Meaning, Definition AND Stages OF Socialization Process PDF

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We learned about the concepts of social stratification in the previous Block. We will discuss various aspects of socialisation in this unit. It starts with a discussion of the process and concept of socialisation, as well as its goals and functions. A discussion of stages of socialisation is one of ...

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MEANING, DEFINITION AND STAGES OF SOCIALIZATION PROCESS INTRODUCTION

We learned about the concepts of social stratification in the previous Block. We will discuss various aspects of socialisation in this unit. It starts with a discussion of the process and concept of socialisation, as well as its goals and functions. A discussion of stages of socialisation is one of the most important aspects of this unit. As a result, this unit provides a comprehensive understanding of the nature of socialisation.

SOCIALIZATION: MEANING AND DEFINITION

We all know how important it is for people to be aware of the rules and regulations in order to maintain social life. We see how other people behave in various situations when we live in a society, and we hear from them about how to behave in various situations. We are also told and reminded of how to behave when we behave. We are thus educated about the society's rules, regulations, and practises. The society's rules, norms, values, practises, and so on become internalised in its members. This is referred to as socialisation. As a result, socialisation is a process in which individuals learn to conform to the group's norms. It's a never-ending social learning process.

"The process by which an individual learns to conform to the norms of the group," writes W.F. Ogburn. "Socialization is a process in which one internalises the norms of groups so that a distinct'self' emerges, unique to this individual," Horton and Hunt write.

Every person is born and raised in a unique environment, with their own personal history. As a result, even within the same society, each individual has gone through

different combinations of the socialisation process. In a family, we find that siblings differ in their social personalities in certain ways. They may have attended various schools and educational institutions, made various friends, and met various people who influenced the development of their social nature or personality. Regardless of individual differences, members generally learn the basic common norms, values, and practises that enable them to interact with one another in ways that allow the society to function. Socialization is a type of learning that aids in the performance of social roles. It is a desired and desired learning experience. It's a never-ending cycle that starts with birth and ends with death. We take on new roles and let go of old ones during this process. Shared Meanings and Values

The young are socialised in the sense that they learn to appreciate the shared meanings and values of the culture at large, or that they use them as guides to direct their own behaviour patterns. As a child grows older, he or she learns to use role-playing to internalise what to expect from other people and how to produce what is expected of children for them. Only through the process of socialisation does a child learn to recognise and respond to shared meanings and expectations from others.

The socialisation process begins at birth. Because social learning never stops, it is a never-ending process. However, childhood is the most important stage in the socialisation process because it is during this time that a child internalises or learns the majority of the family's values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, and behaviour patterns. The parents can be thought of as socialising agents, while the child is the one who is socialised." In the early stages of childhood, parents are usually the most powerful socialising force at work on the child.

They push the child in certain directions, both consciously and unconsciously, causing him to learn in a certain way." (G. White, 1977:1) Sociologists see it as a continuous

and dynamic process that lasts throughout one's life and necessitates re-socialization (discussed in 8-6) at various stages.

As a result, socialisation prepares a child to become a member of a society by instilling its norms, values, and beliefs in them. It also transforms the biological organism into a self with a sense of self, capable of disciplining and ordering behaviour based on ideals, values, and goals. Socialization, on the other hand, not only regulates behaviour, but it is also a necessary condition for individuality and selfawareness (Broom and Selznick; 1955: 43).

Education and Socialization

In some societies, particularly tribal societies, young people are educated and socialised without the use of extensive formal educational institutions. Education, on the other hand, is a universal process of learning that takes place everywhere, whether in a city, village, jungle, or desert. The universality of learning, on the other hand, does not imply that all learning is socialisation, just as not all education is.

It's also worth noting that not all learning is socialisation, as some of what one learns may or may not be relevant or necessary for participation in specific social roles. Learning to smoke a cigarette, cigar, or other tobacco product, for example, may be irrelevant to the norms of participation in certain social roles among certain social groups. In many ways, however, the process by which individuals acquire these values and norms (also known as culture) is similar in all societies. They may differ from one society to the next, as well as depending on certain factors within those societies. In the first instance, a child is a member of a family. However, he or she is also a member of a larger kin-group (Biradri, Khandan, etc.) that includes the parents' brothers, sisters, and other relatives. It could be a nuclear family or an extended family into which he or she is born (for the difference see Unit 5 of this course). It's also a part of a larger community. Each member of these groups and institutions is bound by

certain behavioural norms and values. As a result, we are members of multiple groups at the same time. For example, we ate a family member, a biradri, a khandan, or a kunba, or a society, of a school or college, all at once. There are roles that correspond to these memberships, such as those of a son, daughter, grandchild, or student. These are multiple roles that are played at the same time. The process of learning these groups' norms, attitudes, values, and behavioural patterns begins early in life and continues throughout one's life.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF SOCIALISATION

