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SOCIALIZATION

Socialization is the lifelong process by which individuals learn the behaviors, values, and norms of their society and culture. It allows people to understand social structures and their prescribed roles within them. There are four main stages of socialization: the oral stage where infants form attachments; the anal stage focused on toilet training; the puberty stage where children identify with their family roles; and the adolescence stage where individuals transition to greater independence. Overall, socialization transforms individuals into functioning members of society through teaching social skills and expectations.

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51 views

SOCIALIZATION

Socialization is the lifelong process by which individuals learn the behaviors, values, and norms of their society and culture. It allows people to understand social structures and their prescribed roles within them. There are four main stages of socialization: the oral stage where infants form attachments; the anal stage focused on toilet training; the puberty stage where children identify with their family roles; and the adolescence stage where individuals transition to greater independence. Overall, socialization transforms individuals into functioning members of society through teaching social skills and expectations.

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Nuteyyy
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SOCIALIZATION

Meaning
Guskin and Guskin (1970, 98) have defined socialization as the process by which an
individual learns the behaviors, the values and the expectations of others that enable him/her to
take on particular roles in the society. These are learned so that one can play his/her particular
role in the society. Individuals do not come to this world with their roles defined. They learn
their roles by living in the society. For example, the role of the mother or father or son is learnt
by living in the society. The process by which the individuals come to learn their prescribed role
and prepare to take up that role is known as socialization.
Socialization, in simple words, refers to the procedure by which individuals attain the
skills, knowledge and temperaments that make them capable members of the society. A person
becomes able member of his society when he is able to take on particular role in the society.
Each individual has to meet the necessities laid down by other fellows of society for his behavior
in a diversity of circumstances. These necessities may be arising out of` his being a husband, a
son, an employee, etc., which means that requirements are attached to some accepted statuses
and positions in the society. The conduct which is required of a person in a given status can be
defined as prescribed role. Socialization is thus a process through which the individual learns
prescribed role. Also, through this process he understands the recognized statuses in the
traditional positions in his society. Thus, we may say that socialization performs the function of
transforming human raw material of society into good working members. Through this process
an individual is led to understand the society‟s status, structure, and the role prescriptions and
behavior associated with different positions in this structure.
Socialization can also be defined as a process of teaching and learning in which the
society, the culture, and the other social organizations are the teachers and the learners are each
and every member of the society. In this context, each individual member of the society is both a
teacher and a learner. Socialization is also a lasting course through which an individual learns
societal expectations and how to cooperate with other individuals. Nearly all of the behaviors
which are considered to be 'human nature' are actually learned through socialization. During
socialization, each individual learns the way of talking, walking, feeding himself and about
behavioral standards that enable him/her to fit in to the society and so much more.

Nature of Socialization
 Socialization is dynamic and lifelong behavior modification process.
 Through socialization individual learns to play social roles.
 It is a type of social confirmatory behavior.
 The values, beliefs & social norms are internalized through it.
 Socialization is enabled by social agents.
 Through this a child learns society compatible skills and dispositions.
 The inter-generational cultural transmission occurs through it.
 In the schools, children are trained with sets of supposition on the profession, job and
careers that they will follow after they complete their academic life.
 Schools play a significant role in imparting knowledge to the students in various
disciplines which are most basic to adult functioning in the community.
 It is believed that learning at home is essentially on an individual and emotional level
while learning at school is mostly intellectual.

Main Stages of Socialization (Process of Socialization)


The following points highlight the four main stages involved in socialization. The stages
are:

The Oral Stage:


In the womb the foetus is warm and comfortable. At birth, the baby faces his first crisis:
he must breathe, he must exert himself to be fed, and he is susceptible to cold, wet and other
discomforts. He cries a good deal in order to attract attention. During the first stage of
socialization, he seeks to establish what is called oral dependency. By his cries he is able to build
up fairly definite expectations about feeding time and also about his pressing needs for care.
At this stage, the baby is not involved in the family as a whole. He is rather involved only
in the sub-system consisting of him and his mother. If the father or anyone else in the family
performs the role of the mother in caring for the baby no role differentiation is made.
That person will also be performing the role of „mother‟. At this stage, the baby does not
seem to internalize any role at all. He is so passive as compared to his mother that it is doubtful
as to whether he internalizes two roles at all. By the time oral dependency has been established,
his own role and that of his mother are probably „merged‟ together. This is the stage, according
to Freud, of “primary identification.”

The Anal Stage:


This stage probably begins soon after the first year and extends up to the third year. This
period is called anal stage because toilet training is the main focus of attention of the socializing
agent, particularly mother. During this stage, the child internalizes two roles his own and that of
his mother .These two roles are now clearly separated. The child not only receives care, he also
receives love and gives love in return.
During this stage, the child is taught as to how to discriminate between „correct‟ and
Incorrect‟ behavior, first by advice and/or hints given by the mother and, secondly, by being
rewarded or appreciated for correct performance and not rewarded or appreciated for incorrect
behavior.
The Puberty Stage:
This stage extends from the fourth year to puberty, (i.e., age of 12 or 13). In the course of
the third stage, the child becomes a member of the family as a whole. He identifies himself with
the social role ascribed to him on the basis of his biological sex.
Identification means either of two closely related things:
(i) One identifies with a social role. That is, one not only internalizes the role but adopts
it as one‟s own.
(ii) One identifies with a social group. That is, one internalizes the role system of the
group and considers oneself a member of it.

Identification in the first sense links a boy with his father and brothers, but net with his
mother. A girl, on the other hand, identifies with her mother and sisters, but not with her father.
Identification in the second sense links a boy or a girl with the family, including both parents and
all siblings.
There are, thus, three kinds of identification:
(i) With the father or mother, as the case may be
(ii) With the siblings.
(iii) With the family as a member.

The Adolescence Stage:


Adolescence, which begins roughly at puberty, is the age during which the young boy or
girl has a tendency to get away from parental control. The “crisis” of this age arises from the fact
that adolescents hanker after greater freedom while there is parental control over many activities
in which he loves to have his own way. The strain involved in transition during the adolescent
period depends upon the cultural definition of adult roles. In some societies vital decisions
concerning adolescents are taken by the parents or guardians. That makes transition easier. In
India it is so. Thus, the choice of a marriage partner is made by elders within conventional rules.
In some others, particularly in Western societies, adolescents are required to take important
decisions more or less on their own. Obviously, in such cases transition is somewhat different
and puts strain on them.

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