Socialization Paper

"Socialization is the process of learning interpersonal and interactional skills that are in conformity with the values of one's society" (Medical Dictionary). Socialization is a learning process that begins after birth. People act in accordance to the feedback and reactions they get from others. We learn who we are by family, friends, and the people around us. Socialization is an important process of our personality, language and behavior. For example, whether we have an accent or our use of vocabulary depends on what we are exposed to. Socialization is not always a conscious or an intentional transference. People are not always aware that they might be influencing someone in a social situation. The very structure of authority and the responsibility of families, schools, churches, and employment may determine which values, attitudes, and beliefs young people adopt (Sawyer 2005).

A norm may be defined as a standard by which events are judged and on that basis approved or disapproved. The notion of a norm will encompass all constructs such as rules, values, and principles (Rushton 1980). Each ethnic group has a different norm. Therefore, the United States does not have a shared norm because there are many different ethnicities. Since there is not one accepted norm for the United States, it is easier to be different, wear different clothes, talk, act, and look different and no one would disapprove. Whereas a small-scale society might call someone abnormally socialized if they do not share the same behavior or norm as everyone else in that particular group. Socialization is always changing. For example, a person will age and they will need to conform to the appropriate role or expectations for that age. There is strong evidence that adults are influenced by what they see others doing (Rushton 1980). Therefore, while aging, people will often change their beliefs, personality, and the way they act due to experience and different situations they encountered throughout their life.

In the early 1900s, Charles Horton Cooley said, "the social origin of his life comes by the pathway of intercourse with other persons" (Ward). Cooley came up with an idea called the Looking Glass Self. He theorized that interacting with others and communicating will effect how we view ourselves. The Looking Glass Self is composed of three elements: the imagination of our appearance and other people, the imagination of judgment of that appearance,