Van Maanen's Model Of Socialization Essay

In Van Maanen’s model of socialization, he makes three assumptions about people in a state of transition (recruits). First, that “they are in an anxiety-producing situation…and are motivated to reduce this anxiety by learning the functional and social requirements of their new roles as quickly as possible.” (Van Maanen,1978, p. 20). His second assumption is that learning does not occur in a vacuum, and that recruits will seek out info from any source available to them, be it a co-worker, superior, subordinate, or other source(Van Maanen, 1978). Finally, “the stability and productivity of any organization depend in large measure on the way newcomers to various organizational positions come to carry out their tasks(Van Maanen,1978, p. 20). On joining the Canadian Forces in the summer of 2000, I left the relative comfort of home on the west coast and was rapidly immersed into the world of the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in St Jean, Quebec to begin my formal training and socialization into the Canadian Armed Forces. I had some idea of what was coming, having prepared myself by watching some recruiting videos, but nevertheless, the stress of the unknown started almost immediately on arrival. We were ushered off the bus, lined up, and conducted a roll call. We were quickly assigned platoons, and were met by our course

This contributes to good morale and unit cohesion(Robbins et al, 2003). Generally speaking, group cohesion is considered a good thing, being linked as a “contributor to morale” among soldiers(Manning, 1991, pg. 457).. Despite the benefits of group cohesion, there can be down sides if members of the primary group do not hold values in line with the larger organization. When members of the group are looking out for their own interests, rather than the mission, operational effectiveness is