Agents of primary and secondary socialization: examples and their significance

What is socialization?

It implies the process of a person’s assimilation of social norms, values ​​and patterns of behavior.

The formation of a person’s personality occurs with the help of the so-called agents of primary and secondary socialization and its institutions.

The process of adaptation to the put forward conditions of society includes the transfer and assimilation of knowledge, abilities, skills, the formation of ideals, norms and rules of behavior.

Notes

1. Socialization // Big psychological dictionary / Compiled by: Meshcheryakov B., Zinchenko V. - OLMA-PRESS. 2004.
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3. Primary socialization // Encyclopedic Dictionary “A Word about Man”.
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5. Resocialization // Encyclopedia of Sociology.
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11. Denhart, R. B.;
    Jeffress, PW Social learning and economic behavior: The process of economic socialization // American Journal of Economics and Sociology. - 1971. - No. 30 (2). — P. 113–125.
12. Harrington, Michael (2011) [1989]. Socialism: Past and Future. New York: Arcade Publishing. pp. 8–9. ISBN 1-61145-335-6.
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13. Ochs, Elinor.
    Culture and language development: Language acquisition and language socialization in a Samoan village. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
14. Ochs, Elinor, and Bambi Schieffelin.
    Language Acquisition and Socialization: Three Developmental Stories and Their Implications. — New York, 1982.
15. In Cultural Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion / R. Shweder and R. A. LeVine. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. - P. 276-320. — 376 p. — ISBN 978-0521267199.
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17. Naoko Morita.
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18. Judith Rich Harris.
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    Religious Resources or Differential Returns? Early Religious Socialization and Declining Attendance in Emerging Adulthood // Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. — 2011-06-01. - Vol. 50, iss. 2. - P. 366–387. — ISSN 1468-5906. — DOI:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2011.01573.x.
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21. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett.
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Purpose and functions of socialization

The main goal of this process is to prepare the individual to perform a certain role and meet the requirements placed on him by society. Based on this, socialization performs a number of functions. Among them are the following:

• Normative and regulatory function. It is associated with the regulation of interpersonal relationships in society, which are subject to generally accepted norms and laws. It is carried out due to the influence on a person of family, educational or work group, religion, politics and other social institutions.

• Personal transformation function. This function of socialization consists in the identification by a person of personal attitudes, values ​​and guidelines, the transformation of social ideals into personally significant concepts.

• Value-oriented function. It is determined by the fact that a person realizes and accepts social values ​​that are close to his environment; regulates his behavior in accordance with these values, develops his own life values. The formation of value orientations influences a person’s attitude towards the surrounding reality and his loved ones.

• Information and communication function. In the process of communication, information is exchanged. This helps to expand the social experience and knowledge of each individual.

• Projective function. It contributes to the fact that a person or group, in the process of socialization, assimilates a model of behavior and projects it into their life activities, guided in their activities by a certain project. That is, this is an action according to a certain pattern.

• Creative function. It becomes possible with a sufficiently high level of social adaptation and indicates the ability of a person or social group to create, to create something new, to look for ways out of a situation, using their personal experience accumulated in the process of socialization.

• Compensatory function. The essence of this socialization function is to compensate for deficiencies of a physical, mental or intellectual nature. Within the framework of this function, a person with certain characteristics or disadvantages adapts to full functioning in society.

How does human socialization proceed: stages

Stages of socialization
Socialization of a person does not happen immediately. This is a rather complex process that takes place in several stages. First, social adaptation must take place. In other words, a person still needs to adapt to the conditions of the social environment in which he finds himself. In general, it is believed that adaptation occurs at three levels - physiological, psychological and directly social.

• Physiological . At this stage, a person takes a closer look at the new environment, begins to make some connections and evaluate his own capabilities. All this will help him to realize himself in the future. At this time, a person actively communicates and gets used to new rules for himself, and then begins to make some efforts that are taken in this team.
• Personalization . At this stage, a person already accepts himself as part of society. Actually, at this time the personality is already being formed. A person develops his own beliefs and skills, and begins to evaluate what is happening in his own way. If at the first stage a person learns to be like others, then at the second he already learns to be different. Although, this process is considered subjective. The fact is that everyone learns general rules and experience in their own way. Some people observe them strictly, while others do the opposite. Some try to overcome stereotypes, and some even try to destroy the foundations of the group, as a result of which a person either finds himself outside of it or destroys it.
• Integration _ This term means that a person is accepted by other members of society, that is, he becomes a full part of it. Society seems to accept a person and tries to accept him as he is, if he at least lives according to general rules. The process is more successful if the person turns out to be useful to society. Then even his shortcomings will be forgiven.

It is important to note that the complete absence of inconsistencies is highly undesirable, at least in developed societies. The fact is that conformism is one of the forms of deviant behavior, because there is no benefit from a person for society. Every society has a certain degree of freedom, but only within the framework of the group. However, in undeveloped societies such behavior is only encouraged, and attempts to behave differently are suppressed.

