It is hard to disagree that socialization is an essential process that should properly appear in children’s lives. It allows individuals to function effectively and successfully in their social worlds and learn about various social expectations. Family is considered the primary one among many agents of socialization, including social media, peers, parents, school, religion, government, and workplace. The purpose of this paper is to discuss family as the most important agent of socialization and talk about the dramatic changes to the American family and their causes. Additionally, the differences in marriage and family life linked to class, race, gender, and personal choice will be described.
In most cases, children are born into a family where they are immediately influenced by their parents, siblings, and grandparents. Often, this impact is positive, and children gradually learn acceptable behavior and necessary skills from their relatives, gain some of their views, and adopt their values and beliefs system (Save, 2019). During the first years of life, kids spend most of their time with their families and adopt various social norms of behavior from their mothers and fathers (“Agents of socialization,” n.d.). In the future, it is this socialization agent that will allow the child to continue the process of becoming a part of society, and how well the family socializes the child in the first years of their life will have significant effects.
The world is constantly changing and adapting to the new needs of societies, so there are also dramatic changes to the American family. It is fair to notice that these modifications and developments are positive since they provide people, especially women, with more freedom. As noticed by Mayer (2020), “society has long idolized the nuclear family—two married heterosexual parents of the same race with two biological children,” and it was extremely rare to get a divorce (para. 1). Nowadays, thanks to an extended number of societal and economic changes and “hard-won legal battles—like those allowing members of the LGBTQ community to adopt children—” make the norms better and less strict (Mayer, 2020, para. 2). For example, divorce is being destigmatized and normalized because more spouses get it. It is also becoming more common for multiple generations to live under one roof. The reasons are that more adults are trying to keep their elderly parents from nursing facilities, and it is not a shame now to live with one’s mother and father after college.
Further, it is now much easier and more common for families and LGBT persons to adopt children, and the rates of interracial marriages are increasing. All the factors mentioned above are caused by the fact that societies have become more inclusive and welcoming, and this, in turn, leads to the appearance of more diverse families. The latter is great because everyone should have the right to start a family with a loved one and have children, regardless of any external characteristics.
It is hard to disagree that there are some differences in marriage and family life linked to class, race, gender, and personal choice. For example, working-class women expect their husbands not to be alcoholics, while females from the upper class do not even consider this characteristic. Further, each race has its own view on marriage, gender roles, and family institutions. For example, in some developing countries, girls are still required to get married at an early age. As for gender differences, marriage is more beneficial for women and is less attractive to men, and it also provides the latter with more freedom. Finally, personal choice also influences marriage because some modern men decide to share household chores with their wives, while some couples choose not to have children. In conclusion, it is possible to notice that if the trend had changed toward traditional (pre-World War II) families, women’s rights would have been severely reduced. They would still have to be housemaids without jobs, and their husbands would not consider their opinion regarding their family or household.
References
Agents of socialization. (n.d.). Lumen Learning. Web.
Mayer, B. A. (2020). The changing face of the American family. Parents. Web.
Save, B. E. (2019). What are agents of socialization? World Atlas. Web.