Sociology of Family

Essay by crazyhumUniversity, Master'sA+, June 2011

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Sociology of the Family

A culture can be learned, shared or passed on from one generation to the next and this is done through socialization. Socialization is also crucial in order to understand other cultures better. The primary stages of socialization is that which is learnt from families as a child, this being one's own culture and its etiquettes, although there in some cases children have been neglected by their family and have lived with animals- they are called feral (wild) kids. During a person's early stages, the ascribed roles are learnt which are gained biologically or by inheritance, for example gender roles. The secondary stage of socialization usually takes place outside of the home, it can be at school, with peers or at a workplace - this is when most people begin will to socialize with people from different cultures (Laslett, 303). During this stage you may gain achieved roles such as getting a good job or becoming a mother/father and the changes in trends are recognized too from the jargon that is used, to the seasonal change in fashion trends.

Norms are the things we are expected to do as they are regarded as being normal, values on the other hand are the principles we follow but we tend to take for granted e.g. writing. If a person breaks the norm then they are deviant and agencies of social control such as the police take over.

These basic fundamentals are recognized by most people nowadays and explain why there aren't as many cultural conflicts as there has been in the past. An example of cultural conflicts is during the early 19th century when White Americans came into contact with Native Americans - many conflicts and a few massacres had taken place simply because most of the White...