Tanglag National High School

Tanglag, Rosario, La Union Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

MODULE 5
Context, Content, Processes and Consequences of Socialization

Difference Between Socialization and Enculturation

The main difference between socialization and enculturation is that socialization is basically the process of
learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society, whereas enculturation is the process of being socialized
into a certain culture.

Socialization and enculturation are two similar processes. Socialization refers to the general process of
acquiring culture, while enculturation specifically refers to the process of being socialized to a particular culture. In
fact, it is not incorrect to say that enculturation is a product of socialization.
Socialization is the process by which we acquire knowledge, language, values, skills and habits of a society.
The process actually begins during a person’s childhood. When a person is born into the world, he or she needs to
learn how to live in the society around him or her. In other words, an individual should generally conform to the
norms and roles required for integration into a group or community. It is why socialization is an important process.
Basically, it teaches an individual how to be a member of a group or society. Socialization is, in fact, the main process
of social life.
Furthermore, this process encompasses both teaching and learning. For example, an individual acquires social
skills, values, knowledge, etc. through family, teachers, religious leaders, peers, media, etc. The people who impart
this knowledge have also acquired it through similar channels. Thus, socialization is a continuous process in society.
Socialization helps a person to become a self-aware and knowledgeable person and learn the values, norms
and culture of his or her society. Moreover, the process of socialization is greatly influenced by the society a person
lives in and the social groups he or she interacts with.
Enculturation is a very similar process to socialization. Enculturation is the process of being socialized into a
certain culture. In other words, this is the process by which we learn the requirements of our surrounding culture and
acquire the behaviors and values appropriate for this culture.
Culture includes customs, traditions, norms, social values, beliefs, food patterns, clothing styles and many
more things. A person belonging to a particular culture should conform to these values and behaviors if he wants to be
accepted by others. If he or she doesn’t conform to these, others belonging to that culture will consider him or her as a
deviant. Thus, enculturation teaches us our role, position, and behavior of the particular culture we live in.

Context of Socialization and Enculturation

Socialization happens within biological, psychological, and social aspect or context of a person. According to
socio-biology, even new-born babies seem to attempt social interaction by moving their heads back and forth looking
for milk. Manifestations of body contact with their caregivers suggests that infants are born wanting socialization or
human contact. Psychological context includes feelings, anger, love, and happiness or a sense of emotional
deprivation, in other words, the emotional states and cognitive development aspect of a human person can be
influenced by people around them.

Social and historical events can be a factor in socializing several communities. Studies have shown that
people who experience economic hardships and deprivations try to highly value marriage and family than those who
are not. Socioeconomic status affects one’s view about family and marriage.

Contents of Socialization and Enculturation

Ideas, belief, behavior and other information that are passed on by member of society to individual are the
content of socialization and enculturation. When we say content, we simply mean the substance of the idea being
handed down.

MARYBETH N. GARCIA
Tanglag National High School
Tanglag, Rosario, La Union Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Process of Socialization and Enculturation

There are different methods used in socialization to pass the content to an individual. These are called the
process of socialization – the formal and the informal. Most likely, socialization takes place in a formal way like in
school where formal educations are practiced. It is structured, controlled, and directed primarily by teachers who are
professionals. On the other hand, informal process can happen anywhere. It involves imitations of what others do,
coupled with repetitive practice of skills.

Consequences of Socialization

Through socialization, one can establish self-concepts about one’s gender-role or task in his society as
individual. One may show socially-accepted behavior to blend in and directly become the vessel of culture. When we
say vessel of culture, one can be an instrument to bring the culture and practice of one group to another.

Consequences of Enculturation

However, as far as enculturation is concerned, one may adopt or reject a particular culture. Deviance is a
behavior that defies social norms of a group or society which results to rebellion, ritualism, innovation and retreatism.
Accordingly, innovation involves in the acceptance of the goals of culture but rejects the means of attaining those
goals.

For example, a particular group share the same goal but has different ways of achieving these goals.
Moreover, rebellion is a case where an individual rejects cultural goals and the means of achieving it by trying to
totally replace the goals and means. Further, retreatism includes the rejection of both cultural goals and the traditional
means of achieving these goals. Also, ritualism implicates rejection of cultural goals but reduce the acceptance of the
ways for achieving the goals.

On the other hand, conformity speaks of adopting, abiding and accepting standard norms of society. One will
try to fit in to a particular group, thus changing one’s belief or behavior as a result of peer pressure or peer influence.
Social control regulates and encourages an individual to conform and obey social norms. This will result to the
establishment of control mechanisms like laws and regulations with corresponding sanctions or penalties.

THE SOCIAL PROCESS

SOCIAL PROCESS
- Is a long and complicated way of being inducted into a group whereby the individual interacts and learns the
physical, intellectual and social skills, values and culture of the society where he is a member
- Begins at birth and continues throughout life
- The individual becomes a social person, a recognized citizen
- The individual relates himself with significant people --- parents, peers, friends, neighbors, teachers, political
and religious leaders, among others
- The individual learns through listening, observing and imitating

STAGES OF SOCIAL PROCESS

1. IMITATION STAGE (below 3 yrs. old)
o As a member of the society, the child is almost powerless. His thoughts, feelings, actions and
activities depend upon the teaching and examples by the members of the family.
o The child takes on and copies the habits and activities of the parents and siblings by subconscious
conformity without understanding the meaning and significance of the action.

MARYBETH N. GARCIA
Tanglag National High School
Tanglag, Rosario, La Union Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

o This is the first step in the development of the individual’s self-concept and in taking different roles
meaningfully.

1. PLAY STAGE (3-5 yrs. old)

o The child plays different roles and assumes like a father, mother, physician, patient, teacher, students,
etc.
o The child’s development of self-concept is conceived by other people. It is conditioned by the roles
which he takes and plays and the roles are defined by the treatment of superiors and peers.

