Theoretical aspects of the study of socialization. Social conditions for personality development

Socialization concept

Term "socialization", despite its widespread use, does not have an unambiguous interpretation among various representatives of psychological science. In the system of domestic psychology, two more terms are used, which are sometimes proposed to be considered as synonyms for the word “socialization”: “personal development” and “upbringing”.

1. Sociological approach. Socialization is the process of “an individual’s entry into the social environment,” “his assimilation of social influences,” “his introduction to the system of social connections,” etc. The process of socialization is the totality of all social processes through which an individual acquires a certain system of norms and values that allow him to function as a member of society. The social environment influences a person, but there is no reverse influence.

2. Psychological approach. The essence of socialization: socialization is a two-way process, which includes, on the one hand, the individual’s assimilation of social experience by entering the social environment, a system of social connections; on the other hand (often insufficiently emphasized in research), the process of active reproduction by an individual of a system of social connections due to his active activity, active inclusion in the social environment. A person not only assimilates social experience, but also transforms it into his own values, attitudes, and orientations. This moment of transformation of social experience records not just its passive acceptance, but presupposes the activity of the individual in the application of such transformed experience, i.e. in a certain return, when its result is not just an addition to already existing social experience, but its reproduction, i.e. promoting it to a new level. Understanding the interaction of a person with society includes understanding as a subject of development not only a person, but also society, and explains the existing continuity in such development. With this interpretation of the concept of socialization, an understanding of a person is achieved at the same time as an object and a subject of social relations.

The first side of the socialization process - the assimilation of social experience - is a characteristic of how the environment affects a person; its second side characterizes the moment of human influence on the environment through activity. The activity of the individual’s position is assumed here because any impact on the system of social connections and relationships requires making a certain decision and, therefore, includes processes of transformation, mobilization of the subject, and construction of a certain strategy of activity. Thus, the process of socialization in this understanding in no way opposes the process of personality development, but simply allows us to identify different points of view on the problem. If for developmental psychology the most interesting view of this problem is “from the perspective of the individual,” then for social psychology it is “from the perspective of the interaction of the individual and the environment.”

There are three areas in which this formation of personality is primarily carried out: activity, communication, self-awareness. Each of these areas must be considered separately. A common characteristic of all these three spheres is the process of expansion and multiplication of the individual’s social connections with the outside world.

1. Activity. As for activity, throughout the entire process of socialization the individual deals with the expansion of the “catalogue” of activities, i.e. mastering more and more new types of activities. In this case, three more extremely important processes occur: 1) firstly, it is orientation in the system of connections present in each type of activity and between its various types. It is carried out through personal meanings, i.e. means identifying particularly significant aspects of activity for each individual, and not just understanding them, but also mastering them. One could call the product of such an orientation a personal choice of activity; 2) as a consequence of this, the second process arises - centering around the main, chosen one, focusing attention on it and subordinating all other activities to it; 3) finally, the third process is the individual’s mastery of new roles in the course of implementing activities and comprehension of their significance. If we briefly express the essence of these transformations in the system of activity of a developing individual, then we can say that we are faced with a process of expanding the capabilities of the individual precisely as a subject of activity. This general theoretical framework allows us to approach the experimental study of the problem. Experimental studies, as a rule, are of a borderline nature between social and developmental psychology; in them, for different age groups, the question of what is the mechanism of orientation of the individual in the system of activities is studied, what motivates the choice that serves as the basis for centering the activity. Particularly important in such studies is the consideration of goal formation processes. Unfortunately, this problem, traditionally assigned to general psychology, has not yet found any special development in its socio-psychological aspects, although the orientation of the individual not only in the system of connections given to him directly, but also in the system of personal meanings, apparently, cannot be described outside the context of those social “units” in which human activity is organized, i.e. social groups. This is discussed here so far only in the order of posing the problem, including it in the general logic of the socio-psychological approach to socialization.

