Socialization

Meaning of Socialization
The socialization process starts with the birth of the child and ends with his/her
death. It helps in the manifestation of an individual and makes him emerge in
society. Without socialization, human beings cannot properly behave and pull on in
society. Let's discuss this in an elaborate manner. Have you ever observed a boy
who is living in a rural area, and compared him with one who is residing in an
urban setting? What is the difference you see in them? The former’s entire
behavioural patterns and relations with his co-fellows and friends and surroundings
are different from that of the latter. How does a person from different backgrounds,
from different families, from different social statuses, from different peer groups
act and behave in a different manner? This is the result of internalizing the norms
and values of the societies he interacts with. And it is the result of the process
which is called by sociologists “socialization”.
By the socialization process, the individual understands and learns the behaviour of
a particular society. He inculcates the culture, way of life and mode of interaction
all of which make him a perfect and social animal. Therefore, healthy socialization
is very important for the creation of a healthy society. Because man has no instinct
to direct his own actions. Therefore, his behaviours and actions are designed on the
basis of the guidelines and directions which are learned and shared by other
members of the society, i.e., by the culture. This learning behaviour determines
how the members of society think and feel and it directs their actions and defines
how to shape their world view on particular issues.
Definition of Socialization
1. According to Ogburn, “Socialization is the process by which the individual learns
to conform to the norms of the group.”
2. According to Green, “Socialization is the process by which the child acquires a
cultural content, along with selfhood and personality.”
3. According to MacIver and Page, socialization is “the process by which social
beings establish wider and profounder relationships with one another, in which
they become more bound up with, and more perceptive of the personality of
themselves and of others and build up the complex structure nearer and wider
association.”
 4. According to Anthony Giddens, “Socialization is the process whereby the helpless
infant gradually becomes self-aware, knowledgeable person, skilled in the ways of
the culture into which she or he is born.”
Agents of Socialization
The following helps us to understand the influences of the agents of socialization
on an individual –
1. The Family: The most important agent of socialization, the family helps mould an
individual. The family values, beliefs, religious inclinations and political views
shape an individual’s outlook towards society. Parents are the biggest influence on
the social development of children.
2. The Schools: After family, schools are probably the most important influence on an
individual. Schools help pass on knowledge, create awareness and inculcate
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.
3. The Peers group: Meeting like-minded people, making friends and hanging out
together may seem like a teenager’s life. But in fact, each and every individual in
society love to have social contact. Peers have a 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.
4. The Mass Media: In today’s world, mass media is one of the important agents of
socialization. People are influenced by the social norms portrayed by the mass
media. Political, religious and social views are enforced a hard way through the
repeated exposure and arguments put forth by the agents of mass media.
5. Religion: Religion has been an important factor in society. In early society, religion
provided a bond of unity. Though in modern society the importance of religion has
diminished, yet it continues to mould our beliefs and ways of life.
Thus, the process of socialization is continuous and never-ending. It goes on from
one stage of development to the other and the process continues. In this whole
process, it is a family which continues with him.
Types of Socialization
Although socialization occurs during childhood and adolescence, it also continues
in middle and adult age. Orville F. Brim (Jr.) described socialization as a life-
long process. He maintains that the socialization of adults differs from childhood
socialization. In this context, it can be said that there are various types of
socialization.
1. Primary Socialization
Primary socialization refers to the socialization of the infant in the primary
or earliest years of his life. It is a process by which the infant learns
language and cognitive skills, internalizes norms and values. The infant
learns the ways of a given grouping and is moulded into an effective social
participant in that group.
The norms of society become part of the personality of the individual. The
child does not have a sense of wrong and right. Through direct and indirect
observation and experience, he gradually learns the norms relating to wrong
and right things. Primary socialization takes place in the family.
2. Secondary Socialization
The process can be seen at work outside the immediate family, in the ‘peer
group’. The growing child learns very important lessons in social conduct
from his peers. He also learns lessons in school.
Hence, socialization continues beyond and outside the family environment.
Secondary socialization generally refers to the social training received by the
child in institutional or formal settings and continues throughout the rest of
his life.
3. Adult Socialization
In adult socialization, actors enter roles (for example, becoming an
employee, a husband or a wife) for which primary and secondary
socialization may not have prepared them fully. Adult socialization teaches
people to take on new duties. The aim of adult socialization is to bring
change in the views of the individual. Adult socialization is more likely to
change overt behaviour, whereas child socialization moulds basic values.
4. Anticipatory Socialization
 Anticipatory socialization was first defined by sociologist Robert K.
