PROSES SOSIOLISASI

http://cikguskskr.blogspot.my/2012/06/proses-sosialisasi.html
Pengertian Sosialisasi
Pengertian sosialisasi mengacu pada suatu proses belajar seorang individu yang akan
mengubah dari seseorang yang tidak tahu menahu tentang diri dan lingkungannya menjadi
lebih tahu dan memahami. Sosialisasi merupakan suatu proses di mana seseorang
menghayati (mendarahdagingkan - internalize) norma-norma kelompok di mana ia hidup
sehingga timbullah diri yang unik, kerana pada awal kehidupannya tidak ditemukan apa yang
disebut dengan diri.
Dengan mempelajari bagaimana orang berinteraksi maka kita dapat memahami orang lain
dengan lebih baik. Dengan memperhatikan orang lain, diri sendiri dan posisi kita di
masyarakat maka kita dapat memahami bagaimana kita berfikir dan bertindak.
Terdapat beberapa konsep yang berkaitan dengan sosialisasi, iaitu the significant others , the
generalized other , looking glass self serta impression management Masing-masing konsep
tersebut memberikan sumbangan yang bererti dalam diri seorang individu yang mengalami
proses sosialisasi.
Produk penting dari proses sosialisasi adalah self/personality/diri. Dalam rangka interaksi
dengan orang lain, seseorang akan mengembangkan suatu keunikan dalam hal perilaku,
pemikiran dan perasaan yang secara bersama-sama akan membentuk self. Agen sosialisasi
meliputi:keluarga,
rakan sebaya,
sekolah atau institusi,
masyarakat atau komuniti dan
media massa.
1. Keluarga
Ibu bapa merupakan orang yang paling peka terhadap perkembangan moral seseorang
kanak-kanak pada peringkat awal. Kanak-kanak akan diasuh menerusi proses praktis
pemeliharaan dan menerusi tingkahlaku yang akan diteladani. Asuhan memainkan peranan
yang penting dalam proses sosialisasi individu. Ibu bapa yang bersikap penguasaan serta
autokratik akan mendapati anak-anaknya begitu taat pada arahan tetapi menjadi pasif dalam
tingkah laku mereka. Sebaliknya, ibu bapa yang mengamalkan sikap bebas akan mendapati
sikap anak-anaknya tidak bersopan -santun, tidak bertanggungjawab dan tidak boleh
berdikari.
Ibu bapa yang mengamalkan cara demokrasi dan sering berbincang masalah-masalah dengan
anak-anak mereka serta mempertimbangkan pendapat-pendapat anak-anak, apabila
membuat keputusan-keputusan penting akan mendapati anak-anak mereka mempunyai
keyakinan diri yang tinggi. Kanak-kanak juga menjadi lebih aktif, cerdas dan lebih bersopansantun.
Selain itu, saiz keluarga juga akan mempengaruhi proses sosialisasi individu, iaitu dengan
interaksi secara lisan dan fizikal antara individu, contohnya di antara adik-beradik. Interaksi
ini akan membantu individu bercakap lebih awal serta memperkembangkan dan
menambahkan perbendaharaan katanya. Nilai-nilai yang diwujudkan oleh adik-beradiknya
akan disanjung oleh seseorang individu.
2. Rakan Sebaya
Rakan sebaya merupakan satu lagi faktor yang mempengaruhi proses sosialisasi. Pengaruh
keluarga semakin merosot apabila kanak-kanak meningkat remaja. Apabila mereka menjadi
semakin dewasa, kumpulan sebaya menjadi pengaruh yang lebih berkesan dalam proses
pembentukan budi pekerti mereka. Oleh kerana keperluan untuk diterima oleh kumpulan

sebaya amat penting kepadanya, seseorang remaja akan menepati norma dan nilai yang
ditonjolkan oleh kumpulan tertentu. Ini boleh membawa sama ada kesan positif ataupun
negatif. Cara berpakaian, fesyen rambut dan sifat seseorang boleh dipengaruhi oleh
kegemaran dan khayalan kumpulan tersebut.
Bandura juga berpendapat bahawa ibu bapa bukanlah role model untuk kanak-kanak.
Perlakuan orang dewasa yang lain, rakan sebaya dan punca-punca simbolik yang lain juga
ditiru oleh kanak-kanak. Pengaruh kumpulan sebaya menjadi lebih utama di peringkat remaja.
Kumpulan remaja merupakan satu punca nilai-nilai dan akan memainkan peranan yang utama
dalam menentukan kedudukan nilai yang diterima dan diamalkan oleh seseorang individu
terutamanya mengenai corak dan tingkahlaku yang mereka anggap perlu dipatuhi. Walaupun
pengaruh kumpulan sebaya amat mempengaruhi di peringkat remaja, ia juga berperanan
penting dalam pelbagai peringkat umur. Ia juga penting di peringkat geng iaitu semasa
kanak-kanak berumur antara tujuh tahun. Piaget mengatakan bahawa bukan sahaja
pembelajaran yang berlaku di antara rakan sebaya juga merupakan prasyarat bagi
perkembangan autonomi. Sebaliknya Kohlberg menyatakan bahawa perkembangan moral di
kalangan kanak-kanak yang dipencil atau diasingkan adalah tidak berbeza daripada kanakkanak yang banyak menerima pendedahan.
3. Sekolah/Institusi
Sekolah merupakan agen kebudayaan dan sebahagian daripada fungsi pengajaran adalah
untuk melahirkan nilai-nilai kebudayaan. Dengan itu, proses sosialisasi pelajar-pelajar
merupakan satu fungsi yang sah serta positif untuk dikendalikan oleh pihak sekolah.
Menurut Durkheim, peranan pendidikan moral dan tugas sekolah adalah untuk mengajar
pelajar-pelajar tentang nilai-nilai kemanusiaan dan kemasyarakatan. Beliau berpendapat
bahawa keluarga terlalu kecil dan terlalu berunsur peribadi untuk menggambarkan
keseluruhan sistem sosial. Juga, beliau menganggapkan guru sebagai agen yang utama dan
merupakan pertalian yang kritikal dalam proses pengaliran kebudayaan.
Ahli-ahli teori pembelajaran sosial lebih mementingkan peranan ibu bapa tetapi model
tersebut adalah konsisten dengan pendapat Durkheim yang mengatakan bahawa sekolah
merupakan alat masyarakat untuk mengalirkan nilai-nilai moral dan kebudayaan.
Oleh kerana pelajar-pelajar berada di sekolah setiap hari selama enam hingga lapan jam,
sekolah amat mempengaruhi perkembangan pelajar-pelajar tersebut. Kadangkala konflik nilai
boleh berlaku akibat perbezaan di antara nilai dan norma pelajar yang diajar di rumah dan di
sekolah. Contohnya, sekolah mengajar pelajar tentang keburukan merokok, manakala di
rumah, terdapat ibu bapa yang merokok dan tidak menghiraukan sama ada anak mereka
mencontohi dan mengikut tabiat mereka atau tidak.
4. Komuniti/Masyarakat
Masyarakat di mana seseorang itu dibesarkan mempunyai peranan yang tidak kurang
pentingnya dalam membentuk personaliti anggotanya. Ahli psikologi Margaret Mead telah
menjalankan kajian ke atas beberapa masyarakat primitif. Mead mendapati dalam masyarakat
Samoa terdapat zaman perantaraan yang harmoni antara zaman kanak-kanak dan dewasa.
Mereka dibimbing oleh masyarakat sekeliling dan hidup ditentukan dengan jelas melalui
permuafakatan dan tidak terdapat punca-punca yang nyata bagi menimbulkan sebarang
kerunsingan. Jarang terdapat perbuatan kurang bermoral di dalam masyarakat tersebut
kerana setiap anggotanya dianggap sebagai ahli keluarga terdekat yang perlu dijaga dengan
sempurna. Kajian beliau di Amerika Syarikat adalah sebaliknya. Masyarakatnya tidak
mempedulikan hal orang lain menyebabkan pelbagai perbuatan kurang bermoral dari
peringkat kanak-kanak lagi. Menurut Kohlberg (1981) pula, kanak-kanak perlu berinteraksi
dengan masyakarat tidak kira tahap umur kerana ini membolehkan mereka bertingkahlaku
sesuai dengan norma-norma masyarakat seperti orang dewasa. Masyarakat yang sensitif
melahirkan kanak-kanak yang peka terhadap keadaan sekeliling.

