According to Ferrante (1992, p.115) socialization can best be defined as the lifelong social experience by which individuals develop their human potential and learn culture. The acquisition of skills, values, tradition, norms, culture on a whole, is done through interaction in small and large group situations (Ballantine & Hammack, 2012). These experiences are developed and enhanced by interactions with different institutions. Each institution having its own impact on the individual. Ballantine & Hammack, (2012) list six very important institutions: family, religion, education, politics, economics and health.
At first glance, the family’s role in socialization is the most important. My own family has instilled values that have made me survive and be successful. The culture a family teaches its children will impact them for the greater parts of their lives. Gelles & Devine, (1999, p.131) states that the family is the primary agent of socialization in early childhood and it remains a central influence for years thereafter. Furthermore, the way parents socialize their children reflects their own experiences. Many parents value education because they were not educated, or they do not value it because they were not. It is suggested that single parents socialize their children under a more permissive style of parenting allowing free self-expression as a virtue.
Stepparents are at either end being either permissive to gain love or authoritarian to keep control. (Gelles & Devine, 1999) Children who enter school with their own socialization pattern, that does not follow the norm and behaviours of the school as a socialization institution, then learn to adjust. (Ferrante, 1992, p.403) in using Emile Durkheim research stated that education functions to serve the needs of society. Therefore, parents find themselves in conflict as stated by the conflict theory whereby cultural reproduction moulds individuals to suit their own purposes. (Ballantine & Hammack, 2012).
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Without question, the role of schools in socialization goes far beyond what the family expects. To understand the greater role, we will examine four goals of schools. Firstly, the cognitive-knowledge and skills. Well – developed curriculum tells teachers exactly what knowledge and skills must be taught. Secondly, the moral or values of society taught through the school can also be found in the affective domain and also taught through the church’s connection to state schools. Thirdly, socialization is taught to children facilitating easy transitions into society in order for students to be functional. Lastly, social mobility is important because schools and education institutions are the key to poverty alleviation. It is this institution that gets the credit for equipping citizens with the credential needed to move up the ladder of success. (Perry & Perry, 1983)
Not withstanding that economy plays an important role in mobility. The extent of schooling in any society is closely tied to its level of economic development (Ferrante, 1992). According to Kendall, (1998, p.389) the economy is the social institution that ensures the maintenance of society through the production, distribution, consumption of goods and services. Without question, not every child who goes to school has equal access to these goods and services. That is why many Belizean schools have a feeding program attached to them where children can get some of these goods at least. Kendall, (1998, p.389) states that scarcity is the most important fact of economics.
Indeed, children who experience these scarcities do not perform as well as children in upper class families. Gelles & Levine, (1999,p.454) state that children in upper class family are two and a half times more likely to attend college over low income children. Many low income family once turned to the church to provide basic needs which in many communities started church- state schools. Looking for a greater cause than themselves, people turned to religion as a social institution. “Religion is a major social institution because it carries out important social functions and encompasses a great variety of organizations.” (Macionis, 2009).
The churches were the first to carry out the services of health care for the poor. As society evolved so the health care and it got very expensive defeating its original purpose. Kendall, (1998, p.219) states that people who are wealthy and well educated and have high paying jobs are much more likely to be healthy than poor people. Ironically, the same institution that was set up to create a better form of socialization for people is not readily accessible to the poor who really needs it. The politics involved through all of the socialization institutions benefits those who have better access.
In conclusion, as stated by Ballantine, (1989) schools are scapegoats for social ills. Because we expect schools to provide equal opportunities, solve societal inequalities, and reduce discrimination, we feel frustrated when schools fail to accomplish these goals. My own experience has confirmed this feeling. I teach at St. Andrew’s Anglican School where for at least the past eight years, the children sitting the Primary School Examination have excelled. The school has consistently place children on the top twenty- five in the country.
It is the number one school in San Ignacio and number two in its category in the country. However, in the school year 2016-2017, the culture of getting students on the top twenty-five was disrupted. Nobody had ranked. Every-one asked for answers. The socialization institution that had placed ranking as success did not live up to standards expected by society. Was each institution to be blamed? We are still examining where the shortcomings were. However, this just confirms the importance of each institution on socialization.
