Positions On Socialization
 
CHAPTER - 1

 

INTRODUCTION

 

1.1            Socialization

            Socialization is considered a basic concept in many fields. References are made to socialization and its processes in almost every publication relating to social change and culture transmission. In linguistics, studies on language acquisition and sociolinguistitcs often make references to the process of socialization. But an in-depth study of socialization is generally pursed mainly in sociology, anthropology and social psychology.

            Socialization is viewed in many different ways. It is viewed as a process to acquire roles, as an acquisition of norms, as a process of becoming human, as a life-long process, as a process to become a member of society, as n embodiment and acquisition of social self, as underlying all basic concepts of the discipline of  sociology, as a cause of as well as an effect of the differences between these concepts, as a developmental process of a human learning indicating the range of possibilities of human learning, as a process predicting what would become of an individual in future, and as a process moulding the individuals intellect, personality and character. Thus the  process of socialization has a dual role-one concerning the growth of an individual, the other concerning the society, of a which the individual as a member. It as also viewed as a process by which society creates persons suitable to carry out its functional requirements.

            It whatever manner we define socialization, acquisition and use of language become a vehicle for socialization and a sign of achievement and inclusion. For example, each social role has its own language variety; each norm has its own specific way of expressing itself through language use; once we consider acquisition language as part of socialization, there is nothing better than language acquisition to prove that socialization is a life-long process; the acquisition of social self is based on intelligibility between the uses of language varieties. If the personality of an individual is a product of the socialization process, one should not forget that an individual’s personality gets fully reflected in the type of language one use. Firth rightly said that once we open our mouth we reveal what sort of men we are. However, language has not been taken seriously in the study of personality and the socialization process.

            What we intend to do in this book is to infer and relate within a broad interdisciplinary frame covering sociology, social psychology, and anthropology, the process of socialization cannot be seen comprehensively within a single field of investigational While sociology, rightfully claims a major share in the focus on socialization the shares of anthropology social psychology and of linguistics are equally important.  Socialization must be seen as a many splendoured or multi-dimensional network of sociology, anthropology social psychology and the influence of language. To us it appears that this essentially interdisciplinary need to characterize socialization has been largely absent/missed. In linguistics, the branch of sociolinguistitcs could have been the right place for a focus on the process of socialization but socialization got a focus, even here, only to refute claims on language use vis-à-vis socialization from non-linguistic theoretical expositions, such a those of Bernstein.

            Socialization is considered the process through which an individual acquired the knowledge, the values and the customs of a society in order to live as a member of that society. It could also be enabling him to adjust to other societies. This acquisition is mostly an inevitable consequence of being human. This also mostly acquisition unconscious process, at least in the beginning stages of socialization of Socialization is also defined as the long range, developmental process of human learning in a group setting. Once it is considered as a process of human learning, the types of learning experiences to which an individual is exposed become very important.
Socialization would then be assumed to indicate the range of possibilities of learning behavior-what and how much one learns. The process of socialization are generally assumed to have a direct bearing on moulding the individuals intellect, personality and character.  Socialization process, thus are assumed to indicate what sort of person the individual would become later on. Through the socialization processes, the individual gets assigned a part to play in his society but also from the point to view of the society’s survival, maintenance and proliferation. Socialization makes it possible to ensure the individual’s adherence to the values and customs of a group/society. This ensures that the group/society continues. One may also say that socialization refers to both formal and informal techniques of indoctrination and training.

            The socialization process cuts across, embraces and underlines all the key concepts of sociology, viz., society (a society consists of persons who are organized into a complex system of relationship with one another), culture (totality of what is learned by individuals as members of a society; it is a way o life, a mode of thinking, acting and feeling-knowledge, beliefs, and customs as well as characteristic ways of perceiving and evaluating that are learned in one’s environment)., institutions (the clusters of activities and ruled deemed essential to societal welfare—economic, political and military activities, etc.,) social differentiation (age, sex, race, class, or occupation, etc.), social control (maintenance of order and stability, ) social group (kind of collectivity which is an organized system, in which people have established relationships with one another) and social change. Socialization, in a sense, is the cause and effect of differences that one identifies between social groups in relation to the above key concepts.

