Child and Adolescents

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“Child and Adolescents: Socialization in Childhood and

Adolescents”

INTRODUCTION

The process of socialization continues throughout one’s life and is constantly

renegotiated, but socialization begins as soon as one is born. Sociologists divide socialization

into two different parts. Primary socialization takes place early in life, as a child and adolescent.

Secondary socialization refers to the socialization that takes place throughout one’s life, both as a

child and as one encounters new groups that require additional socialization. Gender is instilled

through socialization immediately from birth. Consider the gender norms with which society

imbues infants: The most archetypal example is the notion that male babies like blue things

while female babies like pink things. When a boy gets a football for his birthday and a girl

receives a doll, this also socializes children to accept gender norms. The example set by an

individual’s family is also important for socialization; children who grow up in a family with the

husband a breadwinner and the wife a homemaker will tend to accept this as the social norm,

while those who grow up in families with female breadwinners, single parents, or same-sex

couples will develop different ideas of gender norms. Because gender norms are perpetuated

immediately upon birth, many sociologists study what happens when children fail to adopt the

expected gender norms rather than the norms themselves. This is the standard model of studying

deviance in order to understand the norm that undergirds the deviant activity. Children can resist

gender norms by insisting on dressing in clothing more typically associated with the other

gender, playing with toys more typically associated with the other gender, or having opposite-sex

playmates.
Societies are shared communities with complex codes and organization structures.

Socialization is the process by which individuals adapt to and internalize the norms, values,

customs and behaviors of a shared social group (Lutfy and Mortimer, 2006, Parsons, 1951). The

degree to which children learn how to participate and be accept by society has important

consequences for their development and future lives. Importantly, the social codes that child and

adolescent learn are specific not only to nation- states and regions, but also to historical periods

and social groups within larger societies. The socio- historical context is a critical dimension of

the socialization in childhood and adolescent, both with respect to their status within society as

compared to adults.

For instance gender and race have become less restrictive social categories in the past 50

years. However, these social categories are still associated with different social norms and

expectations, particularly around schooling and careers. It is also vital to consider that

individuals in the same ‘society’ do not necessarily share a sense of belonging to the dominant

culture within that group. While studies of socialization theory tend to emphasize the influence

of ‘broader society,’ individuals often experience simultaneous socialization pressures from the

dominant culture as well as from marginalized subcultures. Notably, research has documented

the socializing influence of adolescent peer cultures – and of their parent cultures – in

reproducing social class and other social divisions (S. Hall & Jefferson 1976;Willis 1977)

Socialization generally refers to the process of social influence through which a person

acquires the culture or subculture of their group, and in the course of acquiring these cultural

elements the individual's self and personality are shaped. Socialization, therefore, addresses two

important problems of social life: the problem of societal continuity and the problem of
individual development. Sociology has tended to emphasize the latter more than the former, by

focusing on the development of self and identities, and the internalization of roles, motives, and

values.

Dealing with adolescents always has been a challenge for both parents and clinicians. In

today’s society, adolescence is a prolonged developmental stage that lasts approximately 10

years, nominally described as between the ages of 11 and 22 years. An adolescent progresses

through stages of biologic development as well as changes in psychological and social

functioning. It is in this period that a person becomes both physically and psychologically mature

and capable of independent living.

METHOD AND MATERIALS

Researchers obtain data via methods such as observing parents and children as they

shows during interactions, parents and children responding to a questions that relate to observing

parents and children engaging with stories and activities meant to produce responses. The collect

data as nonverbal self-report measures as well as verbal reports by observing and interviewing

children and their parents, using measures such as the Authorities Parenting Index, the Home

Observation for Measurement of the Environment. Participants are asked to rate the degree to

which statements that describe parent and child interactions in their family in order to obtain data

concerning warmth/responsiveness. In which parent shows interest in child by expresses

affection and parent shows patience with the child. While demandingness is assessed by

statements such as "parent clearly states rules to be followed", parents provides instructions to

the child for the appropriate behavior that can use to socialize with others.
DISCUSSION

Theoretical and empirical work has shown that socialization happens during interactions

between young people and their environments (e.g., Handel, Cahill, & Elkin, 2007; LeVine,

2003; Strayer & Santos, 1996). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory of human

development (1979) frames the child inside a series of concentric circles that represent different

contexts of socialization. Figure 1 summarizes his model. Society influences the child through

the most immediate contexts in which the child is present (microsystem) – the family, siblings,

peer groups, and classrooms; the contexts in which the microsystems meet (mesosystem) – e.g.,

parent-teacher relationships, parents’ work environments, and extended family networks; the

community context (ecosystem ) – e.g., schools, neighborhoods, local media, local government;

and the broader sociocultural context (macro system) Discussion Theoretical and empirical work

has shown that socialization happens during interactions between young people and their

environments (e.g., Handel, Cahill, & Elkin, 2007; LeVine, 2003; Strayer & Santos, 1996).