5. Media Massa
Satu lagi faktor yang mempengaruhi proses sosialisasi ialah media massa. Kanak-kanak
didedahkan kepada pelbagai jenis media massa seperti radio, suratkhabar, dan televisyen
ataupun buku-buku yang memang mempengaruhi perkembangan moral mereka. Iklan-iklan
dari majalah, surat khabar dan sebagainya juga memainkan peranan yang sama.
Melalui peniruan dan modelling, kanak-kanak mudah dipengaruhi oleh model-model yang
simbolik daripada media massa. Secara tidak disedari, melalui program dan bahan yang
dihasilkan khas untuk kanak-kanak, pengajaran moral dan peranan kanak-kanak sebagai
anggota masyarakat disampaikan kepada mereka. Contohnya seperti cerita-cerita dongeng,
dan sebagainya. Namun, masalah yang serius mungkin timbul apabila program dan bahan
bacaan yang tidak sesuai timbul, misalnya keganasan, kebendaan dan pergaulan bebas
ditonton dan dibaca oleh kanak-kanak. Pengiklanan, khususnya jenis iklan memujuk, yang
menumpukan kepada keinginan memiliki barang atau perkhidmatan, juga boleh
meninggalkan kesan buruk atau pengaruh yang tidak baik kepada kanak-kanak.
Dengan perkembangan sains dan teknologi, media massa boleh mempengaruhi kemoralan
sesuatu kelompok atau masyarakat dengan mendedahkan masyarakat itu kepada norma dan
nilai masyarakat lain. Dengan itu, maka perlulah diadakan satu tahap atau standard untuk
sebarang tingkahlaku yang membayangkan kemoralan masyarakat Malaysia yang tidak
tercemar. Pelajar-pelajar pula hendaklah diberi perlindungan dan dididik sebaiknya agar
mereka dapat menilai pengaruh luar, mana yang baik dan bermoral, mana pula yang
sebaliknya.

Peranan dan tanggungjwab guru dalam melahirkan generasi yang berwawasan dan
berkualiti.
Dalam era moden kini, tugas dan peranan seorang guru semakin berat untuk dipikul. Semakin
hari kita didedahkan dengan pelbagai perlakuan yang tidak bermoral di kalangan pelajar
sekolah. Terlalu banyak usaha-usaha yang telah dijalankan oleh pihak kerajaan untuk
melahirkan insan yang bermoral selaras dengan Falsafah Pendidikan Negara yang
menitikberatkan setiap perkembangan moral rakyatnya,tetapi apa yang berlaku kini? Ramai
pelajar telah menjadi manusia yang tidak bermoral dengan melakukan pelbagai gejala yang
tidak sihat. Bahkan ada yang pelajar yang sanggup membunuh demi kepuasan dirinya. Satu
persoalan yang timbul, kenapakah pelajar dahulu dan sekarang mempunyai nilai yang jauh
berbeza sehinggakan mereka kini terpaksa diajar subjek Pendidikan Moral dan Nilai-Nilai
Murni dalam Bahasa Melayu Penulisan. Sesungguhnya apakah faktor-faktor yang menjadi
penyebab kepada kemerosotan nilai dalam kehidupan masyarakat pelajar pada masa kini?.
Sebagai seorang guru, adalah menjadi tanggungjawab dan tugas kita untuk melahirkan
pelajar yang berwawasan serta mempunyai etika dan kemoralan yang tinggi. Setiap guru
harus sedar bahawa tugas sebagai seorang guru bukan sekadar hanya mengajar, tapi perlu
menganggap diri mereka sebagai teman, fasilitator dan kaunselor kepada pelajar. Sistem
hubungan dua hala antara guru dan pelajar bukan sekadar melibatkan masalah akademik
tetapi juga masalah peribadi pelajar untuk membolehkan pihak sekolah mengesan gejala
yang tidak sihat di peringkat awal sebelum mereka benar-benar terjebak dalam kes polis.
a. Guru sebagai role model.
Harus diingat bahawa, pelakuan seharian kita sebagai seorang guru sentiasa diperhatikan dan
seringkali ditiru oleh pelajar. Seorang guru harus menunjukkan contoh yang terbaik supaya
kita menjadi role model kepada setiap pelajar kita. Guru lelaki yang menasihati pelajarnya
agar tidak merokok ibarat ketam mengajar anaknya berjalan, sekiranya guru itu sendiri
merokok di khalayak ramai seperti di kantin sekolah, di padang ataupun di tempat-tempat lain
yang kononnya tersembunyi. Begitu juga dengan sebahagian guru wanita yang menasihati
anak muridnya supaya tidak berkuku panjang sedangkan dia sendiri yang berkuku panjang.
Jadi, haruslah diingat di sini bahawa, sebagai seorang guru, kita seharusnya memperbetulkan

