We live in a dynamic society with its own rules, regulations and requirements. Coming into this world, a person begins to communicate. The first reactions in babies to other people occur already at the age of 1.5-2 months. And in utero, the crumbs react to the voices of loved ones: dads, moms, push in response to touching their mother's stomach. This confirms that every person is a social being who cannot fully exist without the surrounding people, communication and development in society. But the process of adaptation to established norms and rules does not occur immediately after birth or in one or two days. It takes up most of our lives and it happens differently for everyone.
This is a complex transformation of a personality that determines its adaptation in society, the development of internal structures, external interactions, etc. It is still being studied by psychologists, since society is constantly changing, as are the requirements for personality structures. Therefore, going through the stages and types of socialization, a person sometimes needs help or support. So, what are the types of addiction of a person to society and what kind ofprocess?
Human socialization
No wonder this phenomenon in social psychology is called a process, because it does not happen in 5 minutes. It can stretch for a lifetime, it all depends on the environment to which a person gets used, and on the structure of the personality itself.
The result of the interaction between man and society is the process of socialization. When an individual enters a certain structure, he is forced to get used to and obey its rules. That is, society influences him. But along with the internal changes of the individual himself, there is also a change in society, since he, being an active person, influences his environment. The results of socialization are visible in the fact that in mutual change the uniqueness of a small or large group of society appears, a person forms new patterns of behavior, norms and values.
The process of socialization of the individual lasts throughout life, as society is constantly in dynamics, undergoing some changes, a person in society is forced to adapt to newly emerging new conditions. It is the continuous renewal, acceptance and identification with something new that determines the adaptation of the individual to the conditions around him.
Forms of adopting the rules of society
There are two main forms of human adaptation to society and the adoption of basic norms and rules.
- Non-directional socialization is the direct acquisition of personality traits and some character traits as a result of the fact that a person is constantly in a certain environment. Examples of socializationnon-directional: every time after eating, the child in the family is taught to say "thank you". He develops such a quality of character as gratitude. Then he will already unconsciously thank for serving food at a party, cafe or when he is treated to something. The individual adopts social qualities not only in the family, but also in the circle of peers, colleagues at work, surrounded by fans at the stadium, and so on.
- Directed socialization - a specially formed program or system of means and activities that are designed to influence a person with the main goal - to adjust it to the values, interests and ideals that dominate in society. Here the main process is education. Adaptation of the child to society will be difficult without education. This is a planned process of influencing the behavior and consciousness of the younger generation. It is necessary for the developing personality to form social attitudes, values, and an active position in society.
These two forms can complement each other, or they can contradict. After all, the non-directional form of socialization involves the influence of a particular group of society, and they are not only positive. In this case, a directed influence on the formation of human values should be actively included, this can be done by parents, school.
Stages of adaptation to society
A person in society adapts through several stages. They are interconnected. The skills that the child acquired in the previous stage, thenare improved and are the basis for the emergence of other characteristics of socialization.
- Infancy - this stage covers the first 2 years of the baby. Here, an important factor is his communication with significant adults, which is colored by positive emotions. The child learns to respond to an appeal to him, to distinguish between negative and positive emotions. This can be seen in the way he furrows his brows when spoken to sternly.
- Early childhood (2 to 5 years). The child actively learns the world, along with this, learns to interact with objects, manipulating them. Socialization occurs with proper communication with parents.
- Preschool childhood (six-seven years). The leading activity during this period is gaming activity. But at this stage, the process of socialization of the child's personality occurs through a complicated game - a role-playing game. A small member of society learns to distribute and play different roles. Playing a mother, the child learns to behave like her, repeats some of her phrases, instructs "his" baby. Thus, he begins to adopt the basic norms and values, first of all, of the family.
- Early school age covers the period from 7 to 11 years. The social situation of the child's development is radically changing. During this period, he rethinks everything that he knew from life experience, reinforces the knowledge gained. Features of socialization at this age also consist in the fact that the child's authorities change. The main significant adult in the process of adaptation to new conditionsis a teacher. The child communicates and interacts with him on an equal footing, and sometimes even more than with his parents.
- Adolescence (12-14 years). With the help of new knowledge, the formation of his opinion based on conceptual thinking, as well as active interaction with peers, a teenager continues to get used to the norms and requirements of society. At this age, he can either deny them or fully obey them.
- Youth age from 14 to 18 years. At this stage, several important events take place in the life of every boy or girl. This is puberty, in which young people join the world of adults; completion of studies, while the person becomes more independent. This period accounts for the formation of a worldview, a change in self-esteem and, as a result, self-awareness. The basic life principles, self-respect, value orientations ripen in the psyche.
- Late youth (18-25 years). The person is actively involved in labor activity. Some continue to study, getting a profession. Young people gradually learn and adopt the social norms of society, learn to interact with others, distribute labor duties and fulfill them. Personality develops socially and professionally.
- Maturity (25-65 years). A person improves in labor activity and is engaged in self-education.
- Post-employment (65+ years). A person retires, sums up some results of life. Realizes himself in different directions (hostess, grandmother, grandfather, self-education, consulting in professionalquestions).
What factors influence an individual's addiction to society?
All types of socialization cannot be carried out without certain factors. They have a significant impact on the adaptation of a person to social rules. Thanks to these factors, a person can perceive and adopt the forms of social norms, having already some idea of moral, legal, aesthetic, political and religious rules.
Main factors affecting socialization:
- biological - determines the diversity of a set of personality characteristics;
- physical environment - a personality can also be formed under the influence of climate and other natural indicators, these patterns are studied by ethnopsychology;
- culture - every society has its own culture, which greatly influences the adoption of social norms;
- group experience - here you can recall Jung's theory of the collective unconscious, in which he also argued that groups affect the self-awareness of the individual; in communicating with different people, perceiving their reactions, a person learns to interact in a certain environment;
- personal (individual) experience is a unique factor, since each person in his own way adopts the patterns of education, features of social norms, negative and positive experience and integrates it.
