‘Socialization Is Occurring All the Time in Children’s Diverse Experience of Daily Life.’ Explain How This Happens with Reference to Different Approaches to the Study of Socialisation.

1191 Words5 Pages
Socialization is the process children go through to become active, competent participants in their community. It used to be seen mainly as a kind of cultural programming of children by adults through institutions like the family, church or school. Nowadays the socialization process of children is seen as being made up more by people’s attitudes, actions and interactions and how these reflect and contribute to beliefs and values. Children have an active role in this process. Socialization is how children’s behaviour, skills, ways of thinking and communicating are shaped especially through activities and interactions with others. There are many processes which are involved in children’s socialization and these may vary across different children’s lives. A social constructionist approach focuses on children’s activities and relationships with others. They see children’s behaviour, skills, ways of thinking and communicating, and identity as constructed through these interactions. Anthropologists have studied ‘social practices’. They have researched the ways in which the patterns of children’s socialization fit them for specific cultural settings. Cultural diversity shows how social practices (such as disciplining children or preparing them for gendered adult roles) differ according to the local cultural beliefs and values. Children’s lives can differ enormously. However, generally children have places of influence such as their home, school or their workplace, do activities such as studying, doing chores or playing and have influential people around them such as their parents, siblings, friends or an employer. The variety and complexity of children’s lives means that social context has to be considered. Attention needs to be paid to ‘sites’ (places) and the social practices associated with them. Relationships such as child-parent or child-employer are

More about ‘Socialization Is Occurring All the Time in Children’s Diverse Experience of Daily Life.’ Explain How This Happens with Reference to Different Approaches to the Study of Socialisation.

Open Document