Discuss the Importance of Socialisation
Discuss the importance of socialisation.
Socialisation is defined as “the process whereby the helpless human infant gradually becomes a self-aware, knowledgeable person, skilled in the ways of the culture into which he or she was born”. (Giddens, 284). Everybody, man, woman and child goes through the process of socialisation throughout the whole duration of their life not just when an infant. Socialisation or as anthropologists refer to it, enculturation does not end once the child becomes a teenager for example. The process is on-going throughout ones lifespan. Socialisation is most important however when the child is a new-born till the age of three as this is when a child’s brain develops the most. This is why love, emotional support and interaction with their immediate family and friends is important for the child’s future development. “The process of socialisation involves learning the language, values, rules and knowledge of the culture into which we are born” (McDonald, 12). One tends to follow and have a similar personality to those who they are close to and learn from.
John Bowlby and Mary D.S Ainsworth developed a theory of parent-child attachment. The theory focused on how and why children become connected emotionally to their parents and what happens when a healthy relationship between parent and infant does not develop. The attachment theory helps one understand the importance of socialisation and what can happen when an infant does not receive the love and emotional support from his or her parents that they should. When separated from parents the child may supress loneliness or anger at first in the physical presence of their parents not being present. Bowlby asks the question, Is the attachment figure nearby, accessible, and attentive? If the child answers yes, he or she feels loved, secure and confident. If the child doesn’t feel all of these things from his or her parents at a young age he or she may develop emotional attachment issues in
Socialisation is defined as “the process whereby the helpless human infant gradually becomes a self-aware, knowledgeable person, skilled in the ways of the culture into which he or she was born”. (Giddens, 284). Everybody, man, woman and child goes through the process of socialisation throughout the whole duration of their life not just when an infant. Socialisation or as anthropologists refer to it, enculturation does not end once the child becomes a teenager for example. The process is on-going throughout ones lifespan. Socialisation is most important however when the child is a new-born till the age of three as this is when a child’s brain develops the most. This is why love, emotional support and interaction with their immediate family and friends is important for the child’s future development. “The process of socialisation involves learning the language, values, rules and knowledge of the culture into which we are born” (McDonald, 12). One tends to follow and have a similar personality to those who they are close to and learn from.
John Bowlby and Mary D.S Ainsworth developed a theory of parent-child attachment. The theory focused on how and why children become connected emotionally to their parents and what happens when a healthy relationship between parent and infant does not develop. The attachment theory helps one understand the importance of socialisation and what can happen when an infant does not receive the love and emotional support from his or her parents that they should. When separated from parents the child may supress loneliness or anger at first in the physical presence of their parents not being present. Bowlby asks the question, Is the attachment figure nearby, accessible, and attentive? If the child answers yes, he or she feels loved, secure and confident. If the child doesn’t feel all of these things from his or her parents at a young age he or she may develop emotional attachment issues in
References: Giddens, A. (2009) Sociology: 6th Edition. Cambridge, UK. Polity Press. McDonald, B. (2009) Introduction to Sociology in Ireland: 2nd Edition. Dublin. Gill & MacMillan. Rathus, S, A. (2010) Childhood & Adolescence: Voyages in Development. Wadsworth Publishing.