Socialization

Oguntola-Laguda, Olabusoye
Department of Sociology
Faculty of Social Sciences
Lagos State University
[email protected]
 Outline
• Introduction
• Definition
• Goals of Socialization
• Basis of Socialization
• Agent of Socialization
 Introduction
o In any society there are socially recognized ways in which the norms and values of the society are
inculcated in the human infant who comes into this world as a biological organism with animalistic needs or
impulses. Individuals learn group-defined ways of acting and behaving, and what they socially learn
becomes part of their personality.
o Socialization is a process of making somebody social and fully human. Or more appropriately, it is a process
whereby individual persons learn and are trained in the basic norms, values, beliefs, skills, attitudes, way of
doing and acting as appropriate to a specific social group or society. It is an on-going, never ending process;
from cradle to the grave. I.e., an individual passes thorough various stages of socialization, from birth to
death.
o It is the process whereby the culture, skills, norms, traditions, customs, etc., are transmitted from generation
to generation – or from one society to another.
o In terms of the group, society or any professional organizations, socialization is a process whereby the
organizations', social groups' and society's structure and well-being are kept and sustained.
 Definition
o Socialization may be formal or informal. It becomes formal when it is conducted by formally organized
social groups and institutions, like schools, religious centers, mass media universities, work places,
military training centers, internships, etc.
o It is informal when it is carried out through the informal social interactions and relationships at micro-
levels, at interpersonal and small social group levels. The most important socialization for us is that we
get through informal agents like family, parents, neighborhood and peer group influences. It has a very
powerful influence, whether negative or positive, in our lives.
o The process of socialization, whether it is formal or informal, is vitally important to both individuals and
society. Without some kind of socialization, society would cease to exist. Socialization, thus, can be
labeled as the way by which culture is transmitted and individuals are fitted into the society's organized
way of life.
 Goals of socialization
o The basic goal of socialization is to equip an individual with the basic values, norms, skills, etc, so that they
will behave and act properly in the social group to which they belong. Socialization has also the following
specific goals (Broom and Sleznki, 1973):
o To inculcate basic disciplines by restraining a child or even an adult from immediate gratification; e.g. a
child who is toilet-trained will delay relieving himself until the proper environment is created.
o To instill aspirations; to teach social roles and skills;
o To teach conformity to norms; to create acceptable and constructive personal identities.
o In spite that inculcation of values and norms are significant in the process of social integration, note that
social values are not equally absorbed by members of a society or group. The integrative function of
socialization is also not equally beneficial to all people.
 Human Biological Basis of Socialization
o Humans are the only animal capable of socalization because they are endowed with the necessary
biological bases not found in other animal. These include.
o Social contact needs
o Capacity to learn and teachability
o Capacity for language
o Longer period of childhood dependence
 Agents and Components of
Socialization
o Agents of socialization are the different groups of people and institutional arrangements which are
responsible for training new members of society. Some of them could be formal, while others are
informal. They help individual members get into the overall activities of their society. The most
prominent socializing agencies are the family, peer relationships, schools, neighborhoods (the
community), the mass media.
o There are three components to socialization process. There is the socializee who could be either a
newborn child, a recruit to the army or the police force or a freshman in a college or an intern in
medical service. Then again there are the socializers who may be parents, peer groups, community
members, teachers or church members. Both the socializee and the socializer interact with one another
not in a vacuum but in a social environment which plays an important role in the socialization process.
These different socializing environments are called socialization settings.
 Agents and Components of
Socialization
o The institution of family is generally regarded as the most important agent of socialization. In the
process of socialization, the most important contacts are between a child and his/her parents and
siblings. The contacts could also be between the child and surrogate parents when actual parents are
not available.
o Besides the child's parents, there are other agents of socialization is the school which could include
day-care-centers, nurseries and kindergarten, primary and secondary schools and universities. The
school represents a formal and conscious effort by a society to socialize its young.
o Peer groups play very significant roles in the socialization process. Sometimes, the influence of the
peer group, be it negative or positive, can be as powerful as that of parents. The peer group may
transmit prevailing societal values or develop new and distinct cultures of its own with peculiar values.
o The mass media such as television, radio, movies, videos, tapes, books, magazines and newspapers are
also important agents of socialization.
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