Socialization in psychology. What is it, stages, factors, stages, types, mechanisms, functions

In psychology, human socialization is understood as the process of personality formation in social conditions. This process allows, over time, to selectively introduce into one’s system of behavior those norms and rules that are accepted in a given social group and society.

The French sociologist E. Durkheim (19th century) was one of the first to pay attention to this phenomenon and emphasized that any society strives to shape a person by obtaining social norms and ideals. By the middle of the 20th century, socialization became an independent interdisciplinary field of research, and in the 70s. has become a popular problem in social science.

Definition

The problem of defining socialization led to the emergence of various concepts that differed in their vision of the content of individual socialization.

The concept of socialization

In studies of philosophy, psychology, sociology and pedagogy, the term “socialization” is widely used, although its unambiguous interpretation has not yet been developed. The problem of personality socialization was developed in the works of L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontyeva, L.I. Bozovic, R.G. Gurova, A.S. Zubra, I.S. Kona, A.V. Mudrika and others. In foreign psychology, the process of socialization was studied by J. Dewey, E. Durkheim, C.H. Cooley, J. G. M and House, T. Parsons, G. Tarde, et al.

Socialization as the entire multifaceted process of a person’s assimilation of the experience of social life and social relations. In the process of socialization, a person acquires beliefs and socially approved forms of behavior that he needs for a normal life in society. Socialization is considered as the process of a person’s assimilation of the social connections of the society to which he belongs, and as the process of a person’s reproduction of the acquired social experience.

Thus, socialization is a two-way process that includes both the individual’s assimilation of social experience by entering a social environment, a system of social connections, and the process of active reproduction by him of the system of social connections and relationships in which he develops, due to his active activity, active inclusion in the social environment. This is the entry of the personality into itself.

From the first days of existence, a person is surrounded by other people and included in social interaction. In the process of relationships with others, he gains experience of social life and social relations, which, being subjectively assimilated, becomes an integral part of his personality. A person not only perceives social experience and masters it, but also actively transforms it into his own values, attitudes, positions, orientations, into his own vision of social relations. At the same time, the individual is included in various social connections, in the performance of various role functions, thereby transforming both the social world around him and himself.

Through socialization, people learn to live together and interact effectively. The subject of activity as a subject of social relations consistently and in parallel assimilates the social experience of society and himself influences society through his own activities.

However, socialization is not the antithesis of individualization. The process of socialization does not lead to the leveling of a person’s personality or individuality. Rather, on the contrary, a person acquires his individuality, but in a complex and contradictory way. The assimilation of social experience is always subjective. The same social situations are perceived and experienced differently by different individuals, and therefore leave different marks on their psyche. The social experience that different people gain from objectively identical situations varies significantly. That is why the assimilation of social experience, which underlies socialization, becomes a source of individualization of the individual, who not only subjectively assimilates this experience, but also actively processes it.

Socialization is a complex socio-psychological phenomenon, which is simultaneously a process, an attitude, a method, and a result of the formation of personality in interaction, communication and activity.

Socialization is an extremely diverse, active and lifelong phenomenon, since, having been socialized in one group, a person may turn out to be completely unsocialized in another, which is clearly manifested among emigrants, refugees, pensioners, the unemployed, etc.

The individual acts as an active subject of socialization. Moreover, this process must be considered as actively developing, and not just actively adaptive. Socialization is not only never completed, but also never complete.

The development of the theory of personality socialization was carried out by G. Tarde, T. Parsons and other scientists. G. Tarde based his theory on the principle of imitation, and proclaimed the “teacher-student” relationship as a model of social behavior, i.e. socialization. According to T. Parsons, an individual, in the process of socialization, absorbs common values ​​in the process of communicating with significant others. In Russian social psychology, there are narrow and broad interpretations of socialization proposed by B.D. Parygin. Socialization in the narrow sense is the process of entering the social environment and adapting to it, and in the broad sense it is a historical process, phylogenesis.

