Socialization in Families

Socialization can be defined as the type of social learning which occurs when a person interacts with other individuals. While some believe that this process is limited to the childhood years, others argue that socialization is a continuous process that stretches over a person's lifetime. Families can have a strong influence on children's socialization and their influence may even extend into the lives of their adult children. Groups socialization theory gives insight into how socialization occurs, and studies of children of divorced parents and African American adolescents demonstrate how strong a family's influence can be upon children.

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Socialization > Socialization in Families

Overview

Socialization can be defined as the type of social learning that occurs when a person interacts with other individuals. While some believe that this process is limited to the childhood years, others argue that socialization is a continuous process that stretches over a person's lifetime.

Psychologists, sociologists, and other researchers have studied socialization and social development since the early twentieth century. As a result of their work, practitioners have been able to use the information to guide people through the socialization process. It has been found that social learning theory has been especially helpful in understanding socialization and the most appropriate ways to guide a person through the process.

Group Socialization Theory

Theorists such as Turner (1987), Tesser (1988), and Brewer (1991) have all shown how social-cognitive approaches can illuminate otherwise inexplicable aspects of human group behavior. One of these aspects is how people can "belong simultaneously to many groups and can shift their allegiance from one to the other, without moving an inch, in response to changes in relative salience" (Harris, 1995, p. 465). Because of this ability, a person can identify with a group even if the group is never all present in one location, or the person never meets all or any of the group members.

Judith Harris' group socialization theory, which is based on the four fundamental predispositions that humans and primates hold in common, is used to explain these unique human behaviors (1995). The four predispositions, which can be correlated with the basic types of behavior, are:

* Group Affiliation: by identifying themselves as part of a group, group members tend to favor each other above non-group and out-group members.

* Fear: group members exhibit apprehension about or aggression toward strangers. If group members demonstrate strong in-group favoritism, this predisposition may manifest itself as out-group hostility.

* Within-Group Jockeying for Status: group members attempt to raise their prestige within the group in order to gain greater power over group resources.

* Seeking Close Dyadic Relationships: group members attempt to develop loving relationships with other group members (Harris, 1995).

Harris (1995) was able to summarize many of the basic assumptions surrounding the study of group socialization theory:

Table 1: The Assumptions of Group Socialization Theory

Component Assumptions Context-specific socialization and personality development * Children learn separately how to behave at home and how to behave outside the home. * Personality consists of an innate core plus acquired, context-specific behavioral systems. * As children get older, the outside-the-home behavioral system takes precedence over the inside-the-home system and eventually becomes part of the adult personality. Source of outside-the-home socialization * Primates are predisposed, for evolutionary reasons, to affiliate with and adapt to a group. * Humans have the ability to identify with more than one group; the group identification that is salient at any given moment depends on social context. * The group that children identify with when they are outside the home is the peer group-a group of others who share socially relevant characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, and (in adolescence) abilities and interests. * Identification with a group entails taking on the group's attitudes and norms of behavior. This is a within-group process that results in assimilation-the group members become more alike. Transmission of culture via group processes * Parents do not transmit their culture directly to their children. Culture is transmitted from the parents' peer group (and from other cultural sources) to the children's peer group. * Children transfer behavior learned at home to the peer group only if it is a shared by, and approved by, the majority of members of the peer group. Children who come from atypical homes do not transfer they atypical home behaviors to the peer group. * Children's peer groups create their own culture by selecting and rejecting various aspects of the adult culture and by making cultural innovations of their own. During childhood, children move through a series of these child-created cultures. Between-group processes that widen differences between groups * In-group favoritism and out-group hostility derive from adaptive mechanisms acquired through evolution and found in humans and other primates. * In humans, in-group favoritism and out-group hostility produce group contrasts effects, which widen differences between groups or create differences if there were none to begin with. Within-group processes that widen differences among individuals * Status hierarchies within the group-differences in dominance or social power-exist in all primate groups. Differences in status tend to persist and, in humans, may have lasting effects on personality. * Social comparisons within the peer group give children information about their own strengths and weaknesses and result in typecasting of individuals by other members of the group. Assimilation and differentiation * Within-group assimilation and between-group contrast are most likely to occur when group identity is salient. Group identity is most salient when other groups are present. * Within-group assimilation and within-group differentiation are not mutually exclusive. Children can become more similar to their peers in some ways (socialization) and, over the same period of time, less similar in other ways."