            Socialization is also considered an embodiment of the social self. The social self is acquired through the process of socialization. The term social self refers to an individual’s perception of his role requirements and his attitudes towards his own roles and the roles requirements and his attitudes towards his own roles and the roles  of his fellow group members. The social self of an individual develops in him when still a child He learns to respond appropriately to the many commands and exhortations form his elders.   This and other items regulate his behavior. In this regulations of his behaviors, the employment of symbols,  both verbal and nonverbal, and inter-communication that the society places before the child its ways of life, as it were. The symbols, both verbal and nonverbal, pre-exit and co-exit with the child and continue through his adulthood and remains even after the adult disappears from the scene. In this sense, society and the symbols become one and the same. In this sense, acquisition and use of symbols become the socialization process.

            Although one cannot ignore the importance of the biological factors in the evolution of an individual’s personality, one should emphasize the direct dependence of the development of personality on the socialization processes. In fact, one should take the position that the social prescriptions and expectations are superimposed on man’s biological requirements, dispositions and propensities.  One should also give due importance to the fact that in all societies, survival of the group is assigned a higher value than survival of the individual. When we emphasize the individual’s personality vis-à-vis socializations processes, we speak not only of the individual’s personality as a product of the socialization processes, but also of the effects an individual’s personality may have for the modification of the socialization process themselves. In other words, the socialization process regulate the development of an individual’s personality   insofar as each individual’s personality   must partake of the social norms. At the same time, the individual’s personality   has also the potential to direct, modify and change the course of the socialization process. The function of changing the direction of the socialization process is generally left to the adult.

            Through socialization, a human child becomes a member of a society. Becoming a member means the acquisition of or an adherence to the norms of that society. Norms are found wherever we find an organized society, primitive or otherwise. The norms of a society are found in the standardized ways of doing things in that society. Within these norms we include speech, similar modes of dress, fairly uniform beliefs, attitudes, etc. These norms are behavior prescriptions, giving guidelines to the members of a community for appropriate action in different situations. Even when there is a change in the norms, the change is from one set of norms to a new set norms. There may be a transitional period but a norm is bound to be established at the end. With the norms of the group, an individual’s own norms get merged. The individuals who constitute a group/society may have had different backgrounds and thus may have arrived at norms that are different from one another’s.  This would have made them also to perceive differently the norms of the society as a whole.  However, when the individuals come into contract with one another, the norms of the individuals tend to converge. Language use is no exception to it.  This convergence of the norms of the individuals comes to control the individual norms of the individuals. In essence, the norms of the individuals come to be influenced by the norms of the group/society. Socialization can be viewed as a process by which an individual may also contribute to he change of norms.

                        Socialization must be viewed as a continuing process, and not as a process restricted to, mastered and completed by the end of the childhood.   The notion that language acquisition is generally over by a particular age in childhood fails to appreciate the continuing process of language acquisition and socialization.  The continuing process of socialization provides a link between the socialization process in childhood and adulthood.   Just as early childhood language acquisition provides an overall frame for later language use, the early childhood socialization provides the basic structures that would remain even through adulthood. There is a qualitative change in language use as the child grows, even though most of the structures are already acquired and available. The qualitative change is not simply restricted   to the acquisition of some new and complex linguistic structures. The qualitative change must be seen more significantly in the ways the already available linguistic structures are put to use.  This is precisely what happens in adult socialization.  We have already pointed out that socialization is nothing but the acquisition and use of symbols; if this were the case, what we should look for in the study of socialization is the linkage between early childhood symbols and the symbols that surface in the adult.  The symbols or early childhood socialization must have a place in adulthood, but with more qualitative change in their use.

