What is socialization and how does it change a person?

Let's try to understand what socialization is, what is its essence and peculiarity. After all, for every person entering into society and mastering its basic norms is the foundation for further problem-free and successful life and activity. So, what is socialization? Any modern textbook will tell you that this The term implies the process of familiarizing the individual with social paradigms, acquaintance with social roles, involving it in collective ties, training in generally accepted behavior, values and attitudes. Thus, this process is necessary for every child for the subsequent full-fledged life in society, and he takes place through education and training in the family, preschool and school.

Development of the concept

For the first time, the question of what socialization was, was raised by the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle, who talked about whether a human being is a public or not an organism. With the birth of social science proper in the nineteenth century, this issue was again raised. According to popular opinion of that time, the original human nature was identified with the animal beginning, and the process of socialization was considered as literal humanization and giving the newborn social attitudes. Later this point of view lost relevance. With the development of evolutionary concepts and social science, it was proved that man was originally a social being. Accordingly, the question of what socialization is, has changed its emphasis. Now this process was seen as a smooth adaptation of a person to the requirements of a particular society. It's not a secret that human history knew a lot of societies with different cultures and social norms. With a gradual study grew and knowledge about this phenomenon. Cognitive psychology, which studies the formation of adolescents, and psychoanalysis also contributed to this.

Stages of the process

The modern theory of socialization highlights several stages of this phenomenon throughout human life:

• Primary socialization is the child's first acquaintance with the world around him. This stage is perhaps the most important, since in the first years of life the basic settings are laid, which will further influence the perception of further education. At this stage, the parents of the child play a crucial role, since they give him the first ideas about the surrounding world and society.
• Secondary socialization. It occurs already outside the home, in the first collectives Peers, in which the person falls: kindergarten, school. Here the child perceives new social roles and learns to interact with a numerical group. The most important foundation has already been laid during primary socialization, but at this stage very important features are being inculcated, which subsequently influence life values and priorities, as well as personal qualities of a person.

In addition, there are several more types of this phenomenon. However, here it is assumed that there is already socialization of youth and adults:

• Resocialization. The process of eliminating wrong or unfavorable behavior patterns and bringing up new ones already at a conscious age. Such resocialization occurs with each person throughout his life. In essence, this is the process of adaptation to a dynamic surrounding world: the growth of technology, changing the state role, economic conditions, social perceptions, and so on.
• Organizational socialization is the process of acquiring professional knowledge and skills in order to fulfill a certain social role in the organization.