There are two basic types of socialisation:
A primary relationship is one in which the individual has a close, personal, face-to-face relationship.This usually occurs during the early years of childhood (0-5yrs) which is normally your family, which means they are mainly responsible for the socialisation process.
A secondary relationship is one in which the individual does not have a close, personal, relationship.This usually occurs during the later years (10-16yrs) when the family is less involved and other groups such as peer groups and school influence the socialisation process.
Both processes are invariably coexist in our lives.
This idea is important to note because it is evident that when primary and secondary relationships exist at the same time, it is possible that:
a. Conflict may occur between the demands of primary and secondary socalisation.
b. The nature of our primary relationships will influence, in some way, the nature of our secondary relationships (and vice versa).
Primary socialisation is usually formed with our parent whom are incharged with the initial socialisation process. As we grow older and go to school, we also start to form primary attachments with friends and, eventually, with other adults (through things like our own families, work and so forth).
Sociologically, we normally refer to the people responsible for our socialisation as agents.
The first agency that takes responsibility for primary socialisation, is some form of family and the main agents of socialisation are a child's parents and, in many cases, relations. In a family, we learn many of the basic characteristics of being human in terms of our particular society. For example, we learn things like how to walk, talk and use various tools, such as knives and forks.
Although mechanical skills are very important to us, the family group also tries to shape our psychological development, by trying to teach us things like the difference between right and wrong behaviour and how to relate appropriately to others (family, friends, strangers, etc.).
In any society, the process of secondary socialisation is necessary because it represents the way we start to learn about the nature of the social world beyond our primary contacts. We have to learn to deal with people who are not emotionally close to us, mainly because the vast majority of the people we will come into contact with in life will be dealt with . We have to learn how to cope with this, which is why this second type of socialisation is necessary.
When we think about agencies of secondary socialisation we can talk about education, religion, the mass media, etc. Agents of socialisation will consequently be teachers, priests, television personalities, celebrities and so forth.
In some cases, such as school and teachers, we are in daily, face-to-face contact with the people who are socialising us without ever developing a primary attachment to them.
In other cases, such as when we admire a particular film / TV star or musician, we may never meet or talk personally with them, yet we can still be influenced by what they look like, what they do and how they do it.
Parson concludes that families are ‘factories’ which produce human personalities!
