SOCIALIZATION

SOCIALIZATION
INTRODUCTION
- Sociologists, in general, are interested in the patterns of behavior and
attitudes that emerge throughout the life course, from infancy to old age.
These pattern are part of the life long process of Socialization, in which people
learn the attitudes, values, and behavior appropriate for members of a
particular culture.
- Socialization occurs through human interactions. We learn a great deal from
those people most important in our lives-immediate family members, best
friends, and teachers. But we also learn from people we see on the street, on
television, on the internet, and in films and magazines.
- From a microsociological perspective, socialization helps us to discover how to
behave ‘properly’ and what to expect from others if we follow (or challenge)
society's norms and values.
- From a macrosociological perspective, socialization provides for the
transmission of a culture from one generation to the next, for the long term
continuation of the society
- Socialization also shape our self images. In this sense socialization experiences
can help to shape our personalities. In everyday speech, personality refers to a
person’s typical patterns of attitude, needs, characteristics and behavior.
SOCIALIZATION- Definition
 Nearly all the human social behavior we consider natural and normal is
learned
 Socialization – the process by which an individual learns how to interact
with others and becomes a member of society
 Socialization is the cultural process of learning to participate in group life. It
is a complex, lifelong process. The most important learning occurs early in
life. Without socialization, a human infant cannot develop the set of
attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavior associated with being an individual
 We are all products of our social experience
 The process by which people learn their culture
They do so by:
• entering and disengaging from a succession of roles (behaviors expected of a
person occupying a particular position in society).
• becoming aware of themselves as they interact with others.
Definitions
 Young and Mack observe “ the process of inducting the

individual into the social world is called socialization”
 Peter Woesely “process of transmission of culture, the process
whereby men learn the rules and practices of social groups”
 John J. Maccionis “it’s a lifelong social experience by which
individuals develop their human potential and learn culture”
 Lundberg says “complex process of interaction through which
the individual learns the habits, beliefs, skills and standards of
judgment that are necessary for his effective participation in
social groups and communities”
 Horton and Hunt said “socialization is the process whereby
one internalize the norms of the groups among whom one
lives so that a unique self emerges”
The Role of Socialization
 The Biological Sciences: The Role of Nature
 The Social Sciences: The Role of Nurture
 Social Isolation: The impact of Isolation
-Research with Monkeys
-Studies of Isolated Children (Anna, Isabelle
and Genie)
Case Studies on Isolated Children: Anna and Isabelle
• Anna was kept in a small room.

• For five years Anna only received milk to drink.
• At the time of her discovery, she was malnourished.
• She could not walk or talk
• Showed few signs of intelligence.
• At the age of seven, her mental age was only
nineteen months.
• Social maturity was that of a two year old.
• Acquired the speech level of a two year old.
• She died at age ten.
Isabelle
• Hidden away because her mother was
unmarried.
• Mother stayed in a dark room with her
daughter for six and a half years.
• By the time she was eight and a half years old,
she was on the same educational path as
children her own age.
• Isabelle benefited from intensive instruction.
• She was confined with her mother for
company and comforting.
What can we learn from these case stud
ies?
• All evidence points to the crucial importance of social experience
in personality development. Human beings can recover from abuse
and short-term isolation. But there is a point—precisely when is
unclear from the small number of cases studied—at which isolation
in childhood causes permanent developmental damage.
• The personal and social development associated with being
human is acquired through intensive and prolonged social
contact with others
• As the story of Anna, Isabel and Genie shows, being cut off
from the social world is very harmful to human beings. For
ethical reasons, researchers can never place people in total
isolation to study what happens. But in the past, they have
studied the effects of social isolation on nonhuman primates.
Types of Socialization
 Primary Socialization
 Anticipatory Socialization
 Re-Socialization (Total Institution)
 Developmental Socialization
Methods of Socialization
• Cultural Conditioning
• Personal-Social Learning
Functions of Socialization
 Socialization converts humans from biological being to
social being
 It contributes in personality development
 It helps to become disciplined
 It helps to perform different roles
 It establish knowledge and skills
 It contributes in the stability of social order
 It transmits culture from one generation to other
 It creates right aspirations in social life
Theories on Socialization
• George Herbert Mead – the
development of the “Social Self”
• Charles Horton Cooley – the
development of the “Looking Glass
Self
The Self and Socialization
George Herbert Mead’s Theory of the Social Self
• George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) developed the theory of social
behaviorism to explain how social experience develops an
individual’s personality
THE SELF
• Mead’s central concept is the self, the part of an individual’s
personality composed of self-awareness and self-image. Mead’s
genius was in seeing the self as the product of social experience.
• 1. the self is not there at birth; it develops.
• 2. the self develops only with social experience
• 3. social experience is the exchange of symbols
• 4. seeking meaning leads people to imagine other people’s intentions
• 5. understanding intention requires imagining the situation from the
other’s point of view
Sociological Approaches to the Self
THE LOOKING GLASS SELF (Charles Horton Cooley)
THE ‘I’ AND THE ‘ME’

• 6. taking the role of the other, we become self aware
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF
Mead Stages of the Self
The key to developing the self is learning to take the role of the other. Because of their limited social
experience, infants can do this only through
i. Imitation also called The Preparatory Stage (They mimic behavior without understanding
underlying intentions, and so at this point, they have no self.
ii. Play also called as Play Stage (As children learn to use language and other symbols, the self
emerges in the form of play. Play involves assuming roles modeled on signiﬁcant others, people,
such as parents, who have special importance for socialization. Playing “mommy and daddy” is an
important activity that helps young children imagine the world from a parent’s point of view).
iii. Game also called The Game Stage (Gradually, children learn to take the roles of several others at
once. This skill lets them move from simple play (say, playing catch) with one other to complex
games (such as baseball) involving many others. By about age seven, most children have the social
experience needed to engage in team sports.
Significant others, Generalize other
Socialization and the Life Course
 The Life Course
 Rites of passage
• Childhood
• Adolescent
• Adulthood (early adulthood, middle
adulthood )
• Old Age
• Death and Dying
• The life course: Patterns and Variations
Agents of Socialization
 The Family
 The School
 The Peer Group
 The Mass Media and Technology
 The Workplace
 Religion and the State
PERSONALITY
 Definitions
 Foundations or Factors of Personality
Development
1. Biological Foundation
2. Heredity and Personality
3. Environment
4. Culture and Personality

SOCIALIZATION

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SOCIALIZATION

 Young and Mack observe “ the process of inducting the

• Anna was kept in a small room.

THE ‘I’ AND THE ‘ME’

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