Unit 3 Rules, Roles, and Socialization

People live in groups. Living in groups is different from living alone. When you live in a group, such as your family, you have to consider not only your own needs and wishes, but also the needs and wishes of other members of your family. Your family probably has certain rules which you are expected to obey. Some of the rules may never be spoken, but you somehow know what you are allowed to do and what you are not supposed to do. How did you learn the rules?

Every baby who enters the world also enters a society. The society she or he is born into has many communities, with many secondary groups and primary groups. Each of the groups which the baby belongs to – the primary group (family), secondary group, community, and society – has a set of rules by which people are expected to live. Members of each group teach the growing child the rules of the group. If the rules are broken in a group, someone who has authority will punish or correct the child. The child is usually rewarded for obeying the rules. By rewards and punishments a group, or society, makes sure that the child grows up knowing what to do and what not to do.

This process of learning the rules is called socialization. Sometimes the rules are obvious such as the rule against killing other people. Most societies hold this rule, except in time of war or other unusual circumstances. Most often, however, the rules are less obvious than this and need to be taught.

Socialization also includes learning which rules or standards, are to be taken more seriously than others. Sociologists call these social rules or standards norms. Norms tell us how to behave in the society. There are three types of norms:

1. Folkways are norms of politeness, or customs, such as eating properly or addressing a person by the right title – Mr., Ms., Dr., etc. If you break a folkway, you are not considered an evil person. After several offenses you might, however, find yourself with fewer friends, or be punished by your family or by some other group.

2. Mores are norms which are taken much more seriously than folkways. If you break such a norm, you may be punished severely or even sent out of the society. Breaking mores against stealing and killing human beings is considered very serious by most societies. Such actions carry a moral judgment against the person who does the act. Those who break mores are considered “bad” by others in the society.

3. Laws are norms made and enforced by the government of a society. Laws are formal rules which are supposed to protect the people in a society from each other and from outsiders. A law may or may not be a more. For example, you park your car at a parking meter and let the meter run overtime. When you come back to your car, you find a ticket on the windshield. You have broken a law, but not mores. No one would call you a “bad” person for breaking that law. But if you murdered someone, society would condemn you for your action. In that case, you would have broken both mores and a law.

The socialization process teaches us the society folkways, mores and laws. Socialization also does something else. It teaches us roles. A role is a name given to the kind of behavior that a person is supposed to have in a particular group or society. An actor in a play or movie acts out a role. You know what to expect of a person playing the role of a detective or a doctor or a lawyer. If the actor does not act like the character she or he is supposed to be, you may be disappointed. The people in any social group expect its members to act out certain roles, too. As long as these roles are acted out as the members expect them to be, everything is fine. When someone acts outside of his or her role, it may cause confusion or trouble.

Everyone plays many roles in life. The roles you play depend on your groups. Your behavior at work is different from your behavior in the family and your behavior with friends. That is because you have different roles and rules in each group.