Socialization

Chapter 3 details the concepts of socialization in terms of sociology. Socialization is a process through which a society molds an individual into another one of its members. It could be called a form of cultural reproduction. Humans are capable of developing a sense of self at birth, but in order to do so, they must do so by interacting with others. According to the concept of the looking glass self, our self develops as we come to associate others’ reactions to us with our own identity. George Herbert Mead claimed that the ability to take the role of the other is vital to the development of the self, concluding that even the mind itself is the result of socialization.

Reasoning develops through socialization and internalizing one’s role in society. Jean Piaget claimed there were four stages children go through in order to develop the ability to reason. The first is sensorimotor, in which the child understands the world through the senses (touch, sight, smell, sound, taste…). The second is preoperational, during which the child gains an understanding of the use of symbols. After this comes concrete operational, in which the child does gain some reasoning ability, though still based in concrete reality. The ultimate stage is formal operation, during which a child develops the ability to comprehend abstract concepts and hypothetical concepts.

Sigmund Freud viewed personality (ego) development as the result of one’s selfish primal instincts (the id) coming to grips with the demands of society (represented in the mind as the superego). Sociologists, and sociology theorists, however, do not intend to concern themselves with innate or subconscious motivations but seek to understand how social factors such as social class, gender, race or ethnicity, religion, and education interact in one’s personality equation. Socialization influences not only how an individual will express his emotions, but how he feels them as well.

Gender is the social construction of sexual roles. Gender socialization, during which society sorts males and females into genders, is a primary means of controlling human behavior. Children are socialized into their designated genders even in infancy. Beyond childhood, a society’s social institutions reinforce its system of gender roles. As children associate certain symbols with certain genders, they learn which behaviors are expected of which gender. Gender messages are first transmitted by family and are then reinforced through other social institutions. By this method, a society will mold individuals into its proper image of gender roles.

Socialization continues throughout one’s life. Resocialization is the process of reprogramming an individual with new norms, values, attitudes, and behavior. Usually, this process is voluntary, but some, such as in total institutions, is not. The process of socialization differs wildly from individual to individual and from culture to culture.

Infants do not automatically grow into social adults. Other humans must socialize them. Children need to learn to bond from a very young age; otherwise, they will never be able to learn the system of symbols that makes a relationship between people meaningful. Children raised in isolation cannot learn language properly, and they cannot interact with other humans in a social manner. Without socialization, a human being is left as something of a beast, but through socialization, the human being comes to understand the world she lives in and gains a useful tool for agency in the world through society itself.

Work Cited

Henslin, James M. "Chapter 3 - Socialization." Essentials of Sociology: A Down-To-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004. N. pag. Print.