Show MoreFamily is a fundamental social institution in society, the family, is considered the primary and most important agent of socialization. Family typically consists of a man and woman and their children or two or more people who usually reside in the same home and share same goals and values. Traditionally, in all societies, the family has always been seen as a social institution; that has the biggest impact on society.
Everyone is born into some form of family, with the family taking the responsibility of nurturing, teaching the norms or accepted behaviors within the family structure and within society. There are many types of families, which can be described as a set of relationships including parents and children and can include anyone…show more content…
Other social beliefs are norms became less important and impacted the structure of the nuclear family. More couples are getting divorced, than they were decades ago, when the belief of society was to frown upon divorce. Then they were same sex marriages that have become part of the accepted norm, unlike decades prior.
There are many other factors that contribute to the change in views and beliefs, replacing what was the responsibility of the family. This is especially true in this 21st century technological era; we are no longer limited to learning about the norms of society through the family but through other agents like mass media.
The functions of the family can be found within the theory of Functionalism. Families satisfy a number of important functions, such as, support, status, and culture. As stated above the family is seen as the most important agent of socialization and is responsible to teach the values and norms of the society.
Functionalism promotes marriage as important it ignores conflict and diversity. Functionalists believe that families are the foundation of social order, even though marriages over the decades have been on the decline. Functionalists view societies as having structures that include families, religions, schools, economies, and states; each institution is dependent on each other. “Think of a society as a living organism in which each part of the organism contributes to its survival. This view is the functionalist
Essay about Agents of Socialization
1748 Words7 Pages
Agents of socialization in short are the people, groups, and social institutions, as well as the interactions within these groups that influence a person’s social and self-development. Agents of socialization are believed to provide the critical information needed for children to function successfully as a member of society. Some examples of such agents are family, neighborhood, schools, peers, religion, sports, the workplace, and especially the mass media. Each agent of socialization is linked to another. For example, in the media, symbolic images affect both the individual and the society, making the mass media the most controversial socialization agent. One of the most obvious places agents of socialization lay is in the malls of…show more content…
The men in these posters on the other hand are depicted as muscular, tan, strong, wealthy, and powerful, they too try to fit their “role” of manhood; hence the reasons there are so many violent teenage boys. They all think that being tough and strong is how they are supposed to be, and girls are depicted to be weak, dainty, and depended on males.
Going into different stores, one can easily pick up on the major gender roles each store supports. Even the morals of an innocent toy store, such as KB Toys, is tainted by the gender-differentiating dolls for girls, and trucks for boys. Upon entering the store you can tell right away which aisles attract which kids. To the left there is pink fluffy bears, pink Barbie and friends toys, white teddy bears etc. To the right there is a less vibrant color setting, coordinating army green, black, and gray color schemes. I think it is apparent to anyone who enters these stores that the pink pretty isles are meant to attract little girls, and the dark green and gray isles are meant to attract boys. Upon the packages of toy trucks and guns, there are pictures of young boys playing with them and/or cartoon male figures controlling them. On the packaging of Barbie and her friends there are also other girls on the packaging. I was unable to pick up on a single female on the package of any toy truck or gun throughout the entire store. The