Socialization can be considered both a typical and a singular process. Its typicality is determined by social factors and depends on class, racial, ethnic and cultural conditions. This means the similarity of the course of socialization for representatives of similar social or age groups - the same religions, cultures, generations. The socialization of an unemployed person is typical of the unemployed and differs from the socialization of a successful businessman. The socialization of emigrants, national minorities, marginalized people, vagabonds, homeless people, disabled people, etc. is completely different, but in its own typical way.

Socialization as a single process is determined by the individual specifics of a person: his abilities, external data, the degree of conformity, sociability of the individual, the individual level of identity, i.e. the desire to develop one’s abilities, awareness of one’s life path, etc.

The concept of “socialization” does not replace the terms “personality development”, “upbringing”, “adaptation”, “personality formation”, etc. widely used in psychological and pedagogical literature, although it is quite difficult to separate them.

Recognition of the individual as a subject of social activity attaches special importance to the development of the individual: the child becomes a subject, which is unthinkable without assimilation of the system of social connections and relationships, without inclusion in them. The concepts of “personal development” and “socialization” in this case seem to coincide. The emphasis on individual activity is more clearly represented in the idea of ​​development. The focus of socialization is the social environment and its impact on the individual. The process of personal development consists of active interaction with the social environment, and each aspect of such interaction requires special consideration.

If developmental psychology is most interested in looking at this problem from the perspective of the individual, then for social psychology it is most interesting from the perspective of the interaction between the individual and the environment.

Some psychologists and educators propose to consider the concepts of “socialization” and “upbringing” as synonyms, understanding by upbringing the impact on a person of the entire system of social relations in order to assimilate social experience. However, it is necessary to distinguish between these concepts: socialization is a broader category than education (A.V. Mudrik).

Education is a process of pedagogically organized, purposeful, systematic influence on a person in order to convey to him a certain system of ideas, concepts, and norms. The concept of “socialization” characterizes the complexity, inconsistency, and multi-level nature of the process of personal development, in which there are both spontaneous, uncontrollable and controlled spheres of influence, self-development and self-improvement. According to G.M. Andreeva, “socialization” is still closer to the concept of “personal development” than to “education.”

Adjacent to socialization is the concept of socio-psychological adaptation as an individual’s adaptation to changes in the environment, as mastering a new role when entering a different social situation. This is an integral part of socialization, one of its mechanisms.

When using the term “personality formation,” emphasis is placed on the self-activity of the individual, his subjective socialization, the formation of certain traits, and the processes of self-education.

According to established tradition, socialization has the following structure:

• content;
• latitude, i.e. the number of spheres to which a person was able to adapt.

When considering the content of socialization, it is important to determine what is offered to the individual as a social and cultural “menu”, what pictures of the world, attitudes, stereotypes, and values ​​are formed in the individual in the process of socialization.

The content of socialization is determined, on the one hand, by the totality of social influences (culture, art, political doctrines, the media), and on the other hand, by the individual’s attitude to all this. These relationships depend both on the characteristics of the individual himself and on the social situation in which he finds himself and takes them into account accordingly.

The content of personality socialization is manifested, according to T. Shibutani, in patterns of behavior, habits, and the presence of generally accepted meanings and views. This is clearly expressed in the peculiarities of national psychology: ethnic stereotypes, emotional assessments, etc.

Socialization of an individual is carried out as a result of its inclusion in various social groups and communities. This involves the interaction of people with each other, a person’s involvement in various multi-level and multi-aspect connections and relationships with Other people, and the acquisition of skills to interact with them. The starting point for socialization is the presence of a person’s need for communication.

As a rule, there are three main spheres of life in which the socialization of the individual occurs: activity, communication and self-awareness, in each of which the acquisition, expansion and complication of the individual’s social connections with the external and internal world occurs.

As noted by A.N. Leontiev, in the process of socialization, a person expands the “catalogue” of his activities and masters new types of activities. Orientation is formed both in each type of activity separately and in the connections between them. The result of such orientation is a personal choice of activity, i.e. identifying and mastering aspects of activity that are particularly significant for the individual. Activities are centered around the leading species, and a personal hierarchy of activities and behaviors is created. During the implementation of activities, the individual assimilates new roles and comprehends their significance, which means an expansion of the individual’s capabilities as a subject of activity.

