SOCIALISATION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the last unit, we discussed the problem of deception. Also, the unit served to introduce us to other units in this course. You can now identify channels of communication, explain deceptive non-verbal cues, and list factors influencing deception attempts. .Time is now ripe for us to discuss another interesting and relevant unit: socialization. We will now consider a significant process. Let us take a look at other content you should learn in this unit as specified in the objectives below.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
define socializing;
identify socializing agents; and
specify the values of interpersonal relationships.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Concept of Socialization

At birth, the human baby is entirely dependent on others. It is subject to certain biological pressures such as hunger, thirst, and the need to eliminate waste. This is referred to as physiological needs in psychology. The human baby has no means of avoiding these tensions and may even be unaware of the precise cause of the discomfort. The mother waits upon its needs, communicates in an elementary way, and allays fear. Early in this process, an incipient social relationship is established between the baby and its mother, when the former cries and the latter responds.


The human being, though born with the potential for social life, must nevertheless undergo a long and often arduous process of socialization. He must learn first to live with others and then to participate in his society in satisfying and rewarding ways. This by no means requires the slavish acquisition of conventional values, it does require, however, that some ethics of self-discipline and self-respect be transmitted, not merely for the sake of the social order but for the sake of individual happiness(Alhassan, 2000:180).


For any society to survive, it is necessary, to transmit to all new members the system of shared meanings, language, customs, values, ideas and material goods that are called culture. Socialization refers to the process of growing up into a human being, a process which necessitates contact with other people. It is through this process that the growing child acquires the language and standards of the social group into which it has been born. Research studies indicate that deprivation of human contact in early life inhibits the development of normal social responses. Note that all human beings, except those born with severe physical handicaps, have the inborn capacity to become fully mature members of society but, in order for this capacity to be realized, the child has to have adequate social relationships with others. It is to be noted that social behaviour in humans is not inborn. In a very important sense, we have to “learn” to be human beings. Ogburn and Nimkoff (1964) describe socialization as a process whereby the individual becomes a person.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Will you say that social behaviour in human beings is inherited? Think very well about this. Respond now. Let us continue our discussion.
According to some psychologists, socialization includes the following aspects:
1. Imitation, identification, and role learning.
2. Acquiring internal controls or conscience, the self-concept; and social roles.
3. Development of various behaviour systems of dependency, aggression, and social affiliations.
4. The relation of the social structure to the processes of socialization, and to their effects (Mukherjee, 1978).

It is important for you to note that the term socialization is broad enough to cover all types of learning. In brief, these include the following:
1. Fundamental psychomotor skills, for example, walking.
2. The communication skills, for example, the ability to use a language. 3. Acquiring to use a language.
4. Other patterns of behaviour expected of an adult, for example,
independence from the mother and development of an awareness of
and control over self.
5. Social skills, for example, the art of conducting oneself among a group of strangers.
6. Ideas, attitudes and values either of the dominant group in society. 7. Occupational skills, for example, the ability to teach in a secondary school.
8. Ideas regarding specific status, for example, the rights and obligations of a husband (Datta, 1986:55).

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Will you say socialization and learning are one and the same process? Think before you respond.
Let us go on with our discussion.

3.2 Socializing Agents

The first point you must note in this section is that socialization is not accomplished, willy-nilly, in accordance with personal tastes. Every society has developed specific ways and means of accomplishing it. It may well be that probably all institutions are pertinent to the socialization processes because in all, new members are to be taught the do’s and don’ts of the established order. Obviously, some of them are more important than others to the individual’s induction into the value of his society. The major socializing agents are:


a. The Family: Everywhere, the family plays a central role in socializing the child. Typically, parenting includes a major responsibility for socialization. It is in the family that the child is