Are there differences between socialization in childhood and socialization in adulthood?  Is there any need for adult hood socialization at all?  Are there any limits imposed upon adulthood socialization?  What is the content of focus in childhood and adulthood socialization?  Are there differences in language socialization and adulthood?  Answers these questions will be presented in subsequent chapters.  But we should state here in brief some of the salient points of the answers by way of introduction.  In an approach to socialization, role acquisition is considered the most important aspect childhood socialization.  If this is accepted, there are certain roles for which there would be no socialization process in childhood.   Childhood socialization focuses on aspects some of which may not be relevant for adulthood. Childhood socialization may also be inadequate to handle successfully all the roles an individual may have to play in later life.  The geographical mobility, social mobility, the heterogeneity of structures, complex modern societies, rapid social changes, unpredictable role demands, discontinuities in between what is expected in successive roles all indicate the need not only for adulthood nonverbal socialization but also for adulthood verbal socialization.   But there are also limits to adulthood socialization and these limits are set by the biological capacities of an individual and by the effect of earlier learning or the lack of it.  Note that these limits have a direct correspondence on the limitations in second language acquisition in later life.  This has also a direct correspondence to the inability of non standard dialect speakers to switch over completely to the use of standard dialect in later life.  The adult socialization is viewed as consisting of creating new combinations of old response elements, the quality of earlier learning comes to assume importance for later life socialization.  Note also that the creative aspect of language use or the felicity with which language structures including vocabulary are used in later life would be based on the quality of earlier learning.  As regards the content of socialization in later life, it is obvious that the subtractive content of socialization differs in important ways at different stages of life cycle and in different major social institutions.  But it is not certain whether the types as opposed to the substance of the content differ throughout the life cycle.  We would prefer to assume, following the language acquisition processes, that socialization types also at the nonverbal level are basically the same both at the childhood and adulthood socialization.  The notion on types we assume here are of a dynamic nature, not static ones.  They are dynamic and hence extending back and front, just as the flow of water, linking childhood experiences with the experiences and demands of adulthood socialization.  We would like to take the position that while the substantive content in adulthood socialization may be different, the individual comes to grips with the challenge of the adulthood socialization basically with the equipment he has acquired in the childhood socialization and that types of childhood socialization and adulthood socialization are basically the same.  With the notion that these types are a dynamic nature, we can account for the changes in content and process in adulthood socialization-changes such as the shift in content.  Form a concern with values and motives to a concern with overt behavior (little attempt to influence motivation of a fundamental kind or to influence basic values), shift from acquisition of new materials of a synthesis of the old; from a concern with idealism to a concern with realism; from teaching expectations to teaching how to mediate conflict among expectations; from a concern with general demands of society to a concern with role specific expectations, from a concern with self-centered component to other components.  All these changes are a dialectical necessity and have their roots in childhood socialization.  The elements of changes may be identified in childhood socialization process itself.  However, in adulthood socialization, the individuals are not required to take formally the role of one being socialized except in formal apprenticeship in occupations.  In childhood socialization, not only home and other informal devices but also formal devices require that the individual take the role of one being socialized.  The home language is acquired under these circumstances.  The school imparts the formal language.  In adulthood socialization, apprenticeship, apprenticeship in different walks of life, gives the individual the technical language, but any switch over to the school language of the individual during the course of adulthood socialization is based on perception of the needs and this switch is achieved mainly through personal efforts, without oneself taking the role of an individual being socialized.  The processes in both adulthood and childhood socialization are pursued unconsciously by the one being socialized.  While in the childhood socialization, the agents are conscious of the processes, in the adulthood socialization more involvement of he individual being socialized in demanded.  In other words, the childhood socialization is characterized by a context of affectivity and high powder whereas we find affective neutrality and little power differentiation in adulthood socialization.  (This is true in some cases or in some forms of behavior but in formal apprenticeship affectivity and power play a crucial role.)

            There is empirical support to believe that different cultures produce different types of personality.  There is also empirical support to believe that there is a direct relationship between membership in a particular social/economic class and the personality of an individual.  In India and elsewhere, the social class distinctions are related, in some manner, to the economic class distinctions also.  There is also empirical support to believe strongly that the development is directly dependent upon social processes, rather than on biological processes.  This has already been referred to earlier.  But, in spite of all these overriding influences of social prescriptions and expectations, one can identity how social norms are established and/or altered, how socialization processes can be redirected and how societies can be better organized for the pursuit of human goals and objectives.  This possibility for conscious control of socialization processes has been exploited by movements seeking social and other changes, including change in language behavior.  This possibility has also been exploited by many misguided elements to tamper with childhood socialization processes to achieve their ends, posing that at times to even the survival of mankind.  We only hope that an understanding of this double-edged weapon would help man to better his social environment so that what man has achieved in his physical environment will eventually be rivaled by progress in his social environment. 

