In sociology, socialization is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus “the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained”. Humans need social experiences to learn their culture and to survive.

George Herbert Mead

As a primary agent of childhood socialization, schools play a critical role in teaching children the values and customs of the larger society.

Both socialization and education involve learning, but there is a difference important in sociology. The study of education looks at our social institutions responsible for learning, while the study of socialization looks at how culture perpetuates itself.

Practices commonly associated with anticipatory socialization include grooming, play-acting, training, and rehearsing. Examples of anticipatory socialization include law school students learning how to behave like lawyers, older people preparing for retirement, and Mormon boys getting ready to become missionaries.

Anticipatory socialization is the process of changing one’s attitudes and behaviors in preparation for a shift in one’s role. Resocialization is a two-part process. First, the staff of the institution tries to erode the residents’ identities and independence.

Socialization is important in the process of personality formation. While much of human personality is the result of our genes, the socialization process can mold it in particular directions by encouraging specific beliefs and attitudes as well as selectively providing experiences.

The Socialization Process in Three Parts. Socialization involves both social structure and interpersonal relations. It contains three key parts: context, content and process, and results. Context, perhaps, defines socialization the most, as it refers to culture, language, social structures and one’s rank within them.

Socialization prepares people to participate in a social group by teaching them its norms and expectations. Socialization has three primary goals: teaching impulse control and developing a conscience, preparing people to perform certain social roles, and cultivating shared sources of meaning and value.

During the first stage of socialisation, he seeks to establish what is called oral dependency. By his cries he is able to build up fairly definite expectations about feeding time and also about his pressing needs for care. ADVERTISEMENTS: At this stage, the baby is not involved in the family as a whole.

Primary socialization occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. Secondary socialization refers to the process of learning what is the appropriate behavior as a member of a smaller group within the larger society.

In the United States, the primary agents of socialization include the family, the peer group, the school, and the mass media.