2. Communication. The second area - communication - is considered in the context of socialization also from the perspective of its expansion and deepening, which goes without saying, since communication is inextricably linked with activity. The expansion of communication can be understood as the multiplication of a person’s contacts with other people, the specificity of these contacts at each age level. As for deepening communication, this is, first of all, a transition from monologue to dialogical communication, decentration, i.e. the ability to focus on a partner, more accurately perceive him. The task of experimental research is to show, firstly, how and under what circumstances the multiplication of communication connections is carried out and, secondly, what a person receives from this process. Research of this type bears the features of interdisciplinary research, since it is equally significant for both developmental and social psychology. From this point of view, some stages of ontogenesis have been studied in particular detail: preschool and adolescence. As for some other stages of human life, the small amount of research in this area is explained by the controversial nature of another problem of socialization - the problem of its stages.

3. Self-awareness. Finally, the third area of socialization is the development of individual self-awareness. In the most general terms, we can say that the process of socialization means the formation of an image of the Self in a person. Numerous experimental studies, including longitudinal ones, have established that the image of the Self does not arise in a person immediately, but develops throughout his life under the influence of numerous social influences . From the point of view of social psychology, it is especially interesting to find out how a person’s inclusion in various social groups determines this process. Does the fact that the number of groups can vary greatly, and therefore the number of communication connections, also vary? Or does such a variable as the number of groups not matter at all, and the main factor is the quality of the groups (in terms of the content of their activities, the level of their development)? How does the level of development of his self-awareness affect a person’s behavior and his activities (including in groups) - these are the questions that should be answered when studying the process of socialization.

Unfortunately, it is in this area of analysis that there are especially many contradictory positions. This is due to the presence of those numerous and varied understandings of personality that have already been discussed. First of all, the very definition of “I-image” depends on the concept of personality that is accepted by the author. The whole question, in the words of A.N. Leontyev, rests on what will be called the components of the “I-image”.

There are several different approaches to the structure of the self. The most common scheme includes three components in the “I”: cognitive (knowledge of oneself), emotional (evaluation of oneself), behavioral (attitude towards oneself). There are other approaches to what the structure of human self-awareness is. The most important fact that is emphasized when studying self-awareness is that it cannot be presented as a simple list of characteristics, but as a person’s understanding of himself as a certain integrity, in determining his own identity. Only within this integrity can we talk about the presence of some of its structural elements. Another property of self-awareness is that its development during socialization is a controlled process, determined by the constant acquisition of social experience in conditions of expanding the range of activity and communication. Although self-awareness is one of the deepest, most intimate characteristics of the human personality, its development is unthinkable outside of activity: only in it is a certain “correction” of the idea of oneself constantly carried out in comparison with the idea that develops in the eyes of others. “Self-consciousness that is not based on real activity, excluding it as “external,” inevitably reaches a dead end and becomes an “empty” concept.”

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Social conditions for personality development. The concept of the social situation of personality development.

The formation and development of personality is determined by the totality of the conditions of social existence in a given historical era. A personality is always a product of his era and the life of his country. Depending on the socio-economic formation in modern conditions, a certain integral way of life develops - a complex of interacting circumstances (economic, political, legal, ideological, socio-psychological, etc.). This complex includes the phenomena of production of the material life of society and the sphere of needs, social authorities, the media and the people themselves, united in various societies. The interaction of a person with these circumstances of life constitutes either or and. social situation of personality development.

From the moment of birth, a person is formed in a certain social environment and depending on the status or position of the parents in this environment, their economic, legal and political position, occupation, education, etc. If there is a sharp disruption, especially a decline in the material and cultural standard of living of the family, then this directly affects the conditions for the formation of personality. The family status may be more or less stable. In this case, a life stereotype of this or that is created. a level that stabilizes the most general and important personality traits for subsequent evolution. With the beginning of independent social and labor activity, a person’s own status is built, mainly associated with the status of the family from which he came.

Socialization occurs through a number of conditions that can be called “factors.” Such factors of socialization are: targeted education, training and random social influences in activity and communication.

Education and training(in the narrow sense) is a specially organized activity for the purpose of transferring social experience to an individual (child) and forming in him certain, socially desirable stereotypes of behavior, qualities and personality traits.

Random social influences take place in any social situation, i.e. when two or more individuals interact. For example, adults talking about their problems can have a strong impact on a child, but this can hardly be called an educational process.

Factors of socialization can be relationships in the family, kindergarten, school, work collective, university, friendly companies, as well as familiar and unfamiliar people, books, films, television and radio programs, etc.

