...a sense of belonging. Each society has different values and norms which help to promote unity and coherence. Values are the things we regard as important, true and right. It may differ from individual to individual and also cultures and may be as a result of gender, beliefs and religion. In an African society, a male child is brought up to recognise he is a breadwinner and consequently taught the value of working hard to provide for his family, on the other hand education may be seen as wasted on a female child because she is meant to be provided for by her husband. In such a society education is not valued in females. Values change and evolve because today most societies have accepted the importance of education in both the male and female child. There are still some restrictions in some societies like in Saudi Arabia where women are not allowed to freely mix with men in the work place. Some of the change in values can occur from experiences in the secondary socialisation process. The change will allow for development, growth and modernisation. For instance a traditional Muslim male takes his wife to see a doctor for checkups will insist he wants a female doctor to attend to her. With time he begins to see the gap created by not allowing a female child get an education and as such will be more open to change. Values are important things to us like ethics, human life, privacy, love, religion, honesty, justice, and fairness and so on. In Britain we value our Privacy among other...
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...INDIVIDUALS LEARN GENDER IDENTITY LARGELY THROUGH AGENTS OF SECONDAERY SOCIALISATION. Gender identity is an individual’s private sense and subjective experience of their own gender. This is generally about how an individual is associated into a male or female category. Primary socialisation takes place at the very start of an individual’s life; it is the first experience of socialisation a person will experience. The most dominant agent of primary socialisation is family and is predominantly the most important stage of an individual’s social encounters. During the course of one’s life the influence of the family can decrease, secondary agents of socialisation can become more dominant than primary agents of socialisation. It is possible that secondary agents of socialisation may socialise individuals into a gender identity that different greatly from the gender identity they were socialised into primarily. That can often be the case as an individual grows up they spend less time with their family and more time with secondary agents of socialisation such as peers and in educational institutes. However without initial primary socialisation (with family) secondary socialisations will become increasingly more difficult for an individual and this could cause an increase in criminal activity. As I have explained, during the course of a person’s life an individual can become to be more affected by agents of socialisation other than the family. The majority of children in Britain are...
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...Socialisation is a term used by sociologists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society. There are two types of socialisation; Primary and secondary. Examine the ways in which two of the following agencies may shape the process of socialisation: family; education; mass media; religion. (24 marks) Socialisation is the process of learning norms and values. These are things like manners and ways to behave around others and what behaviour is suitable for your gender. From your birth onwards all individuals go through a process of socialisation during which they learn the norms and values of their society and certain factors will influence your interpretation of society and what norms and values you have been taught. Family is an important agent of socialisation. Family socialisation begins the process through which we learn and develop to be a grown up. For some adults their interaction with family continues in such a close relationship that the family maintains a very dominant role in their on-going socialisation. Most of the time growing up is spent with family and so this is what is called primary socialisation. Through primary socialisation we learn basic norms and values, as well as manners and other suitable behaviours to follow. Things like eating with a knife and fork is a good example. Your family, especially your...
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...Examine the ways in which two of the following agencies may shape the process of socialisation: family, education, mass media, and work. (24 marks) This essay examines the ways in which education and family shape the process of socialisation. Socialisation is the process by which an individual learn or internalise the norms and values of society. There are two types of socialisation: primary and secondary. Primary socialisation occurs largely with family and involves acquiring basic skills and values. Family was chosen to show the formation of primary socialisation. Secondary socialisation refers to the socialisation received later in life through a wide range of people and agencies. They include mass media, education, work and religion. Education was chosen to show the formation of secondary socialisation. Sociologists consider family, specifically the parents as central to primary socialisation. This type of socialisation occurs when we are normally in intimate and prolonged contact with parents. Children learn language and basic norms and values. These can be taught formally but they are more likely to be picked up informally by imitating parents. Parents may use sanctions to reinforce approval behaviour (positive sanctions) and punish unacceptable behaviour (negative sanctions). These processes help children to learn about their role in family and society. Furthermore, a research carried out by Diane Reay (1998) on class and parenting. She made detailed study of 33...
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...There are two main types of Socialisation. There is Primary socialisation e.g. Family. Primary socialisation is the first type of socialisation you will come across. With primary socialisation you know that there are often a lot more barriers to do with behaviour and language. There is also secondary socialisation e.g. Friends. Secondary socialisation is socialisation of which you gain outside of your family; you often act differently in secondary socialisation. In secondary socialisation you will often find that you feel ‘free’ and that you can have more fun and do things that you would often be unable to do. This is because you know from a very young age that there are a lot of barriers in your source of primary socialisation. A good example for this would be swearing; when you are in your primary social group this is often frowned upon, whereas when you are with your secondary social group it is often the norm. Three identified Socio-Economic Factors are: Education, Money/Income and Housing. In infancy education is very important for intellectual development. Education is important through all life stages. It is a known fact that if you have a better education, and attended a well known private school you are more likely to get a well paid job. This is because private schools are known to have smaller classes, so teachers are able to help students better. This could also mean that you have a better general knowledge as you can also learn from friends. It is also known that...