born, it is there he spends his early years and learns his first language. The family is the single most important agency for the inculcation of these basic social values and character traits, which make .for the child’s eventual responsible participation in the life of society. It is important for you to note that the recent history of the family represents a gradual but inexorable loss of function and importance in the larger community, but the job of child rearing still belongs to it. The family is of course responsible for the physical and material care of the young ones, but to it is also entrusted their moral
education. When things go wrong, as in juvenile delinquency, common sense tends to place the onus squarely upon the family and to look for shortcomings in the home. The ultimate origin of personality  and character is traced to the dynamics of the parent-child relation, and early childhood experiences within the home is seen as the most important single factor in formation of basic adult attitudes and behaviour. Because family life revolves around basic needs and satisfactions, both
physical and emotional, parents are in a position to inflict painful deprivations and thereby exercise considerable influence in moulding their children.
b. The School: Beginning with nursery school, the family now relinquishes the child to other people and other more impersonal institutions for a good part of the day and for almost the entire period of youthful dependence. The relinquishing of the family’s educative
role to the school is most important during adolescence and early adulthood, when the problem of relating to society and to people outside the family becomes acute. There are teachers at all levels of
the educational systems, and there are all those who are involved in the production of books, magazines, newspapers and television programmes all contributing individually and severally to the socialization process.
c. The Peer Group: Although relationship with parents and the school is important to the child, it is not the only influence in the socialization process. In recent years, psychologists have become
interested in peer relationships. Peers are children of roughly the same age who share similar interests. Children all over the world form peer groups. The young spend most of their time with one
another, and this strengthens their tendency to the approval of their peers at least as much as that of their family. When family ideas are in sharp conflict with peer group ideas, this creates tension between parents and children and tends to reduce the effectiveness of parental control.
The interrelatedness of age-mates in peer groups has come to have a new significance in modem society. Where the family is the important unit of social participation, relation cuts across the
generations. A peer group shelters and protects its members. It gives them psychological sustenance by meeting emotional needs of affection, understanding and acceptance. It invests individuals with
specific status. Since it comprises a small number of persons of equal rank, a peer group can operate as a medium of communication. In all these, it is not surprising that a peer group provides effective
learning situations. It transmits the culture of society in a diluted form, it teaches certain roles and social expectations, and conditions the attitudes and sentiments of its members. Datta (1986) observes that in Africa, much of the peer group socialization was achieved traditionally through the age set system where it was prevalent, though l in most other societies, peers had considerable influence on shaping the behaviour of young adolescents.
d. The Mass Media: The mass media print and electronic are playing an increasingly important role in the socialization process. One index of this is the increasing numbers of newspapers, magazines,
periodicals, and comic booklets that seem to be enjoying increasing patronage. The influence of radio is most pervasive, especially after the introduction of the battery-operated set. The radio has now
penetrated remote corners of every country in Africa. It is cheap to operate, and programmes in many indigenous languages are available. Hachten (1971) reported that the number of transmitters in
the whole of Africa jumped to 370 in 1964 from 151 in 1955. During the same period, the number of radio receivers increased from 350,000 to about 12 million. We can rightly say that the expansion of broadcasting is a measure of its popularity as a source of information. Remember that religious authorities have responsibilities for certain aspects of socialization. So do many others. You deserve commendation for active participation in our discussion. Now, we must go on.

3.3 Sociometry

Successful school work depends, among other things, on such characteristics as the pupil’s personal adjustment, attitudes, and social or group skills. It is therefore important that teachers know how to measure and interpret these personal and social factors and to use the test results in planning classroom activities. Sociometry is the study of patterns of interrelationship existing in a group of people. Essentially, from the measure of interrelationships it is possible to draw up a chart that will give a pictorial representation of some aspects of interpersonal relations. The teacher could generate sociometric data by asking the pupils different questions: for example, the teacher can ask the children to ‘list the person you would like to invite to your birthday party; ‘list the person you would like to sit next to you in class; whom do you prefer as the class game’s master’. The children may be requested to make a single choice or two or three choices. The teacher obtains different kinds of information about the pupil’s preferences from these differently focused questions. For purpose of illustration, suppose we ask twelve children, ‘Whom would you like to sit next to in class?’


Each child is allowed two choices. The teacher charts the answers she receives on a specially constructed table. The teacher then transfers the information from her table to a sociogram

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, yon have learnt significant processes. You have therefore learnt the concept of socialization. In addition, you have learnt agents of socialization and sociometry.

5.0 SUMMARY

What you have learnt in this unit concerns a significant process. You also learnt concept of socialization. In addition, you learnt major socialization agent: the family, for school, the peer group and the mass media. Sociometry is the study of patterns of interrelationship existing in a group of people.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT 

1.  How will you define socialization? 
2.  List 4 socializing agents? 
3. State 3 types of learning covered by socialization?