What is Socialisation?   Explain types of Socialisation.

What is Socialisation?   Explain types of Socialisation.

Introduction  of Socialisation

Socialisation is the process by which individuals become self-aware and learn the culture of the society. Different societies have different ways and methods to train their new born members so that they are able to develop

their own personalities. This training of building the personality of the child is called socialisation. Socialisation is a process of learning rules, habits and values of a group to which a person belongs whether it

is family, friends, colleagues or any other group. It is the process by which a child slowly becomes aware of her/himself as a member of a group

and gains knowledge about the culture of the family and also the society into which she/he is born.

 

         Meaning  of Socialisation

Socialisation provides people with common goals; teaches them the appropriate behaviour associated with appropriate roles (e.g. the roles of mother,

teacher, student and friend); and allow them to learn the norms of social life. People also consider socialisation as the passing of culture from one generation to the next.
During the process of socialisation, children learn about their family traditions from their elders and preserve them and pass them

on to the next generation as they grow older. Socialisation helps children to learn and perform the different roles and responsibilities which they have learnt from their elders.

 

Some Definitions of Socialisation

1. 1. Anthony Giddens: “Socialisation refers to the process which transforms a quite helpless human infant into a self-aware, knowledgeable person who is skilled in the ways of their society’s culture”.

   2. Peter Worsley: “By socialisation, it is simply meant as the transmission of culture, the process whereby men learn the rules and practices of social Socialisation is an aspect of all activity within all human societies”.

   3. Tony Bilton: We call socialisation the process by which we acquire the culture of the society into which we are born, develop our social characteristics, and learn the ways of thought and behaviour considered appropriate in our society.

      Here we will study the concept of Types of Socialisation .

Types of Socialisation

Socialisation is a process that continues throughout life from birth till adulthood. However, people divide the process into different phases and categorize these phases as the following types of socialization.

1. Primary Socialisation – It is the most important feature in the process of socialization. It happens during infancy and childhood. The primary stage basically takes shape during infancy and childhood where basic knowledge and language or behaviour is This phase of socialisation usually takes place within the family.

2. Secondary Socialization –Secondary socialization occurs once the infant passes into the childhood phase and continues into During this phase more than the family some other agents of socialisation like the school and friends’ group begin to play a role in socialising the child. 

3. Gender Socialisation – Gender socialisation can be understood as the process by which different agents of socialisation shape the thoughts of children and make them learn different gender roles. Gender role refers to “social roles assigned to each sex and labelled as masculine or feminine” Infants learn quite a lot from visual and symbolic Differences in the manner of dressing, hairstyle, different cosmetic products used by men and women, provide children with indicators of variation between the male and female. Within two years of  age children begin to vaguely understand what gender is.

4. Anticipatory socialization – The term anticipatory socialization was introduced by the famous Sociologist Robert K. Merton. People consciously socialise someone for future occupations, positions, and social roles through a process.  For example, a child leaves home to stay in a boarding school with the anticipation of better socialization by his parents.

5. Re-socialisation – Re-socialisation refers to the process of leaving certain behaviour patterns and roles in order to adopt new ones as part of one’s evolution in Resocialisation occurs when there is a major transformation in the social role of a person. It occurs throughout life where individuals experience radical breakthroughs from their past experiences and learn new manners and values which  are starkly different from what they had learnt previously. 

6. Adult socialization – Adult socialization takes place in adulthood when individuals adapt to new roles such as that of a husband, a wife or an employee. This is related to their needs and wants. People continue to learn values and behaviour patterns throughout Socialisation does not have any fixed time period. It begins at birth and continues till old age. In traditional societies the older people had a significant influence in important matters related to the family. In modern times we can find this elderly influence decreasing in some families. For example, one’s workplace, social groups, senior citizens’ forums, clubs for recreation and some religious institutions also.