Socialization is done when children follow the footsteps Essay

Socialization can be referred to as the process by where adults and children learn from each other. It is often said that socialization begins at home and this is true because it is the responsibility of the family to teach children from a very early age the norms and values of society. It is the process by which they learn right from wrong. Socialization is done when children follow the footsteps of their parents, teachers or older siblings. Socialization never really stops because all through life, people learn new things and they are never knowledgeable enough to know everything. During this process of socialization children develop a sense of self and become their own person. They become unique and have a distinct personality. Individuals develop their potential and learn culture through this process of socialization. Humans are unlike any other species and they need to learn things and how to survive. It is important for humans to learn their culture for it is a part of who they are. We learn by internalizing which is the process when people take norms values beliefs and language as their own and accept them as their own. Importance of socialization Socialization is important for many reasons: It helps a person become who they really are. It provides the basics for a person to learn about their culture and their way of behavior. Socialization helps people discover their talents and they find out that they are really good at something and they enjoy that. Through socialization children can develop as a person and acquire normal social graces. Children need to feel cared for and loved so when parents take time out for their children and teach them values and norms this helps them to develop properly. Learn ways on how to think talk and actions that are important for social living Is a way by which the society can pass culture along to the next generation We achieve harmony and are able to it into society We develop skills and learn not to always act on instinct It avoids isolation and improper development of children It allows us to develop our potential to develop or maximize skills We develop proper learning Agents of socialization The family is a major agent of socialization. It gives individuals their first experience, earliest and deepest experience to relationships and their exposure to the way of life. The family also teaches their own about the social and physical environment and teaches them to follow it. Children learn from the type of environment that elders create. The family also gives children a social place when it comes to religion race or culture. This makes up the child’s self-concept. The family are the ones responsible to teach children manners, respect and obedience. They cannot allow their children to go to school without teaching them how to talk to older people with respect or how to obey when told to do something. The school also plays a role in the socialization of children. The school is a port way for children to learn about their ancestors and to teach them of the way people behaved in the older times compared to the way they behave now. They learn how society is connected to race and gender. The school is their first experience to bureaucracy. This means that the school prepares them for the future because it runs on a time schedule and is governed by rules. This is helpful because it prepares them for when they get a job. It is also proven that schools mold children into gender roles. School also open opportunities or children to join peer groups in which they meet people with similar interests or talents. The mass media is also an agent of socialization. The mass media provides a vast amount of information to a huge audience at the same time. It is proven to have a great impact on the behavior and attitude of children. The media is also a port way for people to learn about different cultures and to meet people of different race and ethnicity. The media can inspire people to achieve access and to follow their dreams. Children will view successful people on the television and aspire to be like them. This is a good thing because children will have ambition. Theories on socialization George Herbert Mead: He developed a theory on social behaviorism. It explained how a person’s personality can be affected by social experience. He saw the power that environment had when it came to shaping behavior. He studied inward thinking. His main concept was self. He described this as the part of a person’s personality composed of self- awareness and self- image. He considered that self only develops when people interact with others. He said that humans care what others think of them and that is what they think of themselves as well. Lawrence Kohlberg: He studied how people distinguish between right and wrong. At an early age for children, they think that whatever feel good to them is right. Another aspect of his is that teenagers in the adolescent stage lose their selfishness and learn to act according to what parents tell them and by the rules of their school. He also said that individuals learn not to argue with what is legal or right. Jean Piaget: he studied human cognition. This refers to how people think. He wondered how children made sense of the world. He described the way children made their way through life based on what they thought of it. Piaget believed that biological maturation and increasing social experience was reflected by human behavior. He stated four stages of cognitive development which included sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Sigmund Freud: He studied mental disorder and personality. He believed that biology played a major role in the way people develop. He said that the human personality had three parts which include: The id which represents the innate human drives, this would be the human life