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...able to take care of themselves, let alone an infant. Oxana, only three years old, sought refuge in the dog house in the garden; and she lay down with the dogs. Oxana remained with the dogs for 5 years, and was even fed raw meat and scraps left by her parents. After these 5 years, Oxana was imitating the behaviour of a dog: she was barking, clawing, whining when hurt, growling when feeling threatened and panting. In the following document, I will be discussing under which circumstances Oxana become this way, and the effects of primary and secondary socialisation had on Oxana. What were the primary socialisation effects on her health and well-being? When we are raised by our parents, we naturally replicate the behaviour of our parents; and primary socialisation is especially important because it serves as the groundwork for a child's future development and socialisation. However, as Oxana was raised largely by dogs, she replicated this behaviour. How does this impact Physical Development? Due to Oxana’s environment, it has caused Oxana to become physically underdeveloped. This is because of a multitude of factors. For example; the food she was eating. When we are young, we are fed food by our parents that contain the right amount of nutrients and proteins that will help our bones become strong, and will help us grow. Oxana did not have this. By being fed only raw meat and leftover scraps, Oxana was missing out on key nutrients that would help her to grow. This is...
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...cultures or a group of individuals, they are guidelines on how one should lead their life. Business dictionary http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/values.html [30/09/14] Principles – are norms, values and mores that represent an individual or communities they help you know to morals. They also serve as policies and objectives in government. For example, a principle is having concern for the wellbeing of others. Business dictionary http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/principles.html [30/09/14] Socialisation comes in two forms: primary and secondary. Primary socialisation starts at birth and finishes by the time the child reaches school. For instance, learning to crawl, walk and talk are all taken place during this period, we also learn about the norms in society like manners and how to behave in public . This learning only occurs in the family. Secondary socialisation begins after the age of five until death, this only occurs outside of the family. An example of secondary socialisation is learning to drive. As we get older it takes us longer to learn and understand things, and we learn thing through agents of socialisation. We are controlled in ways; this is called agents of socialisation. This comes in four forms: school, family, peer groups and the media. The family is the most important form as it’s from them we learn about our gender roles, language, habits and beliefs. The next most important is school as they reinforcement the repercussions of misbehaving...
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...the ways in which two of the following agencies may shape the process of socialisation: family; education; mass media; religion. (24 marks) Socialisation is the process of learning social norms and values, these for example, things like manners and ways to behave around people and what behaviour is suitable for your gender. From birth onwards all individuals go through a process of socialisation during which they learn the norms and values of their society and certain factors influence your interpretation of society and what norms and values you have been taught. Family socialisation begins the process through which learn and develop to be the adult persons they become. For some adults, their interaction with family continues in such a close relationship that the family maintains a dominant role in their on-going socialisation. Most of the time growing up is spent with family and so this is what is called a primary relationship, it’s important that we learnt the dos and don’ts from them. However when you get older it becomes less important in the socialisation process as other agencies take over from the family. Comparisons between classes show big differences, for example it has been proven that working class families use more simple sentences whereas middle class use more complex sentences which links to achievements in school, this shows how different class families contribute to family socialisation. Child rearing practices such as nutrition, sleeping and use of toilets...
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...class system is important, meaning that the lower classes work for the upper class; they also view that males are more dominant and are depended upon by women within society. These are all factors that contribute to serving the interests of capitalism. Marxists see all social institutions as serving the interests of capitalism - this includes the family, and they say that it serves the interests of capitalism by maintaining and advocating the class inequality and exploitation by the rich through the primary socialisation of children; the family socialises children into accepting this upper class hierarchy and inequality. The parent’s power over their children gets the children used to the idea that someone is always in charge, which prepares them for working, where they will contribute to capitalism by adhering to orders from their employers. If the children continue to socialise with children of the same class, with similar norms and values, the inequality will continue to be thought of as right and they will socialise their children this way too - carrying the inequalities through multiple generations. However, if children are socialising with different classes in secondary socialisation, they may begin to question the inequality and change how they view this, this may therefore lead them to not want to work for the upper class, or in contrast, they may not want to have the lower classes working for their own benefits of profit. The family is also an important market for the...
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...functionalist definition of a family is a group consisting of two parents and their children living together as one unit; the roles of the family are simply what the family actually provide for both the children and society as a whole. Murdock believes that the nuclear family has four essential functions within society; first key function is socialisation, which suggests that the family is needed to teach the norms and values to children to help integrate them into society, before they move onto secondary socialisation within education and later life. The second function is sexual; Murdock views this as an important part of the family because a healthy sex-drive is a key to reducing family disruption as the parents will be less likely to have affairs, and therefore helping to maintain a stable family structure. The third function is reproduction; this allows for the next generation of society to be born, which is essential as it helps the continuity of society. The last function is economical so the family can provide food, shelter, etc., for the children and the other members. Although Murdock’s theory is based on the nuclear family, he does see how other family types can work within society. However, the main criticism of Murdock’s research is that it is mostly based on patriarchy in the sense that he believes the males in the nuclear family should go out to work and be the main source of income, whereas the woman should stay at home to be the ‘housewife’ and look after the children...
