Socialization (redirected from socialization period)

socialization [‚sō·shə·lə′zā·shən]

(psychology)

The process whereby a child learns to get along with and to behave similarly to other people in the group, largely through imitation as well as group pressure.

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Socialization 

the process by which an individual acquires specific knowledge and values and accepts standards that enable him to function as a full and equal member of society. Socialization includes the socially imposed processes of the purposeful shaping of personality (upbringing) as well as the inherent and spontaneous processes that affect the formation of personality.

There is a wide range of theories on socialization. Some investigators consider man to be a biological entity whose innate forms of behavior and instincts become adapted to social conditions (Freudianism), whereas others view personality as a passive product of social influences. According to the Marxist concept, socialization must be studied phylogenetically and ontogenetically. In the former the development of the generic properties of mankind are studied, and in the latter the development of a specific type of personality. Socialization is not merely the sum of the external influences that regulate the manifestation of an individual’s immanent biopsychological impulses and drives but also the process of the formation of an integrated personality. Individuality is not the precondition but the result of socialization. The substance, stages, and specific mechanisms of socialization are historical in nature; they differ greatly from one society to another and are determined by a society’s socioeconomic structure.

Socialization is not just the direct interaction of individuals but is also the total aggregate of social relationships, including those that are the most deep-seated and indirect. It is not a mechanical imposition of a ready social form on an individual. While the individual is the object of socialization, he is also the subject of social action and the initiator and creator of new social forms. The success of socialization therefore depends on the extent to which an individual is involved in the creative social action that transforms society through the elimination of obsolete norms, morals, and customs.

The different aspects of socialization are studied by psychology (the mechanisms of behavior and the learning process at different stages of the life cycle), social psychology (the socializing function of immediate surroundings and interpersonal relationships), sociology (the interrelationship between socialization processes and institutions in a macrosystem), history and ethnography (comparative historical studies of socialization in different societies and cultures), and pedagogy (upbringing).

REFERENCES

Vygotskii, L. S. Razvitie vysshikh psikhicheskikh funktsii. Moscow, 1960.
Kon, I. S. Sotsiologiia lichnosti. Moscow, 1967.
Bueva, L. P. Sotsial’naia sreda i soznanie lichnosti. Moscow, 1968.
Leont’ev, A. N. Problemy razvitiiapsikhiki, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1972.
Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research. Edited by D. A. Goslin. Chicago, 1969.

I. S. KON