SOCIALISATION

At the time of birth, the human infant knows nothing about what we call society and social
behaviour. As the child, grows up, it keeps on learning behaviour patterns by interacting with
others family members. The child internalizes the values and norms of the family which
control the behaviour of its members. The child in due course of time, by learning the
accepted behaviour patterns of society becomes a social individual from a mere biological
individual.

Human beings (the process of socialization) turn into a social being

Sociologists use this term to describe the process whereby people learn to conform to social
norms, a process that makes possible an enduring society and the transmission of its culture
between generations. It is a lifelong process but the most important aspect of this process
starts during infancy. Socialisation makes a human individual a social being without
socialization, individuals would not behave like human beings. Even the human style of
speaking and modes of communication the function of socialisation. Keep a child, away from
the company of human beings, you shall not find the development of any human
characteristic other than biological in the child. Even an individual's way of walking and
eating is culturally determined and a child kept away from society would not be able to learn
it. The best example here would be the so-called ‘wolf-child of Midnapore’. Two females
aged two and eight were reportedly found in a wolf den in Bengal in 1920. They walked like
animals on two legs and two hands, preferred a diet of raw meat, howled like wolves, and
lacked any form of speech.

In socialisation, process individual learns the folkways, mores, sanctions and other patterns of
culture which will enable him to become a participating member of human society. The self
of the individual develops only due to socialisation. Without the diffusion of culture through
socialisation, the development of individuals is impossible. Socialisation teaches the person
the culture which he must acquire and share, making him a member of a particular group.
Socialisation cultivates interaction among individuals.
AGENCIES OF SOCIALISATION

- Agencies of socialisation are groups or social contexts in which a significant process

of socialisation occurs.
- They are family, schools, peer groups, organisations, media etc.

AGENTS OF SOCIALISATION

THE FAMILY

The family is the most important institution of primary socialisation. Since children spend
their early and impressionable years under the care and protection of the family, they acquire
a large part of their values, beliefs and knowledge from their parents. Indeed, it is
membership in a family that gives the child his first set of values, beliefs and attitudes. This
explains why children who grow up in different cultures think and behave differently. For
example, American kids usually leave their parent's home when they turn eighteen whereas,
in India, they may live with them for much of their adult life.
PEER GROUPS

Peer group consist of people of almost the same age who share similar interests and it is
usually formed between individuals who are either of similar age or who are in a common
professional group.

THE SCHOOL

The school is the first formal agency which exposes the child to the rules of the larger
society. Here the child learns to recognize and obey rules, practice skills, and relate to people
in positions of authority. Children learn to behave in group settings, sit quietly and listen to
teachers, participate in social events and accept responsibilities. Education refines social
skills, and frequent interaction with peers and teachers helps in the formation of such
interactions. Education is supposed to foster critical thinking so that individuals can think for
themselves and become creative and productive members of society.

MASS MEDIA

Mass media refers to all instruments of communication such as television, radio, newspapers,
magazines, movies and records. Mass media has increasingly become an essential part of our
everyday life. While today electronic media like television is expanding print media
continues to be of great importance.
For example- ads showcasing women in all domestic product ads can give the impression that
women are only associated with domestic work.

OTHER SOCIALISING AGENCIES

Socialisation is a process that continues throughout life. Although the family, peer group,
school and the mass media are the most important agents of socialisation, we continue to
learn standards of behaviour and beliefs from several other agencies. Religious institutions
play a prominent role in shaping our values and belief systems. There are several religious
organisations that formally or informally provide moral instruction. The workplace is another
important place where significant socialisation occurs. A factory, a business corporation or a
government office teaches different work ethics as well as teamwork. Then there are
numerous professional organisations and clubs that people join. They have their own rules
and standards. Women’s groups, senior citizens forums, farmers' organisations and labour
unions have all their agendas and seek to influence the attitudes and behaviours of their
members.