Agents and institutions of socialization

Agents of socialization mean a person’s environment, which, by influencing him, ensures the assimilation of social norms and rules. In other words, these are specific personalities that influence the individual's adaptation process.

Socialization institutions are objects that influence the development of personality in society (school, university, work).

Scientists distinguish between primary and secondary socialization.

The primary process includes the process of a person mastering the norms and laws by which society lives, its values ​​and traditions from birth to the period of formation of maturity.

Secondary socialization is directly related to an individual’s mastery of a profession in the process of his formation as a person.

Types of socialization by speed

A person’s ideas may be relevant to current tasks, but not adequate to the process of their occurrence.

Based on the speed of progress, fast and slow socialization are distinguished.

• Rapid socialization is characterized by a rapid rate of assimilation of information and rapid development. A clear example of rapid socialization can be observed in childhood. A child is very active in learning about the world; in a short time he masters many skills; the period of childhood accounts for almost 70% of personality development. Such rates of development as in childhood, but in adulthood, are typical for talented people and child prodigies.
• Slow socialization, on the contrary, is characterized by low rates of information assimilation and a long process of personality development. The reasons for slow socialization are varied. They can be both psychophysiological and social. In the first case, we are talking about developmental features, any deviations of the body.

Note 2

Social reasons lie in the child’s isolation, his pedagogical neglect, and coercion into any activity. Gender characteristics of socialization can also be highlighted. It is a well-known fact that girls develop faster than boys.

Agents of primary socialization

Depending on the species, scientists distinguish agents of primary and secondary socialization.

They affect people in different ways and to varying degrees.

Primary agents include a person’s closest environment: the family as an institution of primary socialization (mom, dad, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, other relatives). This category also includes school teachers, friends and neighbors.

The peculiarity of these agents is that they begin to influence a person from birth, from the first minutes of his life.

The role of the family in the social adaptation of the child

One of the main functions of the family is the socialization of the child’s personality.

A child’s social adaptation consists in his acceptance of norms and rules based on the experience gained during interaction with society.

The role of the family in this process is very large, because the family as an institution of socialization is the first and most significant institution that influences the development of a person’s personality.

It is in the family that the child acquires his first knowledge about society, roles, norms and laws, and learns about the traditions and customs accepted by members of this society.

In such an environment, he learns to interact with other people and obey certain rules. Therefore, the role of the family as an institution of socialization during a child’s adaptation to society cannot be overestimated.

Socialization of older people: features

Socialization of the elderly
Socialization of the elderly is currently one of the most pressing problems. The fact is that it is difficult for older people to maintain interaction with society and self-realization.

As with other periods of life, late adulthood is defined in many ways. Most scientists are of the opinion that it occurs at age 60, but in fact, in women it can occur earlier, at about 58 years. The change in psychosocial status is different in that opportunities are already limited. The process takes place in two stages - old age and retirement.

As a rule, satisfaction with life and successful adaptation are largely determined by health. Typically, the negative effect is reduced through comparison. In addition, financial situation and acceptance of the change itself are important. When a person retires, he wants to quit his job. However, this process should be perceived as an opportunity to do something interesting, for which there was not enough time before. It is important for every person in older age not to lose social activity. There is a lot of interesting things for pensioners - they can visit special clubs and societies.

Often, older people have this problem when people seem to fall out of communication. So they need to try not to lose it. For example, the circle of friends often becomes very narrow and the need for friendships and friendly contacts arises. Anxiety and concern appear. Accordingly, lack of communication can lead to the development of depression.

It is also important to consider that values, standards and traditions cannot be considered separately for older people, because they are all parallel and dependent on each other.

At the same time, problems in communicating with generations are due to the fact that values ​​do not coincide. Older people can fulfill the social roles of retirees, but other group norms are already a little lost.

Therefore, it is important to understand that the socialization of older people depends on how involved a person is in the communication process and how he interacts with certain social and age groups.

Agents of secondary socialization

These include all those who have less influence on a person, but are directly connected with him in the process of life. These are representatives of the administration of the educational institution, employees of the police, army, church and other public or professional organizations.

Society as an institution of socialization is a complex dynamic system that includes many substructures that organically interact with each other according to certain rules in the process of life.

How the state influences human socialization: examples

State and socialization
The state is an agent that helps in the socialization of a person. It has great potential and influences the integration of the individual into the requirements of society. Moreover, the state regulates this process.

