Agents of Socialization

Sociology: Chapter 4, Section 3

Section Preview

• The major agents of socialization are family, school, peer groups and mass media

• The family forms basic values• Schools introduce children to life beyond the

family• In peer groups, young people learn to relate as

equals• The mass media provides role models for full

integration into society

The Family and Socialization

• The very first thing that socializes us is our family

The family provides close interaction with people that the child did not select, but will be among the closest of his or her life

The Family and Socialization

• Some of the things that happen to a child within a family is that the child learns to:

• Think and speak• Internalize norms, beliefs and values• Form some basic attitudes• Develop intimate and personal relationships• Acquire a self-image

The interaction between a child and his or her parents is foundational to whom that child will become

The Family and Socialization• In addition to these direct effects on a child’s

learning, the family’s social class affects how the child thinks of herself or himself, and also how society will treat that child, even into adulthood

• If a child is born into the Kennedy family or into the Hitler family, that family name will affect how other people treat him or her

Your family name precedes you

Socialization in Schools• In school, children are under the care and

supervision of adults who are not relatives• For the first time, children receive rewards or

punishments based on performance rather than affection (teachers don’t “give” you a D, you receive that when you get 67% right on a test, whether the teacher likes you or not)

• Children are taught to be less dependant emotionally on their parents

• Children also develop feelings of loyalty and allegiance to something other than the family

In the classroom, children are socialized to become a little more independent from their families

Socialization in Schools• School does more than teach reading, writing, and

arithmetic• It also teaches a hidden curriculum, the informal

yet necessary aspects for culture so that a child may be successful in life

• These include: discipline, order, cooperation, and conformity, which are characteristics required to be successful in the adult world of work

• The bell schedule and managing time under pressure is another element of work

• Schools have rules and regulations like dress codes and certain expectations for behavior

Schools teach children non-academic skills such as raising their hands or standing in line in their hidden

curriculum, and these skills stay for a lifetime

Peer Group Socialization

• As children become old enough for school, they develop a peer group– a group of individuals of roughly the same age and interests

• The peer group is the only agent of socialization not controlled primarily by adults

• Children often belong to several peer groups– maybe a play group in the neighborhood, and a group of friends at school, and an after school club or a sports team

When playing, children often make their own rules without adult interference, and thus build

self-confidence and social skills

Peer Group Socialization

• In the family or in school, adults are in charge, but in peer groups, children have a chance to have more authority

• They may experience conflict, cooperation, and competition in such groups in a new way

• They may also make their own decisions and experiment with new ways of thinking, feeling, or expressing themselves

Peer Group Socialization

• The norms of the peer group may often conflict with those of the adult world, so the peer group may encourage independence from adults

• With the peer group, children learn how to get along with a large number of people, many of whom are quite different from themselves

• For many children, peer groups become as important as their family

The Mass Media and Socialization

• Mass media are ways of communicating that reach the general population

• Examples of mass media are TV, radio, books, music, newspapers, and the internet

• It is through mass media that many children are first introduced to many elements of their culture

• The mass media displays role models for children to imitate

The mass media can have a huge influence on the early socialization of a child

Journal Activity

• In your journal, list three famous people that you admire and why you admire them

The Mass Media and Socialization• Many of society’s heroes would be unknown

if it weren’t for mass media• Many popular images portrayed in the mass

media are distorted, making certain jobs like police or detective work seem much more glamorous than they really are

• Advertisements present children with images of success or beauty that may not be healthy

Police shows make for good television, but rarely reflect an accurate picture of life as a law enforcement officer

The Mass Media and Socialization• There is a relationship between violence in the mass

media and real-life violence• By age 16, the average American child will have

seen 20,000 homicides on television• There has been a huge increase in the number of

violent video games, many of which feature one person shooting as many other people as possible

• This amount of media violence leads to modeling of violent behavior and desensitization to its consequences

The link between media violence and aggressive behavior is comparable to the link between smoking and lung cancer

The Mass Media and Socialization

• Journal Activity: What do you think about the relationship between violence in the mass media and real-life violence? Do you believe there is a link? Why/ why not?

Assessment

• Complete #1-5 on page 127 from the book in your journal