Sources of Socialization Essay

The mass media has become a big part of our society and its counterparts. In a time span of 50 years this medium has influenced society to an extent where it has created wonders. This immaculate tool can control almost every action we perform, from speaking to the actions that every human being performs in society. The mass media has brought upon a new era of idea's and changes in the world we live in. As we analysis media in depth we will find many aspects of media which overlap and some of the smallest factors and aspects of media, which create the biggest impact on society.

We live in a society in which media has such a great influence on us, yet the influence is only in certain aspects and on certain people. “Mass media is arguably the most influential in molding public consciousness” (562). People might think that media is managed by a combination of different people but in reality, since the number of media companies is decreasing, only certain people control the industry and what gets to be put out to light. Since media is mostly controlled by a few people who belong to the 1%, the information that goes into the media is influenced by their beliefs as well as race, class, and even gender. Media influences every aspect of our lives since “media plays a key role in defining our cultural tastes, helping us locate

The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into people's minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into people's minds and leave a lasting impression. Though obviously people are aware of what they are listening to or watching, thoughts and assumptions can drift into their minds without even realizing it. These thoughts that drift in are extremely influential. The massive impact it

The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into people's minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into people's minds and leave a lasting impression. Though obviously people are aware of what they are listening to or watching, thoughts and assumptions can drift into their minds without even realizing it. These thoughts that drift in are extremely influential. The massive impact

In order to understand the current issue involving certain groups being incorrectly portrayed in media, it is important to first understand exactly what mass media is. There are a variety of technical definitions for the term “mass media.” According to Britannica, “Media is used to pass on information to many people in a society” (“Media”). Merriam-Wenster claims media is a “mean of communication that is designed to reach the mass of the people” (“Mass Medium”). Recently, a spike of innovations has led to an increase of possible methods of communication that can be inducted into the field of mass media. Tomi Ahonen, an author on telecommunications and technology, popularized the term “Seventh of the Mass Media” to prove that cellphones are a new form of mass media. This has made the world more familiar with the different categories of media. The seven designated forms include print, recordings, movies, radio, television, internet, and cellphones (Duarte). If more people in the world contained this knowledge of media, it might be more easily understood the effect it can have on so many. In addition to knowing what media is in today’s age, it is also important to fully understand misrepresentation.

When one takes a good look at our society, it is clear that it is purely dominated by the messages that are constantly fed to us by the media. The media is so powerful that a majority of people do not even realize that it affects them in any way. In fact most people are convinced that they are completely unaffected by it. One of the reasons that the media is so powerful is because of the cycle of socialization. The cycle of socialization can open ones eyes to why our society has specific views of people from other cultures, races, and genders.

The term socialization can be defined as the process in which individuals learn the behavioral patterns that are most likely accepted and tolerated in society. This process includes the learning values in which children are taught and they develop the social values of their parents or guardians just by observing them. Socialization occurs from the birth of the individual and continues throughout their life. Socialization is classified as one of the most important process in the family. Of all the major sociological perspectives, symbolic interactionism has probably developed the most detailed theory of socialization, Haralambos, Holborn. Sociology -

Socialisation is a learning process where people learn and adapt to the appropriate and accepted values, attitudes and behaviours of their society. Nevertheless, separate groups exist within societies for reasons including ethnicity, class and culture and these can bring their own set of ‘norms’. Bond and Bond in Sociology and Social Care (2009 pg28) states “From the cradle to the grave we are being socialised”. Primary socialisation occurs from infancy to early adulthood. Secondary socialisation follows into the later stages of maturity. Anticipatory socialisation is where we learn to anticipate the actions and activities deemed appropriate by society. Resocialisation occurs when we learn new behaviours in response to new situations and

We as a human race have become a byproduct of our society. Through media, technology, and social pressure, humans no longer run society, but it seems like we are run by society. The quote from sociologist Peter Berger states “Not only do people live in society but society lives in them” This statement is referring to a form of social control were groups and the people in those groups conform to society partially knowingly and partially as a reflection based on dominant social expectations. As I further explain Berger’s statement I will explain how individuality, identity, and freedom fit in to such a predetermined future.

Political socialization is a concept that shows the development of children and adolescents who attain political cognition, attitudes, and behaviors. Political socialization routinely begins in children. There are multiple factors that influence the political socialization of citizens. Research theorizes that family and school teachers are the most influential. Recent research also states that media plays an important role on influence as well.

As discussed in class, one of the most influential agencies of socialization is the media. The way we see ourselves or the way other people see us come from what we are told by others and what we tell ourselves. In the Better world handbook, the chapter on media states that “the way we think and act in our daily lives is inextricably linked to the information we receive about the world” (Jones, Haenfler and Johnson). The chapter continues to discus how information delivered to us can be bias and this raises the issue on who controls the media and what we see through it. The problem with this could be that that whoever controls the media does not necessary have our best interest in mind and the content that is transmitted through the media is profit driven. . In the article “Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history textbook got wrong” gives a perfect accept of how easy it is for information to get omitted based on what people what you to know and what they don’t want you to know. From a young age, people decide what they want you to know, so that they can decide on what they want you to think about certain topics whether its American history or something else, its like the

Agents of socialization in short are the people, groups, and social institutions, as well as the interactions within these groups that influence a person’s social and self-development. Agents of socialization are believed to provide the critical information needed for children to function successfully as a member of society. Some examples of such agents are family, neighborhood, schools, peers, religion, sports, the workplace, and especially the mass media. Each agent of socialization is linked to another. For example, in the media, symbolic images affect both the individual and the society, making the mass media the most controversial socialization agent. One of the most obvious places agents of socialization lay is in the malls of

The agents of socialization discussed above (family, school, and peer group) are all involved in interactive and personal contact. Mass media on the other had are various impersonal modes of communication intended for large audiences (e.g., radio, television, motion pictures, newspapers). Mass media can have an enormous effect on our attitudes and behavior. The media influence socialization by providing additional and alternative role models as well as social norms and values. It appears that most influential mass medium today is television. A positive view of television is that it provides an excellent medium of instruction and an entertaining way of expanding the horizons of children by exposing them to places and events they may not be able to experience first hand. The negative view of television is that it makes children more passive and less likely to use their imagination; it stresses the unrealistic nature of many

Media is a huge part of people’s lives in today’s society. Through different forms of media people can now obtain vast amounts of information at the slightest touch of a finger. While it is convenient and comforting to have access to so much data, the question arises. How much of this information we receive shapes our lives? Mass media as an agent of socialization can prime and/or skew people’s belief system through mere exposure without the slightest clue of it affects. Mass media as an agent of socialization can structure people’s perception on society as a whole by simply using influence, control, and trust.

The media is a humungous influencer of how knowledge sharing is processed. Appropriately, I included questions about the media in to receive a more detailed idea on society views the media as an agent of socialisation. My research reveals that despite the media’s overwhelming power of influence, 80% of those who participated in the questionnaire believes that the media does not create a false portrayal of our current society’s youth. I believe that this could be a unwanted response since the media does tend to portray youth in a negative and stereotypical way based from my own personal experience. However, a staggering 90% believes that the media creates a hindrance to socialisation between generation x and z. This fact is accredited to the media’s different production of trends that is based on specific age cohorts. Furthermore, when asked whether or not the media has a negative impact on adolescents and young adults all participants responded in a neutral manner. A clear image is represented through this result by demonstrating that a majority of people from different ages and society are well aware that the media is both beneficial and negative