            In the processes of socialization, the imitation of fellows, and the participation in play activities and games have been emphasized by many models.  These are assumed to lead to the acquisition of the repertoire of social skills necessary for participation in the social world of the adult.  The role taking of the young child is found functionally related to his becoming a member of the society.  Related to this is the narrow definition of socialization as a processes of becoming human form the animal/biological child stage.  While imitation of fellows and the participation in play activities and role taking could be identified in the socialization processes and could even be related to later adulthood behaviour, the socialization processes do no necessarily depend on imitation and participation activities only.  The socialization processes.  Defined as acquisition and use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, should be assumed to be an internal part of being human.   Humans are humans because they acquire and use symbols.  There is no stage in human life cycle that could be called an animal stage-the acquisition and use of symbols at any stage of human cycle far excels the quality of acquisition and use of symbols of animals.  Hence we take the position the socialization is not a process of becoming human from the animal stage; it is an integral part of being human.  Because it is an integral part of being human, socialization processes not only introduce a child to a set of specific norms of a society but also to a more general set of norms of a human setting.

            When we look into the studies on socialization, we find the only a few systems of behaviour are dealt with and that these systems of  behaviour are generally of a nonverbal type.  These include oral behaviour (sucking), excretory behaviour, sexual behaviour, aggression, dependence, achievement, anxiety, control of fear, reproductive behaviour, character or moral development, material socialization, formal apprenticeship socialization, and socialization into social roles across different (intra and inter) social dimensions and social variable.  We take the position that every human activity is subject to socialization process and that, as a result, the studies of socialization should cover all the systems of behaviour.  We do not claim any exclusive, decisive role to the acquisition and use of language in the process socialization, but we certainly argue that language should form an important theme in the study of socialization, as it is mainly through language humans get socialized.

1.2  Plan of the Book

            Our concern in this book is mainly to broadly outline the contributions language makes to the processes socialization and to indicate the influence of socialization processes in the acquisition and use of language.  For this, we consider it imperative that we understand the different view-points on socialization from sociology, social psychology and anthropology.  Chapter Two presents some of the major sociological approaches to the study of socialization.   This is done through a presentation of the ideas of some of the masters of sociology on the scope of sociology.  As we take the position that socialization is a theme that cuts across all the concepts of sociology, we infer  from these masters’ ideas on the scope of sociology their notions of socialization processes.  Included in this chapter are the ideas of Comete, Cooley, Durkheim, Goffman, Marx, George Mead, Simmel, Pareto, Park, Parsons, Weber, Veblen, Mannheim, Sorokin, Thomas and other.  In Chapter Three, we present the social psychological models of socialization.  In particular, the psycho-analytic approaches, the normative-maturational approach, the developmental-cognitive approach, stage theories, the genetic and constitutional approaches, and learning theory approaches.  We also discuss some current issues in relation to the study of socialization.  In Chapter Four, we present briefly some of the salient features of anthropological approaches to socialization.  Our discussion revolves mainly around the mechanisms of culture transmission and the influence of specific cultural pattern of a society on its socialization processes.  In a second volume, approaches to socialization from the point of view of linguists are taken up for discussion.  Linguists have been led by developments in psychology in this respect.  They have had to fight certain notions also.  Most of the linguists have not explicitly stated their ideas on the processes of socialization.  Their ideas on dialectology and language change are, in some sense, related to their concept of socialization.  In modern times, sociolinguistitcs and studies on language acquisition have contributed many interesting insights with further work.  Bernstein’s ideas are taken up for a special description, followed by a criticism of this position.  In this second volume, we also discuss the socialization process vis-à-vis language acquisition and language use.  We show here the need for the recognition of the important role of language in the socialization processes.  We iterate the major areas in which language plays a crucial role in the processes of socialization.  Socialization through language is the focus of this chapter.  Finally in the second volume we discuss aspects of deviant socialization and aspects of language deviance in relation to social deviance.