Unit 1 Education And Socialization PDF

UNIT 1 EDUCATION AND SOCIALIZATION Structure Introduction Objectives Meaning and Concept of Socialization 1.3.1 Stages of Socialization 1.3.2 Types of Socialization 1.3.3 Education and Socialization Theories of Socialization 1.4.1 Cooley's...

UNIT 1 EDUCATION AND SOCIALIZATION Structure Introduction Objectives Meaning and Concept of Socialization 1.3.1 Stages of Socialization 1.3.2 Types of Socialization 1.3.3 Education and Socialization Theories of Socialization 1.4.1 Cooley's Theory of Socialization I.4.2 Mead's Theory of Socialization 1.4.3 Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Socialization Agencies of Socialization 1.5.1 Family 1.5.2 Peer Group 1.5.3 School 1.5.4 Mass Media Let's Sum Up Unit End Exercises Answers to Check Your Progress References and Suggested Readings 1. INTRODUCTION In this unit, we shall discuss various aspects of socialization. It includes the concepts, stages and types of socialization. The relationship between education and socialization has been discussed in detail. Another important aspect of this unit is a discussion of some major theories of socialization. Last part of the unit examines the role of different social institutions like family, peer group, school, mass media and as the agencies of socialization. Thus, this unit provides an in-depth understanding of the process of socialization. 1.2 OBJECTIVES After going through this unit, you should be able to: explain the concept of socialization; analyse the stages and types of socialization; discuss major theories of socialization; and describe different agencies of socialization. 1.3 MEANING AND CONCEPT OF SOCIALIZATION At the time of birth, human infant is just a biological organism with only animal needs and impulses. He knows nothing about what we call society or social behaviour. As it grows, under the careful guidance of mother it learns to control bowel movement and regulate hunger. Education and Society: Human child has an innate capacity to learn and to communicate. Therefore, gradually Concepts and PenpCtivesit learns the group-defined ways of behaviour. It is human company initially in the form of a family and later other social institutions like the community, peer group, schohl etc. educate the human child to be a responsible and useful member of society. The process of learning to internalize the values and norms into its self or the mode of learning to live in society is called the process of socialization. To internalize is to imbibe so deeply that it becomes a part of the individual's behaviour and personality. Therefore, socialization is basically the learning of socially desired values, norms and roles by the members of a particular group or society. It may be defined more comprehensively as a life-long process of inculcation whereby an individual learns the principles, values and symbols of the social system in which he participates and the expression of those values and norms in the roles he enacts. The above discussion leads us to infer some important characteristics of socialization: i) It is a life long process. ii) It helps in the inculcation of principles, values and symbols of a social system. iii) It enables a person to enact certain roles. iv) The roles that one enacts are in accordance with what he has learnt form the process. v) The roles a person enacts are the expressions of his social nature. vi) The development of the social nature enables the person to participate in social life. vii) The nature of what one communicates in society is determined by the influence of one's interaction with the society. viii) Most human behaviour is learned, not instinctive. The capacity of the child to learn and to internalize is called the plasticity of human nature. 1.31 Stages of Socialization 1 The socializing agent does not try to teach every thing at once. He concentrates on one task or on a few tasks at a time. Moreover, the process of accomplishing any one of the aims of socialization is gradual. Social scientists have earmarked four different stages of socialization from infancy to adulthood. These are: i) The oral stage ii) The anal stage. iii) The oedipal stage, and \ iv) Adolescence. At the first stage the infant builds up fairly definite expectations about feeding time, and he learns to signal his pressing needs for care. During this stage, the infant is not involved in the family as a whole. He is involved only in the subsystem consisting of himself and his mother. \ The anal stage of socialization covers the period between first and third year of child's life. Toilet training is the main focus of this stage. During this stage the chjld internalizes two roles- hisher own and that of hisher mother, now clearly separate.The child receives love and care and gives love in return.  -", The third stage extends from about the fourth year to puberty. During this stage the Education and Socialization child becomes a member of the family as a whole. The child identifies itself with the social role ascribed to himiher on the basis of hisker sex. The fourth stage begins roughly at puberty. At this stage young boy or girl wants to be freed from the control of parents. The 'crisis' of this period is precisely the strain produced by much greater demands for independence. By the time the individual attains maturity major part of socialization is over, though it continues for whole of the life. 1.3.2 Qpes of Socialization All types of socialization may be classified into two broad groups, viz. primary socialization and secondary socialization. This division is based on the primary and secondary needs of individuals. The basic physical needs such as thirst, hunger etc. are called primary needs while secondary needs are those which emerge to meet primary needs e.g. the need for learning skills to earn livelihood. Family satisfies the basic needs of human beings, therefore, it is called primary institution where as a school is a secondary social institution because it meets the derived needs of the children. The parents are primary socializing agents of the child whereas the school teachers are the secondary socializing agents. Inculcation of norms and values within the family is called primary socialization while the process of imbibing norms, values and behavioural patterns of school may be called secondary socialization. Primary socialization takes place in infancy and childhood. This is the most crucial stage of socialization as the child learns basic behaviour pattern at this stage. Generally secondary socialization starts from the later stage of childhood and goes up to maturity. However the process of socialization never stops in life. The school, peer groups and other institutions in which I a person is placed in life play the role of socializing agents. In the modem societies, where the social mobility of individuals and groups takes place more frequently, individual's loyalty to a particular social group weakens. He starts emulating the values, norms, behaviour patterns of another group in anticipation of being accepted as its member. This kind of socialization is called anticipatory socialization. It is based on the reference group theory. According to this theory the norms, values and the behaviour patterns of the individual are determined with reference to a particular group or groups. For example individuals who have acquired wealth suddenly try to follow the values a i d life style of upper strata of society. They tend to change their dress, behavior and even their language and custom. For example they start demanding dowry and force their women folk to observeparda on other 'distancing' customs. 1.3.3 Education and Socialization Education is a social process, which prepares individuals to lead a meaningful and dignified life. Together with other social forces it plays an important role in shaping the structure of society. Through education society imparts its knowledge, skill, values and behavioural patterns to its younger generations. Thereby ensuring self preservation and continuity. In this sense education is a process of socialization. At the same time changes in society mould the education system itself and it acquires complexity. Education in this sense is a process, which prepares the members of the society to adapt to the cons;?ntly changing conditions of a society. Two in~por.:rt statements emerge from the above discussion: a) Education is a social process, and b) Education is a process of socialization. Education and Society: Let us examine each one of them in detail. When we say education is a social Concepts and Perspectives process it implies: i) Education occurs in a society and therefore influenced by the society in which it takes place. ii) The social milieu itself educates. iii) School is one of the important social institutions that educate. Its role is influenced by that of others. iv) Education has a social role and is involved in moulding the future society. To say that education is a process of socialization implies: i) Education takes place through social interaction. ii) It is much more than mere instruction. iii) People receive a certain degree of education even if they never enter a school. iv) Formal education is socialization with a deliberate purpose and in a desired direction. Here it is worth mentioning that all learning is not socialization because some of what one learns may not be relevant for participation in given social role. For example learning to take drugs or smoke cigarette may be against the norms of participation in the given social roles among certain social groups. Check Your Progress 1 Notes: a) Write your answer in the space given below. b) Compare your answer with those given at the end of unit. 1) Discuss in three lines what is meant by socialization. -.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2) Match the following: a) Anticipatory socialization (i) Family b) Primary socialization (ii) School c) Secondary socialization (iii) Reference Group 1.4 THEORIES OF SOCIALIZATION Social scientists have tried to analyse the processes of socialization in different ways. In this part we shall discuss some of the major theories in regard to the processes of socialization. 10  1.4.1 Cooley's Theory of Socialization Education and Socialization Charles H. Cooley in his celebrated work Human Nature and Social Order (1902) propounded his concept of 'Looking glass' and explained how the self of an individual develops and socialization takes place. He emphasized the role of primary groups and social interaction, especially communication, in the formation of personality. Thus, self develops within a context of social relationship. Self and others do not exist as mutually exclusive facts, therefore, self is social. Cooley's important concept of the reflected or 'looking-glass' self has three basic elements, which are involved in the development of self and formation of personality. These are: i) The imagination of our appearance to the other person, ii) The imagination of his judgment of that appearance, iii) Some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification. Cooley argues that social interaction or communication