A child socializes not by passively accepting various influences (including educational ones), but by gradually moving from the position of an object of social influence to the position of an active subject. A child is active because he has needs, and if upbringing takes into account these needs, this will contribute to the development of the child’s activity .

If educators try to eliminate the child’s activity, forcing him to “sit quietly” while they carry out their “educational activities,” then they will be able to achieve the formation of not an ideal and harmonious, but a flawed, deformed, passive personality. The child’s activity will either be completely suppressed, and then the personality will be formed as socially maladapted, anxious, or (in the presence of certain individual characteristics, such as a strong type of nervous system, etc.) the activity will be realized through various compensatory outputs ( for example, what is not allowed, the child will try to do secretly, etc.).

Socialization begins with influences on the individual, since the child’s parents are already socialized, and the child can initially influence them only as a biological being (for example, if the child wants to eat, he communicates this by screaming), then he becomes able to interact with adults and, further , reproduce his existing social experience in his activities.

To the leaders phenomena socialization should include the assimilation of behavioral stereotypes, current social norms, customs, interests, value orientations, etc. Stereotypes of behavior are formed through signaling heredity, i.e. through imitation of adults in early childhood. They are very stable and can be the basis of mental incompatibility (for example, in a family, ethnic group).

Basic directions of socialization correspond to the key spheres of human life: behavioral, emotional-sensual, cognitive, existential, moral, interpersonal. In other words, in the process of socialization, people learn how to behave, react emotionally to various situations, experience and express different feelings; how to understand the surrounding natural and social world; how to organize your life; what moral and ethical guidelines to adhere to; how to effectively participate in interpersonal communication and collaborative activities.

According to established tradition, socialization has the following structure :

2) latitude, i.e. the number of spheres to which a person was able to adapt.

The content of socialization is determined, on the one hand, by the totality of social influences (political programs and doctrines, the media, culture), and on the other hand, by the individual’s attitude to all this. Moreover, these relationships depend not only on the characteristics of the individual himself, but also on the social situation in which he finds himself: material conditions or, for example, considerations related to his career. Therefore, a person can only outwardly demonstrate obedience to the law, loyalty to political and legal institutions, knowing that in the field of politics there are double standards, and for deviations from the rules of the game, the prescribed norms will have to be paid. In other words, the content of socialization cannot be judged only by verbal behavior.

In addition, when considering the content of socialization, an important role is played by locus of control(Latin lokus - place). There are two extreme types of this concept, proposed by the American psychologist D. Rotter: internal and external. In the first case, a person is convinced that the results of his activities depend on personal qualities: competence, determination, intellectual abilities; in the second, he believes that his successes (failures) are due to the action of external forces - help and pressure from the environment, etc.

Locus of control is a special personal characteristic, depending on which individuals are divided into those who are more sensitive to external influences and those whose behavior is determined by internal strategy. As a result, a person can perceive social problems as a normal phenomenon and be quite adapted to them, and vice versa. Therefore, the content of socialization should be assessed not from the point of view of an individual’s adaptability to specific conditions (after all, one can get used to anything), but from the point of view of world standards, civilization and culture, the universal way of life and lifestyle.

The content of socialization also depends on such an important parameter as social institutions , economic, social, including family, preschool institutions, schools, informal groups, official organizations, etc. The effectiveness of socialization is determined by their moral, cultural and economic state. In a dispute about the significance of these institutions for the socialization of an individual (the strength of influence of social institutions on an individual depends on their significance - referentiality), preference is usually given to the family. Indeed, it occupies a special place in the socialization of the individual; it cannot be replaced with anything. As a rule, children raised outside the family suffer due to lack of adaptation, impaired emotional contacts, and group identity.

So, institutions of socialization are: family, pre-school institutions, school, informal associations, university, production teams, etc. Such institutions represent communities of people in which the process of human socialization takes place.

