Primary and secondary socialization: its agents and effects
If there is something that characterizes the human race is that we are social animals and our personal development is very conditioned by the degree of socialization we achieve. This does not have to involve the achievement of a large number of relationships, but rather the skills we develop to achieve them.
The process that aims to integrate into society and the successful interaction with others is known as socialization. This process can be divided into two phases according to the life stage of the person: primary socialization and secondary socialization .
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What is socialization?
The process of socialization refers to contact between people through which we learn and accept and integrate a series of behavioral patterns and adapt to them. This process aims to instill in the person the socio-cultural elements of their environment, these elements are shaped by personal experiences and social agents, and integrated into the personality of the individual.
Through socialization, the person develops and strengthens the necessary skills for the correct integration and contribution to social life, generating patterns of behavior and behavior organized according to society.
But all this process of socialization it would not be possible without the social agents . All those persons or institutions with which the person relates are considered social agents. Without them there is no type of socialization.
The family, the school, friends and equals, as well as institutions and influential people belong to the category of social agents; being the most important the family, because it is the first social contact of the person and the school, since it is the main transmitter of knowledge.
But this socialization does not occur in a single moment of life, but it lasts for years. Thus, depending on the stage in which the person is we can talk about primary or secondary socialization.
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Primary socialization and its agents
This first phase of socialization takes place in the family context of the person. Then it happens to occur in educational institutions in which the individual begins to generate other relationships with friends and equals, outside the family nucleus.
There is no concrete event or signal that serves as the end point of this stage, as this may change according to the person, the social context and the culture in which it develops. The social agents of this stage and that cause the first relationships with the person are: the family, the school and the media.
1. Family
The family, especially the closest and closest family nucleus , has the responsibility of attending both the physical needs of the individual, as well as the psychological needs. Likewise, the family dynamics will determine the evolution of the person both at the level of personality, as well as at the cognitive and behavioral level.
Relationships with parents and siblings provide essential information for the child on how to interact with other people, thus generating basic behavior patterns that will allow you to better adapt to society in the future.
2. School
On the other hand, once the child begins the academic stage, the school becomes another primordial social agent. The school provides the opportunity to interact daily with friends and peers , making the child aware that differences may exist in the way of proceeding, current and thinking of others.
In addition, the relationship between the faculty and the students provides the knowledge that there are also institutional hierarchies and how to interact with them.
3. Media
Finally, a socializing agent that is becoming increasingly important is the media. In addition to traditional media such as television, the press or radio; The advancement of the Internet and social networks is having an important effect on the way to socialize people.
It is impossible to ignore the change that has occurred in the way of socializing, influenced by social networks. Which have managed to alter the dynamics and behavior patterns of people in relation to interaction with others.
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Secondary socialization
This second phase is given during the last stage of adolescence , after which the person begins in adulthood and puts into practice everything learned in the home and in the educational context.In this later socialization, the person (who already has previous social skills) is incorporated into other sectors of society, which allows him to learn new resources in other areas that are unknown at first.
Through this process, the person assimilates that there are other contexts and realities that differ from what is known during primary socialization. In this case, the university, labor bodies and political institutions and governmental exercise a strong power in socialization.
In addition, unlike primary socialization, in the secondary stage the person has a wide margin of action, in which he is free to decide how to act.
Is there a tertiary socialization?
There is indeed a tertiary socialization, with the difference that instead of a stage it is a different level of socialization in which those people who have experienced a deviation from what is considered the social norm have the opportunity to reintegrate into the society.
These cases occur in people with criminal, criminal or punishable behavior; which through a process of resocialization readaptan their behavior. In this last case the socializing agents are linked to the authorities and even to the prison.
