{"id":104,"date":"2016-04-28T00:30:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T00:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontosociology-waymaker\/?post_type=chapter&p=104"},"modified":"2020-06-10T11:34:17","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T11:34:17","slug":"reading-introduction-to-socialization","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtosociology\/chapter\/reading-introduction-to-socialization\/","title":{"raw":"Why It Matters: Socialization","rendered":"Why It Matters: Socialization"},"content":{"raw":"
<\/figure>\r\nSocialization<\/span><\/strong> is the lifelong\u00a0process through which people learn the values and norms of a given society.\u00a0 From our earliest family and play experiences, we are made aware of societal values and expectations.\u00a0Socialization<\/em> is not the same as socializing<\/em>. Socializing is to mix socially with others (i.e., family, friends, neighbors, coworkers), whereas socialization is a process that may include\u00a0socializing\u00a0<\/em>as one element,\u00a0but is a more complex, multi-faceted and formative set of interactive experiences. It is also an adaptive lifelong learning experience, because society is constantly changing, and because we may find ourselves in new situations\u2014such as a new job with different norms and values, or in a different familial role\u2014such as that of parent or caregiver to an older relative.\r\n\r\n\"A\r\n
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In the summer of 2005, police detective Mark Holste followed an investigator from the Department of Children and Families to a home in Plant City, Florida. They were there to look into a statement from the neighbor concerning a shabby house on Old Sydney Road. A small girl was reported peering from one of its broken windows. This seemed odd because no one in the neighborhood had seen a young child in or around the home, which had been inhabited for the past three years by a woman, her boyfriend, and two adult sons.<\/p>\r\n

Who was the mystery girl in the window?<\/p>\r\n

Entering the house, Detective Holste and his team were shocked. It was the worst mess they\u2019d ever seen, infested with cockroaches, smeared with feces and urine from both people and pets, and filled with dilapidated furniture and ragged window coverings.<\/p>\r\n

Detective Holste headed down a hallway and entered a small room. That\u2019s where he found the little girl, with big, vacant eyes, staring into the darkness. A newspaper report later described the detective\u2019s first encounter with the child: \u201cShe lay on a torn, moldy mattress on the floor. She was curled on her side . . . her ribs and collarbone jutted out . . . her black hair was matted, crawling with lice. Insect bites, rashes and sores pocked her skin . . . She was naked\u2014except for a swollen diaper. \u2026 Her name, her mother said, was Danielle. She was almost seven years old\u201d (DeGregory, 2008).<\/p>\r\n

Detective Holste immediately carried Danielle out of the home. She was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and evaluation. Through extensive testing, doctors determined that, although she was severely malnourished, Danielle was able to see, hear, and vocalize normally. Still, she wouldn\u2019t look anyone in the eyes, didn\u2019t know how to chew or swallow solid food, didn\u2019t cry, didn\u2019t respond to stimuli that would typically cause pain, and didn\u2019t know how to communicate either with words or simple gestures such as nodding \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d Likewise, although tests showed she had no chronic diseases or genetic abnormalities, the only way she could stand was with someone holding onto her hands, and she \u201cwalked sideways on her toes, like a crab\u201d (DeGregory, 2008).<\/p>\r\n

What had happened to Danielle? Put simply: beyond the basic requirements for survival, she had been neglected. Based on their investigation, social workers concluded that she had been left almost entirely alone in rooms like the one where she was found. Without regular interaction\u2014the holding, hugging, talking, the explanations and demonstrations given to most young children\u2014she had not learned to walk or to speak, to eat or to interact, to play or even to understand the world around her. From a sociological point of view, Danielle had not been socialized.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nIn the following sections, we will examine the importance of the complex process of socialization and how it takes place through interaction with many individuals, groups, and social institutions. We will explore how socialization is not only critical to children as they develop, but also how it is a lifelong process through which we become prepared for new social environments and expectations in every stage of our lives.","rendered":"

<\/figure>\n

Socialization<\/span><\/strong> is the lifelong\u00a0process through which people learn the values and norms of a given society.\u00a0 From our earliest family and play experiences, we are made aware of societal values and expectations.\u00a0Socialization<\/em> is not the same as socializing<\/em>. Socializing is to mix socially with others (i.e., family, friends, neighbors, coworkers), whereas socialization is a process that may include\u00a0socializing\u00a0<\/em>as one element,\u00a0but is a more complex, multi-faceted and formative set of interactive experiences. It is also an adaptive lifelong learning experience, because society is constantly changing, and because we may find ourselves in new situations\u2014such as a new job with different norms and values, or in a different familial role\u2014such as that of parent or caregiver to an older relative.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n

In the summer of 2005, police detective Mark Holste followed an investigator from the Department of Children and Families to a home in Plant City, Florida. They were there to look into a statement from the neighbor concerning a shabby house on Old Sydney Road. A small girl was reported peering from one of its broken windows. This seemed odd because no one in the neighborhood had seen a young child in or around the home, which had been inhabited for the past three years by a woman, her boyfriend, and two adult sons.<\/p>\n

Who was the mystery girl in the window?<\/p>\n

Entering the house, Detective Holste and his team were shocked. It was the worst mess they\u2019d ever seen, infested with cockroaches, smeared with feces and urine from both people and pets, and filled with dilapidated furniture and ragged window coverings.<\/p>\n

Detective Holste headed down a hallway and entered a small room. That\u2019s where he found the little girl, with big, vacant eyes, staring into the darkness. A newspaper report later described the detective\u2019s first encounter with the child: \u201cShe lay on a torn, moldy mattress on the floor. She was curled on her side . . . her ribs and collarbone jutted out . . . her black hair was matted, crawling with lice. Insect bites, rashes and sores pocked her skin . . . She was naked\u2014except for a swollen diaper. \u2026 Her name, her mother said, was Danielle. She was almost seven years old\u201d (DeGregory, 2008).<\/p>\n

Detective Holste immediately carried Danielle out of the home. She was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and evaluation. Through extensive testing, doctors determined that, although she was severely malnourished, Danielle was able to see, hear, and vocalize normally. Still, she wouldn\u2019t look anyone in the eyes, didn\u2019t know how to chew or swallow solid food, didn\u2019t cry, didn\u2019t respond to stimuli that would typically cause pain, and didn\u2019t know how to communicate either with words or simple gestures such as nodding \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d Likewise, although tests showed she had no chronic diseases or genetic abnormalities, the only way she could stand was with someone holding onto her hands, and she \u201cwalked sideways on her toes, like a crab\u201d (DeGregory, 2008).<\/p>\n

What had happened to Danielle? Put simply: beyond the basic requirements for survival, she had been neglected. Based on their investigation, social workers concluded that she had been left almost entirely alone in rooms like the one where she was found. Without regular interaction\u2014the holding, hugging, talking, the explanations and demonstrations given to most young children\u2014she had not learned to walk or to speak, to eat or to interact, to play or even to understand the world around her. From a sociological point of view, Danielle had not been socialized.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the following sections, we will examine the importance of the complex process of socialization and how it takes place through interaction with many individuals, groups, and social institutions. We will explore how socialization is not only critical to children as they develop, but also how it is a lifelong process through which we become prepared for new social environments and expectations in every stage of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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CC licensed content, Original<\/div>