The expansion and deepening of the sphere of communication is due to its inextricable connection with activity. This is the multiplication of a person’s contacts with other people, their changes at each age stage. Dialogue forms of communication are becoming more complex, decentralization is increasing, i.e. the ability to focus on a partner, more adequate perception of him. In communication, a person acquires new features, assimilates communication norms and activity standards.

The process of socialization in the sphere of self-awareness means the formation of an image of one’s own “I” in a person. Numerous experimental studies have shown that this image does not appear in a person immediately, but develops throughout life under the influence of numerous social influences. For social psychology, it is important to find out how the formation of self-awareness is influenced by a person’s inclusion in various social groups. What determines this process: the number of groups in which a person is included, or their quality? How does the level of development of his self-awareness influence a person’s activity and behavior? It is in this area of ​​socialization that there are especially many conflicting opinions. This is due to the fact that the solution to the listed issues depends on which of the many existing theories and concepts of personality is shared by a particular researcher, what understanding of the image of “I” he adheres to.

The development of self-awareness during the socialization of an individual is a process controlled and determined by the constant acquisition of social experience in the context of an expanding range of human activities and communication. Therefore, the process of socialization is the unity of changes in all three areas considered: activity, communication and self-awareness.

The breadth of socialization is assessed by how socially mature and developed a person is. This depends on a large number of factors: the social roles of the individual, his social experience, the type of individual accentuation of the individual’s social behavior, his locus of control, etc.

It is customary to distinguish as criteria for the socialization of an individual:

• the content of human attitudes, stereotypes, values, pictures of the world;
• adaptability of the personality, its normotypical behavior, lifestyle;
• social (group and universal) identity.

However, the main, external criterion of socialization should be considered not the degree of opportunism, conformism of an individual, but the degree of its independence, confidence, independence, and initiative. The main goal of socialization is to satisfy the individual’s need for self-actualization (A. Maslow), personal growth, and the development of his abilities, and not to unify the individual, leveling his own “I”.

Kinds

Socialization in psychology is a process of personality formation that can be carried out in different forms and types. In sociology, it is customary to distinguish two main forms of socialization - primary and secondary. This classification was proposed by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, the founders of social constructionism - a sociological theory of knowledge.

The main agent of the process of socialization of the individual at the primary stage is the family. The child learns social norms, values ​​and rules of behavior in his close environment. At this stage, ideas about the peculiarities of interaction with others are laid in the child’s mind.

The secondary form of socialization is provided by numerous social institutions:

• kindergarten;
• school;
• university;
• Job;
• social organizations;
• army;
• church;
• mass media.

At this stage, socialization occurs as a result of communication with classmates, friends, colleagues and other people. Associated with this classification is the division of socialization according to its degree of direction and breadth of coverage of the object (individual and totalitarian).

Individual socialization helps to identify one’s “I” with the people around us and a specific community. Totalitarian socialization covers the entire specific community, forming the self-identification “We”, which is total. The second form of socialization plays an important role for civil and political socialization.

Socialization is also classified into:

• sex role. It involves a person determining the differences between the male and female sexes. A person, in the process of cultural development and upbringing, begins to identify himself with a woman or a man, perform appropriate social roles and follow social norms of behavior. This socialization process can last throughout life;
• family and household. This socialization involves the development of any social roles depending on the position in the family (for example, the role of wife, husband);
• professional and labor. Socialization consists of mastering one’s profession and role in work activities. Includes behavior in accordance with business etiquette, performance of duties, subordination to superiors;
• subcultural-group. Socialization depends on which association a person belongs to. These can be informal organizations, subcultural societies that differ in behavior from the prevailing majority (for example, hippies, punks).

Depending on the period of life in which a person changes or acquires socialization skills, as well as the correspondence of his own attitudes and social norms, the phenomenon can be classified into:

• full socialization (the individual tries to meet all the requirements of the society that puts forward them);
• partial socialization (the individual has the skills to fit into a social group, but internally has contradictions with them);
• one-sided socialization (a person is engaged in self-development, but develops his skills in a specific area);
• resocialization (the individual masters new skills, engages in cognition and formation of new values, rejecting his old views).

