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Socialisation
What is socialisation?
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Socialisation is the way in which we learn the social aspects of behaviour.
It includes the way we think and behave.
Socialisation is life long. It starts at birth and continues until death.
What do we learn in the socialisation process?
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We learn the culture of our society. This includes: beliefs, dress and language.
Sociologists use technical words to describe the things we learn. Some words
you might come across in your studies are: social norms, values and roles.
Different types of socialisation
Socialisation begins as soon as we are born and the people who have the most influence in the first few
years of our life are our immediate family and carers. The socialisation that goes on at this time is
known as primary socialisation. This refers to early childhood learning during which we acquire the
basic behaviour patterns, language and skills that we will need in later life. The agents of primary
socialisation are usually family and friends. They ensure that the child gradually learns the behaviour
appropriate for its society and gender.
Primary socialisation
 Socialisation begins as soon as you are born.
 The people who have the most influence in the first few years of your life are your immediate family
and carers.
 The socialisation that goes on at this time is known as primary socialisation.
Secondary socialisation
 As the child starts to grow up they are influenced by people who are not
 their immediate carers.
 When a child is about five they go to school, they may join social clubs, or take up dancing or a sport.
 The socialisation that goes on outside the immediate family is known as secondary socialisation.
Formal socialisation
 Some of our learning take place in a particular way. For example, we learn the skills of reading,
writing and counting in school.
 These types of skills are seen as necessary in our society because they help us communicate and get
a job.
 This type of socialisation is known as formal socialisation.
Informal socialisation
 Many of the things we learn are picked up from copying others, listening to things we are told by our
friends or through the media.
 This type of socialisation is going on all the time and is known as informal socialisation.
Is the process the same for everyone?
The socialisation process means that people learn ways of behaving that society considers normal or
desirable but there are differences. For example, different societies have different ways of behaving. In
the UK, we formally greet people with a handshake, but in Japan it is normal to bow. Most British people
eat with a knife and fork, whereas Japanese people are more likely to use chopsticks. Love marriages
are considered desirable in the UK and arranged marriages are preferred in Pakistan. Within large scale
societies there may also be variations in the way people are socialised. This may be because of
different beliefs such as religion or may be based on differences in sex. For example, it may be that
men and women are socialised differently to prepare them for roles in later life.
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There are differences in socialisation between societies.
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There are also differences between different groups within societies.
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This may be because of different beliefs such as religion or may be based on
differences in gender. For example, it may be that men and women are socialised
differently to prepare them for roles in later life.
Importance of the socialisation process
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Sociologists think socialisation is important because it helps to keep social order.
Some have argued that for society to exist and survive people have to find a way to
live together without constant fighting. Also, large societies cannot rely on the
forces of law and order to keep the peace and make sure people obey the rules.
The socialisation process allows people to learn the rules of society and to see
what happens if these rules are broken.
All sociologists see socialisation as very important. They disagree on whether it
benefits everyone in society or whether it gives some groups more advantages
than others.
Social norms
A social norm is a rule that a group uses to define acceptable and correct behaviour. Examples of social
norms in UK society include eating with a knife or fork, calling our parents mother and father, queuing in a
supermarket, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, paying for our food rather than hunting and gathering, paying for
our clothing with money rather than making it and going out to work to earn that money.
The social norms in a society/culture may be informal. That is, they are accepted ways of thinking and
behaving but may not be formally written down anywhere. However, there are times when social norms
become more formal and a society might make them part of the laws found in that society, eg. it is illegal to
take goods from a shop without paying.
Most societies disapprove of people who break social norms. Behaviour that goes against the social norms
of society is known as deviant behaviour. In some cases, deviant behaviour may be punished in a formal
way, such as being fined or put in jail, eg. displaying cruelty towards animals. However, not all deviant
behaviour is illegal, eg. laughing at a funeral. Also, not all illegal behaviour is deviant, eg. driving at 75 mph
on the motorway.
Conformity to norms can be achieved through negative social sanctions (informal rules), the most feared
of which are exclusion from the group, a feeling of embarrassment, being laughed at or gossiped about.
Other people’s disapproval stops us from skipping queues in the post office or licking our plates in
restaurants. Positive sanctions can also persuade people to abide by social norms. These may include
prizes at school, a promotion at work, or popularity among peers.
Sometimes people just think some social behaviour is odd, but they do not try to stop a person behaving in a
particular way. For example, at one time people who were vegetarians seemed odd because most people ate
meat. Nowadays, more and more people are vegetarian and it no longer seems odd.
The socialisation process is the way we learn the social norms of our society. These are passed on to us
by our parents, grandparents, other family, carers, teachers, club leaders, friends, priests and in other ways,
such as what we see in the newspapers, television and films.
In small-scale societies, social norms might be the same for everyone, but in large scale societies different
groups might have different beliefs and practices. The social norms for one group may not be the same as
another. This could include the way we dress, what we eat and whom we can marry.
