this world, we learn to speak only that language which people around us speak. Within this social context we also learn many other things (e.g., when to express emotions and when to suppress them). The probability of our behaving in a particular way is greatly affected by people who relate to us. Any one who possesses power relative to us can socialise us.
Such people are called “ socialisation agents ”. These agents include parents, teachers and other elders, who are more knowledgeable in the ways of their society. Under certain conditions, however, even our age peers can affect socialisation. The process of socialisation is not always a smooth transition between the individual and the socialisation agent.
It sometimes involves conflicts. In such situations not only are some responses punished, but some are also blocked by the behaviour of others in effective ways. At the same time, several responses need to be rewarded so that they acquire greater strength. Thus, reward and punishment serve as basic means for achieving the goals of socialisation.
In this sense, all socialisation seems to involve efforts by others to control behaviour. Socialisation although primarily consists of deliberate teaching for producing “acceptable” behaviour, the process is not unidirectional. Individuals are not only influenced by their social environment, but they also influence it. In societies that comprise many social groups, individuals may choose those to which they wish to belong.
With increased migration, individuals are not only socialised once, but are often re-socialised differently in their life-span. This process is known as acculturation which we will discuss later in this chapter. Due to the processes of enculturation and socialisation we find behavioural similarities within societies and behavioural differences across societies. Both processes involve learning from other people.
In the case of socialisation, the learning involves deliberate teaching. In the case of enculturation, teaching is not necessary for learning to take place. Enculturation means engagement of people in their culture. Since most of the learning takes place with our engagement in our culture, socialisation can be easily subsumed under the process of enculturation.