Socialization
Socialization-The human infant comes into the world as biological organism with animal needs. He is gradually molded into a social being and he learns social ways of acting and feeling. Without this process of molding, the society could not continue, itself nor could culture exist, nor could the individual become a person. This process of molding is called socialization.
Definition of Socialization:
Socialization according to Bogardus it is the process of working together of developing group responsibility of being guided by the welfare needs of the other. According to Ogburn “socialization is the process by which tow individual learns to conform to the norms of the group.”
Socialism and Socialization:
Socialism is theory not a quality or process. It is a theory of the future structure of society. Every person and brand project themselves as socialist Joad had compared socialism to a hat which has lost his shape because every person wears it. Actually socialism is a theory that the means of production exchange and distribution should be owned and controlled either by the state or by other association directly responsible to community. Such ownership will result in more equitable distribution of wealth and give sense of social security as well.
Factors of the process of socialization
Socialization is the process of learning group norms habit and ideals. There are four factors of this process of learning. These are imitation, suggestions, identification and language.
Imitation:
Imitation is copying by an individual the action of another. Mead defines it as “self-conscious assumption of another acts or roles” Thus when the child attempts to walk impressively like his father, swinging a stick and wearing a spectacles, he is imitating. Imitation may be conscious or unconscious, deliberately, perceptual or ideational. In imitation person imitating performs exactly the some activity as the one being performed before him.
Suggestion:
Suggestion is the process of communicating information which has no logical or self evident basis. It may be conveyed through language, pictures or some similar medium. Suggestion influence the behavior, actually propaganda and advertising are based one the fundamental psychological principle of suggestion.
Identification:
In his early age, the child can’t make any distinction between his organism and environment. Most of his actions are random. They are natural reaction of which he is not conscious. As he grows in age he comes to know of the nature of things which satisfied his needs. Such things become the object of his identification. Thus, the toys which he plays or looking at the mother who feeds him become the object of his identification. Through identification he became sociable.
Language:
Language is the medium of social intercourse. It is the means of cultural transmission. At first the child utters some random syllabus which has no meaning but gradually he comes to learn his mother toung. So language plays a vital role in shaping the personality of an individual.
Role of socialization:
The role of socialization in the development of human mentality and behaviour may be shown by citing the two cases of Anna and Isabelle. Anna, an intelligent child was caused to be kept all alone in upstairs room. When removed from the age of nearly six years. Anna could not talk, walk or do anything that showed intelligence. She was expressionless and indifferent to everything. She could not make any move in her own behalf. This show that in the absence of socialization the purely biological resource is too poor to contribute to the development of a complete personality. Communicative contact is the core of socializations.
Isabelle was founds at the age of six and a half year like Anna. She was an intelligent child and had been kept in isolation for that reason. When found she was apparently unaware of relationship of any kind. Her behaviour was comparable to that of a child of six months. Later attempts were made to teach her to speak. At first the task seemed hopeless but lately she responded and ultimately reached we normal level of development by the time she was eight and a half years old. Both this cases shows the role of socialization in personality development. In short socialization is said to be the most important factor in development of personality.