There are several socio-psychological mechanisms of socialization:

1) identification is the identification of an individual with certain people or groups, which allows one to assimilate various norms, attitudes and forms of behavior that are characteristic of others. An example of identification is gender-role typing - the process of an individual acquiring mental characteristics and behavior characteristic of representatives of a certain gender;

2) imitation is a conscious or unconscious reproduction by an individual of a model of behavior, the experience of other people (in particular, manners, movements, actions, etc.);

3) suggestion - the process of an individual’s unconscious reproduction of the internal experience, thoughts, feelings and mental states of those people with whom he communicates;

4) social facilitation (inhibition) (facilitation - relief, inhibition - suppression) - increasing the speed or productivity of an individual’s activity due to the actualization in his mind of the image (perception, idea, etc.) of another person (or group of people) speaking as a competitor or observer of the actions of a given individual (increasing the productivity of an activity, its speed and quality, when it is performed either simply in the presence of other people, or in a competitive situation);

5) conformity - awareness of differences in opinions with people around and external agreement with them, realized in behavior.

1) imitation - a child’s conscious desire to copy a certain model of behavior;

2) identification - children’s assimilation of parental behavior, attitudes and values as their own;

3) shame - the experience of exposure and shame associated with the reactions of other people;

4) guilt - the experience of exposure and shame associated with punishing oneself, regardless of other people.

The first two mechanisms are positive; shame and guilt are negative mechanisms that prohibit or suppress certain behavior.

A person cannot immediately assimilate all social experience from the moment of birth. Socialization is a long process, extended in time and space, even permanent. Moreover, it has an individual aspect and is associated with certain cycles in the field of physical, anatomical-physiological, sensory, emotional, cognitive and social development of the individual. The staged nature of socialization is explained by the relationship between a person’s development and the specifics of the social situation in which he finds himself at different periods of his life.

There are different approaches to identifying the stages of socialization. Sociological focuses on the process of a person’s assimilation of repertoires of social roles, values and norms, culture, and gaining a position in a particular community. An example of a sociological approach is the point of view of G.M. Andreeva, who divides socialization into three stages: pre-labor, post-labor.

Pre-labor The socialization stage covers the entire period of a person’s life before the start of work.

In turn, this stage is divided into two more or less independent periods:

a) early socialization, covering the time from the birth of a child to his entry into school, i.e. that period which in developmental psychology is called the period of early childhood;

b) the stage of learning, which includes the entire period of adolescence in the broad sense of the term. This stage, of course, includes the entire time of schooling. There are different points of view regarding the period of study at a university or technical school. If the criterion for identifying stages is the attitude to work activity, then a university, technical school and other forms of education cannot be classified as the next stage.

On the other hand, the specificity of training in educational institutions of this kind is quite significant in comparison with secondary school, in particular in the light of the increasingly consistent implementation of the principle of combining learning with work, and therefore these periods in a person’s life are difficult to consider according to the same scheme, same as school time. One way or another, in the literature the issue receives a double coverage, although with any solution the problem itself is very important both in theoretical and practical terms: students are one of the important social groups of society, and the problems of socialization of this group are extremely relevant.

Labor the stage of socialization covers the period of human maturity, although the demographic boundaries of “mature” age are arbitrary; fixing such a stage is not difficult - this is the entire period of a person’s working activity. Contrary to the idea that socialization ends with the completion of education, most researchers put forward the idea of continuing socialization during the period of working life. Moreover, the emphasis on the fact that the individual not only assimilates social experience, but also reproduces it, gives special significance to this stage.

Recognition of the labor stage of socialization logically follows from the recognition of the leading importance of work activity for the development of the individual. It is difficult to agree that labor, as a condition for the development of a person’s essential forces, stops the process of assimilating social experience; It is even more difficult to accept the thesis that at the stage of labor activity the reproduction of social experience ceases. Of course, youth is the most important time in the development of personality, but work in adulthood cannot be discounted when identifying the factors of this process.

Post-work the socialization stage is an even more complex issue. A certain justification, of course, can be the fact that this problem is even newer than the problem of socialization at the labor stage. Its formulation is caused by the objective requirements of society for social psychology, which are generated by the very course of social development. Problems of old age are becoming relevant for a number of sciences in modern societies.