TYPES OF SOCIALISATIONS

PRIMARY SOCIALISATION – Refers to the socialisation of the infant in the primary or

the earliest years of his life. It is the process by infant learns language and cognitive skills and
internalizes norms and values. The infant learns the ways of a given grouping and is moulded
into an effective social participant in that group. Agents of primary socialisation are family.
SECONDARY SOCIALISATION – Starts from the later stage of childhood and goes up to
maturity. However, socialisation never stops in life. The school, peer group and other
agencies in which a person is placed in life play the role of socialisation.
ANTICIPATORY SOCIALISATION – refers to a process by which men learn the culture
of a group with the anticipation of joining that group. As a person learns the proper beliefs,
values and norms of status or group to which he aspires, he/she is learning how to act in
his/her role.
- Founded by R K MERTON
- Example: IAS officers getting training before joining services.

RESOCIALISATION – refers to the process of discarding former behaviour patterns and

accepting new ones as part of a transition in one’s life. Such re-socialisation takes place
mostly when a social role is radically changed. It involves the abandonment of one way of
life for another which is not only different from the former but incompatible with it. For
example, when a criminal is rehabilitated, he has to change his role radically.

DEVELOPMENT OF SELF

- Right from the very childhood an individual learns and internalizes the role structure
and develops their own “self”.
- Self – Idea of who you are. It is the core of personality.
- An individual’s self is a set of attitudes and the consciousness of his acts and
thoughts, as they are related to others. Internalization takes place through the process
of socialisation. Much of the personality of an individual is shaped in this way. The
individual learns this part of the culture pattern unconsciously.
- Self, according to Charles H. Cooley, is social interaction, particularly communication
in socialisation.
THEORIES OF SOCIALISATION

CHARLES H. COOLEY’S THEORY

C.H. Cooley, in his book Human Nature and the social order, presents his concept of the
“looking glass” self and explains how the self of a human individual develops and
socialisation takes place. He believed that personality arises out of people’s interaction with
the world.

The following three principal elements, according to Cooley, are involved in the development
of self; and formation of personality:

1) How we think others see in us. The imagination of our appearance to the other person.
(For example, I believe people are reacting to my new hairstyle)
2) What we think they react to what they see. The imagination of his judgement of that
appearance (For example, when one gets a new hairstyle and people around look at
you, so you might think they are looking at you because of the new hairstyle so one
might react according to this judgement)
3) How we respond to the perceived reaction of others.

The looking-glass self-process is the product of self-evaluation of a person’s interpretations

of others’ reactions towards his behaviour. One discovers himself through the reactions of
others about him. The knowledge of ‘self’ is first obtained from the parents and then from
other individuals. One may not judge the reactions about him. Reactions of all the people are
not similar about ‘oneself’. What we perceive through the ‘looking glass’ experience may
vary from the image others have formed about us in the actual sense. There is a varying
individual perceptions about us so there is a difference between how people picture us and
the views held by them. Sometimes looking at glass may not accurately reflect the real
feeling and thinking of others.
Cooley asserts that during interaction with people the child remains conscious, of how others
feel about his/her behaviours towards them. On the basis of their judgment of its behaviour,
the child develops a feeling about himself/herself. It may be a feeling of pride if the
behaviour is appreciated by the people. A persistent appreciation leads to the formation of a
confident and extrovert personality, whereas, continuous condemnation and discouragement
may cause the formation of an insipid and introverted personality in the child.

social self depends on social interaction and therefore, it is ultimately determined by the
culture on which the social interaction is usually based. Individuals’ ideas, attitudes, values
and habits are formed on the basis of the ideas and attitudes of the people of their
surroundings. This forms the basis of his/her socialisation. The primary group according to
Cooley plays a crucial role in socialisation. Primary groups according to Cooley are
characterized by face-to-face association and direct cooperation. They may exist in all social
organisations but the most glaring examples of the primary group in the present context, to
which Cooley gives importance are the family, the playgroup and the intimate
neighbourhood. Cooley calls these groups primary because they are the nursery of human
nature providing the earliest and most complex experience of all social processes, obedience
to social norms and other ideals of society.

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD

According to G.H Mead, the self is something that develops out of social interaction and is
constantly changing, constantly adjusting as new situations and conflicts arise.
Mead made a major contribution in introducing for the first time the concept of symbolic
interaction. It is the interaction between people that takes place through symbols such as
gestures, facial expressions and language. It is the mind through which we can interpret our
behaviour and that of others.

Mead traces the genesis of the self through stages in childhood development.