The development of self and the formation of personality are the primary goals of socialisation. The term'self' refers to the individual as subject (as the source of action and self-reflection), whereas 'personality' refers to the individual as object (as the source of action and self-reflection) (the object of external evaluation). As a result, socialisation is the process by which a person is socialised and transformed into a useful member of society or a social being. The main goals of socialisation are as follows:

• It instils fundamental disciplines such as toilet habits and scientific method. • It assists an individual in gaining the knowledge and skills required to function as a member of society. • It teaches one social role (responsibilities) and the attitudes that support it. • It motivates people and meets their needs. • It aids in the cultural transmission from generation to generation. • It fosters a sense of self-identity as well as the ability to think and act independently, such as through language learning. • It fosters the development of conscience, which is an important outcome of this process.

SOCIALISATION: NORMS AND VALUES

Within a society, different families belonging to different castes, regions, social classes, or religious groups may have different norms and values depending on whether they live in a village or a city, or if they belong to a tribe, and whether they are a boy or a girl. These social organisations can be thought of as socialising agencies. Their presence confirms that differences in norms and values occur as a result of some of the aforementioned affiliations. The importance of cleanliness, for example, may differ depending on social class. The language one speaks is also determined by the region to which one belongs. A child does not come into the world knowing a specific language; instead, he or she learns it after birth. Again, some people do not eat meat at all or only abstain from beef and pork because of their religious affiliations. As a result, a single human infant can develop into a variety of adults. Adult personalities formed in one society will differ from those formed in another, and he or she may be unfit for participation in many other societies. In a family where all of these are acceptable, a person who does not eat meat, smokes, or drinks alcohol, for example, may appear odd. Is socialisation a one-way process in which the child passively receives from his or her parents without actively participating? There are various points of view on the subject. However, in this unit, we believe it is a two-way process that involves mutual interaction. True, a young child is just as active as an adult member; however, it is never a passive recipient.

The goal of the socialisation process, as we've discussed so far, is to help the child learn to conform to societal norms, values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour patterns. When we talk about societal expectations, we're talking about different levels of expectation. When a person is born, his or her first societal experience is through his or her family, but as the child grows up in modern societies, his or her experiences broaden. It joins a number of organisations as a member. The school is the second organisation in which children enrol. Later in life, they will join the religious groups to which their parents belong. They will also be members of the same social classes as their families. They will be assigned to occupational groups as well. The goal of socialisation is to assist the child in internalising these norms and becoming a contributing member of society.

In the manner described above, a child is integrated into society. As a result, socialisation is a process of social control that aims to strengthen group life while also promoting individual development. It teaches or trains an individual to conform to the social group's or groups' expectations. As a result, conformity to group norms and behaviour is essential to the socialisation process, which allows society to exert social control over individual members.

Transmission of Knowledge

Individuals' mental categories of thought, according to Emile Durkheim, develop as a result of their socialisation. Knowledge is also passed down through generations through socialisation. Conformity to society's norms, rules, and values is required for social solidarity. These occasions help express the solidarity of the family and the kih group when groups assemble and reinforce feelings of solidarity, such as weddings, religious festivals, mourning, and so on. Republic Day and Independence Day, on the other hand, are occasions for the nation to express its unity. Socialisation practises are the social customs, rituals, social ceremonies, and social occasions that bring members of a group together. Knowledge about norms, values, and behaviour patterns is transmitted among members of human social groups through these practises. Individuals contribute to the maintenance of social order through socialisation. As a result of socialisation, the individual gains social control by knowing what to think and what not to think, as well as what to do and what not to do. Apart from the sense of group solidarity, the individual faces the threat of social disapproval, punishment, and other punishments meted out by society for various acts of deviance from the norm.

Conformity

While every society produces a degree of conformity to social norms behaviour, some individuals may still refuse to conform. To put it another way, socialisation may not be able to compel complete obedience from all members of society. Conflict can be sparked by a variety of factors. There may be tensions between the socialising agents' and the socialized's goals and functions. We've already mentioned that a person's socialisation is influenced by a variety of factors, including the family, school, playmates, peer group, occupational group, and, in modern society, the written word (books, magazines) and the mass media (television, radio, cinema). Individual conformity to the values of a group or groups will be reduced if they emphasise different values. Students may be encouraged to be exposed to the media, for example. Students' conformity to liberal values is likely to be reduced if the media teaches fundamentalism and extreme conservatism.

Deviance from the group's norms is the term used to describe cases of non-conformity. The values of children from low-income families will differ from those of the school. Deviants and, in some cases, juvenile delinquents are terms used to describe these children.

