Socialization

UNIT 4 SOCIALIZATION
Structure
NOTES
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Unit Objectives
4.2 Meaning and Definition
4.2.1 Processes of Socialization
4.2.2 Theories of Socialization
4.2.3 Types of Socialization
4.2.4 Re-socialization
4.2.5 Stages of Socialization
4.3 Relation between Individual and Society
4.3.1 Individual Dependence on Social Heritage
4.3.2 Individual and Society
4.3.3 Life of Individuals—Heredity and Environment
4.4 Agencies of Socialization
4.5 Summary
4.6 Key Terms
4.7 Answers to ‘Check Your Progress’
4.8 Questions and Exercises
4.9 Further Reading

4.0 INTRODUCTION
The process that teaches an individual his culture is called socialization. In this unit, you
will learn about the importance of socialization. This process goes on throughout one’s
life, and it develops a sense of self and converts the individual into a member of the
society. For the success of this process, the individual needs consistent and organized
interaction with his culture and social surroundings. The growth of the self is influenced
by contact with family, peers and the media.
Infants are born without any culture. It is through the process of socialization that
individuals acquire culture and this is done with the help of parents, teachers, books,
media, and so on. Socialization teaches us language, as well as the roles that we are
expected to play or fit into, in society. It also teaches individuals about the norms of the
society of which one is a member. Socialization also contributes to the formation of
one’s personality. Although personality type may depend on one’s genes, it is the process
of socialization that can shape it into particular directions.
The unit will also discuss the relationship between an individual and society. Finally,
it will talk about the agencies of socialization.

4.1 UNIT OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:
• Explain the importance and processes of socialization
• Discuss the theories and types of socialization
• Assess the relationship between individual and society

Self-Instructional
Material 75
Socialization • Examine the role of heredity and environment on the life of individuals
• Critically analyse the agencies of socialization

NOTES 4.2 MEANING AND DEFINITION

The term ‘socialization’ refers to the processes whereby individuals are taught the skills,
behaviour patterns, values and motivations that are needed for competent functioning in
the culture in which they are growing up. The most dominant among these are social
skills, social understandings and emotional maturity. These are needed for interaction
with other individuals to fit in with the functioning of social dyads and larger groups.
Socialization includes all those processes in which culture is transmitted from one
generation to the next, including training for specific roles in specific occupations.
According to well-known sociologist Robert Morrison Maclver, ‘Socialization is
the process by which social beings establish wider and profounder relationships with one
another, in which they come closer to each other and build a complex structure of
association.’
According to American sociologist Kimball Young, ‘Socialization means the process
of inducting the individual into the social and cultural world of making him a particular
member of a society and its various groups and inducing him to accept the norms and
values of that society. Socialization is definitely a matter of learning and not of biological
inheritance.’
Importance of socialization
A new born individual (human infant) comes into the world as a biological organism with
animal needs. He/she is gradually moulded into a social being and learns the social ways
of acting and feeling. Without this process of moulding, neither the society nor the culture
would exist, nor would the individual become a social person.
4.2.1 Processes of Socialization
Once we study socialization, we tend to question about the processes. As we know,
every man tries to adjust himself to the conditions of his social environment. The process
of adjustment itself is socialization. Socialization is the process of transforming a biological
being to a social being. Direct socialization begins only after birth.
Socialization is a continuous and unending process. It is a process of inducting an
individual into the social world. It consists of learning cultural values and norms which
he/she must learn and share. Socialization is social learning.
The fundamental process of socialization is the emergence and gradual development
of the ‘self’. It is in terms of the self that a personality takes shape and the mind begins
to function. The notion of self begins to arise as a child learns about the feeling of
sensation. According to eminent sociologist Harry M. Johnson, the ‘self might be regarded
as the internalized object representing ones own personality’. Self is an internalized
object that includes ones own conception of ones abilities and characteristics, and an
evaluation of both.
4.2.2 Theories of Socialization
Some important theories of socialization were developed by American sociologists Charles
Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead, and Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud.
Self-Instructional
76 Material
Charles Horton Cooley Socialization

