What are the primary institutions used to socialize the citizens of the United States?

Charlotte Bryar: Agents of SocializationPeople, groups, and experiences that influence our behavior and self-image are agents of socialization. Common agents of socialization for children include family, school, peer groups, and the mass media.Family The family is the agent of socialization with the most impact. From infancy through the teen years, most children rely almost solely on their parents or primary caregivers for basic necessities, nurturing, and guidance. The family determines a child’s race, language, religion, class, and political affiliation, all of which contribute heavily to the child’s self-concept.SchoolSchools introduce children to new knowledge, order, bureaucracy, and students from family backgrounds different from their own. The school experience also often pressures children to conform to gender roles.Peer GroupsA peer group is a social group in which members are usually the same age and have interests and social position in common. By becoming ! part of a peer group, children begin to break away from their parents’ authority and learn to make friends and decisions on their own. Peer groups have a large impact on a child’s socialization. Pressure from peers to engage in behavior forbidden by parents, such as skipping school or drinking alcohol, can be difficult to resist.Mass MediaThe mass media are methods of communication that direct messages and entertainment at a wide audience. Newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the internet, and movies are all forms of mass media. Numerous sociological studies attest to the profound influence of mass media on children. Racial and sexual stereotypes, violent and sexually explicit images, and unrealistic or even unhealthy beauty standards that appear in the mass media shape the way children think about themselves and their world.Conflicting Agents of SocializationDifferent agents of socialization often teach children conflicting lessons. For example, in the family, chi! ldren usually learn to respect their elders. Among their frien! ds, however, children may learn that respecting adults makes them unpopular.Isolated ChildrenChildren raised in isolation, cut off from all but the most necessary human contact, do not acquire basic social skills, such as language and the ability to interact with other humans. Two of the most famous cases are Anna and Isabelle, both of whom were isolated from other human beings but had enough of their physical needs met to survive...Show more

Sabra Roers: The family