social expectations, they are said to have internalized behavioral norms.
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Socialization patterns vary with class, ethnicity, family structure, gender, and birth order. The way people are socialized is therefore
affected by whether they grow up in urban or rural community; whether the speak Bahasa or English at home; whether they worship a mosque
or a church; whether they grow up in a single-parent or a two-parent household; and whether their parents are strict or lenient in their
discipline, among many other factors. According to Eleanor Maccoby, for example, as a result of
socialization, most people acquire a package of attitudes, skills, and behaviors that enable them to avoid a avoid deviant behavior; b
contribute, through work, to the economic support of self and family; c form and sustain close relationships with others; d be able to rear
children in turn.
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3. Forms of socialization
Socialization is complex and multi-dimensional. In many ways, “socialization” is an umbrella concept; it takes in all social contacts and
continues from birth to death. This section will consider the various forms of socialization experienced throughout life.
a. Primary Socialization
Primary socialization occurs from birth to through adolescence. Family is the most important agent of primary socialization. The
socialization in family is about intentional and unintentional, imposed or reciprocal. Parents socialize their children intentionally
in countless ways as they teach them how and what to eat, what to wear, what to play with, what is funny, what is sad, how to address
and treat others, which behaviors are rewarded and which punished,
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Lorne Tepperman, James Curtis, Principles of ……….., p. 60-61.
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Eleanor Maccoby, Trends in the Study of Socialization: Is There a Lewinian Heritage Journal of Social Issue, 1992 no. 2, p. 171.
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and so on. At the same time, unintentional socialization takes place as children learn about power and authority; gender, age, class, and
ethnic differences; love, affection, and intimacy. Furthermore, the family’s status in the community will affect the responses of others
to the child, as well as where and with whom the child will play or go to school.
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b. Secondary Socialization
Secondary socialization is ongoing process after primary socialization. In this socialization, the children interact with persons
outside of the family. In this step, they may face some new experiences that they do not get from family.
In many ways, socialization is a reciprocal process; children learn from their parents, but parents also learn from their children.
Thus, as children learn social interaction from their parents, parents learn how to parent. Reciprocal socialization is not confined to
parents and children. Students learn from teachers, teachers from students. Family members, friends, and co-workers also socialize
one another.
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c. Anticipatory Socialization
Robert K. Merton defined anticipatory socialization as the acquisition of values and orientations found in statues and groups in
which one is not yet involved but he is likely to enter.
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According to Diane Bush and Roberta Simmons, “if individual is prepared ahead of time for a new role, in the sense of
understanding the norms associated with the role, having the necessary skills to carry it out, and becoming aware of
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Lorne Tepperman, James Curtis, Principles of ……….., p. 61.
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Lorne Tepperman, James Curtis, Principles of ……….., p. 61.
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Robert K. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structures New York: Free Press, 1957, p. 438.
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expectations and reward attaches to the role, he or she will move into the new role easily and effectively”.
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4. Characteristics of society