dan merperindahkan dulu budi pekerti dan kemoralan diri kita sebelum menasihat atau
menegur pelajar supaya pelajar menyanjung dan memartabatkan kita sebagai role model
terbaik untuk dirinya.
b. Kaedah pengajaran
Dewasa ini, mata pelajaran Pendidikan Islam atau Pendidikan Moral sering
dianggap sebagai subjek pelengkap di kalangan pelajar. Dengan kata lain, subjek ini dipelajari
hanya disebabkan subjek ini adalah mata pelajaran wajib yang diambil kira dalam Penilaian
Menengah Rendah (PMR) dan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). Justeru itu, para pelajar kurang
penghayatan terhadap subjek ketika proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran di sekolah. Kurang
penghayatan dalam mata pelajaran kerohanian ini akan memberikan pelbagai implikasi
negatif yang membimbangkan. Antaranya, wujud gejala sosial dan keruntuhan akhlak dalam
masyarakat yang membabitkan kes-kes jenayah terutama salah laku seksual.
Memandangkan mata pelajaran Pendidikan Islam dan Moral merupakan satu-satunya
mekanisme yang mampu membina jiwa, membentuk kerohanian dan memupuk akhlak mulia
dalam diri pelajar, guru-guru sewajarnya memainkan peranan mencegah salah laku seksual
ataupun pelbagai gejala negatif lain yang tidak bermoral dengan menekankan penghayatan
subjek-subjek ini kepada pelajar di sekolah. Guru seharusnya mempelbagaikan kaedah
pengajaran supaya dapat menarik minat pelajar terhadap mata pelajaran tersebut. Guru
seharusnya cuba berusaha mendekati pelajar, membimbing dan menjadi rakan terbaik
kepada pelajar supaya pelajar merasakan diri mereka hampir dengan guru agar segala
permasalahannya dapat diluahkan.
Kelemahan kaedah penyampaian sesuatu mata pelajaran boleh menghapuskan minat
seseorang pelajar terhadap pelajaran tersebut. Sikap guru yang hanya sekadar
menyampaikan maklumat mengenai mata pelajaran yang dipertanggungjawabkan ke atasnya
sahaja, perlu diperbetulkan. Dalam apa juga mata pelajaran di sekolah, guru boleh
menerangkan mengenai pengajaran dan ikhtibar yang boleh diambil daripada sesuatu
perkara yang diajar. Pelbagai peristiwa dalam sejarah boleh digunakan sebagai contoh.
Tayangan video ataupun VCD tentang apa sahaja yang berkaitan dengan moral boleh
ditayangkan kepada pelajar demi menarik mereka terhadap pelajaran tersebut. Dalam erti
kata lain, guru di zaman globalisasi kini seharusnya lebih kreatif dan inovatif dalam
penyampaian kaedah pengajaran supaya pelajar lebih cenderung ke arah perlakuan yang
lebih beretika dan bermoral.
c. Pemupukan nilai-nilai murni
Nilai-nilai murni merujuk kepada perkara-perkara yang positif yang diamalkan oleh seseorang
itu. Nilai ini turut beriringan dengan norma-norma budaya negara yang memberi penekanan
terhadap aspek kesopanan seseorang. Cuma perkara yang dikesalkan dalam aspek ini ialah
pelajar pada zaman ini sudah mula melupakan nilai-nilai murni ini. Mereka sudah melupai jati
diri mereka yang seharusnya menghormati ibu bapa, beradap sopan apabila berbicara,
bersikap jujur dan amanah dan pelbagai lagi nilai-nilai murni yang lain, yang kian hari kian
lenyap dalam diri mereka.
Pemantapan komponen akhlak dalam Pendidikan Islam dan Pendidikan Moral dapat
membantu pelajar dalam penghayatan nilai-nilai murni tersebut. Guru dikehendaki
menerapkan nilai-nilai murni dan akhlak Islam ketika menerangkan adab dan amalannya
dalam kehidupan pelajar. Penerapan nilai-nilai murni dalam diri seperti amalan berdisiplin,
adil, bertanggungjawab, kerjasama dan toleransi perlu dicanai dalam diri mereka. Ini kerana,
pendidikan akhlak merupakan wadah penting untuk merungkai permasalahan akhlak dan
melahirkan manusia yang baik. Agama Islam sebagai ad-Deen atau cara hidup amat
menekankan kepada pendidikan akhlak. Selain itu, Pendidikan Moral juga merupakan satu
program yang mendidik murid supaya menjadi insan yang bermoral atau berakhlak mulia
dengan menekankan aspek perkembangan pemikiran, perasaan moral dan tingkah laku
moral.
d. Melayan pelajar sebagai pelanggan

Kualiti diertikan sesuatu yang memenuhi kehendak pelanggan iaitu apa-apa yang pelanggan
(pelajar) mahu dari kita. Keperluan pelajar sepatutnya dipenuhi dan bagaimana keperluan
pelajar itu dilihat sebagai faktor penting terhadap kejayaan. Keperluan-keperluan yang
dimaksudkan di sini boleh terdiri dari perkhidmatan dan layanan yang ingin diterima oleh
pelajar. Antara ciri-ciri guru yang baik pada pandangan pelajar ialah guru bukan sahaja boleh
menyampaikan isi pelajaran tetapi juga dapat memahami pelajar sebagai individu, sentiasa
disenangi dan mudah dibawa berbincang. Setiap kehendak pelajar harus diikuti asalkan
kehendaknya itu tidak melampaui batasan. Guru seharusnya bersabar dengan karenah
pelajar yang macam-macam. Perbuatan, tuturkata dan tingkahlaku guru yang
menggambarkan sifat penyayang dan nilai baik seperti saling menghormati, mempercayai,
membimbing, memberi sokongan dan pengiktirafan, dapat menolong dan membantu guru
melaksanakan tugas dengan perasaan gembira dan menyeronokkan.
Di samping itu, sifat-sifat seperti ini juga dapat mempengaruhi perlakuan dan tingkah laku
pelajar. Guru yang bermoral dan beretika, dapat melahirkan pelajar yang lebih
bertanggungjawab dan berwawasan kerana guru sebegitu adalah idola pelajarnya. Guru
bagaikan ibu bapa kepada murid atau pelajar. Kalau ibu bapa kandung memberi tempat
tinggal, pakaian dan makan minum, guru pula memberikan ilmu, didikan, budi dan akhlak
serta membentuk kepandaian dalam kehidupan. Guru yang penyayang akan mengambil tahu
masalah muridnya serta sedia mendengar dan memberi perhatian kepada muridnya. Murid
yang lemah dikasihani, yang silap ditegur dengan baik. Kecemerlangan pelajar adalah
kejayaannya. Sebarang bantuan diperlukan oleh pelajar akan dibantu guru. Itulah guru yang
penyayang. Guru seumpama itu akan disanjung dan diingati oleh pelajarnya. Pelajar akan
terasa rindu untuk ke sekolah. Pelajar akan mengikut arahan dan meniru peribadinya. Pendek
kata guru itu akan menjadi idola kepada pelajarnya. Hasil jalinan kasih sayang ini, sekolah
akan menjadi model pendidikan yang terbaik. Kejayaan dalam bidang akademik dan
kokurikulum akan dapat dicipta oleh sekolah tersebut hasil kerjasama erat. Dalam masa yang
sama akhlak dan etika pelajar juga dapat dibentuk, digilap dan dibajai dengan secukupnya
supaya menjadi generasi yang bertanggungjawab dan berwawasan.

