Spheres of socialization

To say that socialization is a lifelong process means simply that we are affected in at least some small way by every social experience we have. In modern industrial societies, several distinct spheres of social life have special importance for the ongoing socialization of individuals.

The Family

The family is the most important social setting in which socialization takes place. During at least the first several years of life, for most individuals, the family is the social world. Only when children start school do they typically spend a great deal of time away from their families. As we have seen, infants are almost entirely dependent on others to meet their various needs, and this responsibility almost primary group for most people. The intensive social experiences that occur within the family form the foundation of our personalities, however much we may change in later life. The family is largely responsible for the process of cultural transmission by which values and norms are taught to new members of the society and incorporated into individuals’ sense of themselves. Although parents never completely determine the development of their children, critical dimensions of self-concept such as attitudes, interests, goals, beliefs, and prejudices are acquired within the family.

What families teach to their children is not all intentional. Children learn constantly from the kind of environment that is unconsciously created by the adults in their family. Whether children believe themselves to be weak or strong, smart or stupid, loved or simply tolerated- and whether they believe the world to be trust-worthy or dangerous-is largely a consequence of this early environment.

The family is also the sphere of social life in which we first learn what our culture considers to be appropriate attitudes and behavior for males and females. From infancy, boys and girls receive both conscious and unconscious instruction from their parents and other family members in how to be “masculine” and “feminine”. (Tavris & Wade, 1984; Witkin-Lanoil, 1984).

Much of what we consider to be innate in ourselves is actually a product of culture, incorporated into our personalities through socialization. Sex-role socialization has always been one of the family’s most important functions.

Of course, ideas of “proper child rearing” vary greatly; generally, however, research suggests that parental attention to children encourages their social development. For example, the extent to which children receive physical contact, verbal stimulation, and responsiveness from their parents is related to their rate of intellectual growth (Belsky, Lerner, & Spanier, 1984).

The family is important to the socialization process not simply for shaping the personality, but also for providing children with a social position. In other words, parents not only bring children into the physical world, they also place them within society. Many ascribed characteristics-such as social class, religion, race, and ethnicity-are directly conferred on children by their families and become part of their concept of self. Long before each one of us was old enough to know it, we had taken a place within the structure of society that was determined by our family. True, we can either accept or attempt to change this original social placement, but we will certainly have to deal with it throughout our lives. The social position we receive from our families can influence virtually every dimension of our existence.

In addition to affecting the amount of material resources that are available to us, the social class of our families is related to many of the values and orientations we have toward the world. Melvin Kohn (1977) conducted interviews with working-class and middle-class parents in the United States to study how social class affects what children learn as they grow. He found that working-class parents tend to stress behavioral conformity in rearing their children. Middle-class parents, on the other hand, are typically tolerant of a wider range of behavior and show greater concern for the intentions and motivations that underlie their children’s actions.

Such differences in patterns of socialization can have important long-term effects on children’s ambition.

In such, parents tend to prepare their children to follow in their footsteps, adapting to the constraints or freedoms of their inherited social positions.