The methods of regulation are:

• Ideology . Within the framework of this method, a person rethinks the history of his nation, its place in modern society, as well as problems and prospects. In addition, a person develops values ​​that are important for the consolidation of the nation and are approved at certain stages of development. At the same time, a value system is mandatory for every member of society. They are oriented by basic institutions such as the media, family, and education. So, in order to become part of society, a person must accept all this as his own.
• Institutional . In this case, the state regulates the activities of basic institutions. That is, the education system, parties, media. This is especially important during the transition from traditional to modern society. If the intensity of the processes is too high, then the person simply does not have time to adapt.

Thus, the state has a priority role in the process of managing socialization. This manifests itself on these two levels. The state forms social values ​​and develops basic institutions that allow people to assimilate these same values.

Factors of successful socialization

These are the conditions during the interaction of which the process of socialization occurs. It is customary to distinguish 4 groups of socialization factors:

• megafactors are space, world, planet;
• macro factors - state, people, society;
• mesofactors, which are determined by the conditions of socialization of a large group of people united by place of residence, belonging to the same ethnic group, social group;
• microfactors - family, friends, student or work teams, neighbors, other social microgroups.

All these socialization factors influence a person to one degree or another, ensuring the process of socialization.

It is worth noting that there are other classifications of socialization factors.

A.V. Mudrik divides factors into three groups: macrofactors, mesofactors and microfactors.

In Bronfenbrenner’s classification we find four groups of factors that influence the success of individual socialization:

• The first factor is the microenvironment. This is all that surrounds a person from birth - family, friends, books, toys.
• The second factor is the mesosystem. The relationship between different areas of life, the unification of these areas - the unification of school and family, family and street, etc.
• The third factor is the exosystem. This includes government bodies, administrative institutions and other public organizations.
• The fourth fact is the macrosystem. These are the norms of culture and subculture, worldview positions and ideology that prevail in society.

Personal, environmental and educational factors of socialization are also distinguished:

• Personal factors are the potential and characteristics of a person that regulate his activities, behavior in normal living conditions, and the ability to acquire new social experiences.
• Environmental factors include atypical situations and conditions in which a person finds himself. This could be a new environment or pressure from the team.
• Educational factors are the educational influence that is exerted on a person and regulates the process of his social adaptation.

The success of a person’s social adaptation is determined by his acceptance of social norms and orders, as well as his ability to resist society and life situations that impede self-development and self-realization.

The conditions for successful socialization are the coordinated influence of various social institutions on a person. But nevertheless, society continues to influence people spontaneously, which often leads to problems. In this regard, educational institutions are actively introducing and implementing a program for the education and socialization of students and youth.

Raising a literate and socially active generation is the key to the prosperity of the state as a whole. That is why this problem already requires a search for solutions at the state level.

How do phobias interfere with a person's socialization?

As we have already said, the process of socialization is quite complex. At the same time, some people have a lot of problems with it. The fact is that there is such a condition as social phobia. This is nothing more than fear of society. Accordingly, when a person gets into any group, he becomes uncomfortable. There are other phobias. For example, demophobia is the fear of crowds, and anthrophobia is the general concept of the fear of people. In the latter case, a person feels bad, not only in the company of several people, but even one person already evokes not the best emotions.

Each of these phobias can lead to problems with a person’s socialization. He will close himself off and gradually lose all communication skills. For him, any exit into a public place will be considered a big problem, but without communication he cannot live fully.

So, every person should not be afraid to express their own opinion and the negativity that may ultimately be exerted on them. In addition, it is important not to be afraid to come to meetings and not to avoid communicating on the phone. It may be very difficult at first, but it is important not to give up and try to deal with it. When people don’t communicate with anyone for a long time, they not only lose their communication skills, but their diction also changes. It is difficult for people to formulate their speech correctly. To prevent this from being a problem, constant communication is required.

Social adaptation centers

The diversity of socialization factors and the inconsistency of the impact of social institutions on the individual often provoke problems with social adaptation. This is expressed in a person’s antisocial behavior, leading an antisocial lifestyle, the occurrence of alcohol or drug addiction, etc.

To overcome these problems, today there are centers for social adaptation.

They work to help people fill in gaps and correct socialization deficiencies. Social adaptation centers provide temporary overnight accommodation for people who find themselves without a specific place of residence or occupation. Also, center staff carry out a number of activities to facilitate the adaptation of those people who have lost socially useful connections. They implement a program of education and socialization of the individual through the influence of a complex of factors. The work of the centers takes into account the interaction of all components of human adaptation in society. The centers actively cooperate with all institutions and agents of primary and secondary socialization.

In what areas does socialization take place?

The expansion and deepening of socialization occurs in three main areas:

1) activity (expansion of types of socialization, orientation in the system of each type of activity, i.e. highlighting the main thing in it, understanding it, etc.),

2) communication (enriching a person’s social circle, developing communication skills);

3) self-awareness (formation of an image of one’s own “I” = self-concept, comprehension of one’s social affiliation, social role, formation of self-esteem).

I am a concept - a person’s system of ideas about himself.