Family As An Important Agent in Socialization (Essay Sample)

Family as an Important Agent Of Socialization
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A family is defined as a group of people, comprising one or more parents and their children living as a unit. A Family can also be described as a group of people related by blood. On the other hand, socialization is the process in which human beings learn how to behave in a way that is acceptable by society. It can also mean the process or the act of interacting with others, being social. The institutions that can impress the norms and values of an individual are known as agents of socialization. Such agents include; family, religion, peer groups, and the media. This paper examines why the family is the most important agent of socialization.
Most children turn out to be much like their parents. This is because much of their behavior when they are growing up is copied from their parents. When a child is born, parents become their primary caregivers and spend the next few years under them (Grusec, J. E., & Lytton, H. 1988). Most of their next several years become the stage where the child’s brain and mental development begin. During this stage, children copy behaviors, be they good or bad, from the adults they spend much of their time with, primarily their parents. Behaviors like speech, walking, eating habits, and clothing are copied at this stage, and such behaviors shape the life of that child into adulthood.
The family’s way of life also has effects on the process of socialization. Many studies have found that parents mainly raise their kids the same or almost the same way their parents raised them. This means that the way of life, including religion, is passed from a parent to a child, from a generation to the next. Many families raise their sons and daughters quite differently as they grow up (Freeman, H. E., & Showel, M. (1953). Boys are brought up as rigid and rough, while girls are taught to be gentle. When these children grow into adults in society, girls interact with people more peacefully than boys.
In conclusion, the family is an essential sociali