Merton. Anticipatory socialization is the process by which non-group-
members adopt the values and standards of groups that they aspire to join, so
as to ease their entry into the group and help them interact appropriately
once they have been accepted. It involves changing one’s attitudes and
behaviours in preparation for a shift in one’s role. Practices commonly
associated with anticipatory socialization include grooming, play-acting,
training, and rehearsing. For example, law school students learning how to
behave like lawyers, older people preparing for retirement, and children may
anticipate parenthood by observing their parents as role models.
Anticipatory socialization takes place when people are blocked from access
to a group they might have wanted to join, they reject that group’s values
and norms. Instead, they begin an anticipatory socialization process with
groups that are more receptive to them.
5. Re-Socialization
It involves a break from past experiences and the learning of new values and
norms. In the cast of most total institutions, re-socialization is directed
toward changing an individual’s personality and social behaviour. This is
accomplished by stripping away all semblance of individual identity and
replacing it with an institutional identity – uniforms, standard haircuts, and
so on. The individual is also denied the freedoms of the outside world. Once
the person’s sense of self has been weakened, it is easier for those in power
to convince the person to conform to new patterns of behaviour. It is a
setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period
of time and are subject to tight control. For example, when a criminal is
rehabilitated, he has to change his role radically.
Socialization is important in the process of personality formation. While much of
human personality is the result of our genes, the socialization process can mould it
in particular directions by encouraging specific beliefs and attitudes as well as
selectively providing experiences. Successful socialization can result in uniformity
within a society. If all children received the same socialization, it is likely that they
will share the same beliefs and expectations. The socialization process has an
enormous impact on children and teens in the context of the learning process.
Family, school, peers, mass media, religion, workplace, and volunteer groups each
play a role in the collective process we term education. Parents must recognize
each agent of socialization maximizes the role of education in our children's lives.
Anything less is an abdication of our responsibility as adult role models for our
children and for future generations.
STAGES OF SOCIALISATION (Bhushan & Sachdeva, 2018, 82)
Socialisation is a continuous process of social learning, where the newborn child,
throughout life processed, learns social values, standards, and norms to lead a
productive social life. It proceeds from simplicity to complexity. Socialisation is
carried out through social groups and social institutions, where the child adjusts
and learns, adapts and conforms to him within the broader social network, and
performs the social roles effectively.
1. The First Stage - The Oral Stage
By crying, the child establishes dependency and over-hunger drive. It carves
from birth to one year. In the womb, the child enjoys a comfortable
environment, as he comes out, he has to face first crisis, i.e., must break,
exert himself to feed, must be protected from physical discomforts, the child
learns to give signals for his needs. She child is involved in himself and his
mother. Internalisation of two roles is difficult for the child. It is the stage of
“primary identification” as the child merges his identity with that of the
mother.
2. Second Stage - Anal Stage
During the toddler period, the child exhibits the anal stage. It varies based on
society, social class and family. The child is completely not dependent on
their mother, he/she starts to take some degree of care for himself/herself,
like toilet training and wearing clothes etc., and the child internalises two
separate roles, i.e., himself/herself and his/her mother. The child learns to
receive love and care and return by smiling. He is able to distinguish
between right and wrong, the correct action is rewarded and the incorrect
action is punished.
The child learns to express his aggression, withhold faces or release at the
wrong time. The positive sanction for correct performance is the mother’s
love. The child contributes by means of expression and helps to integrate the
system by cooperating and giving love. However, the child is too young and
dependent on contributing much for task accomplishment.
3. Third Stage - Oedipal Stage
It begins during pre-school period and extends up to puberty. The child
becomes a member of the family as a whole. The child wants to identify
 himself on the basis of sex. The boy develops an “Oedipus complex” - love
towards his mother and jealousy towards his father. The girl exhibits
“Electra complex” - love for her father and jealousy towards her mother.
Sufficient social pressures are brought on the child to identify with the right
sex. Boys and girls should act according to their sexes, boys try to identify
with their fathers and girls with their mothers. The children establish or
develop their own groups.
4. Fourth Stage - Adolescence Stage
A physiological and psychological change takes place within the individual.
The adolescents are free from parental control, at the same time, they cannot
completely decide on their own. In modern society, parents give freedom to
children by allowing them to perform their activities independently.
Adolescents have less social control and learn new social roles and new
behaviour patterns internalise with them. Parents advise them in the field of
education, occupation, and life-partners.