Stages of socialization

The process of socialization has its own patterns and characteristics. Its course is subject to strict socio-psychological laws, which are the same for primary, secondary, and permanent socialization. For this process to be considered fully completed, it must go through three stages.

Adaptation stage

This period is characterized by the active assimilation of norms, rules, and mastery of forms of sociotypical behavior. In children's socialization, it takes place under the guidance of adults; in re-socialization, a person, as a rule, is active himself. After all, it is very important to become a full member of a new team, so the individual tries to quickly find out what is accepted here, what is not, with whom and how to communicate, and what traditions should be remembered.

Young children follow group norms under the influence of adults. Initially, these norms are external for children, and only then do they undergo a process of internalization. The same is typical for an adult who behaves in a certain way in a new team, just so as not to stand out, not to seem like a stranger.

The internalization of social norms—their transition from the external level to the internal—is the main psychological mechanism of this stage. Becoming like everyone else is the main goal of an individual at the adaptation stage.

The gradual nature of the socialization process is clearly visible in young children, who, as they learn social norms, begin to notice their violations. But, first of all, not for yourself, but for other children. And when they notice, they snitch, that is, they report the violation to an adult - the main guarantor of correct social behavior. Although it is believed that lying is bad, it is a natural and, from the point of view of social psychology, a normal phenomenon. In children, of course. For them, it indicates that the adaptation stage is in the active phase.

Individualization stage

This is the most difficult and problematic stage, as it is often associated with the demonstration of antisocial behavior in adolescents. Having mastered the basic norms of society or a social group, a person no longer wants to be “like everyone else.” He feels the need for individualization, for self-expression, for the manifestation of his own “I”.

The child reaches this stage of primary socialization just in time for adolescence, and the crisis characteristic of it is superimposed on the teenager’s desire to prove his uniqueness, demonstrate his abilities and talents. This manifests itself in changing different hobbies and interests, because you can only understand what you are capable of through activity. Those children who were able to quickly find a sphere of self-expression (sports, fine arts, design, collecting, etc.) endure the crisis of adolescence much easier.

A child who has found his way is calmer, because he is confident in himself and feels respect from society. Accordingly, the adults around him also experience fewer problems. Therefore, an important task of parents and teachers is to help the teenager in search of self-realization, otherwise he will express himself in his own way, for example, in shocking behavior, violation of discipline, antisocial behavior, and aggressiveness.

This stage is also observed when an adult moves to another group, although it is usually less noticeable than in adolescents.

Stages, stages

There are different approaches to identifying the stages of socialization. This can be seen in the example of famous researchers in the fields of sociology and psychology. Z. Freud identified 5 stages of psychosocial development. The nature of his understanding of the nature of personality and the process of socialization was manifested in the fact that 4 of them occurred before the age of twelve.

Stages of socialization according to S. Freud:

• oral stage;
• anal stage;
• phallic stage;
• latent stage;
• genital stage.

Reducing socialization to the movement of zones of concentration of libido seems to be a narrowed understanding of human nature, which is especially clearly manifested in S. Freud’s interpretation of culture as a result of sublimation. Despite the existence of criticism of Freudianism carried out from a variety of positions, indicating its one-sidedness, the significance of Freud’s provisions for theory and practice remains.

Well-known researchers L. S. Vygotsky, A. N. Leontiev, N. S. Leites, B. D. Elkonin formulated an approach to the periodization of personality development, highlighting the following stages:

1. Infancy (0-1 year).
2. Childhood (1-3 years).
3. Preschool age (3-7 years).
4. Junior school age (7-11 years).
5. Adolescence (11-15 years).
6. Adolescence (15-17 years old).

L. Kohlberg, a representative of the synthetic approach, identified 6 stages of socialization:

1. Fear of punishment.
2. Tendency to expect rewards.
3. Seeking approval from society.
4. Understanding and following the interests and rules of society.
5. Analysis of moral beliefs.
6. Actually ethical.

The most reliable and accepted periodization of personality socialization belongs to E. Erikson. They identified eight stages, covering the entire life of a person, from birth to death, as a single temporary space of socialization.