Penutup
Sejak berkurun lamanya, institusi pendidikan telah memainkan peranan dalam mencorakkan
kualiti moral dan akhlak yang mulia seperti yang dituntut oleh masyarakat. Melalui sistem
pendidikan, pelajar akan melalui proses sosialisasi moral dan proses pembesaran yang
diorientasikan dan diperkukuhkan dengan pelbagai tanggungjawab sosial. Pembangunan
serta perubahan sosial dalam masyarakat memerlukan perubahan dalam sistem pendidikan
di sekolah bagi memenuhi pelajar sesuai dengan keadaan sekeliling. Kita perlu memikirkan
kembali sejauh manakah keberkesanan sistem pendidikan kita pada hari ini memandangkan
isu gejala sosial remaja semakin hari semakin menular.
Perkembangan manusia yang sempurna perlu dilengkapkan dengan penguasaan emosi dan
insaniah sejajar dengan kepentingan akademik. Kedua-dua bentuk kurikulum (formal atau
tidak formal) di dalam dan di luar bilik darjah, perlu digunakan sepenuhnya dan secara
bersepadu untuk memastikan penerapan nilai-nilai murni berhasil dan berkesan. Penilaian
terhadap pelajar perlulah menyeluruh. Kualiti pendidikan dapat ditegakkan dengan cara
membina benteng ketahanan dalam diri seseorang pelajar melalui penggarapan nilai-nilai
moral dan etika. Penggarapan nilai-nilai moral dan etika mampu untuk membebaskan
masyarakat daripada sebarang gejala buruk dan menjadi asas kepada pembentukan
masyarakat yang bebas dari gejala jenayah dan keruntuhan moral. Oleh yang demikian,
seluruh kaum pendidik hendaklah mempunyai visi, wawasan dan keterampilan bagi
menghadapi cabaran alaf akan datang. Mereka wajar mempunyai ciri-ciri kecemerlangan dan
melakukan anjakan paradigma bagi membolehkan mereka diiktiraf, sekaligus berperanan
bertanggungjawab melahirkan pelajar yang berwawasan dan berkualiti.

Socialization
Human infants are born without any culture. They must be transformed by their
parents, teachers, and others into cultural and socially adept animals. The general
process of acquiring culture is referred to as socialization
. During socialization,
we learn the language of the culture we are born into as well as the roles we are to play
in life. For instance, girls learn how to be daughters, sisters, friends, wives, and
mothers. In addition, they learn about the occupational roles that their society has in
store for them. We also learn and usually adopt our culture's norms
through the
socialization process. Norms are the conceptions of appropriate and expected
behavior that are held by most members of the society. While socialization refers to the
general process of acquiring culture, anthropologists use the term enculturation
for
the process of being socialized to a particular culture. You were enculturated to your
specific culture by your parents and the other people who raised you.
Socialization is important in the process of personality formation. While much of human

personality is the result of our genes, the socialization process can mold it in particular
directions by encouraging specific beliefs and attitudes as well as selectively providing
experiences. This very likely accounts for much of the difference between the common
personality types in one society in comparison to another. For instance, the Semai
tribesmen of the central Malay Peninsula of Malaysia typically are gentle people who do
not like violent, aggressive individuals. In fact, they avoid them whenever possible. In
contrast, the Yanomam Indians on the border area between Venezuela and Brazil
usually train their boys to be tough and aggressive. The ideal Yanomam man does
not shrink from violence and strong emotions. In fact, he seeks them out. Likewise,
Shiite Muslim men of Iran are expected at times to publicly express their religious faith
through the emotionally powerful act of self-inflicted pain.
Shiite Muslim men in Iran
ritually beating themselves
bloody with hands and chains
as an act of religious faith
commemorating the death
of Imam Hussein in 680 a.d.

standard school
curriculum to assure
a broad acceptance
of society's norms

Successful socialization can result in uniformity within a society. If all children receive
the same socialization, it is likely that they will share the same beliefs and
expectations. This fact has been a strong motivation for national governments around
the world to standardize education and make it compulsory for all children. Deciding
what things will be taught and how they are taught is a powerful political tool for
controlling people. Those who internalize the norms of society are less likely to break
the law or to want radical social changes. In all societies, however, there are
individuals who do not conform to culturally defined standards of normalcy because
they were "abnormally" socialized, which is to say that they have not internalized the
norms of society. These people are usually labeled by their society as deviant or even
mentally ill.
Large-scale societies, such as the United States, are usually composed of many ethnic
groups. As a consequence, early socialization in different families often varies in
techniques, goals, and expectations. Since these complex societies are not culturally
homogenous, they do not have unanimous agreement about what should be the shared
norms. Not surprisingly, this national ambiguity usually results in more tolerance of
social deviancy--it is more acceptable to be different in appearance, personality, and
actions in such large-scale societies.

How are Children Socialized?

Socialization is a learning process that begins shortly after birth. Early childhood is the
period of the most intense and the most crucial socialization. It is then that we acquire
language and learn the fundamentals of our culture. It is also when much of our
personality takes shape. However, we continue to be socialized throughout our lives.
As we age, we enter new statuses and need to learn the appropriate roles for them.
We also have experiences that teach us lessons and potentially lead us to alter our
expectations, beliefs, and personality. For instance, the experience of being raped is
likely to cause a woman to be distrustful of others.
Looking around the world, we see that different cultures use different techniques to
socialize their children. There are two broad types of teaching methods--formal and
informal. Formal education is what primarily happens in a classroom. It usually is
structured, controlled, and directed primarily by adult teachers who are professional

"knowers." In contrast, informal education can occur anywhere. It involves imitation

of what others do and say as well as experimentation and repetitive practice of basic
skills. This is what happens when children role-play adult interactions in their games.

young men undergoing rigorously

standardized formal education in
a Buddhist monastery

older adults being informally

socialized for their role as
retired senior citizens

Most of the crucial early socialization throughout the world is done informally under the
supervision of women and girls. Initially, mothers and their female relatives are
primarily responsible for socialization. Later, when children enter the lower school
grades, they are usually under the control of women teachers. In North America and
some other industrialized nations, baby-sitters are most often teenage girls who live in
the neighborhood. In other societies, they are likely to be older sisters or
grandmothers.

