Socialization and Sex and Gender
What purpose does socialization serve?
What happens when children do not have an environment that supports positive socialization?
How does socialization occur?
Why is Socialization Important?
Socialization is the lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire a self-identity and the physical, mental, and social skills needed for survival in society. Socialization is essential of the individual’s survival and for human development. The many people who met the early material and social needs of each of us were central to our establishing our own identity.
Socialization is also essential for the survival and stability of society. Members must be socialized to support and maintain the existing social structure.
Human Development: Biology and Society (Nature or Nurture)
What does it mean to be “human”? To be human includes being conscious of ourselves as individuals with unique identities, personalities and relationships with others. As humans we have ideas, emotions and values. We have the capacity to think and make rational decisions. But what is the source of “human-ness”? Are we born with these human characteristics, or do we develop them through our interactions with others?
Every human being is a product of biology and society and personal experiences – that is, of heredity and environment or, in even more basic terms “nature” and “nurture.” How much of our development can be explained by socialization? How much by our genetic heritage? There is hardly a behaviour that is not influenced socially. Social environment probably has a greater effect than heredity on the way we develop and the way we act. However, heredity does provide the basic material from which other people mould an individual’s human experiences.
Our biological and emotional needs are related in a complex equation. Children whose needs are met in settings characterized by affection,