Feral children
• As the primary socialisation process develops, children therefore acquire uniquely
human skills. A useful way to understand the importance of the primary
socialisation process in the cultivation of the civilised child is to examine examples
of feral or 'wild' children. These are children who, for whatever reason, have either
been kept isolated from regular human contact or have been abandoned into the
wild and supposedly been partly raised by animals.
• Case studies of children raised by animals show that they often lack the human
characteristics that we take for granted. Douglas Candland (1996) observes that
feral children are often ignorant of language and seem to have internalised by
imitation the behaviour of the animals they have spent time with. For example,
such children may grunt, growl or bark. They cannot walk upright but instead
crouch and move using both their arms and legs like an animal. They lap water
from a bowl and eat raw rather than cooked meat. They have no 'toilet manners"
and will often urinate and defecate in public without embarrassment. Many are
unable to smile or laugh, and their emotional response to threatening or
unfamiliar situations is frequently aggressive and violent
Primary & Secondary socialisation
• Primary socialisation
• Primary socialisation occurs mainly within the family and is the first stage of socialisation. This type of socialisation is essential to the development of
behaviours we recognise as fundamentally human, such as learning language. The first primary relationship we form is usually with our parents. This
is followed by primary attachments to other family members, people of our own age (friends) and, subsequently, to other adults such as work
colleagues. Primary socialisation is necessary because human infants need other people in order to develop both as human beings and as members
of a particular culture. We do not just need to learn general human behaviours, we must also learn about social relationships, how to play roles and
so on
• It is important to understand that primary socialisation may be delivered by agents other than parents. For example, in many modern societies, both
parents are in full-time work, which means that some responsibility for the socialisation of children may be in the hands of professional childminders,
nannies and nurseries. There is evidence, too, that grandparents are now playing a significant role in the rearing of their grandchildren.
• Secondary socialisation
• Secondary socialisation refers to situations in which children learn ideas, attitudes, values, norms and skills both inside and outside the home from
sources other than their parents or other kin. As children get older, they come into everyday contact with several agents of socialisation that have a
significant influence on their actions and their perception of social reality. The most important type of secondary socialisation is probably the
education system in which children spend most of their childhood and adolescence
• Secondary socialisation involves secondary groups and is characterised, according to Berger and Lockmann (1967), by a sense of detachment from
the ones teaching socialisation, Secondary socialisations are situations in which we do not necessarily have close, personal contacts with those doing
the socialising. Parsons (1959a) argued that one of the main purposes of secondary socialisation is to 'liberate the individual from a dependence on
the primary attachments and relationships formed within the family group. In contemporary societies, where the majority of people we meet are
strangers, it would be impossible and undesirable to treat them in the same way that we treat people we love or know well. This is why we develop
instrumental relationships - those based on what people can do for us, or what we can do for them, in particular situations. Berger and Luckmann
suggest that while primary socialisation involves 'emotionally charged identification' with people such as our parents, secondary socialisation is
characterised by 'formality and anonymity. You do not, for example, treat a stranger who asks you for directions as your closest friend.
• Family:
• Although there are only a small number of family roles, these tend to be played out over long periods and involve complex forms of role
development, especially in societies that allow divorce and remarriage. Adults may have to learn roles ranging from husband/wife to parent/ step-
parent. Child development also involves a range of roles: baby, infant, child, teenager and, eventually perhaps, an adult with children of their own.
• The ability to develop roles within the context of a group mainly governed by relationships based on love, responsibility and duty, means that we can
make mistakes and learn lessons as we go without causing too much harm. Mead refers to parents as significant others. They shape both our basic
values, such as how to address adults, and our moral values, for example our understanding of the difference between right and wrong. Basic norms,
such as how to address family members (for example, 'Mum', 'Dad"), when, where and how to and sleep, and definitions of acceptable behaviour are
normally taught within the family. Sanctions are mainly informal, with positive sanctions involving things such as:
• • facial expressions (for example, smiling)
• • verbal approval/reinforcement ('good boy/girl')
• • physical rewards (such as gifts).
• Negative sanctions are similarly wide-ranging - from showing disapproval through language (such as shouting) to physical punishment.
• Functionalists often see primary socialisation as a one way process that passes from adults to children. However, socialisation involves more than an
unquestioning acceptance of the behaviours we learn within the family group. Although children are socialised by being encouraged to copy
behaviour, they are also actively involved in negotiating their socialisation. For example, children do not always obey their parents; they may even
choose not to obey as part of a test of the limits of social control. Children may also receive different socialisation messages: a relative may reward
behaviour that a parent would punish, Children have to learn that the same behaviour may receive different reactions from different people in
different situations. Faced with a new situation, they need to be able to judge what the reactions are likely to be.