Or
Socialization: Stages
Socialization is a gradual process where the socializing agent, typically a parent or
caregiver, focuses on specific tasks rather than overwhelming the child with
information. During infancy and childhood, socialization occurs in a simplified
social environment, allowing the child to focus on a few things at a time. This
approach aids in making necessary discriminations, coping with frustration, and
integrating new learning with old. Over time, the social system expands,
introducing more elements for the child to internalize.
The central aspect of socialization is the internalization of social roles. One must
understand other roles within the same social system to perform a social role
effectively. The child learns to internalize the roles they will perform and those of
others they interact with. The self-growth aligns with the internalization of social
roles, essentially shaping one’s personality. At each socialization stage, the child
absorbs a system of roles, not just individual roles, forming the foundation of their
sense of self. Let us briefly describe four stages of socialization from infancy to
adulthood. They are (1) the oral stage, (2) the anal stage, (3) the oedipal stage and
latency, and (4) adolescence.
1. The Oral Stage: In the initial socialization stage, beginning in the womb and
extending to birth, the infant undergoes a critical transition. Initially warm and
comfortable in the womb, the infant faces the first crisis at birth, where breathing,
 feeding, and adapting to the new environment become essential challenges. The
primary objective of this stage is to establish oral dependency.
During this phase, the infant forms distinct expectations around feeding times
and learns to communicate pressing needs for care, often expressed through
crying. Notably, the infant’s involvement is limited to a subsystem with the
mother, and other family members perceive the baby more as a “possession”
than an active participant.
The concept of role differentiation is introduced, emphasizing that if others
share caregiving tasks with the mother, no clear role distinction is present. The
infant’s passive role in this stage leads to what Freud termed “primary
identification.” As oral dependency solidifies, the roles of the infant and the
caregiver, often the mother, may merge, lacking clear differentiation. The
infant gains some control over the hunger drive and develops sensitivity to
diffuse the “erotic” pleasure of bodily contact with the mother.
2. The Anal Stage: In the second stage of socialization, usually occurring in the first to
third years, a crucial “anal” crisis arises due to new demands, particularly toilet
training. During this stage, the child internalizes distinct roles for themselves and
their mother. The socializing agent, often the mother, plays a dual role, acting as an
instrumental leader in the limited social system with the child and participating in
the family. This dual role is crucial for preparing the child to engage in a more
complex social system. The mother, facing societal pressures, oscillates between
yielding and resisting, and her dual representative role reflects her “expressive”
leadership. Support from the more extensive system, especially from the husband,
helps her manage the strain of socialization.
3. The Oedipal Stage and Latency: The third stage of socialization, from around the
fourth year to puberty, involves the “oedipal crisis”, typically occurring during the
fourth and fifth years, followed by the “latency” period. In this stage, the child
integrates into the entire family, internalizing all four family roles and identifying
with the social role based on their biological sex. The “Oedipus complex” for boys
involves feelings of jealousy towards the father due to rivalry with the mother,
believed to be sexual. Girls experience the “Electra complex,” feeling in love with
the father and jealous of the mother. Despite a lack of clear understanding of
sexual differences, children develop a diffuse erotic attachment to their parents,
particularly the mother, deriving bodily pleasure from contact. This attachment
aids socialization, as the mother can use physical contact to reward the child’s
correct performance. The mutual erotic attachment is regulated by the incest taboo
to prevent it from going too far and disrupting family dynamics.
4. The Adolescence stage: Adolescence, generally commencing at puberty, marks a
stage of increased emancipation from parental control, bringing about a crisis due
to heightened demands for independence. While adolescents in our society desire
autonomy, they still face parental restrictions, particularly in areas like sexual
activity. The physiological changes of adolescence, if allowed full expression,
wouldn’t inherently pose problems, but societal constraints intensify the
adolescent’s ambivalence—eager for freedom yet fearful of it. In our society,
achieving adulthood involves complete self-sufficiency and the capacity to
establish an independent family. It’s crucial to distinguish between the ability to
form a family and the decision to do so. Adolescence’s difficulty level varies
across societies, with our society posing additional challenges as individuals must
make significant life decisions largely independently, including choosing a
marriage partner and an occupation.
Socialization is a gradual process guiding individuals from dependency to
independence. The socializing agent, often the mother, plays a pivotal role. Each
stage introduces unique challenges, shaping the individual’s understanding of
themselves within the broader social context. Adolescence stands out for its
increased autonomy and decision-making responsibilities, influenced by cultural
definitions of adult roles. The challenges of this stage arise from the need to make
significant life decisions independently.