Culture and socialization

 a) Culture is adaptive: because it allows us to adapt to the physical environment in which we live, and in this way, to take advantage of the natural resources it offers us to meet our needs. For example: the natives of the jungle will be able to build their huts with junks because they are abundant in their midst and provide them with a fresh type of housing; the Eskimos will build their igloo with ice blocks, because they have plenty of it and it is an excellent heat insulator. On the other hand, we could not use either of them, because they are not common materials in our environment and, moreover, they would not be of much use in our climate.

b) Culture is learned: because it is not innate, we do not bring it from the moment we are born, but we learn it throughout our lives in contact with the other members of the group.

c) Culture is shared by the members of the group. In smaller societies culture is uniformly shared by all its members. However, in more complex societies, it is possible to find groups whose beliefs, values and norms of behavior are different from those of the dominant culture, in this case we are talking about subculture. But when these values and rules are not only different, they are contradictory to the dominant culture, here we are talking about a counterculture.

d) Culture is symbolic: since it is composed of a set of symbols that possess certain meanings shared and understood by members of society. For example, some of the symbols representing and identifying our culture are: our flag, the national anthem, the language, among others.

Socialization, through which individuals adapt and integrate into society, is a process through the learning and internalization of the values, knowledge and skills necessary for life in society. It is a lifelong process, from birth to the moment of our death, because we never stop learning, every stage of our lives (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age) provides us with new learning. Society is the great agent of socialization, and every person you come into contact with is, in a sense, an agent of socialization. There are certain groups in society that are the main agents of socialization in the life of the individual. We call socialization agents to those people who help us adapt to society, to live with other human beings, to teach us patterns of coexistence, values, etc., that make us internalize rules and we can become full members of society.

SOCIALIZATION AGENTS:

1. Family: It is the first socialization agent, it provides us with the basic tools for life in society (talking, walking, values, etc.).

2. Peer group or group of friends: they teach us new ways to dress, ways to beings, styles of music, new codes.

3. Formal educational centres: provide us with knowledge and values essential for social coexistence (information, knowledge, reading, writing, values, etc.).

4. Mass media: they provide us with information from the world around us, allowing us to know the reality of our country and the rest of the world. 

The social institutions of our culture also report our socialization. Formal institutions, such as schools, workplaces and government, teach people how to behave and navigate these systems. Other institutions, such as the media, contribute to socialization by flooding us with messages about norms and expectations. School and classroom rituals, led by teachers serving as role models and leaders, regularly reinforce what society expects of children. Sociologists describe this aspect of schools as the hidden curriculum, the informal education of schools.

For example, in the United States, schools have built a sense of competition in the way teachers are awarded grades and the way teachers evaluate students (Bowles & Gintis, 1976). When children take part in a relay race or a math contest, they learn that there are winners and losers in society. When children are required to work together on a project, they practice teamwork with other people in cooperative situations. The hidden curriculum prepares children for the adult world. Children learn to deal with bureaucracy, rules, expectations, waiting for their turn and sitting still for hours during the day. Schools of different cultures socialize children differently in order to prepare them to function well in these cultures. The latent functions of teamwork and dealing with bureaucracy are characteristic of American culture. Schools also socialize children by teaching them about citizenship and national pride. In the United States, children are taught to say the Commitment of Loyalty. Most districts require lectures on American history and geography. As the academic understanding of history evolves, textbooks in the United States have been reviewed and revised to update attitudes towards other cultures, as well as perspectives on historical events; thus, children are socialized to a different national or global history than previous textbooks may have made. For example, information on the abuse of African Americans and Native Americans reflects these events more accurately than in past textbooks.

Religion is an important path of socialization for many people. America is full of synagogues, temples, churches, mosques and similar religious communities where people gather to worship and learn. Like other institutions, these places teach participants how to interact with the material culture of religion (such as a mezzuza, a prayer mat or a communion oblea). For some people, important ceremonies related to family structure, such as marriage and birth, are linked to religious celebrations. Many religious institutions also advocate gender norms and contribute to their implementation through socialization. From ceremonial rites of passage that strengthen family unity to power dynamics that strengthen gender roles, organized religion fosters a shared set of socialized values that are transmitted through society.

Mass media distributes impersonal information to a wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio and the Internet. With the average person spending more than four hours a day in front of television (and children averaging even longer in front of the screen), the media has a great influence on social norms. People learn about the objects of material culture (such as new technologies and transport options), as well as non-material culture, what is true (beliefs), what is important (values) and what is expected (standards).