An increase in life expectancy - on the one hand, a certain social policy of states - on the other (meaning the pension system) leads to the fact that old age begins to occupy a significant place in the population structure. First of all, its specific gravity increases. The labor potential of those individuals who make up such a social group as pensioners is largely preserved. It is no coincidence that disciplines such as gerontology (the study of aging of living organisms, including humans) and geriatrics (a branch of clinical medicine that studies the characteristics of diseases in elderly and senile people and develops methods for their treatment and prevention) are now experiencing a period of rapid development. .

In social psychology, this problem is present as a problem of the post-work stage of socialization. The main positions in the discussion are polar opposites: one of them believes that the very concept of socialization is simply meaningless when applied to that period of a person’s life when all his social functions are curtailed. From this point of view, this period cannot be described at all in terms of “assimilation of social experience” or even in terms of its reproduction.

An extreme expression of this point of view is the idea of “desocialization,” which follows the completion of the socialization process. Another position, on the contrary, actively insists on a completely new approach to understanding the psychological essence of old age. Quite a number of experimental studies of the continuing social activity of older people speak in favor of this position; in particular, old age is considered as an age that makes a significant contribution to the reproduction of social experience. The only question is about changing the type of activity individuals during this period.

An indirect recognition that socialization continues into old age is E. Erikson’s concept of the existence of eight human ages (infancy, early childhood, playing age, school age, adolescence and youth, youth, middle age, maturity). Only the last of the ages - “maturity” (the period after 65 years) can, according to Erikson, be designated by the motto “wisdom”, which corresponds to the final formation of identity (Burns, 1976.). If we accept this position, then we must admit that the post-labor stage of socialization does exist.

The sociological approach is opposed to the psychoanalytic one, from the standpoint of which the stages of socialization are linked to the manifestation of biological drives, instincts and subconscious motives of a person. Socialization is considered as a process that coincides chronologically with the period of early childhood.

However, the real approach to considering the stages of socialization is a compromise, which takes into account both sociological and psychoanalytic views on this matter.

As a result, we can distinguish:

Primary

Marginal,

Sustainable socialization, as well as

A stage caused by the need to adapt to a new situation, for example due to a person’s retirement and other circumstances.

Primary stage the child’s socialization, according to Z. Freud, breaks down into oral (from birth to 2 years), when the child’s world is centered around the mouth; anal (from 2 to 3 years), during which the child is taught hygiene skills. According to S. Freud, this stage largely determines the later development of a person; phallic (from 4 to 5 years). At this stage, children first develop sympathy for parents of the opposite sex. Freud called the conflicts associated with these feelings the Oedipus complex (in boys) and the Electra complex (in girls). Children who have successfully overcome this stage begin to identify themselves with their parents.

S. Freud argued that the main personal characteristics are formed at these stages. At the same time, taking into account the role of the unconscious in the process of socialization of the individual, we must not forget that the processes of cognition and the child’s mastery of social roles in play activities, his exercises in self-identification, the system of expectations that arises and becomes fixed in him and the nature of their satisfaction, requirements are of decisive importance here. to him by his parents, the nature of their treatment of him. As confirmation of these factors, we can give an example of a family where twin girls were born. One of them, born five minutes earlier, then began to play the role of an older sister with all the ensuing consequences. Strict demands were placed on her, including caring for her younger sister. The “elder” turned into the antipode of the “younger”, was formed by a strong-willed person, and the younger one - by an infantile person.

Marginal (intermediate, pseudo-stable) socialization- socialization of a teenager. This is a transitional age from childhood to adolescence, associated mainly with self-affirmation of the individual and group identity.

Sustainable socialization coincides with achieving a certain status and fulfilling a wide range of social and interpersonal roles. This stage is associated with a person’s stable position in society or any community. It indicates the socio-psychological adaptation of the individual, his social identity.

And finally, the last stage of socialization is associated with loss of status, a number of roles after a person retires. At this time, he becomes maladapted and, as a rule, reacts painfully to the situation in which he finds himself. Often difficult experiences are caused by the loss of loved ones and the meaning of one’s existence, the irreversible processes of aging of the body, a feeling of loneliness and uselessness. But such a state of mind can largely be compensated by love for grandchildren, which gives a person vitality, creates a feeling of usefulness and repetition of life.

