Annabelle Porter

Dr. V

MUED 376

29 August 2021

The Cycle of Socialization

Bobbie Harro’s article “The Cycle of Socialization” explains the cycle of oppression

through three main facets: being born; the influence of our families, guardians, or close adults;

and our institutional or cultural socialization. It is at the core of this cycle that the reader can self-

reflect to find “What has kept me in this cycle for so long?” Harro explains in depth that these

reasons are fear, ignorance, confusion, insecurity, and the accessibility to power or the lack

thereof. It is through our discomfort that the reader can enact change.

One of the main points that Harro discusses in this article is identity. She strongly

introduces the idea of identity by stating “…social identities predispose us to unequal roles in the

dynamic system of oppression…then socialized by powerful sources in our worlds to play the

roles prescribed by an inequitable social system.” Though there are unequal roles that we are

trying to change and eradicate, Harro acknowledges that this system of oppression creates a

“mosaic of social identities.” The pervasive, consistent, circular, self-perpetuating, and invisible

cycle shapes us into our identity profile that we socialize within. “There is no reason for any of

us to feel guilty or responsible for the world into which we are born. We are innocents, falling

into an already established system.” As an educator, it is important that I recognize my student’s

identities and create a cycle of socialization in the classroom that enables all students.

As explained earlier, the socialization process is persuasive (coming from all sides),

consistent (patterned and predictable), circular (self-supporting), self-perpetuating

(intradependent), and often invisible (unconscious and unnamed). This process is five tiers of

manipulation, attacks, or influence that agents or targets receive willingly or unwillingly simply

by being born, through influential adults (parents/guardians), institutions and cultural

socializations. The socialization process model represents how our socialization process happens,

from what sources it comes, how it affects our lives, and how it perpetuates itself. Reflection on

the socialization process whether done at an self, local, or global level is based upon history,

habit, tradition, patterns of belief, prejudices, stereotypes, and myths. Harro warns of the

emotional damages that may occur while self-reflecting on the socialization process but prompts

the importance of self-reflection as it is needed to enact change. As an educator, I need to

constantly be aware and educated on the 5 tiers of socialization to have a healthy classroom

environment that discontinues oppressive language and behavior.

Harro dissects the socialization process down to the core of division: fear, ignorance,

confusion, insecurity, and the accessibility to power or the lack thereof. The fear of labels, lack

of understanding, complexity of interrupting the system, insecurity in one’s ability, and the

abundance or lack of power are the contributing factors to the permanent stain that is the cycle of

socialization and prohibit a movement of social reformation for both agents and targets alike.

Harro explains that these factors can have no bondage over the agents or targets once “Our

discomfort becomes more powerful than our fear or insecurity, and we are compelled to take

some action.” No student should feel fear, confused, insecure, powerless, or be ignorant. It is my

role to educate students and provide resources for the students and classroom to prevent the cycle

of oppression.

“Change movements are filled with people who made decisions to interrupt the cycle of

socialization and the system of oppression. Once you know something, you can’t not know it
anymore, and knowing it eventually translates into action.” Through dissecting the facets,

motives, and core of the socialization system, I am more equipped to enact change and put forth

a movement of change starting in my classroom through self-reflection and continued scholarly

research.