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory of human development (1979) frames the child

inside a series of concentric circles that represent different contexts of socialization. Figure 1

summarizes his model. Society influences the child through the most immediate contexts in

which the child is present (microsystem) – the family, siblings, peer groups, and classrooms; the

contexts in which the microsystems meet (mesosystem) – e.g., parent-teacher relationships,

parents’ work environments, and extended family networks; the community context (exosystem)

– e.g., schools, neighborhoods, local media, local government; and the broader sociocultural

context (macrosystem).
A convergence of research that points toward sustained harmonious interactions

over the course of a transition to adolescence is especially significant. Along with research that

highlights individual differences and parental diversity, the contribution of attachment studies

and investigations of “synchrony” enlarges the frame for anticipating, understanding, and

assessing social functioning. These studies have linked the transition to adolescence with what

has come before in the childhood and adolescents socialization and what may come later as

everyone relate to adult children, providing a systemic underpinning for future study. The

literature that undergirds the present study has been drawn from several theoretical frameworks

and approaches. It features a view of the transition to adolescence that is interactional, not

isolated, and offers many useful guideposts for future research. Children and adolescents

undergo a sex role socialization process that influences their education and career outcomes

(Eccles & Hoffman, 1984; Lee, 1998; Lips, 2004; Riegle-Crumb et al., 2006; Stake & Nickens,

2005). For many, their primary identity is defined by their gender. Gender socialization in

families, schools, and peer groups can shape female and male adolescents’ subjective

orientations to all fields, especially engineering and computer science careers. Extensive research

suggests that children are socialized early to consider science and mathematics to be male

pursuits (e.g., Farland-Smith, 2009; Jacobs, Davis-Kean, Bleeker, Eccles, & Malanchuk, 2005).

Traditionally male-dominated career fields tend to pay higher wages than those that are

traditionally female-dominated, which effectively maintains gendered inequalities in individuals’

pathways to financially stable adulthoods (England, 2005).

Studies of gender-related teasing illustrate commonalities in the socialization of gender

and of sexual identity. Children are teased for behaviors that are seen as not masculine or
feminine (e.g., style of dress, manner of speech, participation in the arts). Such socialization

pressures shape gender performance among all youth, heterosexual and sexual minority children

and adolescents as well, across ethnic and racial groups (Pascoe, 2007). The rampant nature of

sexually-charged teasing – often times rising to the level of harassment – has been documented,

as well as its often negative impact on young boys and girls (C. Hill & Kearl, 2011). These and

other studies explain that calling a student “gay” may not necessarily be directed at their

sexuality (while still being intended as an insult), but the recipient may still interpret the

harassment in relationship to their gender and sexual identity. In early adolescence, teasing is

used to demarcate gender boundaries between girls and boys while also increasingly framing

cross-gender interaction as heterosexual and romantic in nature (Thorne & Luria, 1986)

Adolescents may encounter distinct and sometimes conflicting socialization messages

from both mainstream society and their non-dominant identity group(s) about how to think, feel,

and behave (see Hyde & DeLamater, 2008). Overall,the process by which adolescents explore

sexuality, develop their sexual identity and learn about sexual behavior seems to follow a pattern

encouraging heterosexuality and heteronormativity (Tolman & McClelland, 2011). LGBT

(lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) youth may however experience disconnects between

societal norms and identity-based norms with respect to their developing sense of self and

position within society (see Hammack & Cohler, 2009).

Marcia (1966) developed a related model, formulating four paths of ego-identity status

with respect to career and ideology affiliations. Foreclosure refers to a commitment (e.g., to a
career path) that occurs without exploration. Adolescents in this status tend to be responding

directly to socialization pressures without having developed a sense of whether this identity is

appropriate for them. Foreclosed adolescents may be susceptible to dissatisfaction later in life

because of not developing their own identity. Other adolescents may be in a state of identity

diffusion, neither exploring nor committing to an identity. Some may go on to explore and

commit to identity areas later, while some remain in this diffuse status. Adolescents in

moratorium are those engaged in identity search – and potentially in identity crisis, a state that

can generate anxiety. Identity achievement is marked by resolution of identity moratorium,

whereby adolescents have selected commitments of their choosing – perhaps influenced by but

not directed by the expectations of society

While adolescents are tasked to develop a sense of self within the context of society as a

whole, they may be simultaneously integrating particular dimensions of their identity with their

internalized sense of society’s expectations for them. Adolescents who identify with a

marginalized group —like racial-ethnic and sexual minority youths, for example—may be

particularly likely to experience this phenomenon. With respect to racial-ethnic minorities,

W.E.B. Du Bois (1903) maintained that African Americans experience a double consciousness in

which they view themselves simultaneously through their own eyes and those of white society.

