Alyssa Christopoulos

July 5th, 2020

The societal norms, beliefs, and values, or otherwise known as a society’s culture, human

beings practice are learned through a process called ​socialization.​ As defined by Openstax,

socialization is the process in which people learn and imitate material and nonmaterial cultural

practices, becoming aware of societal attitudes and expectations. We are constantly experiencing

and undergoing different types of socialization throughout our lives to fulfill specific roles or

duties. Our families, peer groups, work environments, and formal institutions serve as

foundations for socialization, which demonstrate new cultural norms catered to certain periods in

one’s lifetime. The on-going process of socialization is essential to reinstituting culture and

social guidance in a society.

Although sociologists study the effects of a society or culture on individuals or even

societies themselves, arguments today regarding socialization still reflect on the innate

habits/personalities of an individual versus the influence of social practices on behavior, or also

known as the nature versus nurture debate. Certain sociologists agree that our genetics indicate

our future identities and personal mannerisms - the natural behavior. Some studies prove that

some certain personality traits we exemplify are innate qualities given at birth. In this case,

socialization becomes less of a leading factor in shaping personality and behavioral practices. On

the contrary, other sociologists argue that our ability to fulfill social duties and patterns of

behavior are heavily influenced by interactions and experiences with the social world, or through
socialization. We ​nurture​ our habits, goals, and expectations through surrounding environments

and relationships, which paint a picture of what is expected of specifically your social role.

Many sociologists commonly recognize that the process of socialization begins with our

understanding of our identity, or as George Herbert Mead labels as one’s, “self.” The inability to

see ourselves through another person’s lens or recognize our ​self​ will result in the inability to

undergo socialization, and therefore create instability in our future. A “self” can be defined as

our personality or character we develop as we interact with our surroundings. According to

Mead, we comprehend self by seeing ourselves or our identities in perspective, or through the

eyes of others - a process known to Charles Horton Cooley as the “looking glass self.” We

construct our understanding of ourselves by viewing the perceptions of peers and strangers. In

sociology, Mead categorizes self-development, specifically concentrated in childhood, as a three

stage process: the preparatory stage, the play stage, and the game stage. The preparatory stage,

which takes place before a child is able to practice “looking glass self,” or see themselves as

others perceive them, is when children imitate the actions of their surroundings. They copy what

their parental figures, care givers, and companions do gesturally, developing informal cultural

habits and actions widely practiced in society, igniting the process of socialization in the

symbolic interactionist perspective. After the preparatory stage, the child experiences the play

stage, which consists of pretend role-play. In other words, children usually pretend to obtain

roles their parents may have, for example, playing “family” as the “mom” or “dad” role. With

this, the child is exposed to the mature, social responsibilities of adults, and learns about their

duties/social rules, ultimately allowing them to become aware of their surroundings and

developing a sense of self (from viewing others’ perspectives). Finally, a child learns the
importance of analyzing the roles or positions of people around them during the game stage. As

children play games, they learn to understand the intentions and purposes of the surrounding

players. This translates to their everyday lives - they are able to recognize how certain roles

interact with each other to create a product. The stages of self-development contribute to a

child’s ability to recognize the perspectives of others, which therefore allows them to utilize the

“looking glass self,” and understand their own “self.” In addition to these three stages, children

discover the ​generalized other​, or the known social patterns and behaviors that exist and are

expected in a society. By knowing the common social behaviors and assumptions, children more

easily can perceive themselves as their adult or younger peers would, and overall benefits their

self-development. Our significant others, including our familial guardians and peers, manifest

what is normal and acceptable in their behaviors, and their presence around us uncover their

ideas and thoughts. Surrounding ourselves with our significant others exposes us to their

viewpoints and choices, making it easier to analyze our self through their perspective.