Each stage has its own psychosocial crisis.

1. Early infancy, 0-1 year.
2. Late infancy, 1-3 years.
3. Age of play: 3-5 years.
4. Middle childhood, 5-11 years old.
5. Puberty, adolescence, 11-20 years.
6. Early adulthood, 20-40 (45) years.
7. Average adulthood, 40 (45) - 60 years.
8. Late mature, from 65 years old.

The essence of socialization

The need for socialization is determined by human nature itself. He is a unique phenomenon, because he is the only living creature that has virtually no innate forms of behavior. A child who has not undergone socialization is unable to communicate as a person, establish relationships with relatives, or behave as is customary in society. It is a cat or a dog that has innate programs of species behavior, but a person needs to learn everything.

Socialization, in essence, is the process of human adaptation in society. But this is not just knowledge of how to behave in a given situation. Knowledge of social norms does not guarantee compliance with them. For example, a criminal does not steal because he does not know that it is illegal. He knows this very well. But the norm “don’t steal” did not go through the process of socialization, was not appropriated by him, and did not become his intrapersonal norm of behavior. The phenomenon of transition of a social norm or meaning from the external to the internal level is called internalization.

This is the basis of socialization, its basic process. Initially, all norms of behavior and methods of social activity are external for the child. Parents, sometimes through persuasion and sometimes through coercion, instill in their child the habit of performing certain actions, making assessments of their own actions and the actions of others. For example, a small child does not feel any need to eat with a spoon, fasten buttons on his blouse, brush his teeth, say hello, much less put away his toys. But if the parents are persistent and patient enough, then these actions become habitual, and in a similar situation the child himself will feel the need for them. So, we, adults, will experience obvious discomfort if we have to eat salad with our hands or go out to strangers casually dressed.

The complexity of socialization also lies in the fact that a person is a member of different social groups with different norms and rules. We have to undergo additional socialization in every society we happen to find ourselves in.

Functions and role

Socialization in psychology is a phenomenon that performs the following functions:

• normative and regulatory function. It shapes human activity with the help of certain influences on him from social institutions that regulate the social way of life;
• personal-transformative function. It consists of individualizing a person through the formation of his need-motivational sphere, as well as a system of values ​​and ideals;
• creative function. At the stage of its implementation, a person has a need for self-realization through creative activity, solving situations in non-standard ways;
• communication and information function. It ensures a person’s relationship with society, gives the individual information about the characteristics of interaction and the desired lifestyle;
• procreative function. Consists of generating a willingness to act in a certain way;
• value-orientation function. It forms a system of values ​​that determine a person’s lifestyle;
• compensatory function. Replenishes the deficiency of necessary physical, mental and intellectual properties and qualities of a person.

The role of socialization is:

• self-disclosure of personality (society is given indirectly, through a set of individual life programs);
• adaptation of the individual to the social environment (individuality adapts to external conditions, maintaining the initially specified essential parameters);
• mastering a certain set of patterns (the individual is ready to accept some proposed patterns of behavior);
• building a personality according to a given prototype (the individual is completely subordinate to the society that creates him according to a certain plan).

Characteristics of stages

The period of socialization consists of three phases: in the first, norms and values, conditions for compliance with society are briefly mastered; during the second, the person strives to self-actualize, learns to influence other members of society; the introduction of a person into a social group, where he will reveal his character and abilities, occurs on the third. With proper formation, the transition from one phase to another occurs gradually, subject to all conditions.

There are three stages of socialization in a team:

• pre-labor;
• labor;
• post-work.

The first stage lasts about 20-25 years. During this time, a person graduates from kindergarten, school, receives a higher education and tries to find his first stable job and future spouse. During this period, approximately 70% of the personality is formed, this happens naturally until the age of seven. During adolescence, not only the internal worldview changes, but also the child’s physiology. A person has more and more duties and responsibilities.

The most dangerous age is considered to be 16 years old, since at this time school, where studies lasted 9-11 years, is replaced by institute. Accordingly, the life schedule and the team will be different. A teenager not only changes his social circle and place of residence, internal changes occur, and a different system of principles and norms is established.

