Peer Groups Role In Society

1st November 2016
Discuss the role of The Family, Peer Groups, The Mass Media and the School in the Socialisation process
Socialisation is a lifelong process which includes learning about social expectations, principles, values and knowledge of the culture we are born in. Nearly all the behaviour that we consider ‘normal’ is learned through socialisation. ‘Every society has individuals, groups, organisations and institutions that provide substantial amounts of socialisation during the life course. These are called agents of socialisation’ (Curry, 2005, p. 75). Primary socialisation takes place in early childhood and is the ‘intense period of cultural learning’ (Giddens, 2001, p. 26) while secondary socialisation occurs as the child matures.

‘Sociologists believe that the media has the power to dictate how we learn about what is going on in the world, as well as how to appropriately interact with one another’ (Anon., n.d.). Children can become socialised through the television shows they watch or the amount of supervision they have while on the computer. If not closely monitored, the child can very easily learn norms and values that their parents would disapprove of. For example, the media is very persuasive when telling us what the proper body image is. They do this by picking a specific group of people that they deem to have the proper image and circulating their image throughout the media. This can lead to eating disorders because children now have unhealthy beleifs in relation to their bodies. Another reason the media is a huge influence is because of the amount of time that is spent watching television or on the computer. A study called Growing Up in Ireland found

The official purpose of school is to teach children how to perform academically, however, we learn more than just the curriculum that the teacher has planned. ‘In school, we also learn social skills through our interactions with teachers, staff, and other students. For example, we learn the importance of obeying authority and that to be successful, we must learn to be quiet, to wait, and sometimes to act interested even when we're not.’ (Long-Crowell, n.d.). Teachers may also teach norms and behaviour unintentionally. For example, a student may learn that by yelling instead of putting up their hand they are given attention. This is where we learn the difference between positive attention and negative attention. Depending on the child’s personal life, this attention – either good or bad – may lead to more outbursts both in school and at home. Being in school means that children are around their peer groups as well as with older and younger groups – teachers, schoolyard etc. – this gives children a great chance to socialise with different groups of people on their own without any input from their parents. This also gives them a chance to mix with people that have different religion, social status and norms which gives them a chance to develop their own opinions and become