**5. Agents of socialization**

Agents of socialization are sometimes called operators. An agent of socialization is any person or institution that shapes a person's norms, values, or behaviors [25]. Agents and operators of socialization are the sources from which we learn or are influenced by socialization [41]. This socializing aid is beneficial. What happens throughout the socializing process? How do we learn to use the material culture of our society's objects? How do we come to believe in the nonmaterial culture's beliefs, values, and norms? This learning occurs through interactions with a variety of socialization agents, such as peer groups and families, as well as official and informal social institutions. The followings are the main agents of socialization [42]. These are family; the main agent of socialization; the peers which can put very important influences on students; the school that breaks bonding with parents which influence depending on the values the school and teachers hold, the mass media; the importance of its influences depends on what is read, watched, or listened to, and the frequency with which it is consumed neighborhoods, religion, daycare, sports and the workplace [42]. Some other authors categorize the above listed socializing agents as social group agents and institutional agents [13, 14].

#### **5.1 Agents of social groups**

The early experiences of socialization are frequently provided through social groups [11]. Expectations are communicated and reinforced by parents and subsequent peer groups. In these situations, people learn to use physical artifacts of material culture while also learning about society's beliefs and values [42].

#### *5.1.1 Family*

The most important and first agent of socialization is mothers and fathers, siblings, and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. Socialization can be both deliberate or structured and unconscious or unintended [41]. They demonstrate how to use objects, interact with others, and understand how the world works, for example. As you may know

from your own experience as a child or from your role as a parent, socialization entails teaching and learning about a seemingly endless number of items and concepts [42].

It is also important to keep in mind that families do not socialize children in a vacuum [16]. A family's ability to raise its children is influenced by a variety of social circumstances. We can use sociological imagination, for example, to see how individual behaviors are influenced by the historical period in which they occur [14]. If a parent smacked his son with a stick or a belt if he misbehaved 60 years ago, it would not have been deemed harsh, but today, the same conduct could be deemed child abuse [1, 43]. Classical sociologists like Karl Marx recognize that race, social class, religion, and other societal factors play an important role in socialization [44]. Likewise, children are socialized to abide by gender norms, perceptions of race, and class-related behaviors. For example, according to those who study gender using the individualist framework gender as a characteristic of the person, parents are believed to be the most significant source of gender socialization [45]. Hence, parents and families are the first agent of socialization [1].

### *5.1.2 Peer group*

The first step in human group affiliation is the categorization of people into groups. A peer group is made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests. Sociologists and other social psychology researchers have studied socialization and social development over the past 100 years. Around the age of three, children and adolescents begin to create peer groups, usually with other children who are neighbors, classmates, or siblings. Children learn how to connect with other children of similar ages as well as more complicated group behaviors such as leadership, teamwork, and cooperation in these groupings [46].

Peer group socialization begins in the earliest years, such as when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about taking turns. This process continues as children develop into teenagers. Adolescents value peer groups in a new way as they begin to form their own identities independent from their parents and assert their independence [38]. Because children engage in different types of activities with their peers than with their families, peer groups provide possibilities for socialization. Adolescents' first significant socializing experience outside of their family occurs in peer groups. Surprisingly, research have revealed that while friendships are a high priority for adolescents, this is counterbalanced by parental influence [47]. As teenagers separate from their families through adolescence, peer networks become increasingly important. Within these groups, children learn how to behave in groups without adult supervision and have the opportunity to explore their sexuality. However, as teenagers grow into adults, peer pressure is often overshadowed by the obligations of employment, school, or family. Practitioners have been able to lead people through the socialization process as a result of their work. Social learning theory has been proven to be particularly useful in understanding socialization and the best strategies to lead a person through the process [5].

#### **5.2 Institutional agents**

The social institutions of our culture also inform our socialization [6]. Formal institutions such as schools, workplaces, and the government teach people how to behave in and navigate these systems [1]. Other institutions such as the media, religion contribute to socialization by flooding us with messages about norms and expectations [14, 48].

*Socialization Experiences among Undergraduate Students in Higher Learning Institutions (HLI) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99007*

## *5.2.1 School*

On average, children spend about 6 to 7 hours a day in school which makes it hard to deny the importance school has on their socialization [6]. Students are not only in school to learn arithmetic, reading, science, and other topics; it is also the system's evident function [8]. Schools also serve a latent function in society by socializing children into behaviors like teamwork, following a schedule, and using textbooks. School and classroom rituals led by teachers serving as role models and leaders regularly reinforce what society expects from children [44]. The hidden curriculum, or the informal teaching done by schools, is how sociologists characterize this component of schools. Children learn that there are winners and losers in society when they engage in a relay race or a math competition. Children experience cooperation with other individuals in cooperative conditions when they are obliged to work together on a project [14]. During the day, children learn how to deal with bureaucracy, rules, and expectations, as well as how to wait their turn and remain still for long periods of time [17]. The hidden curriculum includes the latent functions of competition, teamwork, classroom discipline, time awareness, and coping with bureaucracy. Schools also help children socialize by explicitly teaching them about citizenship and nationalism. There are also other institutional socializing agents such as religion, government, mass media [6].
