Sociology of Fame and He Key Aspects of Socialization

Socialization is the lifelong process through which people are taught to be proficient members of a society. It describes the ways that people come to understand societal norms and expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, to be aware of societal values and interact with each other. Socialization helps people learn to function successfully in their social worlds. To do so, people are exposed to the social group agents or, in other words, agents of socialization such as, families and peer groups, and later formal and informal social institutions, like school, mass media, religion establishments etc.

Family is the primary source of the socialization for a child. It is first, when one is being exposed to gender roles, culture, norms and morals and social standards. Family helps identify who we are genetically – nature, when surrounding and caring identifies one’s nurture. However, moving to young adulthood stage in life, family and relatives take secondary place. It is important to keep in mind, though, that families do not socialize children in a vacuum. Many social factors impact how a family raises its kids. For example, culture, historical period, ethnical background and social class of a family play a significant role. It has been proven that working-class families and rich families have different approaches to raising children and, later, children’s perception of life. For instance, former usually tend to emphasize obedience and compliance, whereas latter accent on evaluation and creativity. After all, family cycles throughout person’s life stages shaping their further personality.

School has a great impact on the socialization of young adults. First, this phase of their socialization is necessary for them to become productive members of their society as they confront with the peers with similar interests or ones that differ and learn how to cooperate with that. Second, because students interact every day at school with their peers, they ideally strengthen their social interaction skills. Third, they interact with authority figures, their professors, who are not their parents. Schools are also a substantial channel of gender socialization, as even nowadays, teachers and curricula send out various messages that enhance the qualities traditionally attributed to females and males. (Booher-Jennings, 2008; Thorne, 1993).

Peers take second place in the socialization of young adults. It is one of the biggest aspects during this particular life stage. Great example is a common statement of “Someone is doing so-and-so. Why can’t I?”. This statement points out two things. One the one hand, we rely on friends for fun, emotional comfort and support, and for companionship. It can be observed during adolescence, when peers influence one’s tastes in music, clothes, and so many other aspects of our lives. On the other hand, comes peer pressure. During young adulthood, one’s interests can affect our own interests in film, fashion, and other aspects of popular culture. What is more, peer influence could result in underage drinking, drug use, and infringements.