Chapter 3 Becoming

a Member of Society
Unit II The Individual and
Society
 Socialization and
Enculturation
• John Locke, a British
Enlightenment philosopher, said
that the human mind at birth is
nothing but a blank slate, or
tabula rasa.
As a child grows, various experiences
imprint knowledge on his or her mind.
The human mind, for Locke, acquires
information about the outside world
through the senses, and this
information molds and defines a
person’s awareness and view of the
outside world.
Locke definitely did not believe that the
human mind has innate conceptions.
 Socialization
 Refers to the lifelong process of social
interaction through which people acquire
their identities and necessary survival skills in
society. It prepares new members of society
and trains them to think, feel, and act in
appropriate ways.
 Considered the central process of social life.
 Also a process of member recruitment and

replacement.
Examples of socialization
 Child-rearing
 The orientation of a student to his or her new
school
 An initiation to an organization
 Attendance in Sunday school
 Cathecism for Catholics
 Recruitment processes for political parties
 Acquainting an immigrant to significant

aspects of life in his or her new country

The process of socialization
enables a person to gradually
become a self-aware and
knowledgeable human being,
and learn the ways, values, rules
and culture of his or her society.
Socialization is also important in
politics, and a citizen develops and
acquires political ideas, values,
attitudes, beliefs, and opinions
though political socialization, a
process which enables the
development of citizens to function
effectively within a particular
political system.
In the early years of American
sociology, the process of
socialization was equated with
“civilization”. It was assumed
that an unruly human nature or
fierce individualism existed
prior to an individual’s
encounter with society.
Socialization was increasingly
viewed in the context of
internalization.
Internalization refers to the
process of accepting the social
norms, attitudes, roles, and
values transmitted by people and
social groups within society as
one’s own.
This is the view of functionalist
like Talcott Parsons, who
explains that if people failed to
play their expected roles and
behaved “strangely”, there is
incomplete or inadequate
socialization.
However, functionalists do not
consider that socialization might
vary from person to person, or
that individuals might have
needs, desires, values, or
behaviors different from those
that society expects or demands
of them.
The sociologist William
Wentworth has proposed a
synthesized view of
socialization which considers
how factors such as free will,
human autonomy, and social
structures and processes
influence socialization.
The synthesized view
identities three significant
aspects of socialization:
Social context, content and
process, and results.
Social context refers to the
particular circumstances of a society
and consists of its culture,
language, and the social structures
that define social class, ethnicity,
and gender.
Also includes social and historical
events, mechanisms of power and
control, and institutions and
individuals that engage the person
in the socialization process.
Content refers to ideas, beliefs,
behavior, and other information
that are passed on by members
of society to the individual; the
process refers to the methods
of interaction that enable the
content to be given to the
person undergoing
socialization.
Results refer to the outcomes
of socialization, and are
evident when individuals begin
to practice the behaviors,
attitudes, and values that
society considers necessary for
them to function effectively as
its members.
A significant result of
socialization is self-identity,
which refers to the
establishment of a unique
sense of identity and an
awareness of how it relates to
their society and the world.
Anthropologists view
socialization in terms of
becoming familiar with one’s
own culture, and use the term
enculturation to describe the
process of being socialized
into a specific culture.
Through enculturation,
individuals learn cultural
symbols, norms, values, and
language by observing and
interacting with family,
friends, teachers, and the rest
of society.
It is a process that helps
individuals become functional
members of society. Going to
mass, learning the local
language, and attending school
are some concrete examples of
enculturation.
Socialization and Enculturation
go hand-in-hand in instilling in
the individual the accepted
values, norms, and standards of
behavior in society through
social rules on behavior and
laws.
Agents of Socialization and
Enculturation
Socialization and enculturation
processes are the social
groups that people come in
contact and interact with
throughout their lives.
These groups are called
participants or agents of
socialization and enculturation,
and consist of persons, groups,
and institutions that teach
people essential knowledge to
participate successfully in
society.
The most prominent agents
of socialization include the
family, school, peer groups,
mass media, religion, the
state, and social and
historical events.
The Family is the primary agent
of socialization of an individual
upon birth, throughout infancy,
and up to childhood. As the
child matures, the family
becomes an important venue
for social engagement and
political socialization.
Schools have a critical and
active role in socialization,
as their various academic
and social activities mold
students’ beliefs, values,
and attitudes.
Peer groups also reinforce
acceptable behaviors introduced
by the family and school, allow a
certain degree of independence
from family and certain figures of
authority. Peer groups refer to
people who share the same
interests or characteristics such as
age and social background.
Mass media includes forms of
communication such as books,
magazines, newspapers, other print
materials, radio, television, and
movies. It is a powerful agent of
socialization which is widely used by
many institutions and organizations
involved in the use of print and
electronic communication.
Religion and State both religion
and state are considered as the
ultimate sources of authority,
making the church and government
important agents of socialization.
Religion exerts a great influence on
the views of a person, legitimizes
accepted social practices, provides
stability to society, and can even be
sources of social change.
Major Social and Historical Events
Major social and political events can
also be significant socializing forces
for an entire generation. The changes
and developments brought about by
historical events often cause
transformations in the values,
attitudes, and views that define
societies, leading to further changes
in the behavior and traditions of
societies.
Conformity, Deviance, and
Social Control
CONFORMITY
 Process of altering one’s thoughts and

actions to adapt to the accepted

behavior within his or her group or
society. Social psychology considers
conformity as a product of pressure
exerted by the group on the
individual.
Herbert Kelman identities
three types of conformity:

compliance,
identification, and
internalization or acceptance
Compliance refers to the
outward conformity to social
pressure but privately
disagreeing with it.
Identification refers to the
individual adopting a certain
behavior because it enables
him or her to have a
satisfying relationship with
the members of his or her
group
Internalization or acceptance
involves both public
compliance and internal
acceptance of the norms and
standards imposed by the
group.
DEVIANCE
Is defined as a behavior that

elicits a strong negative

reaction from group members
and involves actions that violate
commonly held social norms.
SOCIAL CONTROL and
SANCTIONS
Is defined as any systematic

means and practices used

to maintain norms, rules
and laws; and discourage
deviant behavior.
Sanctions are the most
common means of social
control, and often
employed to address
conflicts and violations of
social norms.
Sanctions can be formal or informal.

Formal sanctions are those

provided for by laws and other
regulations in society.
Informal sanctions are most

commonly imposed by smaller

societies, communities, or groups.
Human Dignity and
Human Rights
Human dignity refers to the idea that a
person has to innate right to be
valued, respected, and treated well.
Human rights are legal, and ethical
principles that consider the human
person as deserving of liberties and
protections by virtue of his or her
human dignity.
Human dignity and human rights are
significant concerns when dealing with
socialization and issues on deviance
and social control
Human rights are founded on natural
rights, which are universal and
inalienable, and are not contingents
on laws, customs, beliefs, or values of
a particular culture. Examples of these
rights are the right to life and
freedom.
Human rights are considered to
have the following characteristics:
They are universal because they

belong to all human beings

regardless of race, religion,
gender, and other characteristics
They are fundamental since they

cannot be taken away from any

human being
They are indivisible as
various rights are interrelated
and given equal importance
They are absolute since
they cannot be qualified and
are considered basic
necessities for living a
genuine life