Question

Write short note.

Agencies of socialization.

Answer 1

There are different social groups which can be seen as agencies of socialization.

1. Family: Family is the main agent of socialization. The child learns language and other basic behavioural patterns in family. Socialization through family is varied because there is no single, uniform pattern to do so. A child brought up in nuclear family will undergo different pattern of socialization. Patterns of child rearing vary across families with different caste, class, and ethnic backgrounds.
2. Peer groups: Peer groups are friendship groups made up of people of similar age. In peer groups, the interactions are reasonably egalitarian as there is a greater amount of give and take, when compared to family or school. Peer groups use informal sanctions including positive sanctions like approving gestures or laughing at your jokes, and negative sanctions like disapproving jokes, labeling or rejecting your company.
3. Schools: Schooling and education are considered as secondary agencies. School involves learning values and norms at a step higher than those learnt in a family. Skills and values like team work, discipline, conformity to authority are learnt in schools and this helps prepare students for the adult world.
4. Mass Media: One of the significant forces of socialization in modern culture is mass media. Mass media are the means for delivering impersonal communication directed to a vast audience. Mass media includes traditional print media like newspapers and magazines, electronic media like radio and television and current IT enabled media and social media. Television has an influence on children from a very young age and affects their cognitive and social development. Modern technological advancements have strengthened and changed the role of mass media. Technology has certainly increased the spread of mass media.
5. Neighbourhood: A neighbourhood community is an important agency of socialization. A neighbourhood is a geographically localized community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are formed through considerable face to face interaction among members often living near one another. A neighbourhood community provides the base for an individual to extend social relations and interactions beyond the narrow limits of the home.
6. Workplace: Socialization is a life long process. Adult socialization indicates this continuous process of learning. One of the significant agents of adult socialization is the workplace. Adult individuals spend significant amount of time at the workplace. Socialization through work place involves acquiring new skills, knowledge and behaviour patterns suitable to the requirements of the job.