1. Agents of Socialization

2. What is an agent of socialization?
• People and groups that influence our self-
concept, emotions, attitudes, and behavior

3. Family
• Melvin Kohn suggests social class differences
in child raising
– Often the main concern of working-class parents
is their children’s outward conformity (neat, clean,
and follow rules) and are more likely to use
physical punishment
– Middle class parents show greater concern for the
motivations for their children’s behavior and
parents are more likely to punish by withdrawing
privileges and affection

4. Neighborhood
• Some neighborhoods are better for children
than others
• research shows that children from poor
neighborhoods are more likely to get in
trouble with the law, get pregnant, drop out
of school or end up disadvantaged

5. Religion
• Religion plays a major role in socialization of
most Americans
– 70% of Americans belong to a local congregation
and 2 in every 5 Americans attend a religious
service weekly
• Religious especially influences morality but
also ideas about dress, speech, and manners
that are appropriate

6. Day Care
• With more mothers working, day care has become a
significant agent of socialization
• Research finds that the effects of day care largely
depends on the child’s background and quality of care
– Children from poor households or dysfunctional families
appear to benefit from day care
– Children in higher quality day care centers interact better
with children and have fewer behavioral problems
• The more hours a child spends in day care, the weaker
the bonds between mothers and children and the
more negative their interactions

7. School and Peer Groups
• In school, children are placed outside the direct
control of the family and learns to be a part of a
peer group
– Research by Patricia and Peter Adler demonstrates
how peer groups influence behavior
• For boys, norms that make them popular are: athletic ability,
coolness, and toughness
• For girls, norms are: family background, physical
appearance, and the ability to attract boys
• Its almost impossible to go against peer groups;
children who do become labeled as outsiders,
nonmembers or outcasts.

8. Other Agents of Socialization
• Sports- teaching social skills and values
• Workplace- learn a set of skills and a
perspective on the world

9. Resocialization
• What does a woman who has just become a nun
have in common with a man who has just
divorced?
• Resocialization is the process of learning new
norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors to match
new situations in life
– Occurs each time we learn something that is contrary
to our previous experiences, such as going to work in
a new job

10. Total institution
• Erving Goffman coined the term to refer to a
place where people are cut off from the rest of
society and are under almost total control of
agents of the institution
– boot camp, prisons, concentration camps, convents,
some religious cults and some boarding schools
• A person entering the institution is greeted with
a degradation ceremony through which current
identity is stripped away and replaced
• Total institutions are effective b/c they isolate
people from outside influences and information