Agents of socialization

Before answering the question, who are the agents of socialization, one should understand the question, what is the phenomenon in itself, socialization. The origins of this concept date back to the works of Auguste Comte, although the word itself was used before it. But it was Comte who gave this term a truly scientific explanation. Being the founder of sociology as a scientific sphere, he explained the procedural nature of the formation of a person as a person. It is from these positions that it is necessary to consider all institutional and non-institutional formations operating in the space of society.

The procedural nature of socialization lies in the fact that it represents the development in a social time and social space of a person of the value systems and behavioral criteria established in society, of his samples and stereotypes, as well as of knowledge and skills. All this in aggregate helps a person to effectively adapt to dynamic changes in the social environment and perform certain functions in it.

Why are there categories of social time and social space? The answer is that these parameters differ from their counterparts in the physical sense - time and space. If the physical time is unidirectional, equal in flow, irreversible, then social time can have a reverse move, it is uneven in its current. The space of the society is also different from the physical, there is no spatial uniqueness "far-close", "high-low" and so on. These are the features that determine the approach within which we can define the concept of "agents of socialization."

In the simplest representation these are those subjects that help a person to learn the above-named values of being. In physical terms, agents of socialization are specific people, organizations, institutions and environments that determine the nature and content of the process of assimilating the values (or anti-values) of human society. It should be borne in mind that agents can be actors who do not have physical characteristics. These are laws, norms, traditions, that is, that in itself is the object of socialization. Thus, socialization has in a certain sense a closed character: man assimilates something by means of those criteria that contain this something. So, for example, to make a person a law-abiding citizen, he must first live within the space regulated by law. And only then he can assimilate the criteria and particulars of behavior in this space.

This phenomenon of socialization lies in the fact that in its course the primary and secondary stages are singled out.

At the initial stage, a person, as a rule, learns basic for any principles and norms of social life and acquires the simplest skills of social interaction. At this stage, the most important role is played by such agents of socialization as parents, the kindergarten staff and educators, school and teachers, the environment of a small person on the street,

At the stage of secondary socialization, the process of socialization is further developed, which is characterized by the complexity of the content of the acquired values and norms and the inclusion of the mechanism of social identification and social adaptation. This process is more closely connected with the formation of the personality, the acquisition by man of socially significant qualities. Here, such agents of socialization of the individual, as educational and labor collectives, social environment emerging on the basis of a community of interests, values and other factors come to the fore.

An important difference between the stages is also that if at the primary stage socialization takes place mainly within the framework of interpersonal contacts and institutionalized forms, then at the secondary stage its course proceeds somewhat differently. Here, the number of non-institutional agents is rapidly increasing, and often their influence is no less than that of institutional agents.

Therefore, it is appropriate to consider the difference between them. As a rule, agents and institutions of socialization, like its factors, act together, and not always this or that institution is an agent. The Institute of Socialization is a system of stable, long-term, fairly stable in time and space formations, within which the formation of a person as a person takes place. The main institutions characteristic of most types of societies are the Institute of Education, Education, Social Security, Mother and Family Protection, Citizenship and others.