Core Subject:

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Quarter I - Module 4
Becoming a Member of Society
Content Standard: How individuals learn culture and become competent members of society
how individuals learn culture and become competent members of society

Learning Competency: Explain the context, content, processes, and consequences of socialization

Socialization and Enculturation

Introduction
As we learned in the previous chapter, culture is key to human adaptation, and as such every society
has its own culture. In this chapter we, look at how individuals learn culture and become competent
members of society through the process of enculturation or socialization, or the process of preparing
individuals for membership in a given society.
Let us learn in this module the differences of socialization from enculturation.

Objectives
At the end of the lesson you will be able to;
a. Differentiate socialization from enculturation
b. Determine the consequences of socialization and enculturation

Learning Activity

John Locke, a British Enlightenment philosopher, said that human mind at birth is nothing but a blank
slate, or tabula rasa. As a child grows, various experiences imprint knowledge on his or her mind. The human
mind acquires information about the outside world through the senses, and this information molds and
defines a person’s awareness and view of the outside world. He did not believe that the human mind has
innate conceptions. Throughout a person’s life, simple ideas are integrated with more complex ones, and these
define his or her political, economic, and social affairs.
Socialization refers to the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and
learn culture. It is a lifelong process of social interaction through which people acquire their identities and
necessary survival skills in a society. It prepares new members of society and trains them to think, feel, and act
in appropriate ways. Socialization is considered as the central process of social life and is also a process of
member recruitment and replacement. Examples of socialization include activities like child- rearing, the
orientation of a student to his or her new school, an initiation to an organization, attendance in Sunday school,
catechism for Catholics, and recruitment process for political parties.

Aspects of Socialization
Social context-refers to the particular circumstances of a society and consist of its culture, language,
and the social structures that define social class, ethnicity, and gender.
Content and Process
Content - ideas, beliefs, behavior, and other information that are passed on by members
of society to the individual.
Process - methods of interaction that enables the content to be given to the person
undergoing socialization.
Results- Outcomes of socialization, and are evident when individuals begin to practice the behaviors,
attitudes, and values that society considers necessary for them to function effectively as its member. A
significant result of socialization is self- identity, which refers to the establishment of a unique sense of
identity and an awareness of how it relates to their society and the world.
What is Enculturation?
 A process by which people learn the requirements of their surrounding culture and acquire the
values and behaviors appropriate or necessary in that culture.
 Individual adapt the behavior patterns of the culture in which he or she is immersed
 Process of being socialized into a specific culture. Individuals learn cultural symbols, norms,
values, and language by observing and interacting with family, friends, and the rest of society.

Consequences of Enculturation and Socialization

Human infants are born without any culture. They must be transformed by their parents, teachers, and
others into cultural and socially adept individuals. In this process socialization we learn the language of the
culture we are born into as well as the roles we are play in life.
Socialization and enculturation occur throughout an individual’s life from childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, old age, and until death.

Values, Norms, Status and Roles

Socialization is also defined as the process of preparing members for membership in a given group in
society. Through socialization, individuals learn the norms and values of their society.

Values are culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful
and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.
Norms are the rules and expectations by which society guides the behaviour of its members.

Socialization prepares individuals to occupy statuses and roles.

Status refers to a social position that a person holds:

ascribed status- is a social status a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later in life.
Ex: being a daughter, a Filipino, a teen-ager, or a widower.
achieved status- refers to position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects personal ability
and effort. Ex: honor student, athlete, nurse writer, thief
Role refers to behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status.

Agents of socialization
Introduction
Socialization is a complex process in which many institutions contribute. But since it is a social culture
process, it success or failure isn’t dependent upon one institution, but many institutions.

Objectives
At the end of the lesson you will be able to;
c. Identify the agents of socialization
d. Explain the influence of agent of socialization to the human development

Learning Activity

Family
A family serves to reproduce society biologically, through procreation, and socially, through the socialization
of children.

Neighborhood
A neighborhood is a geographically localized community within a larger city, town, or suburb.

School
Education is the process by which society transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values
from one generation to another.
Day Care
Day care, in which children are cared for by a person other than their legal guardians, contributes to their
socialization.

Peer Groups
A peer group, whose members have interests, social positions, and age in common, have an influence on the
socialization of group members.

Mass Media and Technology

Since mass media has enormous effects on our attitudes and behavior, it contributes to the socialization
process.

Workplace
The workplace performs its socialization process through onboarding, through which employees acquire skills
to adjust to their new role.

Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality
and moral values.

Conformity, Deviance, and Social Control

Learning Activity
Groups exert great influence on an individual’s thoughts, values, attitudes and behavior. They also
provide a sense of identity and belongingness that enable the person to relate fully with other group members.
For an individual to continue functioning as a member of the group, he or she should conform to the
general behaviors and attitudes prevalent within it

Conformity refers to the process of altering one’s thought and actions to adapt to the accepted behavior
within his or her group or society.
 behaviour in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards
 the anticipated behaviour to follow
 is the desire to go along with the norms of a group of people, so you will be accepted as an in-group
person (and not rejected as an out-group undesirable person).

Deviance s defined as behavior that elicits a strong negative reaction from group members and involves
actions that violate commonly held social norms.
 departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behaviour
 a behaviour that violates expected rules and norms

What is defined as deviance, however, varies depending on the context of the group or society. What may be
considered normal behavior in one culture may be considered deviant in others.

Deviant in one place, but not another...

In Saudi Arabia and other countries that are Islamic or
Muslim, women are required to wear a "hijab" which is a
traditional dress in the islamic and Muslim religion.
Women have to wear that kind of dress in order to cover
all the parts of their bodies, except their hands and eyes.
If they do not cover them, they are violating the norms of
their religion, and it is a deviant act. In other countries,
women have the freedom to wear whatever they want.
They can be exposed, and can wear skirts, shors, pants,
dresses, etc. This is not seen as an act of deviance in the
other countries because the religion is completely different.
Deviant in one place, but not another
 Begging in most of the U.S. is considered an act of deviant behavior.
 Singing can be deviant in one religion, but not in others. For example, Islam does not allow singing or
dancing, however, many other religions not only allow singing, but wholeheartedly incorporate choir
singing into every sermon.
 Women driving cars in Saudi Arabia is deviant.
 Jews, disabled, homosexuals during Nazi regime is deviant
 Muslim men engaging in homosexual sex can be stoned to death, according to a 1984 law, though none
have been executed so far. Women face prison.
 In some Islamic state where homosexuality may be punishable by death

Social control is defined as any systematic means and practices used to maintain norms, rules and laws: to
regulate conflicts and discourage deviant behavior.

Sanctions are the most common means of social control and are often employed to address conflicts
and violations of social norms. Sanctions can be formal or informal.
Formal Sanctions are those provided by laws and other regulations in society.
Laws formally designate certain deviant behaviors as crimes, and prescribe sanctions for such acts.
Each society has its own set of definitions regarding crime and the appropriate sanctions to be applied.
Other sanctions provided for crimes include imprisonment, banishment, fines and corporal
punishment (death penalty).
Informal sanctions are most commonly imposed by smaller societies, communities, or groups.
There are no set laws or regulations that define the nature of these sanctions, and these are often
agreed upon by members of the society. Ex: gossip, reprimand, reminder
Ostracism– exclusion from a society or group, temporary banishment, forcibly isolated from the
society.
Social stigma- still remains in the city but is subject to isolation and rejection by other members
of society.