(From Harris, 1995, p. 467)

In urban societies, school-age children spend most of their time outside of their homes among other children of the same age and sex. These groups usually do not include siblings (Harris, 1995). Therefore, one could question whether or not the family should be considered a part of the child's group. The answer is dependent on who is asking the question.

In many Asian cultures, the family group is seen as important, and the family relationship is valued above individual's autonomy or independence. For instance, hundreds of years ago, if a Chinese man was found guilty of committing a serious crime, both he and his family were punished. In essence, the entire family would have to pay the price for a family member's crime (Heckathorn, 1992, as cited in Harris, 1995).

On the other hand, Western culture tends value the individual over the group (Miller, 1987, as cited in Harris, 1995). According to Harris (1992), this tendency extends into the family, too. "When they are at home together, I believe that they function as individuals, each with her own agenda, his own patch of turf to defend," Harris writes (1995, p. 474). If Harris is correct, then the family may not be recognized as a group in Western culture.

Regardless of one's point of view on the family's socialization influence, one could argue that the manner in which a child behaves and adjusts to his or her family can predict how well that child will function in the world as an adult.

Applications

Divorce

Most of research conducted on family socialization highlights the process through which parents hand down their values to their children. However, this research tends to assume that most individuals have lived in two different types of family environments during the course of their lives: the family of origin and the family into which they marry. It has been suggested that a person learns behavior from the family of origin and that he or she later transmits these behaviors into the marital family. Unfortunately, the results of these various research projects have tended to not take into consideration the effects of divorce and remarriage on the family socialization process.

However, other research has compared the children of divorced parents to the children of parents who remained together. It has been found that the children of divorced parents may experience more behavioral and emotional problems (Krantz, 1989). Economic effects have been seen as the number-one issue concerning children of divorced parents, but the issue of children's emotional well-being is a close second. Seltzer (1994) believes that the concern for emotional survival is very real due to the following facts:

* In the short term, children experience anxiety and depression, and may engage in disruptive behavior. Because of methodological problems, it is less well known what how divorce affects children in the long term, although initial evidence from the National Survey of Children shows that such emotional distress can be present for extended periods of time.

* Children define themselves as part of a family. They define their family by who lives with whom. When a parent leaves the family unit, children experience loss and anxiety about their place in the world.

* Parental conflict harms children. Usually, there is conflict between parents during the time leading up to divorce. Children who spend time in a high-conflict household experience emotional problems similar to children growing up in single-parent households. As parents find themselves unable to cope with the conflict of divorce and child rearing, the parent-child relationship deteriorates.

* Household disruptions such as relocation, change in mother's employment, loss of income, changes in child care, disruption of routine, erratic child-rearing practices, and loss of parental control all negatively affect children's emotional well-being. Multiple disruptions such as divorce, remarriage, and divorce inflict more trauma on children (Seltzer, 1994; Smartlibrary.org).

In addition, research has suggested that adults whose parents are divorced tend to have a higher risk of marital failure (Glenn and Kramer, 1987), which suggests that a divorce can have lasting effects.

However, group socialization theory has a different explanation for these results. According to Harris (1995),

* Divorce may be inheritable. It has been found that characteristics such as impulsivity, disagreeableness, and alcoholism that children can inherit from their parents can make divorce more likely among the children of divorced parents (McGue & Lykken, 1992; Loehlin, 1992).

* Children's behavioral problems may not be caused by a divorce. Long before their parents divorce, many children of divorced parents have behavioral problems, suggesting that these problems are not the result of the divorce. Rather, the problems may be the result of the family conflict that existed prior to the divorce.

