Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Socialization is the process by which humans learn the ways of being and doing considered appropriate and expected in their social environments. We call it primary socialization when the individual is a newly born member of society and is therefore experiencing this process for the first time. Primary socialization has the social psychological characteristic of primacy, meaning that its position as first in the acquisition of social knowledge renders it a filter and a foundation for the subsequent information internalized by the fledgling social being. Primacy also makes early socialization remarkably resilient, in that it is much more difficult to change primary habits and beliefs than those learned later in the life course. With regard to symbolic interaction, primary socialization becomes the initial set of significant symbols by which the individual interprets the perceived social world, formulates a conception of personal identity or identities, and through which he or she communicates understanding and desire with others. Through the symbolic structure of language, coupled with non-verbal communication and other cultural cues, the individual negotiates an understanding of the agreed-upon realities of social settings with significant others in their environment. An early social philosophy of childhood portrayed the newborn social participant as a tabula rasa, or a blank slate ... log in or subscribe to read full text