In this essay, i will examine the importance of socialisation as a process with in society. Socialisation is the process a human being will go through to make them who they are. They will learn about different types of cultures, norms and fashions, all of these they will take on throughout their life. Nature vs nurture has a great role in this, and, personally, I believe that nurture makes the largest amount of impact.
Socialisation can be explained through different types of theory. Macro groups believe that influences from the outside world have an effect on the person. Functionalism is a macro approach; they believe that society is a human body, with different social groups as different parts of the human. They believe that the family, which is the main social group people will be introduced to, as the heart. Through family, we learn our language, main culture, and family traditions. Their main focus is on institutions in society, such as the media and education. They believe that agreed goals are the way forward. Looking at functions of institutions, they also believe that society determines people’s behaviour and way of life, thus making social change evolutionary. The one problem with this theory, is that it leaves out the aspect of free will and conflict. Marxism, another macro approach, believe that, without conflict, no social change will be brought about. Marxists believe that, conflict is needed to progress socially. They believe that all societies are characterised by the nature of their production and economic relationships, that the substructure of a society affects the superstructure. They also believe that those who have the means of power though production, take advantage over those who don’t. The Micro belief, is that you make your own reality, you choose the things that will affect you, you choose your own reality. Social actionists take the main bulk of this belief, being