and death instincts, the ego which refers to the internalized cultural values and norms and the ego which he considered resolved the competition between the restraints of the superego and the demands of the id. . Family Basic Concepts Family is a group of people who are closely related to each other by blood, adaption or marriage. The family is considered the basic unit of society. A family is considered to be the people who will always be there for you, no matter the situation you are involved in. Whenever in need of something the first place you run to is home. You are confident that there you can be safe and that there will be the people you can depend on. The family is the group of people who play a significant role in an individual’s life. Bonds within a family are considered kinship. Within every society there are families, however the views of people and whom they consider to be their family may vary depending on historical changes and culture. Family of orientation refers to when individuals are born into a family that includes parents and siblings living together. This plays an important role in socialization. A family of procreation is when adults decide to start their own family either naturally or through adaption. Marriage is an important aspect when considering starting a family. Marriage is a legal union between two people who commit to each other and this involves economic cooperation, sexual activity and childbearing. Children born out of marriage are considered to be illegitimate. Global Variations Types of families: Extended family: Is a family that includes more than three generations living in the same household. Everyone is connected by blood. Nuclear family: A family that includes a mother, father and their children living under the same roof. Sibling household: This is a family that an older brother or sister is the one in charge of the rest of children. They are required to be the parents and take care of the younger ones. Reconstituted family: This is a family type formed by the combination of two single- parent families. Single- parent family: Is a family type that involves one parent taking care of the household. Marriage patterns This refers to the way in which individuals are required to marry: Endogamy: This refers to marriage between people of the same social category. This limits marriage prospects to other people of the same gender, social class or race. Exogamy: This is when people of different social class get married. This type of marriage promotes cultural diffusion and builds alliances. Monogamy: This is marriage between two people. Polygamy: This is a type of marriage that unites two or more people. Polygyny: This refers to marriage of one man to two or more women. Polyandry: This refers to marriage of one woman to two or more men. Residential Patterns This talks about where a couple resides after being married: Patrilocality: This pattern refers to when the married couple lives with or close to the husband’s parents or family. Matrilocality: This is when the married couple lives close by or with the wife’s family. Neolocality: This refers to when the married couple live in a new place away from any side of their families. Patterns of Decent This refers to a system families used to trace their kinship over generations. Patrilineal descent: This is when individuals trace their kinship through men. This is when sons are the ones who inherit or get property passed on to them by their fathers. Matrilineal descent: This is a system used to trace kinship through women. This is when mothers pass on property or inheritance to their daughters. Bilateral Descent: in order to promote gender equality, this system traces kinship through both men and women. Theoretical Analysis of the Family Functions of the family Structural and functional analysis: Socialization: The teaching of right from wrong to children. Regulation of sexual activity: Every culture tries to regulate sexual activity in order to maintain property rights and kinship organization. Social Placement: Families try to maintain social organization in order to confer their social identity. Material, emotional and financial security: Families provide financial assistance, physical protection and emotional support. Inequality and the family: Social- Conflict analysis Property and Inheritance: Identifying heirs in order to transmit property. Patriarchy: This is how men own women as their sexual and economic property. Racial and ethnic inequality: Families promote people marry others like themselves. Stages of Family Life This is the way how a family evolves. Courtship: Is when partners get to know each other and see if they are compatible. Settling in: This involves romantic love where partners fall in love with each other and usually plan to marry or not. Child rearing: This is the raising of children on the right path showing them love and kindness. The family in later life: This is when people stay married but for the final years of their marriage they return to living with only one spouse. Transitions and problems in family They are many things that break up the family: Divorce is the dissolution of a marriage. Causes: Individualism is on the rise: This is when family members stop spending as much time with each other. Romantic love often subsides: When sexual passion fades this is when relationships fade. Women are now less dependent on men: Women leave unhappy marriages because wives are now not financially dependent on husbands. Many of today’s marriages are stressful: Most families face the problem of not having enough time or energy for family. Divorce is socially acceptable: Divorce is no longer being discouraged. Legally, a divorce is easier to get: Now divorces are easy to get as long as the couple says the marriage has fail. References Macionis John J., Sociology- (13th Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009