2. GAME STAGE (6 yrs. and above)

o The child acts like a member of a team.
o The child develops a self-concept consistent with expectations of all others – the generalized others.
o It has something in common with the fourth and last stage of Jean Piaget’s Moral Judgment of the
Child – the codification of roles.
o The child takes on every detail of procedures in the game and actually observes the code of rules.

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL PROCESS

1. IT PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN THE TRANSMISSION OF CULTURE

2. IT PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
3. IT PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN SEX-ROLE DETERMINATION
4. IT PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN SOCIAL LEARNING
a. Through IMITATION, the individual learns to duplicate or copy the behavior of others. Children,
adolescents and adults emulate the characteristics and behavior of the people whom they appreciate,
admire and use as frame of reference.
b. Through SUGGESTION, the group wants to change the behavior of individuals to conform to the
group itself. Thus, individuals tend to like and enjoy the companyof others when the characteristics
and behaviors are similar to each other. On the other hand, the individual takes the suggestions and
deliberate persuasion of others.
c. COOPERATION is manifested in social learning. Through COOPERATION, the individual learns
to respect and value other’s worth and dignity. He develops the sense of trust, fairness and justice and
the “give and take” process. The individual tends to conform to approved ways of behaving,
sportsmanship and the rules of the game. The loser learns to accept defeat and the winner to be
humble in victory.
d. The individual learns the skills in COMMUNICATION through social learning. He learns to express
his thoughts and feelings with others. At times, he agrees from others’ view. Only human beings are
able to communicate with language and meaningful symbols.
e. LEADERSHIP is developed through social learning. Leadership is not inborn, it is learned and
acquired. Leaders in social group are expected to be socially aggressive and active, responsible,
matured, dedicated, intellectually capable, and have the ability to lead. Individuals tend to like
someone to be a leader whose characteristics and qualities are desirable and can take care of the
concerns and problems of the group.

Functions of Social Process

1. IT DEVELOPS SKILLS AND DISCIPLINE
2. IT INSTILLS ASPIRATIONS AND THE VALUES OF GOOD LIVING
3. IT INSTILLS THE SOCIAL ROLES OF INDIVIDUALS

COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL PROCESS

1. MOTIVE
o It is a strong driving force to behavior.
o It is a person’s desire to achieve a goal.

MARYBETH N. GARCIA
Tanglag National High School
Tanglag, Rosario, La Union Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

o Different people have different motives.

o Motives are not of equal strength.
o Some motives are stronger than others.
o All behaviors start with a motive, however, some motives take priority over others.
o For example, one student may have the motive to be have awards while another student has the
motive of becoming a valedictorian.

2. CONTEXT
o It refers to those activities or situations performed by the individual in a certain physical and social
environment to be able to achieve the goal.
o The presence of incentives may intensify or redirect the behavior to reach the goal.
o To be able to reach the goal of having an award or to be the valedictorian, the individual must have to
perform those required academic activities (inside the classroom) and non-academic activities (outside
the classroom) such as participation in extra-curricular activities.

3. NORMS
o These are the rules that regulate or guide human behavior.
o Human beings should act accordingly in a certain situation and one must not go against the norms
because society does not tolerate behavior that is not in accord with the norms.
o Society punishes violation of the norms by obstracism, rejection, and other social approval.
o Positively, student desiring to reach his goal (to have an honor or become a valedictorian) may act
according to the classroom policies and standards of grading system.
o On the other hand, the student desiring to reach his goal (to have an honor or become a valedictorian),
may have been found cheating in the examinations by the teacher. For violating the norms of conduct,
his classmates may ostracize him with derogatory remarks about him. The teacher may even give him
grade reduction – a worse punishment than ostracism.

4. GOAL
o It is the end for which one wishes to achieve or attain.
o It is an object or situation that satisfies a motive. All motives are directed to a goal.
o For instance, when the student desiring to have an honor or to be a valedictorian reaches his goal, he
is satisfied, happy and contented.
o On the other hand, if he does not meet his goal, he becomes annoyed, discontented or frustrated.

MARYBETH N. GARCIA
Tanglag National High School
Tanglag, Rosario, La Union Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

CONTEXT

GOAL
MOTIVE

NORMS

Name: _______________________________________________________ Date:_________________________

Section:__________________________Score: ___________ Parent’s Signature: ________________
MODULE 5 ACTIVITIES
Activity 1: True or False
Directions: Read the following statements carefully. Write T on the blank if it is true and F if not.
____1. Socialization plays no part in personality formation of individual.
____2. Socialization begins at birth or shortly thereafter.
____3. All cultures use the same techniques to socialize their children.
____4. Socialization continues until we are adults and then usually stops because we have learned our culture by that
time.
____5. Early childhood is the period of the most intense and the most crucial socialization.
____6. The roles we play in life are normally learned during the socialization process.
____7. Unlike other animals, human infants are born with a culture.
____8. Successful socialization can result in uniformity within a society.
____9. Gender stereotypes also exert a strong influence on socialization processes.
____10. School is an important source of socialization for students of all ages.

Activity 2. Complete ME!

Directions: Complete the graphic organizer by providing words or phrases that you have learned from the following
people or social institutions. Note: It can be values/traditions/norms, etc.

MARYBETH N. GARCIA
Tanglag National High School
Tanglag, Rosario, La Union Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Activity 3: Give the meaning of the following terms according to your understanding:

1. Social Process
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Leadership
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Motive
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Context
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

MARYBETH N. GARCIA
Tanglag National High School
Tanglag, Rosario, La Union Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Norms
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Goal
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Competition
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

8. “Looking-glass-self”
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

MARYBETH N. GARCIA