Agents of socialisation
Families, schools, friends, and media all teach us how to live in society, sometimes in competing ways.
Family
The family is usually the first and most important agent of socialisation. Children learn language, basic values, religion, and expectations about gender from parents and relatives. Social class shapes this too: research by Melvin Kohn found that working-class parents often stressed obedience, while middle-class parents stressed self-direction, reflecting their own jobs.
School and peers
Schools teach academic knowledge, but also a hidden curriculum: punctuality, following rules, waiting your turn, and respecting authority. Peer groups, people of similar age and status, become increasingly important in adolescence, teaching norms about style, music, and independence that may differ from parents' values.
Media and the workplace
Mass and social media shape ideas about beauty, success, gender, and current events. Children spend many hours a day with screens. Later in life, workplaces and religious or civic organisations continue socialisation, teaching the norms of particular roles and communities.
Flashcard
A person, group, or institution that teaches social norms
Check your understanding
Students learn to raise their hands, wait in line, and obey bells. These lessons are part of: