Agents Of Socialization

In everyday life, people remembered from their childhood days how their parents urged them to eat with their right hand, to respect our elders and our teachers, to be punctual and to help the needy. They also learned they should drive on the left side of the road and to obey the laws of the land. They may conform to the pressures of society that consist of a strong group consensus and authority figures. This would be the starting point of social control. Socialization would be the learning process of culture that comes from parents teaching children guidance on the behavior of their actions. Society has two means for building people and their personalities. Socialization was the first, and social control was the second. To maintain

According to Chriss (2013), the following basic agents of socialization help steer persons toward norm-conforming and away from deviant behavior are the following: the family, the community, peers, school, work and consumption, religion, and the mass media. The primary agents of socialization were the family, which in no known society parents performed this task alone (Chriss, 2013). The reason was that parents (biological or adopted) have traditionally taken on the societal responsibility such as caring for young children, instructing them about the rules of society, teaching them right from wrong, and making the best decision which was the need for social control (Chriss, 2013). The second agent was the community, and as stated by Chriss (2013), socialization was complete only when parental oversight was supplemented by a supportive community – the village which was the need for socialization. This consisted of safe schools and neighborhoods, teachers, neighbors, churches, civic organizations, and public institutions (Chriss, 2013). It is just like the saying, “it takes a village to raise a child”. Why does it take a village? Research indicated that young people need adults to be involved with them like adults in their neighborhoods, their schools, the stores they frequent, and the organizations they join, not just their own parents or other family members (Scales, Benson, Roehlkepartain, Hintz, Sullivan, Mannes, (2001). Studies have also shown that adult connection with and caring for children and youth was consistent with positive outcomes among them (Scales et al, 2001). These outcomes included higher self-esteem, greater engagement with school and higher academic achievement, lessened delinquency, lessened substance abuse, better mental health, and better social skills (Scales et al, 2001). It takes a village because