Introduction
Both socialization and enculturation can be distinguished. Mead suggests that, for socialization, there are some requirements and exactions that are bestowed on the people by their societies. Fabrega also says that socialization is the symbolic system of people, (1977). On the other hand, enculturation refers to the process whereby people learn a culture into its finest details; all the uniqueness of the culture and its particulars (Merten, 1999). This paper will go further into detail to give the processes of socialization and enculturation, their differences. In addition to that, we shall see why they are both needed for a person to be termed as human.
When children are born, they do not have a culture. Their teachers, parents, and other people transform them into people who are culturally and socially adept, (DiRenzo, 1977). This overall process of acquiring culture is what is referred to as socialization. Interactive processes are the foundation to socialization. These processes involve their structures, context, content, as well as the actors. It is the actors that one learns how to be an actor too. He/she is involved in interactions; roles are enacted, and one occupies a certain status, (Dods, Lavenda & Schultz, 2009). In addition, socialization involves creation of social relationships in the community. This goes along with having competence and skills as well as being sensitive to any kind of participation in a social way.
Socialization is also concerned with learning processes, their condition, and character. In addition, the learner has to participate in social practices that are suitable to a particular relationship. In this relationship, he/she adapt to it, become integrated, and he/she will be competent in any interaction(s) which she/he is involved in, in becoming an actor in the society.
Behaviors that are socially acceptable or appropriate with a certain level of social identity and also occupying a particular status in the various situations within the community are bound up in the social apparatuses, arrangements of the society, contexts that are socioecological as well as being in a circle of certain significant persons, (Merten, 1999). There are studies that have been conducted on socialization. These studies do not only focus on the situation character as well as events through learning takes place but also pay attention to the organization of methods that are interactive, (O'Neil, 2011). These studies also look at processes that promote different kinds of learning. The manner in which the phenomena of socio-culture are encountered and learned is enfolded and shaped by social interaction.
In the field of anthropology, Whiting and Whiting came up with a model of socialization. This model sets its focus on the social processes that transmit knowledge of the culture to children. These children were previously viewed as recipients who were passive in light of this information in the ‘environment of learning’ context. During the socialization process, people learn the language of the culture that they are born into; in this case, children, (Mortimer & Simmons, 1978). One defining feature of a culture is that it has a particular language. Children learn this language as part of the socialization process. In addition, the culture defines the kind of roles that they will play in life. For example, girls will learn on how to be sisters, daughters, wives as well as being mothers. They will also learn the occupational roles that their culture or society has ascribed to them, (O'Neil, 2011).
On the other hand, enculturation focuses on the processes that enable one to acquire understanding, competence and orientation in the realm of ideation which encompasses a culture, (DiRenzo, 1977). This is in terms of scripts, frames, images, as well as models that organize and contextualize knowledge in the constitution of culture. Enculturation is concerned with how rules, understandings, and orientations are acquired. These orientations provide a better understanding of the life of the community as well as proper guides that will enhance participation efficiently. While studying enculturation, emphasis is put on how individuals develop adaptations on how to interpret, represent, expect, evaluate, feel, intend, among others, (Mortimer & Simmons, 1978). Emphasis is also placed on the background of the social culture as well as its position in the socio-centric and the personal perspective.
Enculturation, in simple terms, is a process by which an individual is taught the cultural values and norms, however, through an unconscious method of repetition, (Dolmage, n.d). Within a culture, there is a totality of actions that define a context which states what can be accepted within a society. In this context, learning becomes a process for life that is developed through eloquence. This is in the form of gestures, texts, speech, et al. these forms authenticate the economic, technological, social, et al, contexts of the culture. There are both limits and possibilities to the enculturation process, (Grusec & Paul, 2007; DiRenzo, 1977). Anthropologists cannot ignore the contexts created by the process as being positive without problems.
Both socialization and enculturation have a significance that is quite transformative in the life cycle of a person. This is in the case of a human being, being able to retain a capacity change from childhood throughout adulthood into old age, (Dods, Lavenda & Schultz, 2009). In addition, both socialization and enculturation do not use different ways to learn. They use varied ways of learning to learn. There are those individuals who have emotional patterns that are complex. These complexities translate into habits that are complex also, and they are manifested in the voice tone of an individual, how they love, whether they are hostile, (Plomin, 1990). When it comes to children, both studies on socialization and enculturation have not found out how children apprehend certain signs and cues which demarcate what is to be learnt, what is important, what kinds of people are to learn from and who are not, how learning that is effective should fare on, (Merten, 1999). Learning that is also carried out through socialization and enculturation does not only concentrate on the understanding of concepts of a culture (the categories, schemata, et al), but also to comprehend context character and its focal points, (Williams, 1975; Plomin, 1990)
For any social activity to be understood, tangible knowledge is a must. Different senses of the context need to be learnt so that people apprehend and make sense of what the complexities in the society are and the social life that they find themselves in. for example, a young child will have to learn to recognize, attend as well as construct many contexts of interactions from the different activities that he or she participates. The main objective of socialization and enculturation theoretical models is to offer an explanation on the significance of the development of society and culture. Moreover, there are those aspects of development; sensitivities, orientations, et al, that are vital for one to take part as an actor in society, (Ingold, 2002).
Both these processes are fundamental for one to be considered human. The definition of what is human affirms this; that human is “connected with people rather than animals.” Therefore, what separates human beings from animals is the factor of enculturation and socialization; society and culture. As said earlier, one aspect of culture is the language of the people (Lindsay, 2009). Animals are disadvantaged here because they do not have a language in which they can communicate. Human beings use language to communicate ideas and interacting. As children grow up, they learn, through the processes of enculturation and socialization, how to interact with people, (Dods, Lavenda & Schultz, 2009). They learn what is acceptable in this society and what is not. These values are transmitted to them from the environment they live in.
Children are born without a culture; this is a fact. If this child is born in Britain and brought to live with American people, the child will learn the culture of the Americans, speak with an American accent, however, if the child grows up in Britain, he or she will gain the culture of the Britons. In short, socialization and enculturation are fundamental to a person for him or her to be termed as human, (Ingold, 2002). If a child grows up in a world where there are no people, what culture will he or she acquire?
Conclusion
In their definitions, both socialization and enculturation are different. Socialization is the general process of acquiring a culture while enculturation pays attention to the finest details, for example, understanding a culture and being competent in it. Either way, both of these processes are vital for one to be considered human and not an animal. This is because animals do not have a culture that they can learn or transmit to their “children.”
References
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