STAGES OF SOCIALISATION PROCESS

Socialization is a life-long process that does not end with childhood. It starts in childhood and lasts the rest of one's life. At every stage of life, an individual is confronted with various transitions and crises that must be overcome. S. Freud and Jean Piaget, for example, analysed and discussed the development process only up to childhood or adolescence. Freud talked about a series of five stages in a child's development. Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital are the five types. Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years), concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years), and formal operation stage (7 to 11 years) are Piaget's classifications of the stages of cognitive development (11 to 15 years). The first three stages of development are universal, according to Piaget, but not all adults reach the three operational stages. Talcott Parsons, a renowned sociologist, has also discussed four

stages, beginning with infancy (oral, anal, and latency) and ending with adolescence. As previously stated, socialisation does not end with adolescence or a certain age, but rather continues until death.

Sociologists claim that, despite appearances, different stages of human development are not biologically determined. The social construction of age is studied by sociologists. Age is a social category for them. As a result, they examine or analyse age and age-stages as social categories rather than biological or chronological ones. The studies of feral and isolated children show that children do not develop from stage to stage (as development theorists Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget claimed) if they do not interact. Interaction is essential for a child's development. Through his interactions with other people, a child develops an awareness of himself as distinct from others. As a result, we can conclude that interactions aid in the socialisation of children. Biology, on the other hand, is important and cannot be completely discounted. The stages of a person's "life course" are both social and biological. Culture and the material environment in which they live have an impact on them. Socialization is both possible and necessary due to man's biological nature. If man does not have the ability to learn and use language, he will be unable to socialise.

Previously, a psychological (psychoanalytic) view of socialisation emphasised how internal stimuli drive instincts (innate development process), whereas a sociological view emphasised how an individual learns to fulfil the requirements of the various social roles he or she is called upon to play. Internalizing the norms and expectations of the people with whom he interacts allows a person to become human.

Sociologists have placed a greater emphasis on the years of childhood and adolescence than on the years of infancy. Both men and women's expectations are changing at different stages of socialisation in modern societies.

Erik Erikson attempted to integrate biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives on 'conception of the life cycle' in his 1963 book Childhood and Society. He identifies eight stages of an individual's psychosocial development as follows:

Now, we shall describe briefly four important stages of socialisation from infancy to old age.

 Infancy and childhood (oral, anal and latency)

This stage of life lasts from birth to the beginning of adolescence, or between the ages of 0 and 13-14. Childhood as a distinct stage of development did not exist previously, particularly in traditional and preliterate societies. The young child went from a long period of infancy to working roles in the community. In modern societies, however, a long period of childhood has been acknowledged. Parenting and childhood have clearly separated themselves from other stages in traditional societies.

The mouth and lips are how a child in his first year communicates with the outside world, including his or her mother. The mother is the child's first socialising agent. The mother is the one who initiates the socialisation process. The earliest social stimuli that a child is exposed to are provided by her. He or she imitates these stimuli in response to them. The child does not distinguish between people and things at this age; the mother's breast and the nipple of the bottle are both equal and sole sources of organic satisfaction. His or her social activities are limited to crying, smiling, and moving his or her eyes in response to others. At this stage of development, the mother's and infant's roles are merged.

In many societies, toilet and other training begins in the second year. The child learns how to eat, talk, and behave appropriately during this phase. Even though the child is still dependent on his or her parents, the child begins to develop a sense of control over himself or herself and his or her environment. He begins to recognise the family ties. During this stage, the child internalises two distinct roles: his or her own and that of his or her mother.

From the third to the fifth (phallic stage) year of life, rapid physical development occurs. During this time, the child begins to notice genital sensations and, in most cases, develops a Freudian Oedipus complex, in which the boy's attachment to his mother is combined with jealous hostility toward his father. The child learns to 'behave himself/herself' in various contexts of his/her activity, especially when

interacting with adults, at this stage. In addition, a child internalises all four family roles: husband-father, wife-mother, son-brother, and daughter-sister.

This is followed by the latency stage, which lasts about 5 to 13 years. By the age of five, the child is no longer a dependent baby and is capable of performing basic household tasks on his or her own. The child learns informal aspects of culture, such as folkways, customs, fads, and crazes, as well as secret modes of gratification and forbidden knowledge, during this time. This stage has been dubbed the 'gang stage' by sociologists. The child's social world broadens or expands during this stage. He establishes relationships outside of his family. Friendships appear to be more important at this stage, as the child begins to value friends over family. This stage sees the development of social consciousness, as well as the importance of group activities and loyalty. He or she gradually rebels against adult dominance.

 Adolescence When a child reaches puberty, he or she enters adolescence. Puberty brings about a slew of biological changes that are universal (the point at which a person becomes capable of adult sexual activity and reproduction). This is an important stage of socialisation that begins when a person is 14-15 years old and lasts until he or she is 20-21 years old. It is a transition from childhood to maturity during which new patterns of behaviour are developed to meet the demands of both the...