Socialization can be considered as a typical and singular process. Typicality determined by social conditions and influenced by class, racial, ethnic and cultural differences. Socialization as a typical process means the similarity of its course for representatives of typical social or age groups who have the same religion, culture, and social status. The socialization of, for example, the unemployed is typical for them and differs from the socialization of successful businessmen. The same can be said about tramps, chronically ill people, and disabled people. The socialization of emigrants is completely different, but still typical. It is associated with the forced need to adapt to a foreign language environment and culture. The socialization of national minorities is peculiar.

Socialization as a single process arises due to the characteristics characteristic of a given person (abilities, external data, degree of conformity, sociability, individual level of identity), i.e. the desire to develop one’s abilities, to understand one’s life path as unique, etc.

A person can outwardly demonstrate his socialization, which raises the question of external and internal criteria for this process. Criteria for the socialization of a person are: the content of formed attitudes, stereotypes, values, pictures of the world; adaptability of the personality, its normotypical behavior, lifestyle; social identity (group and universal). The main criterion for the socialization of a person is the degree of his independence, confidence, self-sufficiency, emancipation, and initiative. The main goal of personal socialization is to satisfy the “need for self-realization” (A. Maslow) and to develop the ability to successfully achieve this goal. Otherwise, the process of socialization is deprived of its humanistic meaning and becomes an instrument of psychological violence, aimed not at personal growth, but at unification, stratification, and leveling of the “I”.

However, if we rely on the opinion of E. Fromm, then the actualization of the “I”, the disclosure of the potential of the individual, his capabilities are possible only in true democracy. IN totalitarian state everything is completely different. In these conditions such forms of socialization are possible as masochism, sadism, destruction, conformism.

Masochism is the desire for submission, moral humiliation.

Socialization in the form of sadism is carried out by placing other people in a position dependent on oneself and acquiring unlimited power over them, exploiting them, and intimidating others.

Destruction- one of the methods of socialization, which consists in ridding a person of the feeling of his own powerlessness through the destruction of the surrounding world. As E. Fromm believed, the destruction of the world for man is the last, desperate attempt in their confrontation.

Conformism(from the Latin conformis - similar) in its extreme expression means the rejection of one’s own “I”, the transformation of a person into a robot, the replacement of a true personality with a pseudo-personality (the absence of one’s own positions, uncritical adherence to any model that has the greatest pressure).

As a result of strict socialization in a totalitarian society, a “one-dimensional” (“mass”) person (“organizational person”), an “externally (automatically) oriented personality,” is formed. The author of this concept is G. Marcuse. A one-dimensional person is characterized by: an uncritical attitude to reality, to behavioral and propaganda stereotypes, lack of individuality, susceptibility to manipulation, conservatism, a distorted vision of the world (purely consumer orientation, unification of the “I” (bringing the “I” to a single system, uniformity)).

2. The concept of asocialization, desocialization and resocialization of the individual.

The concept of “socialization” means involvement, connection with society, while the prefix “a” in the concept of “asocialization” means the antisocial nature of such a connection. If the essence of the socialization process in general comes down to the individual’s assimilation of social norms, values and roles approved by society and aimed at its stabilization and normal functioning, then the term "asocialization" means the process of a person’s assimilation of antisocial, antisocial norms, values, negative roles, attitudes, behavioral stereotypes that lead to the destabilization of society.

Along with the concept of “asocialization” of the individual, the term “social maladjustment” is widely used.

Social maladjustment- this is the process of loss of socially significant qualities that prevent the individual from successfully adapting to the conditions of the social environment. Social maladaptation is manifested in a wide range of deviations in the behavior of a teenager: dromomania (vagrancy), early alcoholism, substance abuse and drug addiction, sexually transmitted diseases, illegal actions, moral violations. Social maladaptation in adolescence leads to the formation of poorly educated people who do not have the skills to work, start a family, or be good parents. They easily cross the line of moral and legal norms. Respectively, social maladjustment manifests itself in antisocial forms of behavior and deformation of the system of internal regulation, referent and value orientations, social attitudes.

The concept is very close "desocialization", which means that at a certain stage of normal socialization of a person, some deformation occurs when he comes under the influence (spontaneous or purposeful) of a negative microenvironment - a yard company of peers, a criminal group, etc. As a result of this, the individual experiences the destruction of previous positive norms and values, in replacement of which new antisocial patterns of behavior are adopted. Thus, the term “desocialization” is close in content to the concept of “asocialization”, but reflects a different facet of this process.

