Socialization

This is a sociological concept that refers to the process of passing values, norms, mores, ideas, etc. from one group of people to another—e.g. from the older generation (parents) to the younger generation (children), or from a peer-group to a new member of the group. This process involves agencies of socialization (which range from the family to the church; from the state to the school; from peers to the media; and so on.) Socialization, therefore, involves processes of formal and informal education in which the learner is not always conscious of what he/she is being taught. Because the process of socialization begins at a very early age and takes place via many diverse agents (through usually informal means) it is a process that is powerful enough to withstand most pressures that may work toward reversing it. Given the power and ubiquity of mass media, socialization can also occur cross-generationally. Consider that even children of recent migrants to racist societies will pick up racist tendencies.