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Values
Values are ideas and beliefs about what is right and wrong. They provide guidelines for general
behaviour. They are less specific than norms. In the UK, shared values include privacy, honesty,
loyalty, justice, competition, kindness, wealth, respect for human life and private property. Most people
in British society believe that these things are important and worthwhile. Failure to stick to values can
often result in formal punishment. Laws against murder, for example, enforce the value attached to
human life. Laws against perjury and theft reflect the values of honesty and respect for private property.
Some sociologists think that shared values are the cement of society and give it a sense of unity.
However, one difficulty with this view is: do we think all people in a society share the same values? For
example, do rich people and poor people have the same values? Do people in the north of Britain have
the same values as those in the south? What about those who live in the city and those who live in the
country? Do men and women share the same values? What about young people and older people – do
they share the same values? Do Muslims and Christians in the UK have the same values? Do
employers and employees have a value consensus? Do Conservative voters and Labour voters agree
on values?
So, talking about the values of a society might be difficult. Yet there probably are some identifiable
values that are associated with each society. For example, some people have suggested that cooperation and a sense of community is part of Scottish culture. On the other hand, these values may be
found in other working class communities, such as the North of England or Northern Ireland.
Values are important in setting the guidelines for behaviour – the social norms – of society. If
something is important in society then members of that society will behave in a way that reflects the
things that are valued. Values underpin norms, eg. the general practice of knocking on a door before
entering reflects the value of privacy. Values may change, and if this happens, social norms will also
change. Within UK society, we value diversity and tolerance of other cultures, therefore discriminatory
behaviour is not accepted.
One way of demonstrating how values can influence the way we behave is comparing competition and
co-operation. If competition is a value then it might be considered acceptable to destroy your opponent
to get what you want, though competition as a value does not extend to such behaviour. (Some British
schools have banned Sports’ Day on the premise that competition is a negative value to hold). If cooperation is a value then you would expect people to share. Some people have suggested that the
values in the UK changed in the 1980s and 1990s. Before this time there was an apparent spirit of cooperation, but the 1980s and 1990s saw the development of a ‘me first’ attitude.
The socialisation process is very important in learning the values of society. We learn the values of
society through the influence of our parents, family, teachers, religion, mass media and so on.
Some would say that passing on values to each new generation is the most important aspect of keeping
a society together, or perpetuating the culture. However, some sociologists have argued that certain
values are put forward because one group is more powerful than another and this makes sure their
ideas and ways of behaving are followed. So, although there may be order in society, everyone does
not necessarily agree with, or gain advantage from, the values that are followed.
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Social roles
A social role is a position a person holds in society that has certain expectations and behaviours
associated with it. For example, if you have the role of friend you are expected to give support, go on
social outings and listen to the things people have to tell you.
There are different types of social roles including:
 age and sex groupings, eg. infant, girl, boy, old man
 family groupings, eg. daughter, father, aunt, grandfather
 status groupings, eg. manager, union representative, chairperson
 occupational groupings, eg. lawyer, doctor, shop assistant, teacher
 common interest groupings, eg. gym member, pub local, member of pressure group.
All social roles involve such things as:
 what we do
 the way we act
 the way we interact
 obligations
 rights
 duties and responsibilities
 the way we see ourselves
 the way others see us.
Roles allow us to order our own behaviour and to predict the behaviour of others. We know that when
we get on a bus, we inform the driver where we want to go, pay the appropriate amount of money and
get taken there. There is very little other communication involved except perhaps for some comment on
the weather or the state of the traffic. We would not expect the driver to suggest going on a picnic
instead of taking you to college.
Social roles change and increase as we go through life. For example:
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From the time you are born you are a child, but also a brother/sister, son/daughter,
a grandchild, a niece/nephew.
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As you grow up you take on other roles. For example, you become a school pupil
or a friend. You may become a Cub Scout or a Brownie, or you may become a
team member if you belong to a swimming or football club.
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As you get older, your roles continue to change and develop. For example, you
become an adolescent or teenager and you may become a boyfriend or girlfriend.
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When you leave school, your roles change again. You may become a worker or a
college or university student. If you meet someone you want to live with in a
romantic relationship, you may become a partner, wife or husband.
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As you move on through life more changes may occur. You may become an
aunt/uncle, mother/father and then grandfather/grandmother.
This shows us that each person has many social roles in life. Roles carry with them specific expected
ways of behaving. In different societies you may have people with the same role but that role might have
different obligations, rights and/or interactions in each society. For example, in Trobriander society,
the person who has authority over the children is the mother’s brother (uncle) rather than the father.
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The behaviour that is expected in a role is often in relation to another role. So, for example, the role of a
pupil or student is best understood in relation to a teacher or lecturer.
Socialisation is the way we learn these social roles. This can be through playing, observing and
practicing. For example, when we are children we play at being a nurse or firefighter. We also observe
adults and so we learn how mothers, fathers and teachers behave. When we go to school we also learn
how to respect authority and work when we are told. This is a way of practicing for our role as worker in
later life.
Social roles are also important to social order in society. If we behave as others expect then interaction
with others becomes predictable and it takes away any uncertainty about the way people might act.