plays an important role in the development of individual's personality and hisher behaviour pattern. During interaction with people, the child remains conscious of how others perceive hisher behaviour towards them. On the basis of their judgment the child develops a feeling about himself1 herself. It may be a feeling of pride, if the behaviour is appreciated, or of mortification, if the behaviour is denounced by the people. Regular condemnation of child's behaviour may develop an insipid and introvert personality in himlher while continuous appreciation leads to the development of a confident and extrovert personality. Thus, social self depends on the social interaction. Individual's values, ideas, attitudes and habits are shaped by the ideas and attitudes of the people of the surrounding with whom helshe interacts. This is the base of hisher socialization. The primary group, according to Cooley's plays a central role in socialization. Primary groups are characterized by intimate, face-to face association, direct cooperation and conflict, a relatively free play of personality and of sentiment. Though primary groups are present in all social organizations according to Cooley, the family, play group and neighbourhood play crucial role in the process of socialization. Cooley called these groups primary because they are the nursery of human nature, providing the individual with his earliest and most complete experience of social unity. This group experience gives rise to social ideals such as the spirit of service, kindness, adherence to social norms etc. /I 1.4.2 Mead's Theory of Socialization , Cooley's theory of socialization as we saw earlier, is based on human imagination, , whereas George Herbert Mead explains socialization in the light of resulting 'acts' of this consciousness. Mead started his theory with two basic assumptions: (i) The ". I biological frailty of human organisms force their cooperation with each other in group i context in order to survive. (ii) Those actions within and among human organisms that facilitate their cooperation, ensure their survival. Mead further argues that the human being learns those behavioural patterns that provide gratification; and the most important type of gratification is adjustment to social context. Mind, self and other unique features of human being evolve out of efforts to adjusts and consequently survive in the social environment. In his view society could survive only from the capacities for mind and self among the individuals. Thus, the capacities for mind, self and society are intimately connected. Mead recognized that the unique feature of human mind is its capacity to use symbols or language to designate objects in the environment. The focus of Mead's theory is on Education and Society: how this capacity first develops in infant. Mind arises out of a selective process in Concepts and Perspectives which an infant's initially wide range of random gestures are narrowed as some gestures which elicit fovourable reaction from parents. Gradually, gestures begin to denote same meaning to all the persons interacting with each other. Gestures that have such common meaning are termed by Mead conventional gestures. These conventional gestures increase the capacity of organism to adjust to one another and assume the perspective of those with whom they must cooperate for survival. By being able to put oneself in another place or to 'take the role of others' the probability of cooperative interaction acquire a new level of efficiency. Thus, when an organism develops the capacity to understand conventional gestures, to employ gestures to take the role of others and to imaginatively rehearse alternative lines of action, Mead believes, has 'mind'. Mead emphasises the development of 'self' for the proper socialization of individuals. He points out that just as humans can designate symbolically other actors in the environment, so they can symbolically represent themselves as an object. The interpretation of gestures, then, cannot only facilitate human cooperation, but it can also serve as the basis for self assessment and evaluation. As organisms mature, the transitory 'self-images' become crystallized into a more or less stabilized 'self- conception' of oneself as a certain type of object. With these self-conceptions, individual actions take on consistency, since they are now mediated through a coherent and stable set of attitudes, dispositions or meanings about oneself as a certain type of person. According to Mead there are three stages in the development of self. The initial stage of role taking in which self-images can be derived is termed 'play'. The child identifies with the role of what Mead calls 'particular others' such as father, mother etc. Later by virtue of biological maturation and practice at role-taking, organism becomes capable of taking the role of several others. Mead termed this stage 'game' because it shows the capacity to derive multiple self-images from and to cooperate with, a group of individuals. engaged in some coordinated activity. In this process 'I' converts into 'Me'. So long as the child has not identified or understood the roles of others helshe is only '1'. With his/ her identification with other 'I' gets converted into 'Me'. This conversion of '1' into 'Me' signifies the socialization of the child. The final stage in the development of self occurs when an individual can take the role of the 'generalized other' or 'community of attitudes' evident in a society. At this stage, individuals are seen as capable of assuming the overall perspective of a community, or general beliefs, values, and norms. Thus, it is this ever-increasing capacity to take roles with an ever-expanding body of others that marks the stages in the development of the self. According to Mead, the individual and society are inseparable. Society represents the organized interactions among diverse individuals. Thus, the individuals creates social environment. On the other hand only society makes individual a human being. As we have already seen, the self of the individual develops from interaction with others in society and interaction is not possible without communication. The communication is based on symbols with shared meanings. 