Socialisation

Socialisation

"Life is too short to learn from your own mistake"

• Concept of Socialisation
• Methods of Socialisation
• Observation learning
• Conditioning
• Role play learning
• Trial & Error learning
• Agency of Socialisation
• Family
• Educational institutions
• Religion
• Media
• Peer group

Socialisation - The process by which a child is inducted in the society's culture is known as socialisation.

It is referred as a process by which the culture is transmitted from one generation to another.

It is a life long process of shaping individual tendency so that the child become and remain a useful and productive member of the society.

Method of Socialisation 

1. Observation learning - The process of learning by watching others is called observation learning. It occurs through social role models like parents, teachers, friends, siblings, etc.
2. Conditioning - Conditioning is a deliberate effort to socialise individuals by attaching rewards and punishment to encourage or discourage the behaviour respectively. It is also known as 'Carrot and Stick method'.
3. Role Play learning - It is the process of imagining and visualising oneself as someone else and acting like him (i.e., role paly). While playing such roles, the individual is able to get a feel of others and suitably modifies his response.
4. Trial and Error method - It is a method of self learning by experience. It requires lots of investment whether it is emotional, cost or energy but the values (VAME) acquired by this is ever long lasting.

Agency of Socialisation 

1. Family
2. Educational institutions (Schools and Colleges)
3. Religion and Caste
4. Media
5. Peer group (Friends)

Family 

• It is the informal source of socialisation.
• Parents (Family) acts as role model (children have tendencies to model their behaviour around them).
• Family plays a very significant role in Value consensus.

For survival of any society → there has to be stability and cohesion and one of the prerequisite is value consensus.

• Family ensures value consensus by socialising the children in their formative (early) years with respect to societal values. That way children learn to conform to the societal norms and thus are easily integrated in the society.
• Family also provides special values such as love, truth, honesty, compassion, collective orientation, etc.

Impact of other forces like globalisation on family socialisation 

• Globalisation → Family structure is undergoing change → values will also change

For example - Values exhibited by joint family and nuclear family.

• Joint family
• Collectivism
• Cooperation
• Delayed gratification (with deliberation)
• Reciprocal obligation, etc.
• Nuclear family
• Individualism
• Competitiveness
• Immediate gratification (without much deliberation)
• Self centred, etc.

Thus, as the structure of family changes (from joint family to nuclear family) values associated with the family also changes.

Question for practice 

In the backdrop of changing structures of family, briefly discuss its impact on the values of the children.

Values given/inculcated/acquired to the children depends on 3 factors -

1. Style of parenting
1. Autocratic/Authoritarian parenting
2. Democratic parenting
3. Permissive parenting
2. Role of mother
3. Role of father
1. Observation learning
2. Conditioning

Style of parenting - It refers to the bahaviour displayed by the parents to discipline their children's behaviour and inculcate values in them.

There are three styles of parenting -

1.  Authoritarian parenting 

• They believe in restricting the autonomy of the children, impose their value system on child.
• Children are either over-complaint or hostile.
• Hence, the children develop the following values -
• Lack of cooperation
• Lack of compassion
• More authoritative attitude
• More self-centric attitude, etc.

2.  Democratic parenting 

• They deal with the children in rational issue based manner.
• Relationship is based equality, openness, receptive of feedback, etc.
• Parents exhibit values of tolerance, patience, etc.
• Parents provide positive re-enforcement (reward) of display of desired bahaviour. 
• It leads to the development of the following values -
• Objectivity
• Tolerance
• Cooperation
• Empathy
• Impartiality, etc.

3.  Permissive parenting 

• They provide their children as much freedom as is consistent with the child's physical survival.
• It is characterized by apathy, neglect, indifferent, etc.
• Values inculcated are -
• Avoidance
• Apathy
• Tendency to identify with anti-social element, etc.
• Here, parents are indifferent to the children until the child's physical survival is at stake.

Permissive parenting → indifferent to children → Child deliquency

Role of Father 

• Father plays an equally important role in value development of  a child through observation learning and conditioning.
• Through identification with the father, boys acquired gender appropriate values and girls learned to make heterosexual adjustments.

Role of Mother → Mother-child attachment

1. Secure (Mother-Child relationship is called secure when -)
• Mothering is consistent.
• Relationship is warm based on mutual trust, equality, etc.
• Mother is acting as rational role model.
• Mothers do not make unreasonable demands, which makes the child bold, confident, courageous and self-efficacy.
2. Insecure (Moher-Child relationship is called insecure when -)
• Mother is indifferent to the needs of the child.
• If she makes unreasonable demands (through emotional blackmail).
• Creating emotional pressure on the child.
• Over-indulgence in the child's life, which makes the child apathy, indifferent and lack of courage.

Question for practice 

Discuss the influence that the parents have on values of their children. Why is it that at times the values of children differs from that of their parents?

Hints 

Why children's value differs from their parents -

1. Generational gap and communication gap
2. There are different agencies of socialisation and family is just one of the agency not the only one.
3. New agencies of communication are emerging.
4. Unfiltered access to information (through internet)
5. Influence of global culture.
6. Lack of accuracy with respect to the perception of the value.
7. Sometime interpretation and implementation of the value can also vary.