Although the process of self-development contributes to the initial stages of socialization,

exposure to peer groups and larger social structures are equally important to the process. Our

new and changing environments further add relationships and expectations associated with social

roles, ultimately initiating the process of socialization to occur after childhood. These

environments are labeled as ​social agents​, or catalysts that fuel the essential aspects of

socialization. We learn the uses of material culture goods as well as their nonmaterial purposes

or values with social agents. Social group agents and institutional agents divide social agents into

two groups that categorize the specific effects they have on an individual and their socialization

process. Family and peer groups are major aspects of social group agents and usually provide
insight into the cultural norms or roles of certain age groups. Family, the primary social agent,

teaches children how to properly use material objects in society, such as a chair or table. In

addition, family members also affect a child’s understanding of societal morals and acceptable

ways to treat surrounding people. However, a family’s social class, race, religion, region, or

period in time will influence how a child is socialized and their personality. For example, lower

socioeconomic families generally teach children to conform and obey authority - as this is what

many of their jobs require - while upper class families value creativity and spontaneity in

children. Peer groups, or a group of people sharing interest and age, impact the priorities and

values of individuals. For example, students with relative IQs may score differently on tests

depending on if their peer groups value academic achievement. In addition to social group

agents, institutional agents, such as schools, government, and religion, provide insight on how to

act specifically in these environments. The material and nonmaterial cultural values learned in

formal institutions apply to many adulthood situations and overall contribute to an individual’s

understanding of their society’s culture. In schools, students learn the importance of

collaboration, academic and social discipline, and using research resources. Schools also tend to

have latent functions or ​hidden curriculums​, which reinforce the duties expected of children or

adolescents, maintaining respectful relationships with authority, and the effects of winning or

losing in a competitive environment - these all are examples of socialization. Additionally school

uniforms can affect or institute a society’s perspective of gender. Schools requiring girls to wear

dresses manifests the idea that women should remain feminine and ultimately sacrifice

practicality for appearance, which socializes girls in the school environment and portrays

society’s emphasis on femininity and appearance. Likewise, government institutions create

cultural values. Today, the mass media has a major impact on societal beliefs and serves as a

platform to spread cultural ideals, to make jobs more flexible, and to create larger technological

groups to replace older, more traditional ones. With mass media, human beings must learn the

ways to use material culture products, such as a smart phone or social media, as well as the

respectable ways to utilize material culture. Mass media also manifests what society defines as

beauty; magazines highlight cultural trends and institute the traits associated with beauty, which

affects how people appear in a social environment. In terms of socialization, it teaches human

beings what is the cultural perspective of beauty, and encourages them to strive for that

appearance.

As stated earlier, socialization is a constantly evolving process that takes place with every

day of our lives. As we prepare to fulfill the duties of new social roles, we are socializing to learn

what is expected of us and how to navigate material and nonmaterial culture in new

environments - usually connected to age-related stages. Throughout life, many of us will prepare

for the next stage of life and adulthood through socialization. This process is known as

anticipatory socialization, or the way in which we develop and learn the new responsibilities for

our future roles. For example, adults in their late forties and fifties may begin to invest in savings

or retirement plans (as it is culturally normal adults retire around the age of sixty-five).

Adolescents practice anticipatory socialization for their young adult life through researching

colleges and majors that cater to their interests. As one understands the requirements and effort

needed to successfully understand a major, one prepares himself or herself for their future work

environment. In some cases, new stages in one’s life may occur in total institutions, where a
human being is completely isolated from their previous society. In total institutions, people are

usually expected to acquire customs set by a certain group or individual, differing from the

cultural norms they have previously practiced. In this process of resocialization, individuals must

“unlearn” their old social practices and develop new habits that follow the social rules of that

institution. For example, a child attending a new boarding school must learn to be flexible with

their right to privacy - as they share bathrooms and living spaces with other students - unlearning

habits such as leaving dirty clothes on the floor or showering for prolonged periods. People

experience resocialization in prisons, military bases, camps, and other isolated places. In

addition, individuals must remove their old personal identities along with their old habits and

create new ones to become a proficient member in their society, otherwise known as the

degradation ceremony to sociologists. The extremities of this process vary with the type of total

institution a person may be entering. With boarding school, school counselors and teachers will

demonstrate compassion and warmth, as well as tolerating mistakes and mishaps, with new

students to aid them in the process of leaving their homes and roles as children to becoming

independent students and apprentices. Conversely, members of the military will experience brute

change as they immediately are stripped of their old appearance and are dressed in a uniform

way. Ultimately, uniformity in the military enforces the value of unity and the unit over the

individual; through the process of resocialization, army men unlearn the importance of setting

individual goals and rather focus on the group’s goals. They recognize themselves as a member

of the group over a unique individual in society.