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TASSociologyQuick questions
Socialisation and the Individual
Quick questions on Culture and Socialisation - TCE Sociology (Tasmania) - Level 3
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is primary socialisation?Show answer
Primary socialisation takes place in early childhood, overwhelmingly within the family. Here the child learns language, basic norms, toilet training, emotional control and the difference between right and wrong. The functionalist Talcott Parsons described the family as a personality factory, manufacturing the social beings society needs. George Herbert Mead, from an interactionist perspective, explained how children develop a sense of self by taking the role of the other, first imitating significant others such as parents, then internalising the generalised other, the wider expectations of society.
What is secondary socialisation?Show answer
Secondary socialisation continues throughout life through institutions beyond the family. In school children learn to follow rules, defer to authority and cooperate with strangers, what Durkheim called preparation for life in wider society. Peers reward conformity to group norms. The media offer role models and shape expectations about gender, body image and consumption.
What is evaluating the power of socialisation?Show answer
How determined are we by socialisation? Structural perspectives such as functionalism and Marxism can make people sound like puppets passively moulded by society. Interactionists disagree: Max Weber and later interactionists stressed that individuals interpret and sometimes resist the messages they receive. Most sociologists now accept a middle position, that socialisation shapes us powerfully but does not fully determine us, leaving room for human agency and choice.
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