| Socialization is a process
of social interaction and communication in which an individual comes to learn and
internalize the culture of their society or group. The general process of acquiring
culture is referred to as socialization . Socialization begins
immediately at birth, with the conditioning influences of infant handling, and continues
throughout an individual's lifetime. Even seemingly insignificant actions of parents can
have major impacts on the socialization of their children.
Sociologists recognize the limitless variety of individual experiences
of socialization, but have given much attention to general patterns of socialization found
in individual societies and groups within them.
The sociological use of the term socialization refers to the learning
and absorption of culture and not simply to the process of interacting with others.
Socialization is also sometimes used to refer to the collective
ownership and management of economic resources.
During socialization, we learn the language of the culture we are born into as well as
the roles we are to play in life. For instance, girls learn how to be daughters, sisters,
friends, wives, and mothers. In addition, they learn about the occupational roles that
their society has in store for them.
We also learn and usually adopt our culture's norms through the socialization process.
Norms are the conceptions of appropriate and expected behavior that are held by most
members of the society. While socialization refers to the general process of acquiring
culture, anthropologists use the term enculturation for the process of being socialized to
a particular culture.
Socialization is helps in the process of personality formation. Even if human
personality is the result of our genes, the socialization process can mold it. |