For example -

"Every thing is pre-written nothing can be re-written so don't take any stress and just put your best"

Intention - to motivate you

Wrong perception - what is the need to work if every thing is pre-written.

Education 

• It is the formal agency of socialisation.
• It helps in development of cognitive skills and interpersonal/social skills.
• It acts as the bridge between the family and the society and prepares the child for their adult role.
• It socialises the child to accept differences, cooperate and become adaptive.
• In school child learns to interact with those who are neither friend nor kin (in relation), so school helps in creating communication skills.
• School provides value of equality, competition, universal brotherhood, etc.

Factors which influence the values inducted by educational institutions 

1. Teachers
2. Educational curriculum
3. Extra curriculum activities, etc.

Role of teachers 

• Teachers are great role models and their action leaves a great impact on children in their impressionable age.
• They use observation learning and conditioning.
• They can influence the behaviour of the student by -
• walking the talk.
• promoting activity based learning (experiential learning).
• unbiased treatment.
• commitment, diligence and timeliness.
• Teachers can influence children's self-attribution (self-condifence) through judicious use of positive reinforcement.

Role of Curriculum 

Problems with respect to current curriculum -

• Lack of application based curriculum.
• Difference between 'text and context'.
• Scheme of evaluation is also obsolete.
• It focus more on route learning rather than critical thinking.
• Lack of scientific content/temper in content.
• More driven by ideological colouration.
• Lack of flexibility with respect to choice of learning.
• Lack of holistic/comprehensive learning.
• Lack of sports integrated/arts integrated learning.
• Lack of vocational training.
• Lack of educational content in local language.
• Content is not in sync with socio-cultural millennium. 

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn"

Benjamin Franklin

Role of Extra-curriculum activities - It helps in developing values such as team spirit, leadership, cooperation and responsibility.

"Religion is the opium of masses"

Karl Marx

"Fear is the mother of morality"

Role of Religion and Caste 

• What is religion?

Religion - Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices which unites people into one single moral community.

Religion should not be viewed as a source of conflict or a polarising issue but as an essential socializing force.

It is primary transmitter of our core personal and societal values.

Infact the values enshrined in our constitution are fundamental percepts of most of the religion. For example - equality, tolerance, universal brotherhood, social justice, etc.

Many leaders such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, etc. have called upon the religious values to awaken the moral sensibility of the nation.

Religion helps individual to cope up with the dysfunctional influences such as violence, drug abuse, negative peer groups, etc.

Religion provides us the framework to mange misery. It provides us the courage by teaching us to accept life experiences as divinely pre-destined.

Religion helps you to answer many unanswered questions. 

Religion also gives an individual a sense of belongingness.

Overall, religion plays a significant role in social cohesion, keeping the crime under check, upholding the moral fabric of the society, etc.

Question for practice 

Value education empowers a person to confront the challenges of contemporary Indian society. Discuss.

Hints 

• Definition of values
• How values are inducted through a process of socialisation.
• One of the agency of socialisation is education, so education plays a very significant role in providing values which is known as value education.
• How value education is very important as put forwarded by Aristotle.
• Challenges in contemporary society
• Mindless consumerism
• Radicalism
• Mob lynching
• Intolerance, etc.
• How the value education can help in overcoming these challenges.
• Conclusion - Value education has to made an integral component of education system.

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all"

Aristotle

"Literary education is of no value if it is not able to build a sound character"

Mahatma Gandhi

  

Role of Media (Media → Channel of communication)

• It shapes our value system.
• It provides us topics for discussion/debate.
• It influences our aspirations.
• It shapes our behaviour/attitude through vicarious re-enforcement (tendency to imitate the behaviour).
• It acts as a tool for social change, social management and social diffusion.

Social management 

• Media plays a significant role in maintaining 'Status quo'.
• It helps the elites in society to maintain their hegemony.

Social diffusion 

• Media helps in disseminating ideas and thus creates a ground for societal change.

Thus, media plays a significant role in maintaining 'Status quo' in the society due to corporatisation and politicisation of media.

Media is also a means through which the values, ideas and concepts gets spread to the large section which creates ground for social change in the society.

Positive impact of media 

• Infotainment (Information + Entertainment)
• Promote scientific temper
• Promote gender social awareness
• It is the fourth pillar of democracy
• It upholds accountability and responsibility of the political leadership.
• It generates awareness and rationality.
• People are more exposed to diversity.
• It performs an educative role.
• It provides voice to the different stakeholders.
• It brings the issues concerning people to notice the government.
• It acts as a linking pin between the government and the people.
• It creates acceptability for the government programs among the people.
• It helps in destruction of stereotypes and prejudices.
• It provides fact for creative expression especially social media.
• It provides a platform for deliberation and discussion.
• It strengthens democracy by creating an army of informed and active citizens.
• It provides platform for constructive criticism of government/government policies.

