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The process of socialisation
From birth onwards all individuals go through a
process of socialisation during which they learn
the norms and values of their society. This section
considers that process.
Family
Pause for thought
1
Who were the most influential people in your life from birth to being 5 years old?
2
Who were the most influential people in your life from when you were 5 years old to 16 years old?
3
Who are the most influential people in your life now?
The family is often considered as the bedrock
or cornerstone of society. A stable family,
comprising a man and woman who are married
and caring for their own children, is described as
a ‘nuclear family’ and has been presented as the
ideal family type in the contemporary UK. In 2004,
of the 17 million families in the UK around 70
per cent were headed by a married couple with
an average of 1.8 children per family. However,
many individuals in the UK do not live in nuclear
families. In 2004, one in four dependent children
lived in single parent families. Some individuals
live in extended family units where more than
two generations of relatives can share a home,
most commonly with grandparents but also
sometimes with aunts and uncles. There are also
reconstituted families where two families come
together and create a new family network. It is
estimated that 10 per cent of all families with
dependent children in 2004 were reconstituted
families, or what is commonly known as ‘step’
families (Labour Force Survey, 2004).
Family relationships
Clearly, family size and structure will have an
impact on relationships within the family unit and
on family life. A family with two parents and one
child, with grandparents living 200 miles away, will
have a different set of family relationships than
a reconstituted family who all live in the same
geographical area and where two mothers and
two fathers are involved in childcare. Maintaining
contact with grandparents and extended family is
often reliant on technology, with the internet and
e-mail providing an opportunity for enhanced
communication and arguably e-relationships.
The following factors have all been identified as
having an impact on family relationships.
u The extent to which parents balance
work with family life. The concept of ‘shift
parenting’ has been used to describe
situations where both parents are in paid
employment, often working complimentary
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Figure 1.1 A family mealtime.
shifts and sharing responsibility for the
children around their working lives and
shift patterns (National Centre for Social
Research, 2006). These families rarely spend
quality family time together as their lives
are based around their employment and
childcare.
u The number, age and even gender of
siblings will impact on family relationships.
u As life expectancy increases in the UK, a
different dimension to family life is emerging.
Adults are increasingly likely to be involved
in caring for their parents into old age for a
longer period than in the past. The impact
of the aging population on family life and
family relationships is a relatively new area of
research for sociologists.
Family as an agent of
socialisation
The family is the main agent of primary
socialisation for most individuals in the
contemporary UK. Three ways in which the family
socialises the young are given below.
1 The family teaches the basic norms and
values of everyday life. This is often through
a process of imitation, where children copy
the behaviour of family members, or where
children learn the social roles expected of
them by looking at role models within the
family unit. Basic norms such as how to
eat food and the time and place for family
mealtimes are passed on by the family.
These basic norms can reflect wider values
such as the importance of family mealtimes
for maintaining close relationships.
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The process of socialisation
Section 1
2 Socialisation within the family can also
come from the use of positive and negative
sanctions. Positive sanctions include praising
a child when they behave in the way a parent
wants them to: for example, giving stickers
to young children as a reward. When parents
want to discourage inappropriate behaviour
they can use negative sanctions such as
withholding computer time.
3 Gender roles within the family are also likely
to impact on a child’s socialisation. If a young
boy sees his father going out to work every
day and taking the role of the main wage
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