SOCIALIZATION
Learning Goals:
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Define and understand the process of Socialization
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Identify the Agents of Socialization
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Reflect on how the Agents of Socialization have
influenced your life
IF YOU WERE TO EXAMINE YOURSELF AS A
PERSON IN OUR SOCIETY – WHAT FACTORS
DO YOU THINK WERE/ARE MOST
IMPORTANT IN YOUR SOCIALIZATION?
Socialization:
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It is the process where a person learns the
physical, mental, and social skills needed to
survive in their society
Strongly influences the kind of person you become
Examples: Walking, Talking, Potty Training, Obeying
laws and rules…
If is a learned behaviour – (agents of socialization)
The most critical time during childhood to early
adulthood
Studying Socialization
Sociologists focus on how people learn the basic rules
and attitudes of human behaviour that are considered
“acceptable”. By learning and practicing these rules, we
are accepted as full members of society
Example: “Don’t pick your nose” or “Treat people of all
ethnic backgrounds fairly”.
Studying Socialization
Psychologists focus more on the development of the
human personality, and the acquisition of those personal
characteristics that make the individual unique.
Example: “How self-confident an individual is”.
Studying Socialization
An anthropologist sees socialization as the means by
which permanent human societies are produced.
These are processes that lead to “a uniquely human way
of the life centered on marriage, family, and the
household”.
Gender Socialization
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The learning of behavior and attitudes considered
appropriate for a given sex.
Boys learn to be boys and girls learn to be girls. This
"learning" happens by way of many different agents of
socialization.
Examples:
A parent who buys male children trucks while buying
female children dolls is engaging in gender socialization.
Henslin (2004:66) suggests that the fact that parents let
their preschool boys roam farther from home than their
preschool girls illustrates the how girls are socialized to
be more dependent.
Example of Social Expectations and Gender
Socialization in the Media
Boy in pink nail polish sparks online outrage
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/13/ear
lyshow/living/parenting/main20053508.shtml
AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION
What are the “agents” of socialization?
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The numerous individuals, institutions and
organizations that influence and shape an
individual’s socialization.
•Family
•School
•Peer Groups
•Media
•Religion
•Workplace
•Total Institutions
Primary agents of Socialization
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The means by which an individual learns the most
basic or primary norms and values of society
The family probably has the strongest influence on
a person’s self image.
 i.e. The difference between right and wrong,
manners and gender roles
Secondary agents of socialization
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Agents that socialize a person after childhood
 ie.
peers, clubs, sports teams
Family
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First agent of
socialization “the
primary agent”
We learn language,
communication skills,
basic survival
techniques, and
normal rules of
acceptable behaviour
Family: Sibling Rivalry
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Family teaches us how
to “get along” with
other people,
beginning with parents,
siblings and extended
families
Teaches us about
ourselves and our own
personal qualities
School
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Makes us deal with
formal rules
Teaches us academic
skills needed to
properly function in
society
To socialize us and
cooperate with
strangers
What do you learn in school?
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Rules about being punctual, being organized, neat,
when to speak and when to listen
How to speak in a formal manner
Respect for authority
Gender roles (intentional vs. unintentional)
Peer Group
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Social group where
members are about
the same age, share
common interests and
social position
Opportunity to
experiment with
things that are
discouraged by
family
Peer Groups and Gender Roles
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Reinforced in the peer group
Male teenagers feel pressure to develop athletic
skills and perceived toughness
Female teenagers feel pressure to concentrate on
their physical appearance and adopt mature social
concerns (environment, poverty)
Media
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Advertising tries to
persuade the audience
they can have it all.
Unrealistic gender roles
are created
Excessive exposure makes
individual susceptible to
stereotyped concepts of
gender
Religion
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Communicate beliefs
about gender roles
Appropriate sexual
contact
Collective
responsibility of
society
The afterlife
Raises moral
questions
Workplace
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Learn specialized
language
Specific procedures,
rules, and codes
Commitment to
employer
Interaction with
colleagues, customers
and competitors
Team-building
exercises
Total Institutions
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Goal is to wipe out all
prior socialization
Ex: boot camps, prisons,
religious cults
Attempts to remove
individuality and
replace it with a
common group identity
Identical clothes,
haircuts, strict rules and
routines
The Breakfast Club
A Film Study