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B. Parents too tend to be socialized to parenthood:
Parents not only shape and influence the behavior of children, but children do the same to parents. Parenting usually ties the activities of adults to children for the remainder of their lives. Older people remain parents when they become grandparents, of course, thus forging another set of relationships connecting different generations with each other. Socialization, therefore, should be seen as a lifelong process in which human behavior is continually shaped by social interactions. It allows individuals to develop themselves and their potential, to learn and to make adjustments. It is a way by which members of a collectivity learn the cultural patterns of their societies. It is a way by which we assimilate them and transform them in rules to use in personal life. These cultural patterns are not biological transmitted from one generation to another, but each generation has to learn the models of society in which they live or will live.
Psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Sigmund Freud, and Emile Durkheim show the importance of socialization process by which the social norms are internalized and assimilated in the personality. It is through this process of socialization that these cultural patterns are made between the patterns and individuals which compose the "Social Group".
These patterns vary in space and time. Every country and civilization is different than the other in terms of its geographic limitations, space and time outlived. Therefore each country has its own patterns and norms which may vary from country to country, and from social class to other.
Thus, there are two kinds of complementary
processes:
1-Society transmission of cultural and social heritage.
2-Individual development of personality.
It is through interaction with others in a cultural context that the individual gains:
1. An identity.
2. Values and norms.
3. Aspirations
However, we cannot forget the five aspects of socialization which are considered as "aims" to this never ending process:
First aspect: "Socialization gives us basic disciplines."
These disciplines goes from very simple things (such as toilet habits) to very complicated ones. These disciplines that we are socialized to, reach the very deep of the individual as to modify physical responses. (ex: waking up early in the morning as we used to even if we don't have to)
Second aspect: "Still Aspirations"
Each member in a society has still aspirations corresponding to the statuses played in a group. (ex: the individual occupies his place in society because of sex, age, and family origin)
Third aspect: "Socialization provides the individual with an identity"
Through the process of learning social role, socialization tends to teach the individual the supporting attitudes that goes to roles.
Fourth aspect: "Support of attitudes and roles"
As well as teaching us social role, socialization tends to teach the individual the supporting attitudes that goes to roles.
Fifth aspect: "Teaching skills"
In a traditional society, traditional practice is learned by imitation and practice. It is transmitted from one generation to another. In more advanced societies, there are institutions which teach these skills.
Finally, sociologists often speak of socialization as occurring in two broad phases, involving a number of different agencies of socialization.
a) Primary socialization: It occurs in infancy and childhood and is the most intense period of cultural learning. It is the time when children learn language and basic behavioral patterns which form the foundations for later learning. The family is the main agent of socialization during this phase.
b) Secondary socialization: It takes place later in childhood and into maturity. In this phase, other agents of socialization take over some of the responsibility from the family: schools, peer groups, organizations, mass media, and workplace become socializing forces for individuals. Social interaction in these contexts help people learn the values, norms, and beliefs which make up the patterns of their culture.