and playmates highly influence the process of
socialisation. In the peer group, the young child learns to confirm to the accepted ways of a group
and to appreciate the fact that social life is based on rules. Peer group becomes significant others
in the terminology of G.H. Mead for the young child. Peer group socialisation has been increasing
day by day these days. For young adolescents, acceptance by peers is the most important aspect
of socialization. Therefore they exhibit willingness to conform to the peer group and foster
loyalty.

Mass media: Today, the dynamics of rapid changes can be felt in every society and every
institution. This, in turn, necessitates the forging of new social forms and new methods of
communication like the mass media.
The mass media comprises both the print media such as books, newspapers, magazines, etc., and
also non-print media such as radio, television, and movies The goal is to reach out to the mass or
large number of people without establishing any personal contact between senders and receivers.
It permeates into all aspects of society, be it political, linguistic, cultural or spiritual. Media is all
pervasive; its functioning is very subtle and has both positive and negative influences. In
contemporary societies, the means of mass communication such as the books radio, newspapers,
films or cinema, records, and video are very potent sources of socialising those who are either
their readers or the listeners or the viewers. These mass media, especially the films, the radio and
the television simultaneously communicate the same message to a nation wide audience cutting
across all boundaries. Therefore, its impact on socialisation is crucial.

Indeed socialization has a profound influence on the way we think, feel and act. “Man is
not born human but to be made human” (Park). But that does not imply that we are robots who act
according to commands of the socializing agents. We all are constantly constructing our ‘self’.
Our mind can reason and make choices. However, the lack of interaction with other members of
the society may lead to disastrous consequences.

Process of Socialisation

The process of socialisation makes a child social. Among the various factors which play a vital
role in this process, the following are the prominent ones:
1. Child-rearing:- The upbringing of a child plays a significant role in the socialisation of the
child. As the way in which the parents bring up the child and as the atmosphere which is available
to the child in his early childhood, accordingly the feelings and experiences develop in the child.
It means that improper upbringing of a child leads to the growth of anti social tendencies in him
because of social mal adjustment. Hence for the wholesome socialisation, healthy and proper
upbringing is essential.

2. Sympathy: Like upbringing sympathy also play an important role in the socialisation of a child.
It may be noted that during infancy, a child is fully dependent on his family for the fulfilment of
his needs and requirements. It is sympathy which develops we feeling in the child and he learns
to discriminate between his real well wishers and other members of society.

3. Cooperation: Society makes the child social. In other words the cooperation of society play an
important part to socialize the child. As a child receives cooperation of others towards hi,, he also
begins to extend his hearty cooperation towards other members of the society.

4. Suggestion: Social suggestion powerfully influences the socialisation of the child. It is natural
fact that a child a child act accordingly to the suggestion received from his well wishers, thus
suggestion determines the direction of social behaviour.

5. Identification: Sympathy, love and suggestion of parents and relations and well wishers develop
in the child a feeling of identification with others.

6. Imitation: The basic factor in socialisation is the process of imitation. This is the most potent
way of learning by the child. He imitates the behaviour, impulses and feelings of his family
members.

7. Reward and punishment: when the child behaves according to the beliefs and ideals of the
society , people appreciate and approve his behaviour . On the contrary, when he does some anti
social act, he is criticized and condemned by the society. This type of punishment weans the child
away from unsocial activities leading towards proper socialisation.