* Divorce often means moving to a new home. According to one study, 38 percent of custodial mothers moved during the first year after a divorce. A move tends to have negative effects on children because they lose their peer groups as well as their status among their peers, and have to find a new peer group and gain their status among them.

* Divorce often results in a lower socioeconomic status. When children move as a result of a divorce, the type of neighborhood they live in may also change. Of the 15.7 million American homes headed by single mothers in 2011 and 2012, 4.8 million were living below the poverty line, according to census data. As Harris explains, "the change in socioeconomic status means that there may be a change in the norms of the child's peer group" (1995, p. 480).

Viewpoints

Socialization of African American Adolescents

Another crisis situation that some children may face has to do with their assimilation into the mainstream culture. Some researchers believe that racism and discrimination can be developmental mediators in the lives of African Americans across their life spans (Comer, 1989; Duncan, 1993). It has been found that many African American adolescents have a difficult time developing and maintaining a healthy racial identity given the conflicted state of race relations in the US (Stevenson, Reed, Bodison, & Bishop, 1997). Developing a healthy racial identity may be a challenge for this group because they must balance multiple cultural experiences simultaneously (Boykin, 1986; Thornton, 1997). These researchers have defined three types of cultural experiences with which African Americans meet:

* Mainstream experiences: experiences related to the dominant culture of the United States.

* Minority experiences: experiences representing political and social injustices associated with being a numerical and social minority in the United States.

* African American experiences: Black cultural and community experiences represented within the African American community.

Some psychologists have suggested that exposure to racism and discrimination can lead to low self-esteem in some people. In addition, a person's self-esteem can influence his or her academic performance in school. According to Constantine and Blackmon (2002), "the link between self-esteem and academic performance among Black American adolescents may be related to how they process achievement experiences at school and in other areas of their lives" (p. 323). Seeking to better understand the relationship between parents' racial socialization efforts and African American teenagers' self-esteem, these researchers surveyed 115 middle-school students at a predominantly Black parochial school by asking them complete a racial socialization scale, a self-esteem scale, and a demographic questionnaire.

The results of the surveys suggested that the adolescents' self-esteem was positively correlated to socialization messages that reinforced cultural pride. This result supports the notion that African American peer groups confirm the supportive racial values and practices that African American parents and caregivers try to instill in their children, which have been found to play a significant role in youth behavioral outcomes (Elmore & Gaylord-Hardin, 2013). It can also be inferred that family and peer groups, by fostering self-esteem in adolescents, prepare them to deal with the world outside of these supportive environments.

The study also produced another significant finding. The results suggested that as adolescents adopt mainstream racial socialization messages, their self-esteem and their perceptions of their academic abilities both suffered. This finding helps explain why some African American parents choose to enroll their children in predominantly Black schools. By doing so, children are able to learn about their culture in an educational setting, develop skills and abilities that pertain particularly to their culture and race, and be more sheltered from racism until they have learned coping strategies.

Conclusion

In the past, psychoanalytic theory played a prominent role in the field of developmental psychology. Psychoanalytic theory holds that children around the ages of 4 and 5 have the ability to learn how to behave by identifying with their parents. If a child successfully completes this phase, the theory claims, the superego is formed and enforces good behavior. Frailberg (1989) used this hypothesis to support the belief that most children tend to learn family rules and are less inclined to violate them as they grow older. "Children in our society spend the early years discovering that they cannot do most of the things they see their parents doing--making messes, telling other people how to behave, and engaging in many other activities that look fun to those who are not allowed to do them" (Harris, 1995, p. 474).

Theorists such as Turner (1987), Tesser (1988), and Brewer (1991) have all shown how social-cognitive approaches can illuminate otherwise to inexplicable aspects of human group behavior. One of these aspects is how people can "belong simultaneously to many groups and can shift their allegiance from one to the other, without moving an inch, in response to changes in relative salience" (Harris, 1995, p. 465). Because of this ability, a person can identify with a group even if the group is never all present in one location, or the person never meets all or any of the group members. Judith Harris' group socialization theory, which is based on the four fundamental predispositions that humans and primates hold in common, is used to explain these unique human behaviors (1995).