Cooley, in his book Social Organization, writes that the construction of self and society
are twin born, and that we know one as immediately as we know the other. He further
says that ‘the notion of a separate and independent ego is an illusion’. He reiterates that NOTES
self consciousness can arise only in a society and it is inseparable from social consciousness.
According him, the self is social. The basic idea of the conception is, ‘the way we
imagine ourselves to appear to another person is an essential element in our conception
of ourselves.’ He believes that there are three steps in the process of building the ‘looking-
glass self’. These steps are as follows:
(i) Our perception of how we look to others
(ii) Our perception of their judgement of how we look
(iii) Our feeling about these judgements
Thus, we are constantly revising our perception of how we look. Just like a mirror that
gives an image of the physical self, so the perception of the reaction of others gives an
image of the social self. Another important point is that the perception of the judgement
of others is the active factor in the self-image forming process.
George Herbert Mead
G. H. Mead, basically a psychologist, agreed completely with Cooley that it is absurd to
look at the self or the mind from the viewpoint of an individual organism. Although it may
have its focus on the organism, it is undoubtedly a social product and a social phenomenon.
He believes that the self arises in interaction with the social and nonsocial environment.
The social environment is particularly important.
The basic argument which Mead developed was in support of this conclusion and
also in support of his theory of ‘Me’ and ‘I’. For Mead, ‘Me’ is that group of organized
attitudes to which the individual responds. He called the acting self the ‘I’. The ‘Me’, on
the other hand, is part of the self which consists of the internal attitudes of others.
The process of personalizing the attitudes of others has been aptly described by
Mead, who developed the concept of the ‘generalized other’. This generalized other is
composite of the expectations that one believes, others hold towards one. Awareness of
the generalized other is developed through the process of taking and plying roles. Taking
role is an attempt to act out the behaviour that would be expected of a person who
actually holds the role. Playing a role is acting out the behaviour of a role that one
actually holds, whereas in taking a role, one only pretends to hold the role.
Mead argues that a three-stage process is through which one learns to play adult
roles. These three stages are as follows:
(i) Preparatory stage (1–3 years): In this stage, a child imitates adult
behaviour without any real understanding.
(ii) Play stage (3–4 years): In this stage, children have some understanding of
the behaviour but switch roles erratically. At one moment, the boy is a
builder who is pilling blocks and a moment later, he knocks them apart.
Similarly, at one moment, he is a policeman and a moment later, he becomes
an astronaut.
(iii) Game stage (4–5 years): This stage is one where the role behaviour
becomes consistent and purposeful, and the child has the ability to sense the
role of the other players. To play baseball, each player must understand his
Self-Instructional
Material 77
Socialization or her own role, as well as the role of all other players. Thus, one develops
an ability to see one’s own behaviour in its relation to others and senses the
reaction of the people who are involved.
Mead’s theory of role taking is an essential learning process in socialization.
NOTES Both Cooley and Mead explain the process of interaction. They saw personality as
shaped through our social interaction with others. Both assumed a basic harmony between
self and society. To Cooley, the separate individual was an abstract idea that had no
existence apart from society, just as society has no meaning apart from individuals. The
socialized self is shaped by the society and the society is an organization of the persons
it socializes. Thus, self and society were two aspects of the same thing.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud saw self and society in basic conflict, not harmony. He believed that self
is the product of the ways in which basic human motives and impulses are denied and
repressed by the society. Freud believed that the rational portion of human motivation
was like the visible part of an iceberg. The larger part of human motivation that rests
within the unseen forces has a powerful affect on human conduct. He divided the self
into three parts:
(a) The Id
(b) The ego
(c) The super ego
The Id is the pool of instinctive and unsocial desires and impulses, which are
selfish and antisocial.
Ego is the conscious and rational part of the self, which oversees the super ego’s
restraint of the Id.
Super ego is the complex of social ideals and values which one has internalized
and which forms a part of consciousness.
Ego is the control centre, whereas super ego is the police officer, and Id is a
combination of selfish, destructive desire. Since society restricts the expressions of
aggression, sexuality and other impulses, the Id is continually at war with the super ego.
The Id is usually repressed, but at times, it breaks through in open defiance of the super
ego, creating burden of guilt that is difficult for the self to carry. At other times,
the forces of the Id find expression in misguided forms, which enables the ego to be
unaware of the real and underlying reasons for its actions, as when a parent relieves
hostility by beating the child, believing that this is for its own good. Thus, Freud finds that
self and society are often opponents and not merely different aspects of the same thing.
Freud sees self and society in eternal conflict.
4.2.3 Types of Socialization
According to clinical psychologist Ian Robertson, the socialization that a person undergoes
in the course of his lifetime may be divided into four types:
(i) Primary socialization is the most fundamental and essential type of socialization.
It takes place in early childhood. In this stage, a child internalizes norms and
learns language and cognitive skills.
(ii) Anticipatory socialization is where human beings learn the culture of a group
of which they are immediate members. They also learn the culture of a group
Self-Instructional
78 Material
 with the anticipation of joining that group. This is referred to by American sociologist Socialization
R. K. Merton as ‘anticipatory socialization’.
(iii) Developmental socialization is the kind of socialization that is based on the
achievement of primary socialization. It builds on already acquired skills and
knowledge as the adult progresses through new situations, such as marriage or NOTES
new jobs. These require new expectations, obligations and roles. New learning is
added to and blended with old in a relatively smooth and continuous process of
development.
(iv) Re-socialization takes place mostly when a social role radically changes.
An individual not only changes roles within a group but also changes groups.
4.2.4 Re-socialization
As discussed above, re-socialization is one of the types of socialization. The influential
American sociologist Erving Goffman defined re-socialization as ‘a process of tearing
down and rebuilding an individual’s role and socially constructed sense of self’. The
socialization process consists of many stages where primary socialization that is acquired
by a child is just a part of the entire socialization process. A process named re-socialization
takes place when an individual or adult learns new ideas and values on joining a new
group or when the individual enters a different life situation. This process involves many
other processes like adapting to the new environment or even going against certain
norms that were previously acquired by the individual.
Change is a process that never remains constant and, hence, an individual
experiences change throughout his lifetime. There are factors like age and certain diseases
that impair the ability of an individual to learn and adapt in a new environment. Even
then, an adult continues learning new things with every new experience throughout his
lifetime. Entering a new phase of life, like going to college, a job, marriage, loss of
someone, retirement, all these processes require re-socialization.
Total institution and re-socialization
A total institution is an enclosed space where many people situated in near-by locations
lead a life cut-off from the society for a particular time and, hence, lead a formerly
administered life. This term was coined by Erving Goffman. People often lead a life of
bureaucratic control within a total institution. The needs of these people are handled in
an impersonal and strict manner.
The objective behind these institutions is re-socialization which refers to the
alteration of an individual’s behaviour by purposefully manipulating the surrounding
situations and environment. An example of this would be the process of re-socializing
new army men in the army so that they can be better soldiers. The process of re-
socializing consists of a twofold process. First, where the people engaged in the institution
try to erase the identity of the residents of the institution; their freedom is also hampered
by the forces of the institution. Second is where an organized effort takes place to shape
a different personality or self. These two processes are usually carried out by the system
of reward and punishment.
4.2.5 Stages of Socialization
Socialization takes place within a ‘simplified’ social world. The social system in which
the infant or the child is being trained is much less complex than the society as a whole.
Self-Instructional
Material 79