Lag in socialization means untimely, belated assimilation by the individual of those positive norms and patterns of behavior that are prescribed by society for each stage of socialization. These two concepts are related as follows. A lag in socialization, without being antisocial, can still lead (and often does) to the individual’s assimilation of negative norms or to the thoughtless subordination of such a person lagging behind in socialization to the will of other antisocial elements.

Asocialization personality occurs in the same chronological periods (childhood, adolescence, adolescence) as socialization, while desocialization can also be carried out in adulthood. True, in this case we are more often talking about partial desocialization when a person breaks one or more positive ties with society or the state, while others remain positive. For example, a mature person who has embarked on the path of stealing state property under the influence of a group of hidden criminals can at the same time remain a good father of the family, be cultured, polite, and normally perform all other social roles.

What is it like socio-psychological mechanism of asocialization (desocialization) of personality ? At the early stage of asocialization, the main mechanism is imitation, when children or adolescents unconsciously or partially consciously adopt negative patterns of behavior and a certain subculture from adults leading an antisocial lifestyle. At the same time, their main motive is the desire to be an adult, to gain approval in this negative microenvironment. The latter stimulates the consolidation of such patterns of behavior and, on the contrary, condemns generally accepted norms of behavior.

In other words, here social control is exercised over the individual, during which either positive sanctions (praise, approval, support, etc.) are applied to him, provided that the behavior of this individual is “normal” from the point of view of the environment, or negative ones (condemnation, disapproval , threats of beating, etc.) in case of deviation from compliance with the rules of behavior established in this environment. For example, kindness, mercy, hard work may be ridiculed and, conversely, cruelty, contempt for work, etc. may be approved.

The process of asocialization of a person, although it is carried out mainly spontaneously, unconsciously, nevertheless, like socialization, it can occur purposefully. After all, parents and leaders of criminal groups can teach adolescents (and in the case of desocialization, adults) criminal behavior quite consciously, through gradual involvement in criminal activity, using the same mechanism of rewards and punishments.

In relation to an individual who has embarked on a criminal path of behavior, society, represented by socialization institutions and social control bodies, carries out resocialization, i.e. the process of social restoration of the individual, the assimilation by him again (in the case of desocialization) or for the first time (in the case of asocialization or lag in socialization) of social norms and values, patterns of behavior that are positive from the point of view of society. The prefix “re” means the destruction of negative, antisocial norms and values internalized by an individual and the instilling in him of positive norms and values approved by society.

The problem of resocialization comes to the problem of including convicts and other categories of people into the normal process of socialization: patients, drug addicts, people who have experienced stress during accidents, military operations, natural disasters. Therefore, at present, along with the concept of “social adaptation” in social psychology, the term “social rehabilitation” is used.. In many ways, these terms are synonymous with each other; in any case, they constitute the main content of social work. But between them There are also differences - primarily in the object of social work.

Social adaptation necessary for both healthy and sick people. As for social rehabilitation, then people who are characterized by post-traumatic syndrome need it, in particular military personnel who have returned from a combat zone, people who have suffered natural disasters, refugees from so-called “hot spots”, those released from prison, disabled people, etc. individuals feel the need not only for social assistance, but also for psychotherapy, psychocorrection (auto-training, etc.). Without relieving emotional tension (rehabilitation), social adaptation is impossible. In this case, it is important not only to restore social functions, but also to normalize mental states.

In the West, various foundations, relief societies, churches, the Salvation Army, etc. have accumulated experience in social rehabilitation.

Social work of similar content is being developed in Russia, as evidenced by the creation of rehabilitation centers. This circumstance determines the need to accelerate the development of humanistic psychology, focused on the needs of social practice.

Traditionally, the process of personality development in social psychology is considered to be in close connection with human socialization. The individual, group, society represent a dialectical unity. A person is also unthinkable outside of society, outside of a group, just as society and groups do not exist without individuals. The basis of the unity of these three components, the basis of the refraction and consolidation in the individual of the requirements of society and the group lies in the process of socialization of the individual. This process partly depends on innate mechanisms and the maturation of the nervous system, but, above all, it is determined by the experiences that a person receives throughout life.

