Human beings develop reasoning skills, personality, sense of self and morality through social contact, observation and interactions. They are not born with the basic knowledge of themselves or others. The process of socialization aids in shaping people's personalities. For example, how a person thinks of himself or herself is linked to how the individual imagines other people see him. Our behaviors, self-concept, and attitudes are influenced by the agents of socialization, which include neighborhood, family, school, day care, religion, workplace, and peer groups (Henslin, 2014). When people move from one life situation such as a job opportunity to another, they have to learn new norms, behaviors, and values. They are said to have undergone resocialization.
Historically, through the observations of young children, there are four stages, which children undergo to develop reasoning ability. The stages are sensorimotor, preoperational stage (between the age of two to seven years), concrete operational stage, which is between the age of seven to twelve, and formal operational stage. However, socialization is not limited to childhood rather it is a lifelong process, which human beings learn or adjust to the needs, responsibilities and expectations.
Although socialization tremendously influences our social location and how people act or think, human beings are not prisoners of socialization. People have a degree of freedom of choice. For example, except for the family, people can choose the desirable agents of socialization such religion to follow. In addition, people can choose the desirable messages or the cultural practices from such agents of socialization (Henslin, 2014). People can even alter their sense of self and hence become unpredictable, unlike the robots. In this way, the environment does not passively influence individuals because they are active in their environments. With this light, people are not prisoners of the process of socialization.
References
Henslin, J. M. (2014). Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach Core Concepts (6th ed.). Pearson College Div.