North American mother

informally socializing her
daughter

baby in Bhutan
under the care
of an older sister

grandmother in North
America helping to
socialize her grandchild

During the early 1950's, John and Beatrice Whitiing led an extensive field study of early
socialization practices in six different societies. They were the Gusii
of Kenya, the
Rajputs
of India, the village of Taira
on the island of Okinawa in Japan, the
Tarong
of the Philippines, the Mixteca
Indians of central Mexico, and a New
England community that was given the pseudonym Orchardtown. All of these societies
shared in common the fact that they were relatively homogeneous culturally. Two
general conclusions emerged from this study. First, socialization practices varied
markedly from society to society. Second, the socialization practices were generally
similar among people of the same society. This is not surprising since people from the

same culture and community are likely to share core values and perceptions. In
addition, we generally socialize our children in much the same way that our parents
socialized us. The Whitings and their fellow researchers found that different methods
were used to control children in these six societies. For instance, the Gusii primarily
used fear and physical punishment. In contrast, the people of Taira used parental
praise and the threat of withholding praise. The Tarong mainly relied on teasing and
scaring.

This cross-cultural study of socialization is provocative. Perhaps, you are now asking
yourself what methods you would use to control the behavior of your children. Would
you spank them or threaten to do so? Would you only use praise? Would you belittle
or tease them for not behaving? Would you try to make your children independent and
self-reliant or would you discourage it in favor of continuing dependence? At some time
in our lives, most of us will be involved in raising children. Will you do it in the same
way that you were raised? Very likely you will because you were socialized that way.
Abusive parents were, in most cases, abused by their parents. Likewise, gentle,
indulgent parents were raised that way themselves. Is there a right or wrong way to
socialize children? To a certain extent the answer depends on the frame of reference.
What is right in one culture may be wrong in another.
Even seemingly insignificant actions of parents can have major impacts on the

socialization of their children. For instance, what would you do if your baby cried

continuously but was not ill, hungry, or in need of a diaper change? Would you hold
your baby, rock back and forth, walk around, or sing gently until the crying stopped,
even if it took hours. The answer that you give very likely depends on your culture.
The traditional Navajo
Indian response usually was to remove the baby from social
contact until the crying stopped. After making sure that the baby was not ill or in
physical distress, he or she would be taken outside of the small single room house and
left in a safe place until the crying stopped. Then the baby would be brought indoors
again to join the family. Perhaps as a result, Navajo babies raised in this way are
usually very quiet. They learn early that making noise causes them to be removed from
social contact. In most North American families today, we would hold our baby in this
situation until the crying stopped. The lesson that we inadvertently may be giving is
that crying results in social contact. Is this wrong? Not necessarily, but it is a different
socialization technique.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_1.htm

Socialization
Socialization is predominately an unconscious process by which a newborn child learns the values,
beliefs, rules and regulations of society or internalizes the culture in which it is born. Socialization, in
fact, includes learning of three important processes: (1) cognitive; (2) affective, and (3) evaluative. In
other words, socialization includes the knowledge of how things are caused and the establishment of
emotional links with the rest of the members of the society. Socialization, therefore, equips an
individual in such a way that he can perform his duties in his society. Who are the agents of
socialization? The agents of socialization vary from society to society. However, in most of the cases, it
is the family which is a major socializing agent, that is, the nearest kinsmen are the first and the most
important agents of socialization. The other groups which are socializing units in a society vary
according to the complexity. Thus, in modern complex society, the important socializing agents are
educational institutions, while in primitive societies, clans and lineages play a more important role.
Socialization is a slow process.

There is no fixed time regarding the beginning and the end of this process. However, some sociologists
formulated different stages of socialization. These are (1) oral stage, (2) anal stage (3) oedipal stage,
and (4) adolescence. In all these stages, especially in the first three, the main socializing agent is the
family. The first stage is that of a new-born child when he is not involved in the family as a whole but
only with his mother. He does not recognize anyone except his mother. The time at which the second
stage begins is generally after first year and ends when the infant is around three. At this stage, the
child separates the role of his mother and his own. Also during this time force is used on the child, that
is, he is made to learn a few basic things. The third stage extends from about fourth year to 12th to
13th year, that is, till puberty. During this time, the child becomes a member of the family as a whole
and identifies himself with the social role ascribed to him. The fourth stage begins at puberty when a
child wants freedom from parental control. He has to choose a job and a partner for himself. He also
learns about incest taboo.

http://www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Socialization.php

Becoming a Member of Society Through Socialization

From Caroline Hodges Persell. 1990. Chapter 5, pp. 98-107

inUnderstanding Society: An Introduction to Sociology. 3rd ed. New
York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.
Socialization
A girl named Genie was found in the United States in 1970. Genie's father
had kept her locked in a room from the age of 20 months until age 13.
Genie was harnessed naked to an infant's potty seat and left alone for hours
and days through the years. When she was remembered at night, she was
put to bed in a homemade straitjacket. There were no radios or televisions
in the house, people spoke in hushed tones, and the only language Genie
heard was an occasional obscenity from her father. He hated noise, and if
Genie made any sound her father would growl at her like a dog or beat her
with a stick. As a result of her confinement, Genie could not walk and her
eyes could not focus beyond the boundaries of her room. She was
malnourished, incontinent, and salivated constantly [Curtiss, 1977].
Despite all this, when the psychologist Susan Curtiss first met her, Genie
was alert, curious, and intensely eager for human contact. When frightened
or frustrated she would erupt into silent frenzies of rage--flailing about,
scratching, spitting, throwing objects, but never uttering a sound. Aside
from not speaking, her lack of socialization was apparent in her behavior:
She would urinate in unacceptable places, go up to someone in a store and
take whatever she liked of theirs, and peer intently into the faces of
strangers at close range. Although Curtiss worked with her for several
years, Genie never developed language abilities beyond those of a 4-yearold, and she ended up being placed in an institution.
The story of Genie shows the importance of socialization in human
society.Socialization refers to preparing newcomers to become members of
an existing group and to think, feel, and act in ways the group considers
appropriate. Viewed from the group's point of view, it is a process of
member replacement. Such widely diverse situations as child rearing,
teaching someone a new game, orienting a new member of an organization,
preparing someone who has been in sales work to become a manager, or
acquainting an immigrant with the life and culture of a new society are all
instances of socialization.
Socialization is a central process in social life. Its importance has been noted
by sociologists for a long time, but their image of it has shifted over the last
hundred years. In the early years of American sociology, socialization was
equated with civilization. The issue was one of taming fierce individualists so
they would willingly cooperate with others on common endeavors. An unruly
human nature was assumed to exist prior to an individual's encounter with
society. This nature had to be shaped to conform to socially acceptable ways
of behaving.
As time went on, however, socialization came to be seen more and more as
the end result-- that is, as internalization. Internalization means taking

