Joshua Feliciano 11/20/11
SOC – 1000
Socialization Through the Life Course
From the day an infant is born into humanity, life has only begun for that new born child. Without any sense of knowledge the infant is totally unaware of what is expected throughout the course of its life span. Only one thing is guaranteed and that is the child going through “stages in life that begin with birth and end in death which is called life course”. Socialization also plays an important part of our life course. “Socialization can be defined as the process by which people learn the skills, knowledge, norms, and values of their society and by which they develop their social identity”. All societies go through this life course and every individual go through these stages which are categorized as childhood (from birth to about age 12), adolescence (ages 13-17), the middle years (ages 30-65), and the older years (about age 65 on). (Henslin, pages 70, 89, 90)
Childhood is a stage of development in which people’s lives begin and is “important for socialization and for the mental, emotional, and physiological development that is crucial during the years of anyone’s life. It’s a stage where parents give their children gentle guideline and give them care, comfort, and protection. Within this stage adults believe that children should not be exposed to topics such as sex, death, alcohol, and violence. They also censor the films and language of young children and will not discuss certain topics or use certain words in their presence”. According to a “European painting from about A.D. 1000 to 1800, Historian Philippe Aries noticed that children during the era in Europe were always dressed in adult clothing. He came to a conclusion that children back in time weren’t regarded as miniature adults but, they were put to work at an early age of 7 years old.” As in today’s society...