Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course
Date
American Society
America’s united states was a country like no other with its own culture and characteristics such as morals or habits and dialect. Now America has become diverse due to the years of immigration from different countries throughout the years. Socialization helps people grow and become successful in their own ways. Everyone adapts differently to the beliefs, norms, and cultures that are posted in the society. From the time a person grows to be a complete adult, he learns by interacting with socialization agents like institutions like schools, families, and peer groups (King et al., 320). There are various agents of socialization, which include:
- Family: this is the key agent for everyone because we are all born in families, even adopted ones. Families teach children what they need to know. They teach them lessons like how to wear clothes, ride bikes, behave, and relate to each other as a family. Many social factors affect how a family raises their child. For example, some years ago, parents were deemed right to hit or punish their children when they wronged but right now, that would be considered child abuse (Arnon et al., 49). This means that children are trained or taught how the parents want them to be.
- Peer groups: these are individuals of the same age group who share a particular interest. This kind of socialization begins at an early stage when kids learn how to share foodstuffs at playgrounds or even at playgrounds when they teach others how to play. When the children grow into teenagers, they begin to develop behaviors that are different from their families or parents and have their own independence in making decisions on what to follow. Although friendship plays a big role in shaping how a person grows, parents still guide and influence them until they are stable.
- Institutional Agents: Institutions such as Schools, religion, jobs, and the government also play a big role because they instill laws that are lawfully followed by the involved individuals. These days, children spend most of their time in schools; hence, we can’t deny schools’ importance and how they socialize children. They teach children behaviors like respect, following the set rules and schedule, and practicing teamwork. The Workplace also affects the way adults make their own decisions and what they believe in. Different jobs need different ways and behaviors. Religion also influences how people think and believe. Like other institutions, it teaches believers how to interact with others and uphold norms like gender norms. Different religions teach different values to their believers, but all uphold the virtue of righteousness. The Government controls everything in a country, starting with all formal institutions. It passes all policies and laws that are followed in the country. Different countries have the set age that they allow children to be called adults. Some countries allow children at the age of 16, while others at the age of 18 become completely responsible (Handel et al., 35). They also decide at what age do people need to retire and enjoy their senior benefits. Mass media has the largest audience and influence on people. The media mostly teaches both material culture and nonmaterial culture. They portray a picture, and that is what people believe and follow. For example, media can discriminate against a particular gender or race, and people will end up believing and following.
Most people may not know that sex and gender are not the same. Sex is the physical contrast between males and females, including the reproductive system. Gender is how people identify themselves in society, how they participate and socialize, and the roles they have with either being male or female (Swinarski et al., 35)
The ways of socialization have changed over the years. The traditional ways are still being used even in the modern world because people believe those are the decent ways of raising children compared to modern ways. For example, the traditional way of raising girls was that they were raised with the labor force and reproduced babies in the family. The modern world right now allows women to fulfill their reproduction role and still achieve their society’s expectations. The traditional ways also describe Adulthood differently compared to the modern ways of socialization. Traditional ways consider adulthood as completing school, marrying and having a baby, and becoming financially stable. However, these things are taking long to take for people due to the changing times; hence, modernity takes adulthood as being Responsible and committed. Socialization is also changing throughout our life compared to the traditional era when people were expected only to marry once or even have a single career. Modernity now allows partners to divorce and remarry and change their careers throughout their lifetime. Socialization has become more adaptable in taking new roles and choosing from a variety of values and practices.
Works Cited
King, Alissa R. “Mixed messages: How primary agents of socialization influence adolescent females who identify as multiracial–bisexual.” Journal of LGBT Youth 10.4 (2013): 308-327.
Arnon, Sara, Shmuel Shamai, and Zinaida Ilatov. “Socialization agents and activities of young adolescents.” Adolescence 43.170 (2008).
Handel, Gerald, ed. Childhood socialization. Transaction Publishers, 2011.
Swinarski, Matthew E., Diane H. Parente, and Kathleen Noce. “A study of gender differences with respect to internet socialization of adolescents.” Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER) 8.6 (2010).