Phinney and colleagues extended Erikson’s identity development framework to include ethnic

identity development, under which an ethnic identity crisis might emerge, should ethnic minority

youth develop strong and stable affiliations with their ethnic group but not with the dominant

culture, or vice versa (J. Phinney, 1992; J. S. Phinney, Cantu, & Kurtz, 1997).
RESULTS

The result is that every children must develop their socialization to others like the

adoptation to the public policies at will help for them grow faster and develop their self to be a

good person in real life. Social change and the transition to adulthood. Developmental tasks that

seem normative in our society at the present could shift in response to large-scale social changes.

Keniston and Cottle (1972) argued that extended education, labor changes, and the emergence of

a generation gap in social values fostered a new stage of life in between adolescence and

adulthood, which they called “youth,” exemplified by not getting married, remaining in school,

and not settling into a permanent job in their early twenties. They characterized this as a

“stretched” or “protracted adolescence” (p. 634)(p. 634)(p. 634 ), during which youth may

experience estrangement or alienation from the larger society. About thirty years later, a similar

pattern of behavior was identified and labeled “emerging adulthood,” whereby education and

labor norms again are associated with delayed marriage, childbearing, and commitment to a

career (Arnett, 2000). It remains unclear whether these patterns are normative or cyclical, and to

what degree this behavior is being spread across the middle and upper-middle classes of the

world’s youth (e.g., Larson & Wilson, 2004; Liechty, 2003 families also influence their

children’s orientations toward education. Adolescents with parents who engaged them in

discussions about school tended to have higher educational expectations and performance

REFFERENCES

Eccles, J. S., & Hoffman, L. (1984). Sex roles, socialization, and occupational behavior. In H.

W. Stevenson & A. E. Siegel (Eds.), Child Development Research and Social Policy: Volume 1

(pp. 367). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. E


England, P. (2005). Gender Inequality in Labor Markets: The Role of Motherhood and

Segregation. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, 12(2), 264-288.

Farland-Smith, D. (2009). Exploring Middle School Girls’ Science Identities: Examining

Attitudes and Perceptions of Scientists when Working “Side-by-Side” with Scientists. School

Science and Mathematics, 109(7), 415-427. doi: 10.1111/j.1949-8594.2009.tb17872.x

Jacobs, J. E., Davis-Kean, P., Bleeker, M. M., Eccles, J. S., & Malanchuk, O. (2005). "I can, but

I don’t want to”: The impact of parents, interests, and activities on gender differences in math. In

A. M. Gallagher & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Gender differences in mathematics: An integrative

psychological approach (pp. 246– 263). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Lee, J. D. (1998). Which Kids Can "Become" Scientists? Effects of Gender, SelfConcepts, and

Perceptions of Scientists. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(3), 199- 219. doi: 10.2307/2787108

Lips, H. (2004). The Gender Gap in Possible Selves: Divergence of Academic SelfViews Among

High School and University Students. Sex Roles, 50(5), 357-371. doi:

10.1023/B:SERS.0000018891.88889.c9

Riegle-Crumb, C., Farkas, G., & Muller, C. (2006). The Role of Gender and Friendship in

Advanced Course Taking. Sociology of Education, 79(3), 206-228. doi:

10.1177/003804070607900302
Stake, J. E., & Nickens, S. D. (2005). Adolescent Girls’ and Boys’ Science Peer Relationships

and Perceptions of the Possible Self as Scientist. Sex Roles, 52(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s11199-

005-1189-4

Pascoe, C. (2007). Dude, you're a fag: Masculinity and sexuality in high school. Berkeley, CA:

University of California Press.

Hill, C., & Kearl, H. (2011). Crossing the Line: Sexual Harrassment at School. Washington, DC:

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

Hyde, J. S., & DeLamater, J. D. (2008). Understanding human sexuality (10th ed.). Boston, MA:

McGraw-Hill.

Hammack, P. L., & Cohler, B. J. (2009). The story of sexual identity: Narrative perspectives on

the gay and lesbian life course: Oxford University Press, USA.

Thorne, B., & Luria, Z. (1986). Sexuality and Gender in Children's Daily Worlds. Social

Problems, 33(3), 176-190.

Tolman, D. L., & McClelland, S. I. (2011). Normative Sexuality Development in Adolescence:

A Decade in Review, 2000–2009. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(1), 242-255. doi:

10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00726.x

Phinney, J. (1992). The Multi-group Ethnic Identity Measure: A New Scale for Use with

Adolescents and Young Adults from Diverse Groups. 7, 156-176.

Phinney, J. S., Cantu, C. L., & Kurtz, D. A. (1997). Ethnic and American Identity as Predictors

of Self-Esteem among African American, Latino, and White Adolescents. 26(2), 165-185.
Marcia, J. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology, 3(5), 551-558. doi: 10.1037/h0023281

Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903). The Souls of Black Folk (1994 ed. Vol. 54). Mineola, NY: Dover

Publications.

SUBMITTED BY:

AGUSTIN, ALPHAMAE A.

ESTEBAN, JERICO B.

FLORES, JOLLY

GUADILLA, EDUARDO V.

PALACPAC, IAN PAUL KHIERWIN

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