1.4.3 Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Socialization According to the Sigmund Freud's theory of socialization the formation of human personality is an outcome of the interplay of biological, psychological and social faculties of the individual. While explaining the behaviour pattern and personality traits of individual, Freud formulated three basic principles. These are:  Every conscious action has a cause in the unconscious, Education and i) Socialization ii) That conscious is simply a puppet in the hands of unconscious, and iii) That whatever one becomes as an adult was determined to be so in hisher early childhood Thus, according to Freud's principles a major part of human personality is formed in the childhood and during rest of the life it is elaborated and sharpened. In this sense Freud reiterates the role of primary socialization in the formation of personality. According to Sigmund Freud the human mind has three main regions: i) Consciousness ii) Preconsciousness iii) Unconsciousness. The conscious region of mind relates the individual with present events and activities in life. Preconscious region stores up memories, which easily enters consciousness. Such a memory can readily be called to mind, for example say the word school and you will recall an incident or a series of incidents from your school days. The unconscious region is the store house of all the repressed desires and bitter experiences which are unacceptable to the conscious mind. These repressed desires come to the level of conscious either in a disguised form or in psychoanalysis. Unconscious is the predominant content of the mind in relation to the amount, which is in the consciousness at any given time. The conscious is comparable to foam on the surface of the vast and deep sea of unconscious. It is much more powerful, ruthless, illogical and pleasure seeking than the consciousness. For a more comprehensive analysis of human personality, in his later writings Freud shifts his emphasis from the regions of mind to the structure and function of personality. It is the interaction among 'id', 'ego' and 'superego' that gives a definite shape to the individual's personality. Conscious Preconsciousness Diagramatic Representation of the Structure of Mind Id is the source of mental and instinctive energy. It is seated in the unconscious and works on 'pleasure principle'. It believes only in what Freud calls 'true psychic reality'. It knows nothing about rules, regulations, values and moralities and never bothers about the objective reality in society. The main objective of id is to avoid pain and discharge tension. It must satisfy its needs, even if it has to arrange imaginary means such as 13 Education and Society: nocturnal dreams. But such imaginary means is not really capable of reducing tension. Concepts and Perspectives For example, image of food cannot satisfy hunger. The second important system of personality is ego. As we have already seen, at birth a child is capable of only a few instinctive responses. With gradual physical and psychological development and due to some references from others the child develops the sense of 'I' 'My' 'Mine' and 'Me'. This is the beginning of the development of 'ego'. It occupies a central place in the structure of the psyche and is seated in all the three regions of mind. The basic difference between 'id' and 'ego' is that id knows only subjective reality of the mind, whereas the 'ego' differentiates objective reality i.e. concrete external reality from the subjective reality i.e. imaginary reality. In order to avoid tension the 'id ' desires to satisfy needs immediately, whereas 'ego' restrains the satisfaction of needs unless appropriate object of satisfaction is available. The ego decides what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable or what is possible what is not possible. The action of an individual is guided by the 'ego' in choosing from among these alternatives on realistic principle. The 'superego' is the third and the last system of personality. It is described as the earliest moral code of the child and in this sense it is the direct antithesis of id. Superego in also seated, like 'id' in the unconscious region of mind. It represents the values and norms of the society, which the child has internalized through the process of socialization. It strives for neither real, nor imaginary real. It concerns itself with what is ideal. Its main function is to decide whether the chosen object of satisfaction of needs is right or wrong from the point of view' of the moral principles of society. In this whole structure of psyche ego occupies a central place because it is expected to maintain a balance between the two opposite forces of 'id' and 'superego'. As we have already seen 'id' demands direct instinctual satisfaction whereas superego as an internalized moral code checks the flow of id into undesirable and unapproved channels. According to Freud the sole purpose of psycho-analysis is to strengthen the ego. A weak ego is prone to all disorders. If ego femains weak and id becomes stronger then the result would be an antisocial behaviour, delinquency or crime. If superego starts dominating the psyche the result is suppression, leading to neurosis. Therefore, for the development of a healthy and socially useful personality it is necessary to have proper balance between id, ego and superego. Check Your Progress 2 Notes: a) Write your answer in the space given below. b) Compare your answer with those given at the end of unit. 3) What are the three basic elements of Cooley's theory of socialization?................