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...Functionalists take a consensus view of the role of education. They see it as performing three important functions; socialisation into the shared culture, equipping individuals with work skills for the division of labour, and selection for work roles. Education is organised on meritocratic principles and reward pupils’ ability, not their social background. Functionalists take a very positive view of education. They see it as a form of secondary socialisation essential to the maintenance of society. it performs vital social functions, including transmitting shared norms and values and equipping pupils with the knowledge, skills and habits needed for work. School also acts as a bridge between the family and the world of work, reflecting the values of equal opportunity and individual achievement found in wider society. it gives everyone an equal chance of discovering and developing their talents. Education also sifts and sorts individuals, allocating them their future occupational roles on the basis of their ability and effort and enabling the talented to become upwardly mobile. The structure and processes of education systems are related to the general process of socialisation. All sociologists agree with this, but sociologists have many different views about how societies are structured. They have many different views about the role of education in society. The following research will focus on the role of education from a Functionalist, Marxist and an Interactionalist's...
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...the contribution of functionalist sociologists to our understanding of the family Functionalists believe that everyone has a role to play in society in order for it to work effectively. Not only does the family have practical uses like reproduction and primary socialisation, but also things that personally benefit each member of family like economic provision. Each individual has a different belief on the importance of family and how it impacts our lives; however, I think functionalism only covers the basic understanding of family and how we are impacted by our own. One functionalist who has a theory regarding family is George Murdock, who published his research in 1949. Murdock believe there are four functions to a family: sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. The sexual function is for the married parents. In order to stay together and uphold the traditional happy family, they enjoy a healthy sex life to prevent affairs and unhappiness within the marriage. This is important as it ensures the children of the couple are raised by their biological parents. The economic function is the means of the man going off to work in order to provide food and shelter for the rest of the family. Education is the primary socialisation of the children, they will have the expected norms and values of moral people, helping them to fit into society as they grow older. This ‘education’ will also help them learn their place in society, and so as they go into the world of work, they contribute...
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...the survival of the society. Many sociologists argue that modern day nuclear families are becoming less common. Instead of just a couple and their independent children, extended, reconstituted and lone parent families are becoming increasingly more common. Leading, to the loss of traditional family functions in today’s society. Different sociologists have different theories on functionalism. One of the most famous sociologists who looked at family is G.P Murdock. He believed that families perform four main functions: Primary socialisation; to learn socially acceptable behaviours and values. Sexual; because in some societies/cultures there are rules that limit sexual relationships outside of marriage. Reproduction; a stable environment to raise children, and economics; as sometimes the family is seen as a source of production. These functions demonstrate the functions that each family demonstrated during the 1940s. Although Murdock’s ideas were very important for understanding the main functions traditional nuclear families play, it is vital to note that Murdock’s theory dates back to 1949. Therefore many things have changed since then and the family has developed. For example many women are now the ‘breadwinners’ for their family as well as or instead of the men. Murdock’s theory is outdated as it relies on an old fashioned division of labour. Therefore, the family’s functions have not been completely lost, just changed. Also, sex and reproduction within marriage is becoming...
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...marks). Murdock, a functionalist, describes the family as a universal institution based on the nuclear family model. The functionalist view of the role of the family in society is that it maintains social order. The family is a tool for socialisation and a key social institution in sustaining the value that society works by consensus. Murdock identified four main functions of the family: sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. These four functions cover the role of the family in society. The sexual and reproductive functions are what keep society populated. If they became dysfunctional then society would not have the people inhabiting it. The economic function is the parent’s responsibility to take care of their family financially, usually through the division of labour where the man will take on the instrumental role of financial provider for the family while the woman will adopt the expressive role and take care of the home and family members. Marxists would contest this viewpoint arguing that the division of labour is capitalist dogma used to control the labour force and stop them from developing consciousness. The final function identified by Murdock was the educational functional, this is function where the family learns how to be socialised. It is this function that maintains the value consensus which allows society to remain functional. This is a key role of the family to functionalists if this function is not carried out appropriately then society will become...
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...secondary socialisation which is when a child is influenced by the surroundings when they are not with their family. The term 'meritocracy' means that the highest social positions are given to the most able people. This provides equal opportunities and allows schools to recognise individual potential. Emile Durkheim is a functionalist who states that 'school is a vehicle for transmitting norms and values.' He sees the major function of education as the transmission of this. By this he means that education prepares children for life in the real world. He says that school serves a function which cannot be provided either by the family or peer group. This supports the idea of secondary socialisation. The term 'miniature society' was used by Durkheim to describe the education system. This refers to the way the students are being taught in preparation for the world of work. Discipline, sanctions and fear of exclusion are matters that take place in the employment sector as well as in the education system. Also, authority, hierarchy, conflict and friendship count for this. Durkheim was particularly concerned with social solidarity where the social unit is more important than the individual. In school, children must show commitment to this as they are the product of society. A key role of the education system is to pass on the norms and values, thus contributing to the smooth running of society. This means that at school, students are learnt through discipline and praise how to act...
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