Socialization
Unit 2 - b
Your Name and who you are

Your name might tell you the following:
Your gender
Your ethnicity – Physical
characteristics
Possibly your age
Example: What comes to mind when you
hear the name Jennifer?
Socialization

Describe yourself:
Age?
Name?
Ethnicity?
Physical characteristics?
likes?
dislikes?
Hobbies?
Strengths (school, sport, art…)?
Interests?
values?
personal history?

Now, imagine you were
switched at birth with
another baby in the
maternity ward and went
home with the ‘wrong’
family and were raised
by them.

How might you be
different?

Socialization – lifelong process
through which we learn all the
knowledge, skills and attitudes we
need to survive and prosper
The Nurture Side of Things!

Sociologist: focus on how we learn the basic rules
and attitudes of human behaviour (don’t pick your
nose)

Psychologists: focus on the development of the
human personality – those characteristics that
make each individual unique (self-confidence)

Anthropologist: focus on the process by which
permanent human societies are produced. (A
uniquely human way of life centered on ‘marriage’,
‘family’, and ‘household’)
Socialization continued



Key process in the development of the individual
Necessary for the continuation of society
Affects virtually every aspect of our lives
example:
1) Hunger patterns (when we eat)
2) Perception of the world around us (Arctic
peoples have many words for ‘snow’)
Components of
Socialization
We learn:
Language
How to eat
To practice hygiene
Gender roles
To deal with emotions
Develop the ability to
think ahead and act
according
Anticipatory Socialization
Secondary Socialization
Primary
Socialization
Lean how to function
in groups (schools)
How to follow the
behaviours society
expects of us while
acting in group
situations
Components of
Socialization cont.

Resocialization:
Deliberate attempt
by society to
replace aspects of
an individual’s
socialization with
new learnings
In prisons, society tries to change inmates’ learned behaviour to more
appropriate, law-abiding ones
Agents of Socialization

How might a person
develop if cut off from
normal human contact at
an early age?

Ferals: Children raised by
wild animals (unrealistic)

Isolates: raised in human
households but were
severely neglected
physically, socially and
emotionally

Anna 1938. 5 year
old found hidden in
a second floor
storage room tied
into a chair
Genie 1970:
13 year old had
been kept locked
in a room with
only a potty seat

Agents of Socialization Family
Primary Socialization – 1st Agent of socialization
Most influential ages 0-6, after 20
•Norms
•Gender roles
•What are our own special unique qualities
Vital in the development of the self
The socialization we get at home is not
always correct
Agents of Socialization School
Secondary Socialization – group rules
•Dealing with formal rules
•Preparation for the adult world
Manifest function – visible purpose of school
- to learn academic skills
Latent function – hidden purpose
- to learn how to understand
and cooperate with strangers
- learn rules about being on
time, being neat, when to
talk, respect for authority
Agents of Socialization – Peer
groups
Most influential between ages 10-20
Social group where members are the same age
and share the same interests and social position
•Provide opportunities to do things not usually
encouraged by one’s family
•Peer pressure: values and behaviour,
sexual attitudes, gender roles
Agents of Socialization Media
•Function: Commercial – designed to make money
by obtaining as many customers as possible
•Attract customers by setting out an unrealistic
view of life (cop drama: suspense, romance,
tragedy and justice fits into 52 minutes)
•Advertising – attempts to persuade us that we
can ‘have it all’ Gender roles are created and
reinforced, whether realistic or not
example: average model 5’9”, 123 lb
average women 5’4”, 144lb
Agents of Socialization Religion
1996 – approx 86% of Canadians indicated that
they had some sort of religious faith
- 30% reported weekly attendance at
a religious service
•Religious activities communicate beliefs about
gender, appropriate sexual conduct, the afterlife,
responsibility for one another in society, values
and morals (usually reinforced by the family)
Agents of Socialization –
Workplace
•Most people take up paid employment at some
time
•Already learned the importance of punctuality,
appropriate dress, respect for authority at school
•Must learn specialized language, procedures,
rules as they relate to our jobs
•Must learn how to deal with colleagues,
competitors, customers, students
•Teambuilding activities
Agents of Socialization –
Total Institutions
Intended to wipe out old socialization and
Replace it with new
•Boot camp – for young offenders
•Prison – convicted felons
•Destructive religious cults
•Monasteries
•Military
Emphasis on removing individuality and
replacing it with a common group identity
- identical hair cuts
- identical clothing
- strict enforcement of rules about
daily activities and schedules
Total Institutions - Asylums

Degradation ceremonies – intended to
weaken a person’s current identity so that a
new one could be put in its place – many
have since been abolished
Common in all Total Institutions:
1. All aspects of life are closely supervised by
staff
2. Members have no choice regarding food or
sleeping arrangements
3. Formal rules about virtually all aspects of
daily routine