According to Seltzer (1994), children of divorce commonly exhibit a number of ill effects, such as emotional disturbances and behavioral and academic problems. Some psychologists have suggested that exposure to racism and discrimination can lead to low self-esteem in some people. In addition, a person's self-esteem can influence his or her academic performance in school.

Terms & Concepts

Between-Group Contrast: A basic type of behavior wherein members of a group highlight the differences between themselves and other groups. In addition, these groups seek to increase their differences from other groups.

Development Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies the progressive developmental changes in human behavior throughout the lifespan.

Divorce: The legal ending of a marriage.

Group Socialization Theory: A theory developed by Judith Harris that is based on the concept that although the influence of parents on children is great, the influence of peers actually has a greater impact on a child's development.

In-Group Favoritism: A basic type of behavior wherein members of a group tend to prefer other group members over non-group members, even if the original grouping was random.

Individualization: To consider or treat individually; particularize.

Psychoanalytic Theory: A theory of psychology developed by Freud and his followers in which unconscious motivations are considered to shape normal as well as abnormal personality development and behavior.

Social Development: Any change in society that leads to new or more complex relations between individuals or groups within that society.

Social Learning: A change in behavior that is controlled by environmental influences rather than by innate or internal forces.

Socialization: The process in which children learn to behave similarly to other people in a group through imitation and group pressure, thus being rewarded with acceptance in the group.

Within-Group Assimilation: A basic type of behavior wherein group members tend to conform to the group without the need for overt peer pressure.

Within-Group Differentiation: A basic type of behavior in the formation of a group where each individual in the group is distinguished from the group members.

Bibliography

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Duncan, G. (1992). Racism as a developmental mediator. Educational Forum, 57, 360-370.

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Harris, J. (1995). Where is the child's environment? A group socialization theory of development. Psychological Review, 102, 458-489. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from http://www.apa.org/journals/features/rev1023458.pdf

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Knight, G. P., Berkel, C., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Gonzales, N. A., Ettekal, I., … & Boyd, B. M. (2011). The familial socialization of culturally related values in Mexican American families. Journal of Marriage & Family, 73, 913-925. Retrieved November 6, 2013 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=65972783

Krantz, S. (1989). The impact of divorce on children. In A. S. Skolnick & J. H. Skolnick (Eds.), Family in transition (6th ed., pp. 341-363). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

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Seltzer, J. (1994). Effects of divorce on children's emotional needs. Divorce and children's emotional needs. Retrieved March 25, 2008 from Smart Library, http://www.children. smartlibrary.org/NewInterface/segment.cfm?segment=192 4&table_of_contents=1487

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Suggested Reading

Nordquest, M., & Nordquest, M. (2007). Family mealtime as a context of development and socialization. Journal of Collaborative Family Healthcare, 25, 219-221. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com /login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25773634&site=ehost-live

Robbins, M., Szapocznik, J., Mayorga, C., Dillon, F., Burns, M., & Feaster, D. (2007). The impact of family functioning on family racial socialization processes. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13, 313-320. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database PsycARTICLES. http://search.ebscohost.com /login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=27435546&site=ehost-live

Thomson, E., & McLanahan, S. S. (2012). Reflections on "Family Structure and Child Well-Being: Economic Resources vs. Parental Socialization." Social Forces, 91, 45-53. Retrieved November 6, 2013 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=85098986

Varner, F., & Mandara, J. (2013). Discrimination concerns and expectations as explanations for gendered socialization in African American families. Child Development, 84, 875-890. Retrieved November 6, 2013 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=87498811

Wong, J., & Tseng, V. (2008). Political socialization in immigrant families: Challenging top-down parental socialization models. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 34, 151-169. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27601365&site=ehost-live