The process of socialisation is made possible through the working of different social institutions. Social institutions have been created by the society to perform specific functions. These institutions are what are called agents of socialisation. Another sociological terminology for the agents is the contexts of socialisations. These contexts include; the family, religious institutions, the school, the peer group and the mass media.
The role that these different contexts play in the socialisation of an individual is briefly outlined below:
1.The family
The family is the primary and most important agent that an individual is socialised in. The kind of upbringing that a child is exposed to at this level prepares him or her for the nature of interaction with other socialising agents in adult life. The family also lays the foundation for the basic personality, attitudes, values and moral orientations in ones life. The main socialisers at this level are the parents and older siblings. Within the traditional African set up where these relations are string, other members of the extended family provide an alternative socialisation context.
The nature of the learning that takes place at the family level includes: Development of social skills, basic psycho-motor skills such as walking ,value orientations, such as respect of authority, weaning and toilet training practices and performance of the domestics chores along the lines of gender
The family home environment has been correlated positively with ones future academics and professional achievements. Parents attitudes such as the aspirations they have for their children are operational in kind of socialisation that takes place at home. Circumstance such as the physically environment also stimulate the development of the child towards a preferred direction. Socialisations at a family level therefore lay the ground childs future mental and moral development.
Certain developments that have taken place are however, altering the role of family in socialisation. These developments include the increasing emergence of the nuclear family, over the traditional extended family, single parenthood, childless families, gay and child headed families. The diversity in the family composition is often gaining constitutional backing. The implication of the diversity is that social values transmitted by the families are becoming more and more relative, diverse and individualised. The perception of the family unit representing accepted social values and passing the same to the young generations is being eroded. These developments at a family level affect The effectiveness of other socialisation contexts to harmoniously execute their social functions.
2.The peer-group
A peer group is an association of the individuals who fall within the same age group. In the primary school, such individuals in most cases happen to belong to the same class and share other extra curricular interests. Individuals who share the same professional inclinations can also form peer group. In this case, they form an association of professional peers.
As a socialisation agent, a peer group is important in terms of approving or disapproving and thereby building the personality and character of its members. A peer group operates along certain guidelines that members have to conform to. The guidelines are drawn from socially accepted values germane to that age group or professional field.
Non-conformity to the guidelines may lead to expulsion from the membership. The socialisation functions of peer group entails :Serving as information bureaus for members. Information that one learns here range from lifestyles, educational aspirants, sex education and sex roles in the society, providing a platform where the young practice adult roles responsibility, respect and leadership, learning about unity and collective behaviour, development of self-esteem and transmitting acceptable social values or developing new ones for their members
Peer groups may however be a source of negative social influence. Peer pressure may overwhelm an individual to engage in socially unacceptable behaviour such as drugs abuse
3.The school
The school is the first institution for socialisation that an individual is exposed to. It is at the school level that the child interacts with the peers, teachers who represent social convention and the official school curriculum. It is also at the school that the teachers formally take over the role of the Childs parents. Both formal and informal froms of socilaisation take place at school. As a symbol of modernity and cgane, some values that the child learns at school may conflict with the knowledge acquired at the family level. The range of knowledge and ideas that a child is socialised iinto at the school include: Formal knowledge related to the basic intellectual skills like reading, writing and other cognitive skills, knowledge pertaining to ones culture and society, each subject of the curriculum tacitly has the knowledge related to certain cultural values and social skills that will enable children to function as adult members of society in later life
Socialisation at the school level is made possible through three avenues these are :The content of the formal school curriculum, the values and attitudes of the teacher and how they are communicated to the child and the degree to which teachers act as a positive role models for the children
4.The mass media
Mass media refers to the various networks of communication, which includes newspapers, television, radio, cinema and the internet. Besides the overt services and recreation function of the mass media, they covertly influence peoples attitudes and experiences in the various ways.
More often, the mass media represents popular culture and is used to shape opinions and transmit ideas of certain groups. It is on this basis that in Africa radio and television have been used by governments for the political propaganda. In more positive ways, socialisation about the youth sexuality, new ways of doing economic activities such as farming and forms of moral socialisation are done in Africa through the community radios, local newspapers in vernacular and to lesser degree television.
The mass media can however have a negative influence especially on the youth. This is in so far as some media carry hidden messages. Youth violence has for example been a consequence of television programmes. Adverts that glorify cigarette smoking and other drug related machismo have tended to influence the youth to forms of drug abuse. The American gangster rap music, with its associated forms of youths defiance has negatively socialised African youths in the urban areas. Some media can be biased towards certain values and use language and symbols that are openly exists. This contributes to gender inequalities and stereotypes in the society. Media can also be a conveyor of cultural imperialism. The American pop culture as presented on television and the internet has socialised the youth in the developing societies to imitate the values that are divergent from those of their societies
5.Religious Societies
The religious societies include the churches, mosques and other traditional religious institutions. Religious societies have been used in all societies to socialise the young and the adult members on the accepted moral values and moral standards. Some of the religious sects today however indoctrinate members to accept certain values which in the extreme lead to dangerous fanaticism. There have been cases where religious cults have persuaded their members into suicide with the hope of another pure life.
6.Education Culture and Socialisation
What is the relationship between the three concepts; education, culture and socialisation? Broadly defined, education is a process through which a new born individual becomes an integrated member of the society. One becomes an integrated member of the society by accepting and confronting to the culture of that society. Education is the main avenue through which a societys culture is transmitted form one generation at another. At the same time through the development intellect and creativity, education lays the foundation for social and cultural change. It is through the education process that the members of the society acquire the knowledge a normative systems that require living in society. At this level the process of education can be equated to that of socialisation. That is education is a learning process, a socialisation process.
The relationship between education and culture is therefore in respect that education is the main agent of cultural transmission. At the same time education reflects culture. The corpus of knowledge in the school curriculum is in fact a society's culture. The physical, intellectual and ethical integration of the individual into a complete man is a fundamental aim of education.
Moraa orina answered the question on August 21, 2018 at 12:40