Socialisation
Socialisation for CGPSC Mains GS-IV: definitions, agencies, types and theories of Cooley, Mead, Freud and Piaget, with the Ghotul and Chhattisgarh examples.
Prerequisites
- Society, Community and Institution: primary groups and institutions are the main agencies of socialisation
- Tribal Social Organisation and the Ghotul: the Muria Ghotul, used here as an agency of socialisation
The Hook: How Does a Child Become a Chhattisgarhiya?
No child is born knowing how to greet elders with “Jai Johar” (जय जोहार), which clan she may not marry into, how to sing a Sua song at Diwali or how to queue at a ration shop. A baby born in Bijapur and a baby born in Bengaluru are biologically alike. Ten years later they speak different languages, eat differently and hold different ideas of right and wrong.
How does a biological being become a social person? Who teaches, and does the learning ever stop? Sociology calls this process socialisation (समाजीकरण).
Why it matters: “Define socialisation and explain its agencies” is a standard short question. Longer questions ask you to compare socialisation in tribal and urban settings, or to discuss gender socialisation and the role of media.
Definitions to Quote
| Sociologist | Definition |
|---|---|
| W. F. Ogburn | “Socialisation is the process by which the individual learns to conform to the norms of the group.” |
| Horton and Hunt | Socialisation is “the process whereby one internalises the norms of his groups, so that a distinct self emerges, unique to this individual.” |
| Émile Durkheim | Education is “the methodical socialisation of the young generation” by the adult generation |
The core idea: socialisation does two things at once. It makes a person like others (shared language, norms, values) and it produces a unique self (personality). It is lifelong, not limited to childhood.
Why it is needed: isolated children
Studies of children reared in extreme isolation, most famously Kingsley Davis’s accounts of two American girls, “Anna” and “Isabelle”, in the 1940s, showed that without human contact children fail to develop speech and normal social behaviour. Isabelle, who had contact with her deaf-mute mother and later received intensive training, caught up far more than Anna. The conclusion: human nature is social nature; biology gives the capacity, society develops it.
Agencies of Socialisation (समाजीकरण के अभिकरण)
| Agency | What it teaches | Indian / Chhattisgarh illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Language, basic habits, emotional security, first ideas of right and wrong, gender roles | Grandparents telling folk tales; daughters learning Bhojali and Sua songs from mothers |
| Peer group | Equality, co-operation, competition; often challenges family norms | Village play-groups; the Ghotul among the Muria; college friends in Raipur |
| School | Formal knowledge, discipline, punctuality, citizenship; a “hidden curriculum” of obedience and competition | Ashram-schools and hostels in Bastar; a child who speaks Gondi or Halbi at home learning in Hindi at school |
| Religion | Values, rituals, ideas of sacred and profane | Kabirpanth and Satnam Panth teaching equality; village deities and the Madai |
| Mass media and social media | Consumer values, political ideas, role models, new lifestyles | Smartphones and YouTube reaching remote villages; Chhattisgarhi films and music |
| Workplace | Occupational norms, hierarchy, professional ethics | A new mitanin or Patwari learning on the job |
| State and law | Rights, duties, legal norms | Gram Sabha meetings, elections, campaigns against child marriage and witch-branding |
| Folk performance | Moral and historical narratives | Pandavani (पंडवानी) performers retelling the Mahabharata; Nacha (नाचा) satire on social evils |
Types of Socialisation
| Type | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Primary socialisation | In early childhood, mainly in the family; builds language, basic norms, the self | A child learning to speak Chhattisgarhi and greet elders |
| Secondary socialisation | Later, through school, peers, work, media; learning specific roles | A student learning the norms of a hostel or a coaching institute |
| Anticipatory socialisation | Learning the norms of a group one hopes to join, before joining it; concept associated with R. K. Merton and his reference-group theory | A CGPSC aspirant who starts reading newspapers daily, dressing formally and speaking like an officer; a lower caste adopting upper-caste practices (Sanskritisation can be read this way) |
| Re-socialisation | Discarding old norms and learning radically new ones, often in a total institution | Army training, prison, a rehabilitation centre, a surrendered insurgent’s rehabilitation programme |
| Developmental socialisation | Building on earlier learning to take on new adult roles | A new mother, a newly elected sarpanch |
| Reverse socialisation | The young teach the old | Children teaching parents to use a smartphone, UPI payments or online applications |
| Gender socialisation | Learning what a society expects of boys and girls | Girls given household work, boys sent out; challenged by schooling, SHGs and women’s panchayat leadership |
Theories of Socialisation and the Self
1. C. H. Cooley: the looking-glass self (1902)
In Human Nature and the Social Order (1902), Cooley argued that we see ourselves as we think others see us. The looking-glass self (दर्पण में आत्म) has three steps:
- I imagine how I appear to others.
