Socialization has been considered an essential sociological conception that includes various features. Although some sociologists may be in disagreement with the features, they still make it possible to describe socialization. Over the course of their lives, individuals are taught and prepared for their social roles in life. Such process may be defined in simple terms as socialization. For people to grow and function in human society, socialization is an important element. From childhood to adulthood, this process is continuous, with the main agents being our families, peers, group memberships, religion, and mass media among others. These agents take a role in the socialization process failure, in which some negatives can be observed. In my life, socialization has played a vital role in defining the person I am today both physically and morally, owing to my family, peers, mass media, religion, and group membership, which underscores the significance of socialization in a person's life.
Socialization
For any person, a question ‘who am I?’ will arise at some point of their lives. Understanding this question requires one to understand the self. The ‘self’ has several stages until it develops fully. The first stage is simple imitation. During this phase, children only mimic the words and gestures of others (Booher-Jennings, 2008). The second stage implies that children play the roles of particular individuals. An important phase entails group membership, which is common in the first school years and characterized by learners being related with groups where they are required to understand their role and that of others. Through anticipatory socialization, individuals learn in advance for the anticipated status (Brym, Roberts, Lie, & Rytina, 2012). During the advancement of the self, it is imperative to differentiate the ‘I’. Here, the ‘I’ component is considered an active, creative, subjective, and spontaneous portion of the social self.
Similarly, ‘me’ symbolizes the objective measure. Understanding the ‘I’ component helps define socialization that has been widely acknowledged as the procedure, through which individuals are trained to be effective members of a community. During socialization, the manner, through which individuals come to understand societal anticipations and values, is defined. Thus, this process is clearly a sociological procedure that occurs as during one’s interaction with others - coworkers, friends, and family.
Self-sense is typically related to the individual’s sense of others. As such, a person reflects on how other individuals perceive them, interprets others’ reactions to their conduct, and advance self-perception, founded on those interpretations. The formulation of the ‘self’ shows how socialization represents an active process and how the human intellect, as well as the self, are both social products (Booher-Jennings, 2008). It has been observed that socialization is tightly linked to the development of the self that undergoes various stages. Children, who have been neglected and devoid of constant interaction, might exhibit challenges in speaking or walking, interacting or eating, or even understanding the surrounding world.
Agents of Socialization
Various sources of socialization and other numerous institutions can be referred to as the agents of socialization. The most important of them is the family that represents the most vital socialization agent for infants and youngsters. In contemporary society, utmost early socialization transpires within a small-scale family setting (Booher-Jennings, 2008). The mother has always been regarded to as being the most vital being in a child’s life. Like other American children, I spent my early years with my parents and siblings. My aunts, uncles, and grandparents participated in the upbringing of the children in our family since they were a part of it. In the USA, one can find various family setups, where children are raised by only one parent or both of them. This family experience taught me to be aware of the future and acknowledge the social life. Consequently, through the family, my future and present roles were established. This can be connected to the theory of self-development where Freud observed that self-growth is closely associated with early stages of development such as breastfeeding. As such, the family has assumed the main role in my socialization.
School
Another essential socializing agent in my life is school. Schooling is considered a formal process, and learners pursue a particular curriculum of subjects, and yet, learning institutions represent the agents of socialization in more apparent respects (Booher-Jennings, 2008). In my schooling, I was expected to stay silent in class and to be punctual for classes. More importantly, I was expected to adhere to the school’s guidelines and discipline regulations. This may be associated with moral development theory that considers what is appropriate and right for society and others. I was similarly expected to acknowledge and respond to the authority of the teaching personnel.
At school, we formed peer groups, and the framework of retaining children in class rendering to their age reinforced peer groups’ impact. According to Booher-Jennings (2008), youngsters are made believe that earning poor grades amounts to failure that evolves not from studying insufficiently but from not attempting hard enough. Some excel depending on who they are. This can be explained by nurture versus nature theory where biologically, some people’s interests and talents are already predisposed before conception (Carey, 2012). It is similarly important to note that schools play a major part in gender socialization.
Peers
Peer groups, formed at school, are vital agents of socialization. In my peer group, all of us were age mates. In other cultures and communities, mostly small customary societies, such groups are formalized as age grades and they are usually focused on males. In those communities, rites of passage and other distinct ceremonies are performed to mark the transition of men from one age group to the other. In our peer group, we maintained friendly and close associations that remained strong even to date. In most societies, a characteristic set of age grades comprises of various stages, where men move through them as groups and not as individuals. However, it has been observed that as people advance in age, particularly in their 20s and 30s, peers are given less consideration (Booher-Jennings, 2008). This can be appropriately described by resocialization, where past behaviors that were regarded useful in previous roles are eliminated since they are considered useless. This is more challenging than normal socialization as people have to eliminate behaviors they have grown accustomed to. Nonetheless, such peers do not lose their entire significance as people still socialize with their friends.
Mass Media and Religion
Mass media are also socialization agents that are important for one’s development. Journals, periodicals, and newspapers have thrived in the West from the early 1800s, although confined in small administration. However, a century later, they became an everyday experience for millions of individuals by influencing their attitudes and views. Television shows and websites have significantly influenced my political views, views of others, and popular culture. Additionally, commercials continue influencing my choice of products. Moreover, mass media have been observed to reinforce gender and racial stereotypes. As mass media continue socializing individuals, a question of negative impact in society is raised (Surette, 2011). Thus, they significantly affect behavior. Finally, religion has also successfully influenced my socialization. Even though it may seem irrelevant to most people in contemporary world, religion has greatly impacted my beliefs, behaviors, and values. Most importantly, it has influenced my morality and appropriate values.
Conclusion
Socialization has been considered an important feature to any individual’s development. From birth, socialization may have a negative or positive impact on a person as they grow. My ‘self’ has undergone various processes of development, including imitation, role-playing, group membership, and status, which underscores the importance of socialization. In my life, various agents of socialization have helped develop my ‘self’ efficiently. They include family, peers, school, mass media, and religion. Such agents are essential for a person’s growth, and they are reinforced by certain theories, among them being moral development, resocialization, nurture versus nature, and self-development. Therefore, socialization is a broad process that relies on various theories and agents for its success.
Text by Nina Wong, author at superbessay.com
Islam defination, About Islam, Islam facts, Islam religion beliefs.
Meaning of Islam - peace / surrender.
Islam has come to human welfare and to release humanity.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "He who does not show mercy to man, Allah does not show mercy to him".
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Islam defination, About Islam, Islam facts, Islam religion beliefs.
Meaning of Islam - peace / surrender.
Islam has come to human welfare and to release humanity.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "He who does not show mercy to man, Allah does not show mercy to him".
Humanity is the name of protecting the right There is no discrimination between people in the Islamic system.
Honesty with other religious people in Islamic society and state
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