Citizenship/Global perspectives

Unit 1: Living together

Socialization is the process of acquiring social skills,

cultural norms, and societal customs. Although the

process continues throughout life, socialization plays

a significant role in psychological development during

childhood. Children who are completely deprived of

social contact in their early years may, in some cases,

be unable to develop culturally accepted social skills

as adults.

TYPES OF SOCIALIZATION

Psychologists and sociologists have itemized numerous varieties of socialization, and many theories of

developmental psychology are theories of socialization. For example, Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of

moral development emphasizes the progressive development of moral reasoning through an individual’s

life, primarily due to socialization. Some commonly recognized types of socialization include:

Primary socialization occurs early in a child’s life and is primarily due to the influence of family and close

friends. Through primary socialization, a child learns basic societal norms and customs. Toilet training is

an example of primary socialization.

Secondary socialization refers to the process of learning what is the appropriate behavior as a member

of a smaller group within the larger society. Basically, it is the behavioral patterns reinforced by

socializing agents of society. Secondary socialization takes place outside the home. It is where children

and adults learn how to act in a way that is appropriate for the situations they are in. Schools require

very different behavior from the home, and children must act according to new rules. New teachers

have to act in a way that is different from pupils and learn the new rules from people around them.

Secondary socialization is usually associated with teenagers and adults, and involves smaller changes

than those occurring in primary socialization.

Socialization is a highly complex process that is ongoing. It often occurs without any conscious

awareness. Interacting with friends and family, being told to obey rules, being rewarded for doing

chores, and being taught how to behave in public places are all examples of socialization that enable a

person to function within his or her culture.

SOCIALIZATION IN ANIMALS

Some animals have critical periods of socialization during which they must be socialized to novel stimuli

in order to avoid later fear. For example, dogs who are not sufficiently socialized with dogs or other

animals during puppyhood may never learn to behave appropriately and may react with fear and

aggression every time they see a new animal or person. Other animals, such as ducks, immediately

imprint upon the first thing they see after hatching. This affects future socialization. Konrad Lorenz

famously demonstrated that geese who see a person immediately after hatching may attempt to

socialize with humans, rather than other geese, for the rest of their lives.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIALIZATION

Feral children, or children who have been deprived of social interaction from a very early age and

otherwise neglected, show how important socialization is for developing children. Two girls, Isabelle and

Anna, both of whom were discovered separately in the mid-1900s, were each kept in small rooms until

they were 6 years of age because they were born out of wedlock. Neither girl could speak, though Anna

could communicate with gestures. They both behaved like infants rather than young children and lacked

most of the basic humanizing characteristics, such as speech and the ability to feed and clothe

themselves.

References:

1. American Psychological Association. (2009). APA concise dictionary of psychology.

Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

2. Barkan, S. (2011). The Importance of Socialization. In Sociology: Understanding and changing

the social world (Brief ed.). Irvington, N. Y.: Flat World Knowledge.

3. Harwood, R., Miller, S. A., & Vasta, R. (2008). Child psychology: Development in a changing

society. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

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 Adapted from: https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/socialization

Comprehension activities:

1) What are the two types of socialization according to Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral

development.

…The tow types of socialization are primary socialization and secondary socialization

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2) Complete the following chart with three examples of things that a child learns during the primary

socialization process and three things that we learn during secondary socialization.

Primary Socialization Secondary Socialization

Toilet training Learnhow to act in a way that is appropriate the

Basic societal norms Lerning what is the appropriate behavior .

Children must act according to new rules .

3) Look at the cartoon on page 1. Why do you think it is important to walk dogs during puppyhood?

…it is important to you’re your dogs during puppyhood because they leam how to behave and also sow
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  Childhood : the state or period of being a child
 Deprived: lacking important things like food and water
 Itemized : present as a list of individual items
 Moral : concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavoiour .
 Reinforced : to make something stronger
 Rewarded : something given in exchange for good behavoiour or good work , etc
 Hatching : to (cause an egg to ) break in order to allow a young animal tgo came out
 Feral : existing in a wild state , especially describing an animal that was previously keep