- I imagine their judgement of that appearance.
- I develop a self-feeling (pride or shame) from that imagined judgement.
Example: a tribal student who is mocked for her accent in a city college may come to feel ashamed of her mother tongue, not because of anything in the language but because of the reflection she receives.
2. G. H. Mead: I, me and the generalised other
George Herbert Mead’s lectures were published after his death as Mind, Self and Society (1934). For Mead the self arises through social interaction and role-taking.
| Concept | Meaning |
|---|---|
| I | The spontaneous, creative, unsocialised part of the self |
| Me | The socialised part: the organised attitudes of others that we have taken into ourselves |
| Significant others | Particular people who matter early in life: parents, siblings |
| Generalised other | The organised attitudes of the whole community; the “rules of the game” |
Stages (as usually taught):
- Preparatory (imitation): the infant copies without understanding.
- Play stage: the child takes the role of one other at a time (“playing teacher”, “playing policeman”).
- Game stage: the child takes into account many roles at once and the rules, like a player in a kabaddi team who must know what every teammate and opponent will do. This is where the generalised other appears.
3. Sigmund Freud: id, ego and superego
| Part | Function |
|---|---|
| Id | Inborn drives seeking pleasure; unconscious |
| Superego | Internalised moral standards of parents and society: the conscience |
| Ego | The conscious self that balances the id’s demands, the superego’s restrictions and reality |
Socialisation, in Freud’s view, is largely the formation of the superego: society’s rules enter the personality through early family relationships.
4. Jean Piaget: cognitive development
Piaget linked socialisation to stages of thinking: sensorimotor (birth to about 2), pre-operational (about 2–7), concrete operational (about 7–11) and formal operational (about 11 onwards). Moral judgement also matures, from obeying fixed rules to understanding that rules are agreements that can change.
5. Durkheim: education as socialisation
Durkheim saw education as the “methodical socialisation of the young generation”. Its function is to create the similarity (shared values) a society needs and the diversity (specialised skills) the division of labour needs.
flowchart LR
A["Biological infant"] --> B["Primary socialisation
family: language, self"]
B --> C["Secondary socialisation
school, peers, media, work"]
C --> D["Anticipatory
learning a future role"]
C --> E["Re-socialisation
total institutions"]
C --> F["Adult roles
citizen, parent, official"]Analysis for Mains: Socialisation in Tribal and Urban Chhattisgarh
| Aspect | Tribal village (e.g. Narayanpur, Kondagaon) | City (e.g. Raipur, Bhilai) |
|---|---|---|
| Main agencies | Family, clan, peer group (Ghotul), village rituals, oral tradition | Nuclear family, school, coaching, media, workplace |
| Language | Gondi, Halbi or other mother tongue at home; Hindi at school | Hindi, English; Chhattisgarhi at home in many families |
| Control | Informal: elders, village council, shame | Formal: rules, law, institutions |
| Values stressed | Community, sharing, nature, collective labour | Individual achievement, competition, consumption |
| Challenges | Language gap in schools; erosion of oral knowledge; conflict-affected childhoods | Screen dependence; weakening family time; peer pressure |
Policy implications:
- Mother-tongue-based early education: the National Education Policy, 2020 recommends the home language as the medium of instruction where possible, at least till Class 5. Primary material in tribal languages such as Gondi and Halbi helps close the home–school gap.
- Gender socialisation can be shifted: schooling, women’s SHGs and the 50% reservation for women in Chhattisgarh’s panchayats (since 2008) give girls new role models.
- Campaigns against child marriage and witch-branding (the state’s Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Adhiniyam, 2005) are attempts at re-socialisation of adult norms through law and awareness.
Memory Tricks
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Looking-glass self: Cooley, 1902 | vs | Generalised other: Mead, 1934 |
| Primary group: Cooley, Social Organization, 1909 | vs | Looking-glass self: Cooley, Human Nature and the Social Order, 1902 |
| Anticipatory socialisation: learning a role before entering it (Merton) | vs | Re-socialisation: unlearning and relearning, often in a total institution (Goffman, 1961) |
| I: spontaneous self (Mead) | vs | Id: inborn drives (Freud) |
| Superego: conscience (Freud) | vs | Me: internalised attitudes of others (Mead) |
Common Mistakes
Practice
All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- Cooley’s concept of the “looking-glass self” appeared in his book ______ (1902).
- According to Mead, the organised attitudes of the whole community taken into the self are called the ______.
- Goffman called places like prisons and army barracks, where re-socialisation takes place, ______ institutions.
Answers
- Human Nature and the Social Order.
