AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION, AMERICAN SOCIETY
With a keen scrutiny into the agents of socialization affecting the current society in America, I would argue that the key agents of socialization in todays United States society have not undergone major changes. Most of them have remained the same (perhaps with an exception of one or two) as they were for the last 50 years or so. They include family, education system, peers and media. The role of media should however not be underrated. The ways some of this socialization is being delivered has taken a new trend, but the agents have remained the same.
Socialization entails the process by which society values are passed from one generation to another. Through socialization, the young ones learn how the society expects them to behave under different situations. This in turn enables them to become functional in the society.
Personally, my main socialization agent has been the family for as long as I have been in existence. From my tender age, I have spent my life together with my family members, learning the accepted behaviors. After some time, both the education system I was exposed to and the peers took over the role of the family and became important agents of socialization in my life. Kids spend much time in school and interacting with friends. Some of such an interaction with peers is currently “conveyed” through the social media platforms; however, peers have remained to be important agents of socialization. The media has also sustained its critical role through delivering news as well as the messages conveyed through entertainment shows.
The only agent of socialization which has had less impact in some regions of America currently is the church. Religion is still important in America, but in some regions, the initial churches which were very organized before have lost their influence. Apart from the decline in religion impact, the rest of the agents have remained much the same as they have been for the last century or so.
References
Henslin, J. M., Possamai, A. M., Possamai-Inesedy, A. L., Marjoribanks, T., & Elder, K. (2015). Sociology: A down to earth approach. Pearson Higher Education AU.