social norms, roles, and values into one's own mind. Society was seen as
the primary factor responsible for how individuals learned to think and
behave. This view is evident in the work of functionalist Talcott Parsons, who
gave no hint that the result of socialization might be uncertain or might vary
from person to person. If people failed to play their expected roles or
behaved strangely, functionalists explained this in terms of incomplete or
inadequate socialization. Such people were said to be "unsocialized"--they
had not yet learned what was expected of them. The trouble is, they might
very well know what was expected but simply be rejecting it. Someone who
runs a red light, for example, knows perfectly well that one is not supposed
to do that but is doing it anyway. The possibility that individuals might have
needs, desires, values, or behaviors different from those that society
expects (or demands) of them was not seriously considered by functionalists
.
As Parsons used the term "internalization," it referred to the tendency for
individuals to accept particular values and norms and to conform to them in
their conduct. Dennis Wrong (1961) deplored this view of internalization as
being an "oversocialized" conception of human beings. It left no room for
the "animal" or biological side of human existence, where motivational
drives might conflict with the discipline of internalized social norms.
Functionalists deny the presence in humans "of motivational forces bucking
against the hold that social discipline has over them" (Wrong, 1961, p. 187).
Individual drives do sometimes conflict with social expectations, however.
For example, a common theme in movies and TV is that of married people
becoming involved in sexual relationships with persons other than their
spouses. They knowthey are not supposed to have an affair, but they do so
anyway.
Undoubtedly as a reaction to the overly determined Parsonian view of
socialization, a group of interpretive sociologists has reasserted the
independence of individuals . They reject Parsons's view of socialization as
internalized values, norms, and habits, and they reject the notion of society
as something out there (a given) that affects individuals the way Parsons
suggested it did. The interpretive perspective sees socialization as an
interactive process. Individuals negotiate their definitions of the situation
with others. A couple, for example, may negotiate between themselves a
conception of marriage that is sharply different from the view of marriage
held by people in the larger society. The interpretive view offers an
"undersocialized" view of human behavior, since it tends to minimize the
importance of historical social structures and the deep internalization of
social values and norms (Wentworth, 1980). But the innovative couple may
find that their personally developed conception of marriage is challenged or
undermined by friends, in-laws, legal systems, employers, or others.
Both the functionalist and the interpretive views of socialization are
incomplete. Each is relevant for understanding some features, but both tend
to ignore other important aspects of social life. It is useful to combine the
helpful points of each approach into a more complete view of socialization.

Wentworth (1980) proposes exactly such a synthesis. He suggests that an

adequate view of socialization must leave room for free will and human
autonomy, though noting the patterned social structures and processes that
influence individuals. Wentworth's combined view clarifies the socialization
that occurs in families, schools, groups, sports teams, organizations, and
societies.
We can distinguish three major aspects of socialization:
1. The context in which it occurs
2. The actual content and processes people use to socialize others
3. The results arising from those contexts and processes
The context is like the theater or stage in which socialization occurs. Social
context includes culture, language, and social structures such as the class,
ethnic, and gender hierarchies of a society. Context also includes social and
historical events, power and control in social life, and the people and
institutions with whom individuals come in contact in the course of their
socialization.
The content and process of socialization is like the play, the lines, and the
actors. It includes the structure of the socializing activity--how intense and
prolonged it is, who does it, how it is done, whether it is a total experience
or only a partial process, how aware the individual is of alternatives, and
how attractive those alternatives are.Content refers specifically to what is
passed from member to novice. Processes are those interactions that
convey to new members how they are to speak, behave, think, and even
feel. The view of socialization as an interactive process stands in contrast to
the deterministic views of how socialization occurs. Old and new members
interact, and in the process exercise mutual influence on each other.
Outcomes may properly be defined as what happens later, after someone
has been exposed to particular content and processes. New members may
learn the behaviors, attitudes, and values that old members hoped they
would learn. What do these include? First and foremost among humans is
learning how to speak and to apply the rules of language to creating new
sentences. Like learning to play chess, learning a language involves being
shown some of the ways vocabulary and grammar can be combined (like
learning how the various pieces can be moved in a chess game), and then
creating one's own combinations from those possibilities. Closely related to
learning to use a language is gaining a sense of the rules underlying a
society's culture. Even learning to walk in an upright position appears to be
the result of socialization.
THE CONTEXT OF SOCIALIZATION
Socialization occurs within biological, psychological, and social contexts.
Each of these offers possibilities and limitations that may influence
socialization.
The Biological Context
Biological features are regularly suggested as sources of human behavior.
Sociobiologists (see Chapter 3) suggest that some human capacities may be
"wired into" our biological makeup. For example, even newborn babies seem

to strive for maximum social interaction. They move their heads back and
forth in burrowing or "rooting" motions looking for milk; they have powerful,
grasping fingers that cling tightly to other human fingers or bodies; and
they move so as to maximize body contact with their caregivers. These facts
suggest that infants are born wanting human contact.
Sociobiologists argue that traits which aid survival and reproduction (like
learning not to eat things that induce vomiting) will survive, whereas others
(like unusual whiteness in certain animals, which makes them easier prey)
will tend to die out. Although this evidence suggests that biological factors
clearly play a role in development, it does not show that all human behavior
is biologically determined. Biology sets the stage, on which a very broad
range of human behavior occurs. Most or all of the important differences
between societies are due to social rather than biological factors.
As educators have become more aware of children with "learning
disabilities," they have begun to wonder if some conditions, such as those
labeled "dyslexia" (that is, the inability to grasp the meaning of something
one reads) are due to the incomplete development of certain nerve
pathways in the brain that may scramble signals on the way to the brain,
making it likely that children will "see" bs instead of ds, qs rather than ps,
and so forth. Such problems may be part of the biological context of
socialization. They may interact in significant ways with psychological and
social factors during socialization and have important effects on the
outcomes-- for example, if children are labeled retarded or develop a sense
of worthlessness, they may be less likely to learn.
In short, biology provides rich potential for becoming human and may
present general tendencies, such as the tendency to seek out social
interaction or to use language, but it does not determine the particular form
such social development takes.
The Psychological Context
Emotional States and the Unconscious
The primary factor in the psychological context of socialization is the
psychological state of the person being socialized. Psychological states
include feelings such as fear, anger, grief, love, and happiness or a sense of
emotional deprivation. Strongly feeling one or more of these emotions might
very well inhibit or promote socialization of a particular kind. Fear may make
it difficult for young children to be socialized in school, whereas people in
love may leant very quickly what makes their loved ones happy. Emotions
can also influence how individuals perceive the content of socialization,
whether in becoming a member of a family group or a religious sect.
Knowing something about the feelings of the people involved (the
psychological context) helps explain the results of the socialization process.
Cognitive Development Theories
A number of psychologists emphasize the series of stages through which
humans progress. Although emotional concerns can be involved, these
theorists focus oncognitive (intellectual) development, which occurs in a
systematic, universal sequence through a series of stages. The most

