I wish to illustrate how socialisation occurs in a subculture in the United States of America. The USA comprises of several subcultures and many of these sub- cultures practice different religious beliefs. I wish to talk of how religion becomes a form of socialisation in the Amish people in the Americas, as shown in the documentary called “The Devil’s Play Ground”.
The first Amish settlers to America came with the second wave of immigrants, and are mainly of German decent. The most famous Amish groups in America, today, are settled in the Lancaster County in Pennsylvania and are known by the name Pennsylvania Dutch, originally Pennsylvania Deutsch. The Pennsylvania Dutch Amish live amongst “English” Americans who have socialised very differently from them. The Amish are different in the sense that they lead very simple lives. They do not, like their contemporary Americans, use technology, electricity, or cars as they believe that the mentioned things make live easier. Life, according to the Amish, should not be easy to live. From the very childhood, Amish children are taught three languages, Pennsylvania Dutch (a German dialect), High German at sermons and English. Amish children are only educated until the age of 13. Education is supposed to bring along pride and, hence the Amish do not believe in education. For them the most important education is to follow the word of God, the Bible and to respect their parents and elderly. The Amish do not own cars but have horses and buggies. They are also America’s leading agriculturalists and they also practice ecologically correct farming. As far as their way of dressing is considered, the Amish dress very simply. Men grow beards but not moustaches when they get married. Women wear their hair in a bun on the back of their head.
The fascinating aspect of the Amish culture is the period when the Amish children enter the age of 16. At this age, the Amish adolescents are allowed to experiment the “American” way of life. The adolescents can dress freely, drink, date, go to parties, own cars and have sexual intercourse. Alongside this freedom lies the biggest decision that these adolescents have to make. The question that lingers on the back of their minds is whether to enter the Amish way of life by becoming a member of the Amish Church and abandoning the merry life of youth or get separated from their heritage. 85% of the Amish youth remains Amish even after having experimented the “easy” way of life. Amish life, seen from an etic point of view, is very hard to lead. It includes giving a part of yourself, meaning giving up the individuality in your nature and becoming a part of a community that is not very dynamic.
The question that now arises is why so many adolescents decide to remain Amish. The answer lies in the term socialisation. They have been raised a certain way, living totally outside from the American way of life. When the adolescents do get to experiment the American way of living, most of them get involved with drugs et cetera. If an Amish youth wants to leave his society, he is not welcome in the Amish society anymore and hence, looses all the support from family and friends. Since the Amish exclude themselves from the rest of America, the latter decision becomes very hard for them as all the friends the Amish have are Amish. The only way the Amish interact with the rest of America is when they sell the corps or the furniture that the Amish are famous for. There lies a feeling of security, an identity in being Amish.
This study can show us how our personalities are shaped in one way and how humans, when socialised, live and act accordingly. Anthropologically, it is a very interesting aspect of life to be socialised in a certain way. Since every society has different norms and beliefs, every society socialises specifically as well. The Amish do not live according to the American Dream and are, hence exceptional in the sense that they live in the most dynamic and technologically well- known country and yet, are not part of it. As anthropology is a study of a group of people functioning together, we can see how this group functions in comparison with America. Tourism and financial interactions have made the Amish somewhat more accessible to the outside world, although.