Negative impact of media 

• It can lead to social unrest due to false propaganda.
• It can be used to dissimilate fake news.
• Media trial (declaring some one as guilty by media before the actual trial by the court).
• Media can lead to sensationalisation of news.
• It promotes commodification, consumerism, feeling of relative deprivation, promotion of prejudices, dissemination of fake news and manufactured news.
• Media can create scope for social conflict, radicalisation, intolerance, etc.

Way forward/Suggestions -

• Media ethics needs to be upheld.
• Press council of India needs to be made robust.
• National broadcasting commission needs to be empowered.

Question for practice 

With the proliferation of social media, people have got the opportunity to express their view anonymously and more freely. What according to you is its effect on social and political culture of the country.

Hints 

• Social Culture - The beliefs and the value system which are existing in the society constitute the social culture.
• Political Culture - Your perception about the political system of the society constitute the political culture.
• Social Media - Social media consists of all the websites and apps which enable the user to create content, share content and to consume content. It is also a platform for social networking. It is characterized by anonymity and free usage of various platform.

• Define social media.
• How with the penetration of technology, the role of social media has significantly increased.
• Linking statement - It had a significant impact on social and political culture in the name of anonymity as well as the free usage.
• Define briefly 'Social culture' and its impact (Positive and Negative).
• Positive impact - 
• Democratisation of social culture
• Provides platform for creative expression
• Provides platform to question the authority or regressive practices.
• Provides platform for assertion and mobilisation so as to bring about various movements or change.
• Social media can also be used to prevent crimes.
• It plays a significant role in development of social capital.
• It improves the value system → Makes more compassionate (crowd sourcing for social cause).
• Negative impact (in the name of anonymity) -
• Radicalisation
• Ideological indocrination
• Troll culture/cyber bullying/social conflict (by giving it communal overtone)
• Exodus of minority community
• MMS
• Voyeurism
• Briefly define 'Political Culture' and its impact
• Positive impact -
• Political awareness
• Strengthens democracy
• Provides platform for deliberation, discussion and debate.
• Unleashing act of corruption
• Holding the government accountable and responsible
• Ensuring good governance
• Negative impact -
• Dissemination of fake news
• Propaganda
• Manufactured journalism, etc.
• In the name of anonymity the probability of committing the heinous offence if very high (as you can refute the responsibility in the name of anonymity).
• Way forward

Role of Peer Group - Interaction among co-equals

• Role of peer group is very important specially at adolescence age (as this age includes cognitive changes, physical changes, emotional changes, etc.).
• This is the period when many of the children are suffering from identity crises.
• So, role of peer group vis-à-vis socialization is at peak during adolescence age and that period is one of the major period where the adequate intervention of family and education has to be there because the maximum probability of negative socialisation is also at the level of peer group.
• That's why democratic parenting and a good value based education is the need of the hour to protect the children from any negative impact.
• Apart from that, the role of peer group is also important in many ways as it is the only agency of socialisation where interaction is happening among equals and there is no power distance.
• And that is the reason the range of topic on which interaction took place with the peer group is quite diverse and large.

Socialisation by the means of peer groups impacts/influences your life goals, occupational goals, etc. It also shapes your behaviour.

• The ideas of the peer group are more flexible.
• The range of taken interaction is very wide.
• Importance of peer group is at its peak during adolescence. It is the phase where an individual goes through emotional, physical and cognitive changes. Hence, adequate intervention by family and school is required to prevent any negative socialisation.
• Peer group influences our life goals, occupational goals and behaviour, etc.

Problems associated with Socialisation 

1. Conflicting values
2. Faulty socialisation
3. Imbalance nature of the society
4. Social comparison

Conflicting values - due to different agencies of socialisation

For example - Let your friend has stolen the question paper for the next examination. Now, the teacher knows that the question paper is missing, so he asked the class the tell; who has stolen the paper? 

• Values (by teacher) - Honesty is the best policy and under any circumstances, you have to be honest and tell the truth.
• Values (by friend circle) - Loyalty, which matters the most in friendship 

So there arises the conflict of values (Honesty vs Loyalty).

Faulty Socialisation - due to permissive parenting (it can be solved by democratic parenting)

For example - If the child went to his parents in the above conflicting situation. The parents will tell him what has to be done, like convincing the friend to acknowledge his mistake. This way you uphold the value of honesty as well as remain loyal to friend and also prevent your friend from committing grave crime in future (broken window theory).

        But if the parents scold the child and tell him to stay away from such friend, then the child might not come again to his parents for help.

Imbalance nature of the Society 

• Good & Balanced Society - Society which focuses or gives equal emphasis to both the legitimate means as well as the goal (material success).
• Imbalanced Society - Nowadays, we focused more on attaining the material success rather than focusing on how to attain the material success without thinking about the legitimate or illegitimate means, i.e., society seeks quick success rather legitimate success.

Social Comparison - due to greater penetration of social media, the incidences of social comparison has significantly increased.

It leads to the feeling of relative deprivation → resentment.

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Notes on other subjects 

Ancient History

Medieval History

Modern History

Art & Culture

Polity

Geography

Economy

International Relations

Society

Ethics

Optional Subject 

Public Administration

Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own. 

Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