influential theorist of intellectual development was the Swiss psychologist

Jean Piaget. A sharp observer of children's development, Piaget stressed
that children need to master the skills and operations of one stage of
intellectual development before they are able to learn something at the next
stage.
Whether or not they all agree on the unfolding of specific stages, cognitive
development theorists see children as increasingly trying to make sense of
their social worlds as they grow up. Children try to see patterns in the way
things happen.
Social contexts influence individual development. Culture exists before the
socialization of new members begins. Parents, for example, do not need to
decide alone what they arc going to teach their children, since much of what
they will pass along they have themselves learned through socialization.
Besides culture, individuals are affected by social and historical events and
by a number of individuals who actively try to socialize them.
Social and Historical Events
Major social and historical events can be a force in socializing an entire
generation. Such major events as the Great Depression of the 1930s, the
Holocaust in Europe during World War II, or the civil rights movement that
took shape in the United States in the 1960s have profound implications for
individual socialization. Elder (1974) compared children whose families were
very poor during the 1930s with others whose families were more
comfortable. Those suffering greater deprivation depended less on formal
education for their life achievements and more on effort and
accomplishment outside of education. Their health as adults tended to be
affected negatively by their economic hardships. Finally, they tended to
value marriage and family more highly as a result of their economic
deprivation (Elder, 1974). Thus individuals who live in extraordinary times
appear to be influenced by the historical events around them.
Participants in Socialization
Obviously, parents and the immediate family of infants are important to
their early care and development. Major changes in the family are
increasing the importance of other caregivers as well. Teachers and schools
transmit formal skills, knowledge, and social values. As infants mature, they
have more and more contact with other children their age, called peers.
Inevitably, children are affected by the community and nation in which they
are reared. Children in the United States today spend a great deal of time
with the mass media. Radio, movies, and-- most significantly--television
have transformed the way we experience the world and what we know
about it.
THE FAMILY. In rural societies, children have most of their early social
contact with the family. Today, however, the family's importance in the
child's life is changing. The American family no longer necessarily conforms
to the stereotypical nuclear family with two parents and two or more
dependent children. Fewer than one family in five consists of a working
father, full-time homemaker mother, and at least one child. There are more

and more single-parent families, and 56 percent of all mothers with children
under 6 years old are working (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1985a, p. 399).
More and more children are receiving their early and primary care from
others in addition to their parents. What are the effects on young children of
having only one parent in the home? Of having a mother who works outside
the home? One study suggests that single parents with adequate financial
and emotional support are able to raise their children quite effectively
(Monaghan-Leckband, 1978).
Although most children growing up in America today will spend a great deal
of time with people other than members of their families, this does not
mean that the participation of families in socialization has ended.
On the contrary, the family continues to be a major means of passing on
values, attitudes, and behaviors. As we saw in Chapter 1, in the case of Alex
and Alice as compared to Albert and his wife, family origin does a great deal
to shape a child's social opportunities, resources, and experience. Different
social positions may be related to different socialization for children even
when they live in the same society.
DAY CARE. Nearly 10 million children 5 years old or younger have mothers
who work away from home. This includes 48 percent of the mothers of
children 3 years old or younger. For these children, day care is an important
agent of socialization. In 1982 there were more than 30,000 day-care
centers, ranging from informal arrangements at the home of a neighbor to
large nurseries run by schools, churches, charities, corporations, and
occasionally employers (Lindsey, 1984). Figure 5.1 shows the primary
childcare arrangements for children under age 5 whose mothers work
outside the home.
When the ratio of staff to children is at least one to ten or lower, when the
groups of children are not larger than 20, and when caregivers are trained
in early childhood development and are attentive to the children, the
children who attend day care do very well (Collins, 1984; Lindsey, 1984).
Children from very low income families have benefited considerably over the
long term as a result of federally financed Head Start and other early daycare programs (Deutsch et al., 1985; Schweinhart and Weikart, 1987).
SCHOOLS. As societies become more complex and there is a greater
division of labor, family members cannot spend all day every day teaching
children what they need to know to function effectively as adults in society.
Therefore, most societies have established schools to teach youngsters
certain skills. Schools teach values and attitudes as well. These values and
attitudes include, for example, competitiveness or cooperation, conformity
or innovation.
Schools try to impress upon children the importance of working for rewards,
and they try to teach neatness, punctuality, orderliness, and respect for
authority. Teachers are called upon to evaluate how well children perform a
particular task or how much skill they have. Thus, in school, children's
relationships with adults move from nurture and behavioral concerns to
performance of tasks and skills determined by others.

PEERS. A peer group consists of friends and associates who are about the
same age and social status. As children get older, going to school brings
them into regular contact with other children of their age. As early as first or
second grade, children form social groups. In these early peer groups,
children learn to share toys and other scarce resources (such as the
teacher's attention). Peers may reinforce behaviors that are stressed by
parents and schools--for example, whether it is all right to hit someone else
and what arc acceptable behaviors for boys and girls. As children move
through school, the interests of peer groups may diverge more and more
from those of adults. This is particularly true of the United States but seems
also to be the case in certain socialist societies today. Youthful concerns may
center on popular music and movies, sports, sex, or illegal activities.
Parents and teachers, on the other hand, want children to do schoolwork,
help at home, and "stay out of trouble." Peer groups may provide social
rewards--praise, prestige, and attention--to individuals for doing things
adults disapprove of.
In the former Soviet Union, the peer group was used by authorities to
reinforce the behaviors and attitudes they desire. For example, if a child
camesto school late, it was not only the teacher who noted this (perhaps by
praising children who are on time) but also those in the child's row in the
classroom, who might be enlisted to urge the child to come to school on
time (Bronfenbrenner, 1970). Peer sanctions (punishments) are particularly
effective. In Israel, for instance, in a collective farm group, a child who
breaks a rule such as using a tractor when it is not allowed and damaging
the machine in the process may be formally ostracized for some time.
During this period the other children will not speak to or play with the child.
Although effective in achieving social goals, the united effect of peer and
official authority is more powerful and painful than official authority alone
for the individual who does not conform. In our society, adolescents are
heavily influenced by their peers when it comes to dress, musical fads,
cheating, and drug use. In making their future life plans, however, they are
influenced more by their parents than by their peers (Davies and Kandel,
1981; Kandel and Lesser, 1972; Krosnick and Judd, 1982; Williams, 1972).
Girls seem to be somewhat more influenced in their future life plans by
peers than are boys (Bush, 1985; Davies and Kandel, 1981; Simmons et al.,
1979).
COMMUNITY AND COUNTRY. Every society tries to influence how young
people grow up. Much of this influence is expressed through parents,
schools, and peers, but it is worth considering for a moment how children
become exposed to the political and economic ideas that are considered
important for citizens of a particular country.
Children learn political information and attitudes rapidly during the
elementary school years, particularly between fourth and fifth grades (Hess
and Torney, 1967). One of the first things they learn is that they belong to
some kind of a political unit. Even very young children develop a sense of
"we" in relation to their own country and learn to see other countries in

