The Socialisation Process

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The Socialisation Process The Socialisation process is the way by which we learn acceptable behaviour in our culture. This process involves social control, as it is an attempt by others to shape the way we behave. As we develop certain values and adopt particular norms, this too becomes a form of social control, as we place limits on what we consider to be acceptable or "normal" behaviour. The Socialisation process continues throughout life and has many agents of socialisation. The first agents we usually encounter are our families. This primary socialisation teaches us the basic social skills for life. Generally the values we learn from our parents stay with us throughout life. Of course there are always some that "rebel" against what they have been taught. As a child grows and develops they will encounter new agents this usually happens when a child starts school. This secondary socialisation builds on the family values, whilst introducing new social skills, for example acceptable behaviour within larger groups. These rules become "norms" that are carried with people throughout life. Failure to conform with the expectations of others is met by social sanctions, for example, in school classroom a child that is seen as disruptive would be removed from the classroom, this would be an attempt to teach the child that behaviour that disrupts the class is is not acceptable within that particular social group. This social control will be used to shape the children into acceptable members of the school society. Throughout secondary socialisation children are often faced with an informal form of social control, this happens when the child does not meet the expectations of the peer group, for example, a child that does not wear the "right clothes" may not be accepted into a certain social group. The accepted norms of a group of teenagers for example may not necessarily be acceptable behaviour for adult life, therefore people are continually adapting their behaviour throughout life. The final stage of socialisation is adult socialisation, this normally focuses on work, but continues with social peer groups.

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