Secondary Socialization

1094 Words5 Pages

Socialization plays a significant role in how individuals attempt to develop in society. Meads Four Stages of Development, Primary and Secondary Socialization and Cooley's Symbolic Interactionism all have a role in Genies attempt to integrate into society. With these three sociological theories in comparison to Genie, they display her growth and improvement after receiving the help and care she should have gotten from the start of her life. Meads Four Stages of Development in connection to Genie, illustrate her progress from receiving medical and psychiatric aid. The first stage is defined as when "children learn to use language and other symbols by imitating important people in their lives" (Brym, Roberts, Strohschein, Lie, 2016, 97). This is comparable to Genie because she would repeat words that she …show more content…

Primary Socialization is stated as "the process of mastering the basic skills required to function in society during childhood" (Willmott, 2018). It has also been noted that Primary Socialization generally functions "in a family" (Brym, Roberts, Strohschein, Lie, 2016, 104). Secondary Socialization is said to be "socialization outside the family after childhood" (Brym, Roberts, Strohschein, Lie, 2016, 105). In Genie's early life she lacked both of these attributes. Additionally, she had no Primary Socialization as she was tied down, treated as a prisoner and isolated by her own family; she also had no Secondary Socialization as she was not allowed to attend any sort of education by her parents. Before Genie received medical aid, she was completely separated from the real world and was treated and acted like a wild animal. Without Primary and Secondary Socialization Genie lacked the importance of communication and was very limited in her ability to communicate until she received medical