College of the Social Sciences and Development

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Introduction to Sociology
Socialization

Socialization (Part I)
Foundations of Socialization
In comparison to other species, we enter the world as amazingly unfinished creatures.We are not born as social
beings, able to participate in society, but become so only in the course of socialization. (2008, Hughes and Kroehler,
pp. 70)
Socialization

A process of social interaction by which people acquire the knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviors
essential for effective participation in society.
A process of becoming a social being.
Without the process of socialization, the reproduction of social meanings (culture) could not occur from one
generation to the next.
Both the individual and society are mutually dependent upon socialization.

Nature vs. Nurture?

Initial inquiries would be: What influence socialization more? Nature or nurture?. But the question today is
more likely to be: How do nature and nurture interact to produce behavior?

What weighs more (hereditary or environment) particularly in explaining certain traits like anorexia, obesity,
extroversion, etc.? Genetic researches found out that anorexia, alcoholism, and antisocial behavior have
genetic components. Some even suggested that hereditary plays a primary role in personality and
development.

Though some studies (Harris, 1998; Turkheimer and Waldron, 2000; Guo, 2005) show that genetics play a
primary role in personality, temperament, and behavioral patterns, it is clearly an oversimplification to think
of organisms as passive objects determined and programmed by internal genetic forces.

Substantial evidence indicates that hereditary and environmental factors interact with and affect one another
(Feldman et al. 2000; Moffit, 2005)

Humans are not locked in an unchanging physical body nor and unchangeable environment. Both can change
and each exerts an influence on the other.

In learning, we modify ourselves by responding; we literally change ourselves by acting. Behavior

influences the functions of the brain, and that influences the brains architecture, so that experience produces
lasting effects in the structure and function of the brain.
(Locke)

Theories of Socialization
Macrosociological assumptions:

Macrolevel sociology view that socialization is a deterministic process,(singular movement of structure)

tending to reduce the roles of active individuals and the social processes involved.

Functionalism sees that society would not be possible if people did not internalize the values, norms,
and beliefs that ensure that they can occupy the statuses and roles that make up the social structure.
(collective consciousness)

Conflict theorists also recognize that socialization prepares people for their roles, but they emphasize the
ways socialization plays a crucial role in maintaining social inequalities in a patterned way. (class
consciousness, gender relations)

Microsociological assumptions:

College of the Social Sciences and Development

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Introduction to Sociology
Socialization

Microlevel theories examine the core of socialization and its processes.

Social Learning Theory

We are socialized through positive and negative reinforcement by our parents, friends, and society, and
that we observe and imitate socialized behavior around us.

Two processes of social learning:

Conditioning - form of learning in which the consequences (reinforcement or punishment) of behavior

determine the probability of its future occurrence.
Observational learning - also referred to as modeling/imitation, occurs when people reproduce the
responses that they observe in others.

Cognitive Developmental Theory

Jean Piaget (1926 -1955) categorized the four stages of cognitive development.

Sensorimotor stage - (0 -18months) children learn through their senses and their movements. They
cannot distinguish themselves and their environment, hence socialization is limited.
Preoperational stage - (18months - 7 years) child goes through representational thought, made possible
by learning symbols and language.
Formal operations stage (12 - adulthood) marked by capacity to develop abstract logical abilities.
Identity and moral sensibility become deeper and more complex, influenced by the ability to internalize
and critically evaluate the points of view of others.

Symbolic Interactionism

While Social Learning and Cognitive Development Theory is deeply rooted in psychology, a more
sociological view in explaining socialization comes from symbolic interactionist perspective.

Reflexive behavior - process of observing your behavior in the perspective of others.

Reflexive behavior is important because it is where people learn who they are.

Learning who one is, maybe influenced by both conditioning and observational learning. However, the
individuals take part in the learning process, wherein they monitor their own behavior monitor others
responses, make interpretations, try new ways of behaving, and come to new understandings about
themselves.

Agents of Socialization

Agents of socialization are specific individuals, groups and institutions that provide the situations in which
socialization can occur.

Primary Agents
o The primary agents of socialization include those people who are closest to an individual. These
primary agents include family and friends. The most important primary agent of socialization,
family, plays an important role in shaping the life and behavior of an individual within the society.

Secondary Agents
o The secondary agents of socialization are those institutions or places that help an individual find his
place within the society. These include religious institutions, schools, work places, etc. The
secondary agent of socialization, school, helps a child in improving social skills that helps the
individual in integrating well with the society around him.

Social Classes

College of the Social Sciences and Development

Department of Sociology and Anthropology
o

Introduction to Sociology
Socialization

Social classes are those agents, that divide individuals within the society. Division of social classes
maybe based on economic, ascription, and status.

College of the Social Sciences and Development

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Introduction to Sociology
Socialization

Influence of Agents of Socialization

Each individual respond differently to different socialization patterns. Each agent influence the individual in a
particular way.

Family
o

Family helps mold an individual by instilling the initial outlooks about the world.

Schools
o Schools help pass on knowledge, create awareness and inculcate the feelings of tolerance in
individuals. The second step to socialization is schools where a child meets different children and
learns to make out the right and wrong in society.

Community and Culture

o Community and culture help pass on the religious views and cultural traditions in an individual. A
community is the group where an individual meets people with similar ideologies and interact for
personal and community growth.

Peers
o

Peers have great impact on an individual's thoughts and line of thinking. An individual learns to
behave in a manner that they think will be acceptable to their peers. Peer acceptance is an important
part of socialization.

Mass Media
o People are influenced by the social norms portrayed by the mass media. Political, religious and
social views are enforced in a hard way through the repeated exposure and arguments put forth by
the agents of mass media.