For example, think about the roles of doctor and patient. If you go to the doctor you expect him/her to
listen to what is wrong with you, make a diagnosis, and give you some form of treatment; you would not
expect your doctor to lie down on the couch and start telling you his/her troubles. In the same way, the
doctor expects you to listen and follow the treatment he/she recommends.
Mass media
When sociologists use the term, mass media, they are describing the forms of communication that reach
a large number of people. Forms of mass media include:
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television
cinema
radio
newspapers
books
magazines
the Internet
CDs
DVDs.
Most people in UK society have access to at least one of these forms. Many people have access to all
of them. Studies have shown that children spend more time watching television or playing with their
computer than they do in school. For this reason the influence of the mass media is of great interest.
The mass media is seen as one of the main agents of socialisation in today’s society. This does not only
apply to Western, developed countries. Many developing countries, although poor, have television and
satellite links and, therefore, are also influenced by what is said or shown on television.
One of the debates relating to the influence of the mass media is whether the things we read, see and
hear, simply provide us with information or whether they actually tell us how to think and feel. People
who support the view that the mass media educates us point to the many information programmes on
television and radio and the way we can learn about other societies and cultures.
Others think we are being influenced in a negative way by violence, aggression, sex and drug-abuse.
They are concerned about the media because they believe it tells people how they should live, what type
of clothes they should buy, how they should behave, etc. They think that the media also instructs people
on how they should look, what kind of house they should live in, what kind of job they should have and
even how their relationships should function. This may lead people to become unhappy with not only
their appearance, but with their whole life.
The use of advertising is seen as being potentially harmful, as it can influence people to buy products
they do not really need, according to some. The influence on children has been studied and concern
has been raised about the content of cartoons (particularly violent content) and the advertising of sweets
and sugar drinks during children’s television. In this way, the people who control the newspapers,
television companies and so on, have too much influence and control over society. Those who own and
control the broadcasting and press institutions manipulate the content of the mass media. The people at
the helm use the media institutions for their own purposes, thus becoming richer and more powerful.
Some studies show that the media does have a strong influence, but others show people have a mind of
their own.
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Socialisation used for Social Control
In criminology, Social Control Theory as represented in the work of Travis Hirschi fits into the Positivist
School, Neo-Classical School, and, later, Right Realism. It proposes that exploiting the process of
socialisation and social learning builds self-control and reduces the inclination to indulge in behaviour
recognised as antisocial. It was derived from Functionalist theories of crime and proposes that there are
four types of control:
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Direct: by which punishment is threatened or applied for wrongful behaviour,
and compliance is rewarded by parents, family, and authority figures.
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Indirect: by which a youth refrains from delinquency through the conscience
or superego.
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Internal: by identification with those who influence behaviour, say because his
or her delinquent act might cause pain and disappointment to parents and
others with whom he or she has close relationships.
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Control through needs satisfaction: i.e. if all an individual's needs are met,
there is no point in criminal activity.
Social Control Theory (later also called Social Bonding Theory) proposes that people's relationships,
commitments, values, norms, and beliefs encourage them not to break the law. Thus, if moral codes are
internalised and individuals are tied into, and have a stake in their wider community, they will voluntarily
limit their propensity to commit deviant acts.
The theory seeks to understand the ways in which it is possible to reduce the likelihood of criminality
developing in individuals. It does not consider motivational issues, simply stating that human beings may
choose to engage in a wide range of activities, unless the range is limited by the processes of
socialisation and social learning. This derives from a Hobbesian view of human nature as represented in
Leviathan, i.e. that all choices are constrained by implicit social contracts, agreements and arrangements
among people. Thus, morality is created in the construction of social order, assigning costs and
consequences to certain choices and defining some as evil, immoral and/or illegal.
Critique
Much of the early research is based on self-reporting studies which can be problematic because there
may be different motives for disclosing information and, in any event, questions may be interpreted
differently. Nevertheless, many of the conclusions are intuitively convincing, e.g. that individuals will not
engage in crime if they think that this will sacrifice the affection or respect of significant others, or cause
them to lose employment or their autonomy if they face imprisonment.
Christie Davies (1994 and 2004) reports that, in the late-nineteenth century Britain, crime rates fell
dramatically, as did drug and alcohol abuse, and illegitimacy became less common. All these indexes of
deviance were fairly steady between World War I and 1955. After 1955 they all rose to create a U-curve
of deviance, over the period from 1847 to 1997. He attributes the initial shift to adoption of a culture in
which the assumptions of Protestant Christianity were taken for granted. Few people believed strongly,
but everyone believed a little in a moral code of helping others that was rooted in Christian ethics. The
recent decline of religion in favour of secular liberalism has been matched by an increase in crime. In
1957, half a million notable offences were recorded by the police, but in 1997 it was 4.5 million.
Statistics may demonstrate correlations, but there are few explanations of why any particular individual
elects to steal or engage in violence. The same social norms for the defence of the person and property
that informed the law before 1955 remain the policy norms. That more people are uncontrollable and
may offend against those norms in social interactions cannot be explained by simply counting how many
people sit in church pews.
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