Primary and secondary socialization: their agents and effects.

These processes mark us, especially in childhood and adolescence.

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 we manage to achieve. This does not necessarily imply the achievement of a large number of relationships, but rather the skills we develop to achieve them.

The process aimed at integration into society and successful interaction with others is known as socialization. This process can be divided into two phases depending on the life stage of the individual: primary socialization and secondary socialization..

What is socialization?

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

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

But this whole process of socialization would not be possible without the social agents. Social agents are considered to be all those people or institutions with whom the person relates. Without them there is no socialization at all.

Family, school, friends and peers, as well as institutions and influential people belong to the category of social agents; the most important being the family, since 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 lasts for years. Therefore, depending on the stage the person is in, we can speak of primary or secondary socialization. we will be able to speak of primary or secondary socialization.

Primary socialization and its agents

This first phase of socialization takes place in the family context of the person. It then takes place in educational institutions in which the individual begins to generate other relationships with friends and peers, outside the family nucleus.

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

1. Family

The family, above all the most intimate and close family nucleusThe family, especially the closest and most intimate family nucleus, has the responsibility to take care of both the physical and psychological needs of the individual. Likewise, family dynamics will determine the evolution of the person both at a personality level and at a 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 behavioral patterns that will allow him/her 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. School provides the opportunity to interact with friends and peers on a daily basis, making the child aware that there may be differences in the way others act, act and think.The school provides the opportunity to interact daily with friends and peers, making the child aware that there may be differences in the way of proceeding, acting and thinking of others.

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

3. Communication media

Finally, a socializing agent that is becoming increasingly important is the media. In addition to traditional media such as television, the press and radio, the advance of the Internet and social networks has made it more and more important; the advance of the Internet and social networks is having a major effect on the way people socialize. on the way people socialize.

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

Secondary socialization

This second phase occurs during the last stage of adolescenceafter which the person enters adulthood and puts into practice everything learned at home and in the educational context. In this subsequent socialization, the person (who already possesses previous social skills) is incorporated into other sectors of society, which allow him/her to learn new resources in other, initially unknown areas.

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

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

Is there such a thing as tertiary socialization?

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

These cases occur in people with delinquent, criminal or punishable behaviors, who through a process of resocialization readapt their behavior. In the latter case, the socializing agents are linked to the authorities and even to prison.