terms of"they." Children also tend to believe that their own country and
language are superior to others. This bond may be the most critical
socialization feature relating to the political life of the nation (Hess and
Torney, 1967). The family helps provide this basic loyalty to country, but the
school also shapes the political concepts that expand and develop children's
early feelings of attachment. Political orientations develop early and reach
nearly adult levels by the end of elementary school, but there are still some
critical changes that occur at other points during the life cycle. High school
students become more aware of differences between political parties and
tend to become more active politically. In the first decade of adult life
people modify their political orientations as they take on new occupational
and family roles (Jennings and Niemi, 1968).
Children form economic ideas fairly early in life. One study examined how
youngsters are socialized into capitalism. When third-graders were
compared with twelfth-graders, the older students were found to hold more
negative attitudes toward labor unions and more favorable attitudes toward
business than did the younger children (Cummings and Taebel, 1978),
suggesting that, over time, they developed attitudes that were more
favorable toward capitalism, perhaps because of what they learned at
school, from the media, or at home.
MASS MEDIA. The mass media include many forms of communication-such as books, magazines, radio, television, and movies--that reach large
numbers of people without personal contact between senders and receivers.
In the last few decades, children have been dramatically socialized by one
source in particular: television. Studies have found that children spend more
time watching TV than they spend in school.
It seems unbelievable that in 1945 the pollster George Gallup asked
Americans, "Do you know what television is?" Now virtually every American
home has at least one television set, and the average set is on almost 7
hours a day (Comstock et al., 1978). How has this transformation affected
children? Reports vary, but children in the fifth to eighth grades view an
average of 4 to 6 hours daily (B. S. Greenberg and Dervin, 1970; Lyle and
Hoffman, 1972). Most of the research on the effects of television has been
on the cognitive and behavioral results of TV watching. The topic most often
studied has been the influence of television on antisocial behavior, especially
violence. Current research supports the view that seeing violence on
television increases the chance that a child will be aggressive (Comstock et
al., 1978). No publicly available studies unambiguously relate changes in
behavior (such as food habits or drug use) to exposure to television
advertising (Comstock et al., 1978) .
Research also suggests that young people obtain considerable political and
social information from television, but that how they perceive the
information depends largely on parental influence (Comstock et al., 1978).
For example, during the Vietnam War, television was the most important
source of public information about the war. Yet how young people felt about
it-- whether they favored or opposed it--seemed to be influenced more by

their parents than by the opinions presented on television. Those who

opposed the war interpreted the news on TV as opposing the war, whereas
those favoring it saw the news as favoring it (Comstock et al., 1978).
Most researchers studying the effects of television on children have focused
on the content of the programs and not on the total experience of television
watching. They argue that there is too much violence and sex on children's
programs and that more good educational programs for children are
needed.
Winn (1977) suggests that the experience of watching television itself is
limiting. When people watch television, no matter what the program, they
are simply watchers and are not having any other experience. According to
Winn, and many agree, children need to develop family relationships, the
capacity for self direction, and the basic skills of communication (reading,
writing, and speaking); to discover their own strengths and limitations, and
to learn the rules that keep social interaction alive. Television works against
all these goals by putting children in a passive situation where they do not
speak, interact, experiment, explore, or do anything else active because
they are watching a small moving picture on a machine. This research
shows the growing importance of television as a medium of socialization,
although clearly it is only one among a number of important influences.
Social Position as Part of the Context
Your family's social class, economic position, and ethnic background--as well
as your gender--can affect the ways in which you will be socialized. People
in more advantageous positions, like Alice and Alex in Chapter 1, tend to
develop higher self-evaluations. As a result, they feel justified in having
more resources. Similarly, those in less desired positions tend to have lower
self-evaluations and may feel that their lower status is deserved (Della Fave,
1980).
Sociologists ask if children in different social classes are socialized
differently. For instance are middle-class children socialized differently from
lower-class children? If so, why and how? Middle-class parents are slightly
less likely to use physical punishment than are lower-class parents (Gecas,
1979). Middle-class parents appear to be more concerned about their
children's intentions than with the negative consequences of their actions.
Thus, if a child breaks a dish a middle-class parent will be concerned with
whether he or she did it "on purpose" or whether it was an accident, and the
reaction will vary accordingly. Lower-class parents tend to react in about the
same way whatever the intention of the child (Kohn, 1969).
These differences in parental response may stem from the life situations of
people in different classes. Different parental experiences in the
occupational world color the view of what children need to learn (Kohn,
1969, 1976; Kohn and Schooler, 1983; Pearlin, 1971).
Parents who are closely supervised on the job (more often blue-collar
workers) value conformity more than do less supervised parents (usually
white-collar workers). Both blue- and white-collar parents increasingly
prefer more autonomy in their children, at least in the Detroit area (Alwin,

1984).
Cross-cultural studies show that members of agrarian and herding societies
(where food can be accumulated and stored) tend to emphasize compliance
in their socialization practices. In societies where food cannot be stored (as
in hunting, gathering, or fishing economies), members more often stress
individual achievement and self-reliance (Barry, Child, and Bacon, 1959).
Political structure may also be related to socialization practices. Autocratic
states tend to have more "severe" socialization, show clear power and
deference relationships, and stress obedience (Stephens, 1963). The Soviet
Union, for example, works harder to socialize children to conformity than
does the United States (Bronfenbrenner, 1970) . By way of contrast, tribal
societies that lack a centralized or autocratic political system allow children
to be less obedient and less conforming (Stephens, 1963).
All these studies suggest that parents value different traits for their children,
depending on the economic, political, and social situations they face. In
general, when adults have more opportunities for self-determination, they
value and try to develop greater self-reliance in their children (Ellis, Lee,
and Petersen, 1978). All groups try to socialize their children as well as they
can, but they stress different behaviors, depending on what they see as
needed in their own situation. Just as different societies may see the need
for different behaviors and skills in their children, subgroups within society
may do the same thing. They try to prepare their children as well as
possible for the positions they are likely to hold.
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