Childhood and Socialization

As individuals, we are constantly being influenced by the inescapable pressures brought about as a result of our contemporary culture, societal expectations, and values or beliefs of the masses. From the moment we enter this world, and are declared either a boy or a girl, we are thrust into the socialization process that shapes and molds our identity. Our earliest years are when we establish our initial individual character and integrity, in fact, as we begin as a clean slate and are slowly defined and pieced together by the experiences we encounter. During our childhood, our family is considered to be the most powerful source of influence as children are keen observers and will imitate the behaviors and values they are exposed to most frequently. Children can also acquire an understanding of society thorugh school, peer relationships, sports, religion, and social media, however. Essentially the fundamental base of our social and cultural identities is established during adolescence through subtle cues and keen observations. I chose to research this topic, in Chapter four of our textbook, because I find it interesting that our personal identities begin to form from the moment we enter this world. I think many people tend to underestimate children and their ability to understand and interpret social cues or cultural influences, but childhood is arguably one of the greatest periods of social change in our life.

("Agents of socialization," 1994)

The following video, entitled "Unequal Childhoods", explores the differences in parenting and childhood development that may occur as a result of the environment in which a family is situated. As stated above, children are open, clean slates that are very susceptible to the influences of the society in which they live. Therefore, as discussed in the video, children who are raised in a middle, working class family will grow and develop differently than a child raised in a wealthy, upper class family.

(Bourdieu, Acosta & Coriolan, 2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V68u2qwdc00&feature=player_detailpage


The following journal article, entitled "Cultural Socialization in Families With Internationally Adopted Children", analyzes the parenting behaviors and cultural socialization of children adopted into American families from a variety of different countries, looking into how their socialization process differs from the average natural born citizen. As international adoption becomes an increasingly popular means of starting a family, this subject becomes more and more important in the sociological study of families.

(Richard, Grotevant & Gunnar, 2006)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2398726/

An additional journal article, entitled "Peer Socialization in School" discusses the ways in which children grow, evaluate, and develop an understanding of our modern society through their early education. They are socialized through classroom teachings and peer relationships, among many other things.

(Elder, 1969)
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_196902_elder.pdf


The links embedded below discuss a variety of factors that affect the socialization of children including family and parental influences, punishment and discipline, and early friendships through factual analysis and actual "in-home" experiences.

(Tomlin, 2008)
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=553

("Socializaiton," 2011)
http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_1.htm


A recent news article, entitled "Homeschool vs. Public School: Who's Better Socialized?" evaluates the different socialization experiences of children educated within their home vs. children sent through the public school system and the differing levels of social maturity that result.

(Ellen, 2012)
http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/03/14/homeschool-vs-public-school-whose-better-socialized/


The following excerpt was taken from a peer discussion regarding modern families in today's society: how they can be defined, major challenges they face, and the various purposes that they serve.

(Harker, 2012)

"Family is a cooperative social unit responsible for the nurturing and development of those within its confines, particularly the raising and socializing of children. Today, families are challenged by the quickly evolving social standards. Some of these standards are the increase in women's rights, homosexual marriage and adoption, and a growing diversity in cultural family upbringing.

I watched American Dad. It shows an extremely conservative father in a patriarchal relationship to his wife and kids and Roger the alien. The idea of the show is a sociopolitical satire of the current American paradigm. Stan serves as a satirical symbol of the 'ideal' conservative, American father, asserting himself as head of the family and often belittling the intelligence and authority of his wife, Francine. Francine plays the role of the 'ideal' submissive, conservative wife and while she is often stupid, she is no more stupid than her husband. Steve, the younger of two children, is rather carefree except when it comes to the specifics about how he will lose his virginity. Hailey, the older sister, is the rebel of the family and the foil of her father, being an extreme liberal with hippie tendencies. In a way, there are parallels to the real world, but being a satire one couldn't rely on it for fact. For instance, the extremely conservative, American father is typically a chauvinist in his dealings although he will not admit to it. The wife is submissive to this and the children often turn out awkward in the context of the real world and/or family matters. Steve, for example, has an obsessive problem with his sexuality as it often common in a conservative and/or religious household. Hailey represents the likely probability that there will be dissent from within the family to an authoritarian upbringing. In summation, it shows how certain families can be and have been, but as we have read there is so much diversity now in the family that to say it represents even a good portion of the families out there is a bit much.

Families a hundred years from now? Hard to say, but with my prediction, it will be a little closer to 1984 and Brave New World. Families will be increasingly smaller due to the strain of overpopulation, technology, and needing fewer persons to perform labor. The further we go along our evolutionary path, our social habits are being altered. Socializing appears to be less and less emotional and tactile as time goes on. I believe we will rely less on our social ties because of the simple fact that we rely less and less on others directly to accommodate our needs, mostly because technological advancement will replace these functions".