Socialization And Individual Development

Socialization And Individual Development

According to the text, the way we learn to interact with other people is called Socialization. Socialization is defined as "a lifelong process during which we learn about social expectations and how to interact with other people." Nearly all of the behavior that we consider to be 'human nature' is actually learned through socialization. And, it is during socialization that we learn how to walk, talk, and feed ourselves, about behavioral norms that help us fit in to our society, and so much more.

Socialization occurs throughout our life, and these are the most influential agents of socialization - family, school, peers, religion, and mass media. While they all influence us,some are more influential than others at certain stages of development. So, for example...family is the prime agent in childhood, but peer groups take over in adolescence. You can learn about the various agents of socialization beginning on page 78 of the textbook.

For this week's discussion choose a stage of life -- childhood, adolescent, young adult, adult, or senior -- AND tell the class which agent or agents of socialization are most important at that certain stage of human development?