Primary and secondary socialization: its agents and effects

If there is something that characterizes the human race, it is that we are social animals and our personal development is highly conditioned by the degree of socialization that we achieve. This does not have to imply the achievement of a large number of relationships, but rather the skills we develop to achieve them.

The process that aims at integration into society and successful interaction with others is known as socialization. This process can be divided into two phases according to the life stage of the person: primary socialization and secondary socialization.

• You may be interested: "Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory"

What is socialization?

The socialization process refers to contact between people through which we learn and accept and integrate a series of behavior guidelines and adapt to them. This process has the objective of instilling in the person the sociocultural elements of their environment, these elements are shaped by personal experiences and by social agents, and integrated into the personality of the individual.

Through socialization, the person develops and enhances the skills necessary for the correct integration and contribution to social life, generating patterns of conduct and organized behavior in accordance with the society.

But this whole process of socialization it would not be possible without social agents. Social agents are all those people or institutions with which the person is related. Without them there is no type of socialization.

Family, school, friends and equals, as well as institutions and influential people belong to the category of social agents; the most important being the family, because it is the first social contact of the person and the school, since it is the main transmitter of knowledge.

But this socialization does not occur in a single moment of life, but it lasts for years. Therefore, depending on the stage the person is in we can speak of primary or secondary socialization.

• Related article: "Educational psychology: definition, concepts and theories"

Primary socialization and its agents

This first phase of socialization takes place in the person's family context. Then it happens in educational institutions in which the individual begins to generate other relationships with friends and equals, outside the family nucleus.

There is no specific event or signal that serves as the end point of this stage, since this can change depending on the person, the social context and the culture in which it takes place. The social agents typical of this stage and that cause the first relationships with the person are: the family, the school and the media.

1. Family

The family, especially the most intimate and closest family nucleus, has the responsibility of attending to both the physical needs of the individual, as well as the psychological needs. Likewise, family dynamics will determine the evolution of the person both at the personality level, as well as at the cognitive and behavioral level.

Relationships with parents and siblings provide essential information for the child on how to interact with other people, thus generating basic behavior patterns that will allow them to better adapt to society in the future.

2. School

On the other hand, once the child begins the academic stage, the school becomes another primary social agent. The school provides the opportunity to socialize daily with friends and equals, making the child aware that there may be differences in the way of proceeding, current and thinking of others.

In addition, the relationship between the faculty and students provides the knowledge that institutional hierarchies also exist and how to interact with them.

3. Media

Finally, a socializing agent that is becoming more and more important is the media. In addition to traditional media such as television, the press or radio; the advancement of the Internet and social networks is having an important effect on how to socialize people.

It is impossible to ignore the change that has occurred in the way of socializing, influenced by social networks. Which have managed to alter the dynamics and behavior patterns of people in relation to interaction with others.

• Related article: "The 9 stages of human life"

Secondary socialization

This second phase occurs during late adolescence, after which the person begins in adulthood and puts into practice everything learned at home and in the educational context. In this later socialization, the person (who already has previous social skills) is incorporated into other sectors of society, which allow you to learn new resources in other areas in principle unknown.

Through this process, the person assimilates that there are other contexts and realities that differ from what is known during primary socialization. In this case, the university, labor organizations and political institutions and government exercise strong power in socialization.

In addition, unlike primary socialization, in the secondary stage the person has a wide margin of action, in which he is free to decide how to act.

Is there a tertiary socialization?

Indeed there is a tertiary socialization, with the difference that instead of one stage it is a different level of socialization in which those people who have experienced a deviation from what is considered the social norm have the opportunity to reintegrate into the society.

These cases occur in people with criminal, criminal or punishable behavior; which through a process of re-socialization readjust their behavior. In the latter case, the socializing agents are linked to the authorities and even to the prison.