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A. Definition and Aspects:
Certain features of man's biology and physiology makes him a creature uniquely capable of socialization. One of these is his long period of "Childhood Dependency". This period of helplessness and dependence on the adult is much longer than that of any member of the animal kingdom.
The differences between socialized human beings and the lower animals may be summarized by saying that the lower animals do not have a culture. They have no system of beliefs, values, and ideas that are shared possessions of groups and are symbolically transmitted. They have no familial, educational, religious, political or economic institutions. They have no sets of formal codes, norms, or ideologies. However animals need little or no help from adults to survive, whereas human infants are helpless and cannot survive unaided for at least the first four or five years of life.
This human infant cannot walk, cannot feed himself, doesn't know where danger lies, cannot seek food or shelter. Therefore, because man takes longer time to mature, he has a longer learning period than any other animal.
Infants may grow up to be criminals, teachers, athletics, doctors..., but first they must learn to care for basic needs, learn to interact with other humans, and learn to be human. The process of acquiring these physical and social skills to become a social being and a member of society is called "socialization".
Socialization is a never-ending process of developing the self and of learning the ways of a given society and culture.
While the focus of attention in the socialization literature is generally upon the newborn and the young child, teenagers, middle-aged, and older people as well are in a continuous process of learning skills, developing the self, and becoming a participant in the groups and social systems of society.
