General Studies - Primary and Secondary Socialisation

Primary Socialisation

Primary socialisation occurs between the individual and those people in their life with whom they have primary relationships. A primary relationship can be categorised as one in which the individual has close, personal, face-to-face contact. The first primary relationship that the vast majority of us form is with our parents or guardians with whom our first primary socialisation will occur. As we develop and age we form primary relationships with close friends, and other adults through work, marriage etc.

We call the people responsible for socialisation, agents of socialisation and by extension we can talk about agencies of socialisation such as the family, the education system, the workplace and so on. In this way the first agency responsible for primary socialisation is the family and the agents of socialisation are a child’s parents. Through primary socialisation a child learns things such as talking and walking as well as values such as the difference between right and wrong and how to act appropriately with others such as adults and authority figures.

Secondary Socialisation

Secondary socialisation occurs between the individual and those people in their lives with whom they have secondary relationships. A secondary relationship being one in which the individual does not have close, personal, or face-to-face contact with. Through secondary socialisation we learn about the nature of the social world beyond our primary relationships.

The agencies of secondary socialisation are things such as the education system, religion and the mass media. Agents of secondary socialisation therefore are found in the form of teachers, priests and television personalities. Talcott Parsons claimed that one of the main purposes of secondary socialisation is to:

“Liberate the individual from a dependence upon the primary attachments and relationships formed within the family group.”

Effectively Parsons states that in modern societies the vast majority of our social contact will be with strangers and relating to them in the same way as we do those who are familiar or close to us would be inappropriate. Secondary socialisation allows us to learn how to deal with people in terms of what they can do for us, or what we can do for them.

In Short

Primary socialisation is what we get taught our attitudes/values/morals etc by our immediate family and friends.

Secondary socialisation is the behavioural patterns reinforced by socialising agents of society (school/religion/media, etc.)