- Generalised other.
- Total institutions (Asylums, 1961).
Level 2: Prelims-style MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements:
- In Mead’s theory, the “I” is the socialised part of the self formed from the attitudes of others.
- Freud regarded the superego as the internalised moral standards of society.
- Anticipatory socialisation refers to learning the norms of a group one hopes to join.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
Q2. Match List I (Concept) with List II (Thinker):
| List I | List II |
|---|---|
| A. Looking-glass self | 1. Erving Goffman |
| B. Generalised other | 2. Jean Piaget |
| C. Total institution | 3. C. H. Cooley |
| D. Formal operational stage | 4. G. H. Mead |
- (a) A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2
- (b) A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2
- (c) A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
- (d) A-1, B-4, C-3, D-2
Answer and explanation
Q3. A young woman preparing for a police recruitment test starts waking at 5 a.m., running daily and following the discipline she has seen among serving constables. This is best described as:
- (a) Primary socialisation
- (b) Re-socialisation
- (c) Anticipatory socialisation
- (d) Reverse socialisation
Answer and explanation
Q4. In the Muria Ghotul, older members teach younger ones songs, dances, clan history and duties to the village. From the sociological point of view, the Ghotul is best described as:
- (a) A secondary group based on contract
- (b) An agency of socialisation working through the peer group
- (c) A total institution in Goffman’s sense
- (d) An out-group for the village
Answer and explanation
Q5. “Education is the methodical socialisation of the young generation.” This view is associated with:
- (a) Max Weber
- (b) Émile Durkheim
- (c) Karl Marx
- (d) Herbert Spencer
Answer and explanation
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. (60 words) What is socialisation? Name any four of its agencies.
Model answer outline
- Definition: Horton and Hunt: the process by which one internalises the norms of one’s groups so that a distinct self emerges. It is lifelong.
- Agencies: family (primary), peer group (for example the Muria Ghotul), school, religion, mass and social media, workplace, state and law.
- One-line illustration: a Chhattisgarhi child learns language and greetings in the family, discipline at school and new aspirations from media.
Q2. (150–200 words) Compare socialisation in a tribal village of Bastar with that in an urban family of Raipur. What does the comparison suggest for education policy?
Model answer outline
- Intro: Define socialisation; note that agencies and content vary with the social setting.
- Tribal village: family and clan; peer-group institutions such as the Ghotul; oral tradition, songs and festivals; nature-centred values; informal control by elders and the village council; mother tongue (Gondi, Halbi) at home.
- Urban family: nuclear family, school and coaching, media and social media; individual achievement and competition; formal control; Hindi and English.
- Problems: for the tribal child, the school’s language and culture differ from home (a looking-glass effect of shame or alienation); for the urban child, screen dependence and pressure.
- Policy: mother-tongue-based early education (NEP 2020); culturally familiar content and local teachers; respect for community institutions rather than replacing them; life-skills and digital literacy for all.
- Conclusion: Socialisation should add new capacities without devaluing the child’s own culture; integration, not assimilation.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ogburn | Socialisation = learning to conform to group norms |
| Horton and Hunt | Internalising group norms so that a distinct self emerges |
| Durkheim | Education = methodical socialisation of the young generation |
| Isolated children | Kingsley Davis: Anna and Isabelle (1940s) |
| Looking-glass self | Cooley, 1902; appear → judge → feel |
| I, me, generalised other | Mead, Mind, Self and Society, 1934 (posthumous); imitation → play → game |
| Id, ego, superego | Freud; superego = conscience |
| Cognitive stages | Piaget: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational |
| Anticipatory socialisation | Merton; learning a future group’s norms |
| Total institution | Goffman, Asylums, 1961; re-socialisation, mortification of the self |
| CG agency example | Ghotul (Muria): peer-group socialisation |
Key Takeaways
- Socialisation turns a biological infant into a social person and is lifelong.
- Agencies run from family (primary) to school, peers, religion, media, work and the state (secondary).
- Know the theories by name: Cooley (looking-glass self), Mead (I, me, generalised other), Freud (id, ego, superego), Piaget (cognitive stages), Durkheim (education).
- Types: primary, secondary, anticipatory (Merton), re-socialisation (Goffman’s total institutions), reverse and gender socialisation.
- Chhattisgarh examples: the Ghotul, folk performance such as Pandavani, mother-tongue gaps in tribal schooling, and law-backed campaigns against witch-branding.
What’s Next
- Status and Role: socialisation prepares us for the statuses and roles we will occupy
- Culture: what exactly is transmitted through socialisation
- Education and Human Resource Development: schooling as a formal agency of socialisation
- Festivals and Traditions: rituals that socialise children into community life