Topic 2. Socialization

The first job appears at the age of 18-25, work experience, friendships and love relationships appear. If new information is perceived incorrectly, a person may withdraw into himself and withdraw from society. In later years, all previously acquired knowledge and experience are only strengthened and passed on to the younger generation.

The socialization process must occur correctly, taking into account all conditions and smooth transitions. Parents and teachers need to pay attention to the psychological state of children and adolescents, because it is up to the age of 18 that the individual actively develops and a suitable team is selected.

Socialization

Forms of manifestations

Socialization in psychology is a process during which a person perceives and masters social experience depending on his subjective characteristics.

Socialization can manifest itself in the following ways:

• the personality easily adapts to social conditions;
• the individual acquires values, attitudes and norms of behavior in society;
• the personality reproduces socially approved patterns of behavior in society;
• human activity is aimed at moral behavior, the development of humanistic values;
• in life a person constantly develops his personal qualities;
• the individual identifies himself with social roles;
• In the process of development, a person becomes intellectually mature and acquires the ability to analyze;
• the individual is responsible for his actions to the collective;
• the individual develops self-awareness and learns to reflect.

Process stages

A person can socialize in several stages. Each has a corresponding stage. There are five of them in total:

• adaptation;
• identification;
• integration;
• labor;
• post-work.

First of all, a person goes through the stage of identification. It lasts from birth until adolescence. At this time, the child learns from the example of adults, imitates their behavior and habits. The second manifests itself in the desire to show oneself, to become unique. On the third, the first introduction into society occurs. Depending on communication with the team, it can be successful or unsuccessful. During the labor stage, a person himself influences society, and at the last stage - post-labor - he shares his experience with others.

German scientist of Jewish origin Erik Erikson notes that the socialization of an individual consists of more stages:

• infancy;
• earlier childhood;
• childhood;
• junior school age;
• adolescence;
• youth;
• maturity;
• old age.

The first stage lasts up to 1.5 years, when the child is fully cared for by the mother. Trust develops precisely depending on the attitude of the person closest to you. If there is not enough communication with the mother, the child will grow up withdrawn and silent. The next period - up to four years - is associated with the formation of independence; children learn to be neat and tidy. Until the age of six, a child develops a sense of personality, and this may mean that creative thinking and initiative are developing.

From this age, the child begins to attend school, he learns to build relationships with peers and teachers, and adopts their experience and knowledge. Good grades give you the opportunity to believe in yourself, become confident and calm. Then the period of puberty begins, when the teenager is concerned about his appearance and the opinions of others about himself, searches for his calling and shows his first sympathy for the opposite sex.

Lecture 1.4 | Sociology of personality | Marina Arkannikova | Lectorium

At the stage of adolescence, a person is looking for a permanent job, a life partner and his place in society. At this time, individuality is erased, the individual mixes himself with a certain group. The longest stage—maturity—can awaken in a person a sense of necessity and experience. In old age, people accept their lives and rethink them.

Factors

Factors that determine human socialization can be divided into 2 groups: social and socio-psychological.

The first group reflects the socio-cultural aspect of socialization and reflects the characteristics of personality development depending on the culture in which it develops, the historical factor and the ethnic characteristics of the person’s environment.

This group contains:

1. Macro factors. They reflect the development of the individual in relation to his residence in large social communities (at the level of the state and national culture).
2. Microfactors. They reflect the development of the individual in relation to his development and upbringing in small social communities (school, university, work team).
3. Mesofactors. They reflect the socialization of the individual through his residence in medium-sized communities (regions, settlements).

Individual-personal factors highlight the role of personality traits in the process of socialization. It is necessary to take into account the subjective assimilation of influences from society and individuals who perceive the same phenomena differently. All people derive completely different experiences from objectively similar situations, so this factor must be taken into account when studying socialization.

Dependence on education

Upbringing primarily influences the degree of socialization. And the personality that lives with parents depends on their behavior and manners. The formation of character is influenced by religious views, the degree of control from relatives, relationships in the family and school. Teachers study the process of socialization along with education. It is important to develop a humanistic orientation in a child, which will allow him to become a useful member of society.

