AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION THE FAMILY, THE SCHOOL, PEER GROUPS, AND MASS MEDIA

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION Are the persons, groups, or institutions that teach us what we need to know in order to participate in society. We are exposed to many agents of socialization throughout out lifetime; in turn we have an influence on those socializing agents and organizations. The ones that are most pervasive in childhood are the family, the school, peer groups, and the mass media.

The Family The family is the most important agent of socialization in all societies. The initial love and nurturance we receive from our families are central to our cognitive, emotional, and physical development.

The Family Theorists using a functionalist perspective emphasize that families serve important functions in society because they are primary focus for the procreation and socialization of children. Most of us form an emerging sense of self and acquire most or our beliefs and values within the family context. We also learn about the larger dominant culture (including language, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms) and the primary subcultures to which our parents and other relatives belong.

The Family Families are also the primary source of emotional support. Ideally, people receive love, understanding, security, acceptance, intimacy, and companionship within families. The role of the family is especially significant because young children have little social experience beyond its boundaries; they have no basis for comparison or for evaluating how they are treated by their own family. The family is where we acquire our specific social position in society. From birth, we are a part of the specific ethnic, economic, religious, and regional subcultural grouping or our family.

The Family Studies show that families socialize their children somewhat differently based on their ethnicity and class. Example: social class – measured by a parent’s occupation – is one of the strongest influences on what and how parents teach their children. Conflict theorists stress that socialization attributes to false consciousness – a lack of awareness and a distorted perception of reality of class as it affects all aspects of social life. As a result, socialization reaffirms and reproduces the class structure in the next generation rather than challenging the conditions that presently exist.

The Family The social constructionist/symbolic interactionist perspective helps us recognize that children affect their parents'’ lives and change the overall household environment. When we examine the context in which family life takes place, we also see that grandparents and other relatives have a strong influence on how parents socialize their children. The child’s behaviour may have an effect on how parents, siblings, and grandparents get along with one another.

The School The amount of time children are in educational setting has increased. Schools, therefore, continue to paly an enormous role in the socialization of young people. For many people, the formal education process is an undertaking that lasts up to twenty years. Many studies have found that daycare and preschool programs may have a positive effect on the overall socialization of children.

The School These programs are especially beneficial for children from less-advantaged backgrounds in that they provide these children with valuable learning experiences not available at home. Children from all social classes and family backgrounds may benefit from learning experiences in early childhood education programs that they have not had in their homes.

The School Schools teach specific knowledge and skills; they also have a profound effect on children’s self-image, beliefs, and values. As children enter school for the first time, they are evaluated and systematically compared with one another by the teacher. A permanent, official record is kept of each child’s personal behaviour and academic activities.

The School From a functionalist perspective, schools are responsible for (1) socialization, or teaching students to be productive members of society, (2) transmission of culture, (3) social control and personal development, and (4) the selection, training, and placement of individuals on different rungs in the society.

The School Conflict theorists assert that students have different experiences in the school system, depending on their social class, their ethnic background, the neighbourhood in which they live, their gender and other factors. According to Stephen Richer, a hidden curriculum happens in school. Children learn to value competition, materialism, work over play, obedience to authority, and attentiveness. Success could be viewed at how children conform to the hidden curriculum more than their mastery of the formal curriculum.

The School Symbolic Interactionists examining socialization in the school environment might focus on how daily interactions and practices in schools affect the construction of students’ beliefs regarding such things as patriotism, feelings of aggression or cooperation, and gender practices as they influences boys and girls.

Peer Groups As soon as we are old enough to have acquaintances outside the home, most of us begin to rely heavily on peer groups as a source of information and approval about social behaviours. A peer group is a group of people who are linked by common interests, equal social position, and (usually) similar age. Peer groups often composed of classmates in daycare, preschool, and elementary school.

Peer Groups Preadolescence—the latter part of the elementary school years—is an age in which the child’s peer culture has an important effect on how the child perceives himself or herself and how he or she internalizes society’s expectations. In adolescence, peer groups are typically composed of people with similar interests and social activities. As adults, we continue to participate in peer groups of people with whom we share common interests and comparable occupations, income, and or social position.

Peer Groups Peer groups function as agents of socialization by contributing to our sense of “belonging” and our feelings of self-worth. Peer groups provide children and adolescents with some degree of freedom from parents and other authority figures. Peer groups also teach and reinforce cultural norms while providing important information about “acceptable” behaviour. As a result, the peer group is both a product of culture and one of its major transmitters. Peer group simultaneously reflect the larger culture and serve as a conduit for passing on culture to young people.

Peer Groups What about Peer Pressure??? Individuals must earn their acceptance with their peers by conforming to a given group’s own norms, attitudes, speech patterns, and dress codes. When we conform to our peer group’s expectations, we are rewarded; if we do not conform, we may be ridiculed or even expelled from the group. This sometimes puts a strain between children and parents. Children may be pressured to obtain a certain valued material, putting pressure on to their parents through emotional pleas. Parents then could contribute to the peer culture by purchasing the items desired by the children. Socialization is not a one-way process from adults to children. Adults also learn from children.

Mass Media An agent of socialization that has a profound impact on both children and adults is the mass media. Mass Media: Composed of large-scale organizations that use print or electronic means to communicate with large numbers of people. radio television film the Internet

Mass Media The media function as socializing agents in several ways: (1) they inform us about events (2) they introduce us to a wide variety of people (3) they provide an array of viewpoints on current issues, (4) they make us aware of products and services that, if we purchase them, supposedly will help us to be accepted by others (5) they entertain us by providing the opportunity to live vicariously (through other people’s experiences).

Mass Media Although most of us take for granted that the media play an important part in contemporary socialization, we frequently underestimate the enormous influence this agent of socialization may have on children’s attitudes and behaviour. Recent studies have shown that North American children are spending increasingly more time in front of TV sets, computers, and video games than they have in the past. It is estimated that the average 16-year-old will have spent more time in front of a television or computer than attending school.

Mass Media Parents, educators, social scientists, and public officials have widely debated the consequences of young people watching that much television. There may be many positives to TV, such as improving language abilities, concept-formation skills, and reading skills with young children. However, other studies have shown that children and adolescents who spend a lot of time watching television often have lower grades in school, read fewer books, exercise less, and are overweight.

Mass Media The influence of the Internet has also been controversial. When tragic events are linked to the Internet, many opinions show that many people believe that the Internet and the Web can negatively affect the socialization process. Examples are: Columbine High School killings, Cyber Bullying, “hate” sites, etc.