Types of socialization
There are several additional and two main types of socialization:
- Primary - the perception of society in childhood. The child learns about society throughthe cultural position of the family and the perception of the world by significant adults - parents. By instilling core values through parenting patterns, parents shape a child's first experience. He experiences this experience as his own and learns to perceive the other through the mechanism of identity. Through communication with significant adults, the child forms elements of evaluation of what is happening.
- Secondary - has no end and lasts as long as a person is included in the professional circle, interest companies and other small and large social groups. Here the child learns different roles, learns to perceive himself on the basis of what role he needs to play. It is easy to give examples of secondary socialization: a child plays the role of a son at home, a student at school, an athlete in a sports club. But sometimes the world of secondary adaptation to society contradicts the primary (what is instilled in childhood), for example, the values of the family do not correspond to the interests of a group of rock music fans. In this case, a person has to go through the process of self-identification (which is more suitable) and push away any line of interest.
It should be noted that the primary perception of society is less often corrected, since what is laid down in childhood is difficult to reformat later, to remove from the subconscious. Types of socialization are not limited to primary and secondary. There is also the concept of resocialization and desocialization. In addition, adaptation to society can be successful and unsuccessful.
The concept of resocialization
This process applies to speciesgaining knowledge about the norms of society. It means a sharp change in social conditions, which in a new way begin to influence a person, his ideas and interests. It can manifest itself during a long hospitalization or when changing a permanent place of residence. A person under the influence of new conditions again begins to adapt to a different social situation.
Also, this concept is used to change the perception of a person by society. For example, when work partners perceive him as an incompetent specialist and constantly attribute this image to him. And he has already completed refresher courses or retraining and has become much better at work. In this case, the process of resocialization is important, that is, a change in place or working conditions so that this person can show himself better.
What is desocialization?
This is a phenomenon that is the opposite of socialization. In this case, for a number of reasons, a person loses social values and norms, is alienated from the group to which he belongs, and deprivation develops. With desocialization, it becomes more and more difficult for a person to realize himself in society, and if he is not helped, the situation will worsen.
Therefore, the question of successful or unsuccessful adaptation to society becomes relevant. The success of this process is determined by the harmony between the expected and actual state of affairs in the family, school, and society as a whole. Unsuccessful socialization occurs when the norms and values that a person has learned at one time do not coincide with the norms and values of the surrounding world.
Family as the first institutionadopting the norms of society
Socialization in the family is effective from birth, when the child begins to contact with loved ones, responds to being addressed, smiles and coos. The family has the responsibility to bring the new person into society. Therefore, the special task of this small cell of society is to raise a worthy member of society. Surrounding close people influence the formation of the spiritual, moral, physical component. The attitude of the child to them depends on how mom and dad relate to different phenomena of the world around them.
It is in the family that the child gets the first experience of building interpersonal relationships. He sees and hears how parents communicate with each other, what their values and interests are. As a kid, he begins to imitate the behavior of mom or dad, adopting their habits, words. Children perceive verbal information by approximately 40%, if they hear and see how their parents act, the probability of their behavior is 60%. But if a child hears how to act, sees that parents behave this way, and does it together with them, the probability of forming such a skill and following it throughout life is 80%! Therefore, the behavior of a child in adolescence and beyond is more dependent on the family. Only in the process of building harmonious relationships in the family can a fully developed personality mature.
School as a child's adaptation to social requirements
In the first six years, a child acquires important skills and abilities for life. He learns to interact withothers, builds relationships and adopts the basic values of the family and the norms of society. But as soon as he starts attending school, the social situation around him changes. New requirements are emerging, norms are being introduced. The socialization of schoolchildren is a big stage in the development of the individual, in which not only parents take part. Here the processes of education, training, human development are involved.
The school creates the basis for further adaptation to society. This social institution does not have the right to refuse the development of the child, as happens in some social groups (for example, the sports section, where the child does not fit in certain parameters).
The socialization of students is very dependent on another significant figure that occupies the second (sometimes the first) place after parents in this period - this is the teacher. This is not only the main character of the pedagogical process, but a role model for children, especially in the lower grades. The first teacher has a great responsibility for resolving various problems of the child at school, his adaptation to the educational process and the class team. All teachers are also responsible for solving the educational, social and educational tasks of the school.
Socialization at school has its own functions:
- cultural and educational development of the individual, in which mature and literate people are formed who can reason and make decisions logically;
- regulatory-educational - the formation and education of a positive attitude towards the surrounding reality, values, motivation, and sonext;
- communicative - the child learns the skills of role-playing behavior, learns to communicate;
- organizational and managerial - helps the student organize personal space, time;
- social-integrative - helps to strengthen trusting relationships, team cohesion.
Peers as significant people in socialization
Peers stand out as separate agents of personality socialization. Why are they so important to a child's development? In adolescence and older, a person feels the need for information of interest to him. It can be fully provided not by adults, but by peers. Therefore, interest groups are formed in which the personality continues to develop. In such interaction, a teenager receives information about the people around him, the world, expands his idea of himself. Parents should guide the child so that he does not fall under the influence of maladjusted subcultural groups.
The results of socialization are a continuous process of adaptation to changing conditions in society. With each new stage, a person changes, his interests and values are transformed. Therefore, it is important to surround ourselves with people who will not affect us sharply negatively. It is especially important to follow how the child adapts to the new environment around him, to promote the development of his interests, instill values, and also take an active part in his successful socialization.