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4) Match the following:. a) Cooley i) Symbolism b) Freud ii) 'looking glass' self c) Mead iii) Psycho-Analysis  Education and 1.5 AGENCIES OF SOCIALIZATION Socialization The child is socialized by several social agencies or institutions in which he or she participates, viz, hislher family, school, peer group, neighbourhood etc. 1.5.1 Family The family is the smallest unit of society and represents it in all respects. It is the locus of early socialization or the internalization of basic values of culture because the child is most plastic and exposed for longest in dependent relationship with parents. The basic requirements involved in walking, talking, playing with other children, eating, toilet training and generally dealing with adults are learned in an informal way. The family is also the source of internalization of the basic cultural vocabulary of the child. The learning of roles in the family takes place with affective orientation of the parents towards the child. Parents and siblings as role models invoke less anxiety because the family situation offers security to the child. In primitive society family used to be the chief seat not only of socialization but also of education. Learning of roles was hereditary, and the household being also the plkce of work, all arts, skills and crafts were learnt under the guidance of the elder kinsmen. The stability of occupational roles, lack of social mobility and kin bound relations of work and trade made the education system of peasant society homogenous and static and the process of socialization simple and smooth. With the growth of an industrial society the established order of peasant society is broken. The family structure also changes and its size becomes smaller with a predominance of nuclear and neo local types. The chief mechanism of socialization such as learning, adjustment etc., becomes more complex as a number of opposite standards of values of morality and of patterns of life prevail in the same community, some times even in the same family. The role of the family in the socialization process and education is now taken over more and more by other agencies, mainly i the school. 1.5.2 Peer Group Children like to play and move about in group of their age peers. This group life is very important for them and has considerable influence on the development of their self-concepts. Being in a group gives them confidence and a sense of security. Being accepted by a group builds up their self-confidence. Particularly those who are popular learn to think positively of themselves. In playing together children learn to cooperate. They learn to adjust their needs and desires to the behaviour of peers. In a very real sense the child begins to develop a sense of self as distinct from the family. As the child develops a social self helshe also learns to participate in the cultural norms and practices of childhood. He or she learns many things from slightly older members of the child peer group. For example, the specific rules of many childhood street games are learned, not from adults who still might remember them, but from older children. The same can be said for many rhymes, myths, tales etc. Thus, peer influences begin before school intrudes and continues with varying degrees of importance for the rest of life. The norms, values and expectation of the peer goups of late childhood and adolescence tend to compete or even conflict with those of the family. Behaviours that are deemed proper within the family are at times incompatible with those expected by the peer group of adolescents like shops lifting or experimenting with drugs. 15 , Education and Society: 1.5.3 School Concepts and Perspectives In modem industrial society the school system has emerged as one of the most potent agencies of socialization. Schools offer two contexts for the students. The first is the formal context of the classroom, wherein the context of socialization is decided by the prescribed curriculum. The second context is informal and can be perceived in the interpersonal relationship of students with teachers and those among the students. Talcott Parsons (1959) in his essay the 'School Class as a Social System' argues that school as a social system performs four important functions simultaneously. i) ~ m a n c i ~ a t i oofn the child from family. ii) Internalizationof social values and norms, at a higher level than as available in the family. iii) Differentiation of the school class in term of actual achievement. iv) The selection and allocation of human resources into the adult role system. By going through this process the child acquires the values of industrial society like achievement orientation, discipline, liberalism and rationality. By and large socialization and elementary formal education in India have been consistent processes in regard to the basic value, because at the family and school level, the dominant orientation in socialization remains authoritarian. But at the level of college and the university, students suddenly experience a new freedom and responsibility. They find it difficult to cope with it since the dependency feeling due to early authoritarian socialization in the family and school still remains stronger. The result is recurrent mass behaviour and lack of self-consciousness in Indian students.