Culture, Socialisation and Social Control
Culture is the learned, shared way of life of a society; socialisation transmits it; social control maintains conformity. The exam tests definitions, agencies and the difference between types of norms and controls.
Culture
Culture includes material objects and non-material elements: norms, values, beliefs, symbols and language. Ethnocentrism judges other cultures by one’s own; cultural relativism understands a practice in its own context without necessarily approving it. Culture is learned and shared, not inherited.
Socialisation
Primary socialisation occurs in early childhood, mainly in the family; secondary socialisation occurs through school, peers, media and workplace. Socialisation continues throughout life, including resocialisation in new roles.
Social control
Formal control uses law, police and courts; informal control uses family, neighbours, caste councils, gossip and shame. Folkways are everyday customs; mores are strongly held norms; laws are codified and enforced. Deviance is behaviour that violates norms; sanctions can be positive or negative.
Worked example
Question: ‘A child learns gender roles through socialisation.’ Explain. Reasoning: identify agencies - family gives differential chores and toys; school and media reinforce images; peers police behaviour. Then distinguish informal sanctions (teasing, approval) from formal rules. The answer should show learning over time, not biological inevitability.
Traps
- Equating culture with civilisation or with high art.
- Saying socialisation ends in childhood.
- Confusing folkways with mores or law.
- Treating cultural relativism as automatic approval.
- Ignoring informal social control while discussing law.