Agents of Socialization

Socialization is the process through which

an individual inherits the norms, customs

and ideologies of the social order they live
in (ie. learns how to behave in society).
Socialization is necessary for making an
individual capable of interacting within the
society .
A person learns socialization through
Agents of Socialization (AoS specific
groups).

Specific sites or groups carry out

socialization. We call these agents of

socialization.
Similar to the concept of a business agent
or insurance agent, they represent and act
on the behalf of the larger society
There's nothing "official" about these
agents

What are the AoS

3 Main Types:
Primary Agents
The primary agents of socialization include those people that
are closest to an individual.
family and friends.
family, plays an important role in shaping the life and
behavior of an individual within the society.
Secondary Agents
The secondary agents of socialization are those institutions
or places that help an individual find his place within the
society.
religious institutions, schools, work places, etc
school, helps an child in improving social skills that helps the
individual in integrating well with the society around him.

Social Classes
are those agents of socialization, that divide

an individual within the society.

include the lower class, working middle class
and the higher elite class.

AoS Over Time

Effect on Life Cycle
The effects of socialization can cause an
individual or a group of individuals to alter their
beliefs and behavior over time
Most commonly seen during political
revolutions, where masses tend to follow a
particular ideology
Period Effect
The effect of socialization affects not an
individual or a group of people, but the entire
society.
The common examples of period effects are
Black Plague, Great Depressions, etc.

Cohort Effect
is a social event that creates a major impact

on a specific group of people.

This can be explained by the Hiroshima
Nagasaki bombings or the Vietnam War.

Influences of AoS
Individuals responds differently to different

agents of socialization.
Family
Mass Media
Peers
School (Education)

*In the order in which children are generally

exposed to.

Family
The family is the earliest and without question

the most influential agent of socialization. It

grabs the child at birth, when the child is most
helpless and dependent and doesn't let go for a
whole lifetime.
Socialization from the cradle to the grave.

The family values, beliefs, religious inclinations

and political views shape an individual's outlook

towards society.

What makes socialization in the family so

important and influential?

Foundation for all civilized behavior:
Language abilities (learning to talk)
Body control (e.g., toilet training)
Emotional control (e.g., "don't hit your sister")
Rules of public conduct (e.g., "don't throw food")
Moral values (e.g., "lying is a sin")

 Lifetime impacts affecting the person's self-

esteem, emotional health, identity, and

personality
Origin point of gender roles (masculine and
feminine behavior; fundamental division of
the social world into men and women)
Origin point of ethnocentrisms and racism
(racial and ethnic prejudice)
Source of original social capital that
determines life chances

The amazing power of the family as an

agent of socialization comes from a major

factor
The family has almost exclusive control of

the person during the first years of life and

preeminent control during the childhood and
adolescent years
Preeminent control = Cultural norms and the law

recognize the parent's right to determine what is

best for their children as trumping the rights of
almost any institution

Why would children put up with being

socialized? As if they had a choice! The

child's dependent situation and emotional
attachment to parents motivates the child
to be socialized.
Without adults, human children are very

vulnerable, largely helpless.

Basic love bondchildren want to please
their parents.

By later childhood the family's power as a

socialization agent has weakened

considerably.
In the adolescent years that power is further

weakened by peer group influences

Overall there has been an historical trend

of the family's power as an agent of

socialization being steadily eroded by the
media, peer subculture and schooling.

Mass Media
In today's world, mass media is one of

important agents of socialization.

People are influenced by the social norms

portrayed by the mass media.

Political, religious and social views are

enforced in a hard way through the

repeated exposure and arguments put forth
by the agents of mass media.

Includes:
Television
Radio
Movies
Music
Books, magazines, etc.
Internet

Somewhere around the age of two or three,

children in our society first encounter the

media as an agent of socialization in the
form of TV.
Socialization comes through from children's
shows, cartoons, and, most especially,
commercials.
through the characters, images, words, and

narrative story lines.

Some media specifically acts to be an

agent of socialization (e.g., children's

programs such as Sesame Street)
Dangers: media seriously challenges the
family, with children spending as much or
more time in front of the TV as interacting
with parents.
Many of the messages and values challenge

or directly contradict what parent's teach

their children.

Peers
Peers have great impact on an individual's

thoughts and line of thinking.

An individual learns to behave in a manner
that they think will be acceptable to their
peers.
Peer acceptance is an important part of
socialization.

Peers are people of roughly the same age

(same stage of development and maturity),

similar social identity, and close social
proximity.
friends, buddies, pals, troops, etc.

Typically, children encounter peer group

influence around age three or so.

With peers, the child begins to broaden his
or her circle of influence to people outside
of the immediate family.

Often peer interaction in the earliest years

is closely supervised by parents so it tends

to parallel and reinforce what is learned in
the family.
What is added to socialization are social
skills in group situation with social equals.
Before this time children basically dealt with

people in a superior position.

As childhood progresses, peer group

interactions become more autonomous

(less observed and supervised by adults).
The lessons learned also progress from
basic rules of group interaction to more
complex strategies of negotiation,
dominance, leadership, cooperation,
compromise, etc.

School
After family, schools are probably the most

important influence on an individual.

Schools help pass on knowledge, create
awareness and foster the feelings of
tolerance within individuals.
The second step to socialization is schools
where a child meets different kinds of
children and learns to make out the right
and wrong in society.

Traditionally around seven years old the

child enters the school system in the first

grade. Today the process often starts
earlier in Kindergarten or day care.
Socialization takes three forms in school:
Official Curriculum
2. Social Curriculum
3. Hidden Curriculum
1.

Official Curriculum
What the school system and its teachers

announce as their content and goal.

It includes the knowledge & skills learned in English,

math, history, etc.

The school is the official place where our

society transmits it accumulated knowledge

and skills from one generation to next.
officially pass on our cultural values,
tradition, and heritage.

Social Curriculum
learning social behavior appropriate for peer

groups that are not friendship groups, which

then become the model for secondary group
interactions.
now the child learns to communicate,
negotiate, dominate, etc. with peers outside
of their immediate social circle, often from
diverse social backgrounds.

Hidden Curriculum
learning the rules of behavior need to

function in formally organized groups.

It includes such behavior maxims as:
Don't talk when the teacher is talking
Get your assignments in on time
Not all teachers have the same rules for their class

As preparation for the adult world of formal

organization and workplace authority, the

hidden curriculum stresses such things as
formalization and standardization, following
instructions, obedience to authority figures
that are not Mom and Dad, learning to
control behavior and fit into the group,
pleasing (even manipulating) authority
figures, and working in teams.

Other AoS
Other possible AoS are:
Community and Culture
Religion
Work Place
The State
Military