\ 1.5.4 Mass Media In modem society the means of mass communication such as television, radio, cinema, newspaper, books and audio-video cassettes have become an integral part of life. They play a very important role in the socialization process of their viewers, readers and listeners. These mass media, especially the television and radio, simultaneously convey same message to nation wide audience. Therefore, its impact on the process of socialization assumes greater significance. The most important thing about mass media is the message that is conveyed or images that are projected. For example in the context of gender and socialization one can examine the image of female portrayed by mass media or in the context of the rural population one can examine the relevance of the programmes for the villagers, which is made for the consumption of urban middle class. Another important aspect of mass media, especially television and radio, is that they generally express official values or message. Television has some effect on another agency of socialization i.e. home because it is generally viewed at home together with parents and siblings. It can propagate values in contradiction to those championed by particular family or community. Parents respond to this in several ways such as strict control of viewing and not allowing to watch certain programmes. However, the child's peers in neighbourhood or in the school influence him by discussing specific serials or programmes. Though there is no rigorous scientific study available on how much the average child learns from television, its impact is considered important. Bringing the whole world  into home for several hours everyday has created a childhood environment of sight Education and and sounds never before experienced in the history of mankind. Socialization Check Your progress 3 , Notes: a) Write your answer in the space given below. b) Compare your answer with those given at the end of unit. 5 ) Discuss the role of family as an agent of socialization in about five lines................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6) According to Talcott Parsons four major functions of school system are................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1.6 LET'S SUM UP In this unit we have studies various aspects of socialization. We began with a discussion of the meaning and concept of socialization, in which we understood stages and types of socialization and its relation with education. We examined major theories of socialization. The role of various social institutions, such as family, peer group, I school and mass media has also been examined. Thus, this unit gives an understanding of socialization. 1.7 UNIT END EXERCISES 1) Discuss the concept of socialization. What are its main characteristics? 2) How primary socialization in different from secondary socialization? Elucidate your answer with suitable examples. 3) Which one of the three theories of socialization that you have studied gives better insight into the process of socialization? 4) Compare the roles of family and school as agencies of socialization. rI 5) Discuss the impact of mass media on the socialization of the child. 17 Education and Society: Concepts and Perspectives 1.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS 1) Socialization is the process of learning of socially desired values, norms and roles by the members of a particular group or society. Learning to live in society is called socialization. 2) a) Anticipatory socialization : Reference group b) Primary socialization : Family c) Secondary socialization : School 3) i) Imagination of our appearance to the other person, ii) The imagination of his judgement of that appearance. iii) Some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification. 4) a) Cooley : 'Looking glass' self. b) Freud Psycho-analysis c) Mead Symbolism. 5) Family is the locus of early socialization or the internalization of basic values of culture. It is also the source of internalization of the basic cultural vocabulary of the child. The learning of roles in the family takes place in an informal way with affective orientation of the parents towards the child. 6) i) Emancipation of the child from family. ii) Internalization of social values and norms at a higher level than as available in the family. iii) Differentiation of school class in terms of actual achievement. iv) The selection and allocation of human resource into the adult role system. 1.9 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS Curtis, James E. and John W. Petras (eds) (1970). The Sociology of Knowledge: A Readel; London: Duckworth. Gore, M.S. and 1.P. Desai (1967). Papers in Sociology of Education in India, Delhi: N.C.E.R.T. Ottaway, A.K.C. (1953). Education and Society, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 1 Shukla, S. and Krishna Kumar (eds) (1985). Sociological Perspectives in Education, Delhi: Chanakaya Publication. Stub, Holger R. (1975). The Sociology of Education, Illinois: The Dorsey Press. I Turner, J.H. (1987). The Structure of Sociological Theory, Jaipur: Rawat Publication.