Early stage- In which the biological capacity of the child evolves. The child learns to use
gestures but the process of inner conversation is minimum. They are more reflexes. The child
is more involved with imitation.
Play stage- The first stage is the play stage; it is during this stage that children learn to take
the attitudes of particular others to themselves. While playing, a child learns to become both
subject and object and begins to be able to build a self. Children learn to take the attitude of
particular people to themselves. The child interacts with peer groups and starts imitating the
roles primarily of the significant others. Significant others involve parents or any other person
close to the child. However, they lack a more general and organized sense of themselves.

Game stage- Here, the self develops in the full sense. In the first stage, they took the role of a
discrete other. But here, the child engages in interaction with all others that is all others apart
from significant others with whom the child comes interactions. At this stage, the reflective
consciousness of the child develops. In this stage, as they grow older, they try to internalize
the expectations or the demands of society which is called as ‘the generalized others’.

Mead suggests that play was an important aspect of learning. He advanced the view that since
childhood, a person does not find a difference between himself and others, he therefore while
playing with the toys identifies them with himself and treats them as living beings and
behaves with them as his parents. With the advance in the age of the experience, the child is
able to discern between the behaviour of his parents and his behaviour towards dolls and toys.
Thus, by and by, the consciousness develops in the child, and he comes to realize that neither
is he like his parents nor is he like the toys or the playthings. He is now about to realize that
all things have a separate existence and individual status. The child thus develops
consciousness about himself and he is able to distinguish himself from others. By and by his
habits also grow and the process of socialisation takes its own course.

Mead further, identified two aspects of the self, which he labelled as ‘I’ and ‘Me’.

I- The ‘I’ is the immediate response of an individual to others. It is an unpredictable

and creative aspect of self. It is spontaneous. It refers to an individual’s own
impulses, desires, emotions etc. ‘I’ represents this unique spontaneous self-
interested and natural characteristics of the unsocialized side of the self. The ‘I’ is
in constant interaction. With the ‘me’ as the individual participates in the social
life.
Me- is the social aspect of the self which is evaluative and keeps control on ‘I’. The ‘me’ is
the part of the self and is formed through socialization. ‘Me’ represents the internalized
demands of society such as social norms, expectations and the individual’s social
responsibility. Because of its socially derived nature ‘me’ provides predictability and
conformity.

‘I’ is spontaneous and ‘Me’ is the result of our social experience. The development of self
includes both ‘I’ and ‘Me’.
SIGMUND FREUD
He emphasizes that the formation of personality is an outcome of the interplay of biological,
psychological and social faculties of the individual. A major part of human personality is
formed in the very childhood and during the rest of life, it is elaborated and sharpened.

Freud explains the process of socialisation through Id, Ego and superego.
Id- is entirely unconscious, instinctual, unsocialized, selfish, aggressive and anti-social. It
works on the ‘pleasure principle’ and knows only that which gives pleasure. It demands the
immediate satisfaction of the drives. Freud calls the id ‘true psychic reality’. It never bothers
about the objective reality in society and also knows nothing about rules, regulations, values
and moralities. The self of the child entirely consists of the ‘id’, but slowly learns to control
through interaction with others.

Ego- The ego acts with reason. The function of the ego is based on the ‘reality principle’. It
arises through social experience. It is a conscious self. The ‘ego’ discovers what is right, what
is wrong, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable to society, and what is possible and
what is not possible. The action of an individual is guided by the ‘ego’ in choosing from
among these alternatives on realistic principles.

Superego- It represents ideals and norms. It is a moral aspect of personality and is guided by
the principles of idealism. The main function of the superego is to restrict the impulses of the
id, particularly those which are not acceptable by society and to guide the ego to follow the
moral principles of society. The superego leads to the perfection of human action. It controls
both the id and ego. If the roles of the id and ego are in conflict there comes the superego in
support of the ego.

- These three respectively work together towards balancing one another leading to
socialisation and the formation of personality. If ‘the id’ is strong and the ‘ego’ is
 weak, then the problem arises and the personality may be of immoral and delinquent
type.

Sample question
- What is socialisation and how socialisation leads to the formation of gender roles?
- How socialisation leads to the formation of gender roles explains it through the
theoretical understanding of socialisation.