What is Society?

Society, Socialisation, Norms and Values,

Citizenship
What is society?
Society is a large group of people who
share the same laws, rights and
resources.

Think of society as a type of community.

Society can be as small as your

neighborhood. In a neighborhood people
live close nearby.
In a society people can live
far away from each other
and still belong to the same
community.

People in the same society

can be very different.

They can speak different

languages and belong to
different cultural
communities, but they will
all belong to the same
society.
For example: The Meli family live in Haż
Żabbar and the Schembri
family live in Gżira, they live
far from each other, but
they are all member of a
Maltese society.
They all share the same flag,
voting rights and leadership
of the country (Prime
Minister).
A society can also be a
group of people type of
work for example a
group of doctors.
Or people who believe in
something together like
animal protection
volunteers.
Members of these
societies may not
work or volunteer
in the same places
but are all part of
the same society
because of what
they have in
common.
 The people around you,
near and far.

People from Haż Żabbar

Society is? and Gżira.

Agents of Socialisation.
The people around you,
near and far.
What is Socialisation? Wolves, dolphins, lions and
elephants all have
something in common. The
all live in packs and have
strong family bonds.

Some of these families can

bond with other families.

Elephants even mourn the

loss of one of their family
remember.
Elephant Mourns Death | BBC Earth
Human beings are
designed to live in
communities, societies
and cultures.

Socialisation is the
process where we learn
the beliefs, norms,
values and customs of a
society or group.
How do you know that is not
appropriate to walk naked in public? We learn this from
when we are
young, children
aren’t born
knowing this, but
parents will teach
this to their
children. This is
done through
Socialisation.
Primary Socialisation is Socialisation
that happens in early stages of life,
when we are young, from parents and
close family members.

Secondary Socialisation is Socialisation

from school, friends and media. It is the
process of Socialisation into adulthood.
Laws, rights and responsibilities
Citizens have rights or
special things that
citizens can do.

Government leaders
create laws to make sure
that citizens don’t do
things that they aren’t
meant to do.
Laws are a set of rules
that protect people and
the things that they
own.

A responsibility is a duty
or something that
people must do. Laws
help citizens work live
safely together.
 Voting

When people vote they make an

important choice.
Imagine your family couldn’t decide
what to eat for dinner.
You could take a vote to choose a
dish, or your football team needs a
new captain. You would take a vote.
As a citizen voting is very
important. Adults who are
18 and older vote when it is
time to choose a leader of
the community, whether it
is for the mayor of your
local council or the prime
minster of Malta, or the
Maltese Members of
European Parliament in the
EU (European Union ).
 What happens when people vote?

On election day, citizens go to a special

place like local public schools to vote for
leaders in their community. inside you will
find voting booths to keep voting private.
Voters choose on a ballot and put this on
a ballot box. After all the votes have been
counted a new leader is chosen.
Maltese citizens choose
the next Prime Minister
every 5 years.

They choose from a

group of people called
political candidates or
politicians.
What are hidden social
rules?

They are things that people are not

taught but are expected to know
anyway. Many are about manners
and how we act with others.
 • Being on time for appointments and meetings.
Examples of
Social rules… • Accepting all presents by kindly saying thank
you.

• Making eye contact when talking to someone.

Why do we follow social rules?

To figure out social rules we need to

examine our environment to see if what
we are doing is expected. And how what
we do and say impacts others.
What are norms and values?

A norm is an
expected way of
behaving, an
example would be
saying please.
Values are ideas that we
think is valuable, for
example, we value good
manners.

However, norms and

values are different from
one culture to another;
meaning they are
defined by culture.
This means that
different cultures
have different ways
of behaving.
For example, in
Greece it is
considered very
rude to make an
“OK” sign with your
hand.
You are taught these
rules by six agents of
Socialisation:

Family, Religion,
Education, Mass Media,
Peer Groups and your
place of work.
If you don’t behave as
expected, you may face
negative sanctions. But
there is also positive
sanction for when you do
behave as expected.
So, whether it is at school
or home everyone must
follow set ways of
behaving.
Seinfeld – Living in a Society