A socialized personality is formed under the influence of different groups. In childhood, these are parents and immediate relatives, in adolescence - classmates and friends, in adulthood - the work team and neighbors. And upbringing will help create a moral position in the child; based on the actions of others, he will be able to develop the ability to correctly evaluate his own actions. In this case, the emotional and intellectual spheres of character are involved. In this case, education will be carried out in two ways:

• creation of certain psychological conditions;
• communication of norms and rules of behavior.

The first option will stimulate the child’s interests and initiative, which will allow him to engage in social activities in the future. It is advisable to be together more often and talk regularly, explain the essence of moral concepts, ideals and rules of behavior. This makes it easier for children to find their place in life and distinguish bad company from good company. Both paths must be used simultaneously. This will give maximum results.

07 Human needs and activities

Diagnostics

Diagnostics of socialization is one of the tools for understanding the phenomenon, which is also considered as a method of creating conditions for further acquisition of socialization skills.

Socialization diagnostic functions:

• information and prognostication. It consists of analyzing data showing the level of socialization of a person. They are also the starting point for creating conditions for further socialization;
• evaluative and effective. It consists of assessing the results of work, finding effective ways to solve social and pedagogical problems;
• correctional and formative. It consists in providing the opportunity to simultaneously identify shortcomings and deviations in activity and timely correct it for the most effective socialization.

Criteria for socialization of an individual when diagnosing a phenomenon include:

1. Cognitive components (a person’s knowledge of problems in the social sphere, rates of progress in socialization).
2. Emotional-volitional components (a person’s attitude towards his own and others’ nationality, society and work activity).
3. Behavioral components (propensity for collectivism, degree of activity, involvement in relationships with people).

There are many psychological tests for different age groups that allow one to determine the level of socialization of an individual and identify the presence of traumatic factors in the process of its development.

For example, the test “Levels of Personal Socialization”, placed in the textbook, which was developed by Candidate of Philosophical Sciences R.I. Mokshantsev and finalized by candidate of psychological sciences T. A. Bondarenko.

The test allows you to assess the levels of socialization of an individual and identify psychological trauma that may have occurred while growing up. The test includes first-person questions about a person’s internal state and his attitude to life situations; response options reflect the person's agreement or disagreement.

As for assessing the socialization of school students, it is possible, developed by M. I. Rozhkov, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences.

The purpose of monitoring is to identify the level of social adaptation, activity, autonomy and moral education of students. The essence of the test is for participants to listen to 20 statements, for which they must mark their agreement or disagreement with the statements.

Forms of socialization

There are two main forms of socialization: directed and undirected.

Directed socialization is a system of influence on a person, which was developed by society in order to instill in it the values ​​​​prevailing in a given society. Education is one of the main ways of this form of socialization.

Undirected socialization is the spontaneous/uncontrolled formation of an individual in society.

This form of socialization is of greater interest to researchers, since this process is spontaneous and the result can be, for example, victimization of an individual.

Management methods

Socialization in psychology is a process that plays a decisive role in personality development from an early age. Socialization management methods are most often used in education; comparison of the features of the socialization process and the possibilities of education allows us to determine the specific functions of educational activities in managing the positive socialization of the child.

Compensation for the shortcomings of primary socialization

It is known that primary socialization plays an important role in the child’s acquisition of first communication skills and his understanding of behavioral norms. The prevalence of child abuse leads to the fact that entire groups of minors become victims of unfavorable socialization conditions.

The decline of the family institution itself, experienced by adults, also has an adverse effect on the socialization of children. Therefore, education must fulfill the task of compensating for the attention that the child did not receive in the family.

It can be performed by the teacher using the following positions:

• accepting the child as he is;
• understanding the reasons for a child’s isolation;
• creating a situation of success for the child;
• inclusion of the child in activity situations where he can feel significant.

Prevention or correction of children's complexes

Children often lack self-confidence due to a feeling of failure in their activities. The child feels discomfort due to the disdainful attitude and hostility on the part of his peers, begins to consider his appearance ugly and find fault with himself.

