• Man is not only social but also cultural.
• Culture provides opportunities for man to develop his personality.
• The development of personality is not an automatic process.
• Every society prescribes its own ways and means of social training for its newborn members to develop their personality. This process is called Socialisation.
• The process of socialisation is conditioned by culture.
• Since each society has its own culture, the methods of socialisation differ from society to society.
• Even within the same society and culture, socialisation may have diverse effects on the development of individual personalities.
• A culture does not necessarily produce stereotype personalities; there is room for individuality in the process of socialisation.
• However, culture does place limitations on the development of personality.
• The interplay between culture and socialisation influences the development of the human personality, with special emphasis on socialisation.

THE CONCEPT OF SOCIALISATION

• Little of man’s behaviour is instinctive; most of it is learnt behaviour.
• The human child is born as a biological organism with animal needs.
• The child is gradually moulded in society into a social being, learning social ways of acting and feeling.
• The continued existence of society is impossible without the process of socialisation.
• No individual could become a person and no culture could exist without socialisation.
• The process of moulding and shaping the personality of the human infant is called socialisation.
• At birth, the child possesses the potential to become human.
• The child becomes a socialised individual through a variety of experiences.
• Socialisation means the process where an individual becomes a functioning member of society.
• An individual becomes socialised by learning the rules and practices of social groups.
• Through socialisation, the individual develops a personality.
• Man is social because he shares a common culture with others, including past generations and those yet unborn.
• Sociologists emphasize socialisation because man is a cultural being.
• Socialisation is often called the “transmission of culture” — the process of learning the rules and practices of social groups.
• Socialisation is an aspect of all activity within all human societies.
• Just as we learn a game by playing it, we learn life by engaging in it.
• We are socialised through activities, learning by making mistakes and receiving disapproval.
• Imitation and purposeful training are ways to learn social behaviour.
• Education is part of the socialisation process, but it is not the entire process.
• Definitions of socialisation:
  • Bogardus: Socialisation is the “process of working together, developing group responsibility, or being guided by the welfare needs of others.”
  • W.F. Ogburn: Socialisation is the process by which the individual learns to conform to the norms of the group.
  • Peter Worsley: Socialisation is the “transmission of culture, the process whereby men learn the rules and practices of social groups.”
  • Harry M. Johnson: Socialisation is learning that enables the learner to perform social roles and acquire the already existing culture of groups.
  • Lundberg: Socialisation consists of the complex processes of interaction through which the individual learns the habits, beliefs, skills, and standards necessary for effective participation in social groups and communities.