Define socialization and throw the light on agencies for socialization




Socialization : 

A human child is helpless at birth Despite other animals, it cannot live for a few hours without other’s help but it can learn to become a complete human being and he learns everything from a society. This process of learning, which is complicated, is called socialization, which occurs through social interaction with near people including family members and relations, playmates and teachers. Social training is a process that continues from birth to death and there is a link between an individual and society without which no individual can live.

Definitions :

1. RT. Schaefer :
“Socialization is the process whereby people learn the attitude, values and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture,”

2. Robertson Jan :
“Socialization is the process of social interaction through which people acquire personality and learn the way of life of their society”,

3. CH. Persell :
“Socialization refers to the preparation of newcomers to become members of an existing group and to think, feel and act in ways the group considers appropriate.”

4. Augburn and Nimkoff :
“Socialization is a process through which individual learns obedience of group norms.”
A society wants individuals to do what is expected by it. Just as language, manners and behaviour. If an individual or a group comes up to the expectations of a society then society shows a joy for him and he is thought to be rightly trained. That is why, social psychologists think an individual as the product of social training.


Agencies for Socialization :

Socialization covering whole life is affected by several social forces. In all the societies of the world, family is considered as the most important institution which is the most effective in socialization, especially in childhood. In addition, other elements like group of companions, school, communication and professions have importance for personality and socialization.

1. Family :
The most effective and deep relation is of family in the process of socialization by imprinting at intense and deep effects on an individual. It is the family that takes care of a child, his birth and provides sense of self, teaches to walk, to talk, to memories and provides a sense of 'society. By making the child learn different behaviours according to different situations and reactions to those, his personality is developed but it has its base in the family. It is the family that provides a sense of gender and gender role interaction having long-lasting affects.
The part of culture that learnt in family, dominates the individual’s life and that is why family is said to be a center for socialization of an individual and these effects are very deep in Pakistani culture.
Melvin, in his research, has described three reasons because of which family effects are deeper :

i. The first institution with which an individual is introduced, is family and an emotional relation is all encompassing him all the life without any relation with the outer world.

ii. A family socializes a child consciously but this interaction makes the personality strong through unintended behaviours.

iii. A specific importance in the structure of a family makes its effects more long-lasting because the position and ascribed status of an individual is with reference to his family and the interaction is also in the background of a family making family religion, race, class, values and tradition are more important.

2. Schools :
In providing formal socialization, schools and other institutions are included. A school is an institution to teach knowledge and skills according to rules and regulations in a formal manner. Before industrial societies, institutions were not present in formal position and in the post industrial societies, their need and importance has increased very much. They have decreased the family effects and their benefits because they have attained the status of total institutions.
This institution along with teacher, students and environment teaches the social norms, traditions, beliefs and values and ensures their fast effects on the minds of the individual to fulfill the social expectations of the society. That is why, the social training of the school has deep effects on the minds of the individuals and their personality.

3. Peer Group :
As soon an individual grows up, he establishes his relations with his peer group. As these relations grow more, family importance becomes less because of his own type people, freedom from role status and his liking of, and his liking instead of compulsion. A sense of selection is evoked in him and them gives freedom of making decisions with confidence, thus learning new social roles. For instance, different roles and responsibilities in a game or play establish a balance between peer group and school and provide a traditional stage to the socialization, adopting in the practical life. Informal ways in family and formal ways in school are tried among peers and keeping its social reaction in view makes them as part of our personality and in practical life we behave according to it.

4. Mass Media :
Mass media is a wonderful invention of the twentieth century and this has got an important place in socialization of individuals. Before this development, stories and songs were part of social life of the individual but today the effects of TV and internet start to effect even in the early life of school and peer group. TV provides the practical training of role play and imitation and plays a part in the mental and personality growth of an individual. All means of communications give awareness about the environment to the individual and provide social information providing him with more alternatives in the selection of role,
behaviour and thoughts. It makes one understand one’s culture more and gives a facility to compare it with other cultures and increases one’s ability of amendment to re-mobilize himself.

5. Occupation :
In the secondary stage of socialization, profession is an important source. A profession gives an edge to ways of life, thought affecting the intelligence and becomes a total institution for the socialization of an individual. “Total institution refers to institution, which regulates all aspects of a person’s life under a single
authority.”

A profession affects in the following manner :

i. All activities of life become an axis of professional activities.

ii. All of these activities are associated with his professional fellows.

iii. These activities require all attention, skill and effort for the achievement of aims of that profession.

In these situations, the social interaction and communication become limited as specific and external factors affect his personality less and profession becomes a source of his personality development wholly, thus giving a recognition to his personality just as, a doctor engineer, professor and teacher are recognized with reference to their profession.

Other Agencies :

Some other agencies also do the work of socialization.
i. Neighborhood :
Neighborhood plays an important part in our socialization with reference to social interaction. If it is a part of group life, an individual’s early social life is affected. In Village and agrarian societies, neighborhood has depth and nearness and its effects resemble those of a family. But in modern urban societies, there is
distinctness and coldness about neighbor, thus having no effect on personality.

ii. Religious Institutions :
These affect an individual socially in two ways:
a. Religious trend in family diverts the individual to masjid where masjid has secondary effects of increasing or decreasing his tendency and ‘as a result of this an individual is either attached to religion or avoids religion matter because of his disliking the religion.

b. The position of mosque as a pleasant environment or a total institution influence the personality of an individual to the extent of totally making his every movement an expression of his attachment with religion.

iii. State :
Sociologists are accepting the fact that in the modern age, state is becoming more important at every stage with reference to socialization. Before industrial society, there was a distance between an individual and the state but i now this case is reversed totally and it has begun to affect our family decisions. Especially, in Socialist societies, the number of children, choice of profession and age for marriage is determined by the state and not by the family. Family’s economic security is the responsibility of State. Provision of medical aid and recreation are the responsibilities of a state and secondary dependence of an individual's personality is on the behaviour and facilities provided by the state which can be observed by the structure of personality and the difference of state action." (Mayer 1989)’

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