These processes lead to the formation of complexes and learned helplessness in the child, which subsequently interferes with the realization of the personality and its socialization. Therefore, it is important to create a favorable environment for the child’s development and convince him of his own usefulness and usefulness.

Expanding children's social experience

The formation of healthy socialization can be helped by the use of a set of activities, participation in which allows the individual to broaden his horizons and acquire the experience of humane relations in interpersonal interaction.

Such events include:

• excursions to museums, art galleries;
• communication with institutions of additional education and culture;
• socially oriented activities (improvement of the architectural and spatial environment, performance of concerts in front of the population);
• meetings with representatives of different professions.

The process of personal socialization is an important phenomenon that begins to manifest itself from childhood. Psychology distinguishes forms, types and stages of socialization, knowledge of which, along with correct diagnosis, can help to promptly identify problems in interaction with society and correct them in a timely manner using methods for managing the socialization process.

Author: Anna Fleyman

Stages of personality socialization

It has been noted that one of the main goals of socialization is to overcome one’s egocentrism. Entering any social group requires an understanding that “you are not alone.” This is considered one of the signs of growing up. It is known that a child up to a certain age perceives himself as the center of the universe, and this is his natural state. Subsequently, we observe what is called youthful maximalism: the teenager continues to consider himself “the very best,” the one and only, but is faced with an abundance of the same “one and only” around him. This leads to conflicts, often serious ones.

Individuals who have not undergone socialization for some reason retain for a long time the characteristics characteristic of children or “newcomers.” Those around them perceive them as infantile and narrow-minded people, but in reality everything is more complicated. If in adulthood the passion inherent in adolescents for learning new things, active communication, and mastering new skills and abilities remains, then this can only be welcomed. At the same time, egocentrism and difficult experiences of one’s failures are clearly undesirable signs for a mature personality.

An example of insufficient socialization in adulthood is belief in “alternative histories” - the writings of Nosovsky and Fomenko, Chudinov and other pseudoscientific freaks. The point here is not only about political, “patriotic” and selfish motives. It’s just that a child, just starting to explore the world and discovering something new, strives to share his discovery with others; parents and other older members of society, to play along with him, share his joy.

During his school years, a teenager is faced with the impossibility of being a pioneer in the modern world: everything he learns about has already been discovered by someone, and his “discovery” is no longer of great value to others. A mentally healthy person gradually gets used to this situation and finds unexplored areas where he can show his skills and give something new to society. And a mentally disabled person experiences rejection from this situation; Instead of searching for unexplored areas, he is eager to “rediscover” what has already been discovered, to create a sensation and receive the laurels of a discoverer, which, as he is sure, simply must belong to him.

The biography of Anatoly Fomenko, the author of the famous pseudoscientific “New Chronology,” very clearly presents us with just such a person - an unsocialized intellectual who, for the sake of the honor of being a discoverer, is ready to commit any lie and achieve his goal by any means. For a long time he eked out the life of a “lesser” mathematician, compiled standard textbooks on geometry for students and was content with a modest salary. In the end, he got tired of it, he realized that the modest and routine work of teaching did not bring happiness, and decided to do something loud and sensational. In his native field, geometry, it is very difficult to become a discoverer, but history is a different matter. Written in collaboration with the equally unsocialized intellectual Gleb Nosovsky, “New Chronology” instantly became a bestseller; Many uneducated readers of this work seriously call Fomenko a “prophet.”

It was said above that school becomes an important environment for primary socialization. Indeed, the task of school is not only to provide some knowledge on various subjects, but also to teach how to live in society. In many countries, special techniques are used for this purpose. For example, in the United States, schools do not have stable classrooms; When a student enrolls in school, he chooses which subjects he will study, and at each lesson he finds himself in a new classroom, in a completely new team. Such socialization is very useful, especially in the USA, because a significant part of the population of this country lives in very small settlements where “everyone knows each other,” but excessive attachment to “one’s own corner” can create problems in the future when it is necessary to change place of residence (in connections with study, work, etc.).

Most Russians live in cities and towns with significantly larger populations, so they do not feel an urgent need for this type of school in our country. At the same time, another type of socialization is required - the ability to work in a stable team, which a Russian-style school can handle quite well.