The concept of socialization was first developed in the late 40s - early 50s in the works of American social psychologists A. Park, D. Dollard, J. Coleman, A. Bandura, W. Walters, etc. It received its own in different scientific schools interpretation.

Adaptation or adaptation (B. Skinner, E. Thorndike, V. M. Bekhterev, A. F. Lazursky). Understanding socialization as adaptation places emphasis on the individual and her natural activity.

Another interpretation of socialization focuses attention on society: then socialization is understood as internalization - transferring inside , into the consciousness of the individual of norms, requirements, values, etc. society (E. Durkheim). In this case, a person acts as an object of influence for society. At the same time, this process also includes the individual’s subsequent active reproduction of social experience (A. Bandura, B. Bernstein, F. O. Jiering).

Another interpretation of the understanding of the socialization process emphasizes, on the one hand, the historicity and variability of the environment of existence, on the other, the socialization process acquires an existential meaning and is considered within the framework holistic human existence , his way of being . With this understanding, the process of socialization appears as intersubjective, and the relationship “person - society” is considered as interpenetration (L. S. Vygotsky, B. G. Ananyev, A. G. Asmolov, A. Adler, K. Jung, etc.).

Currently, in psychology, socialization is considered as a two-way process, including not only the assimilation, but also the active reproduction of social relations by the individual. Then the formula for the modern understanding of personality development becomes clear: a changing personality in a changing world. Thus, socialization of the individual is the process and result of the individual’s assimilation and subsequent active reproduction of social experience (Ya.L. Kolominsky). The process of socialization is inextricably linked with communication and joint activities of people.

Concept "social" has at least four interpretations in the history of psychology: how universal , How cultural , How public , How collective .

The generalized expression of the external determinants of socialization are norms, traditions, expectations generated by the historical development of humanity, culture, science, production, which reveal their specificity in various conditions of socialization and specific groups. Equally important for socialization are internal determinants, which are not only individual formations, but also the structure of values, states and properties, professional orientation of the individual, etc. - everything that is formed in the process of socialization, constituting its internal conditions. All changes in personality, behavior, activity, attitudes and relationships create the prerequisites for a certain direction of socialization and, at the same time, determine its subjectivity in this process.

According to modern views, the main areas of socialization are activity , communication And self-awareness , since the basis of socialization is the interaction of a person with the social environment.

Socialization in the field activities manifests itself in the expansion of activities; in mastering and understanding each type of activity.

Socialization in the field communication includes the development of communication skills, expanding the circle of contacts, and enriching its content.

Socialization in the field self-awareness consists in forming an image of one’s own self as an active subject of activity, understanding one’s social affiliation and one’s social roles, and forming self-esteem. The image of the Self does not arise in a person immediately, but develops throughout his life under the influence of numerous social influences.

At different stages of his life, a person reacts differently to social influences. To this we can add the changing role of various institutions of socialization during the life of an individual. Socialization continues throughout a person’s life, even if in old age it sometimes acquires a regressive character. In this regard, the process of socialization is divided into age periods, which are quite relative and for each person are determined by the specific conditions of his development and environment.

The socialization process conventionally includes four periods: childhood , adolescence And youth , maturity , old age . An important period of socialization is childhood , which includes three stages:

- infancy(from birth to one year) and pre-preschool childhood (from one to three years). At this stage, functional independence and speech develop;

- preschool childhood covers the period from 3 to 6 years and is characterized by the development and formation of the child’s personality, as well as cognitive processes;

- school childhood lasts from 6 to 12 years, that is, it corresponds to primary school age and the child’s inclusion in a social group that is fundamentally different from the family and preschool institutions - the school class.

From a psychological point of view, the childhood period of socialization is characterized by insufficient development of the cognitive sphere of the individual, as a result of which socializing influences are perceived by the individual unconsciously or not consciously enough. First of all, one acquires an evaluative attitude towards certain social objects without proper ideas about their essence and meaning. Psychological mechanisms for assimilating the corresponding influences are fear of punishment, desire to earn approval, imitation, identification with parents, etc. The peculiarity of the socialization process in childhood is that under normal conditions, parents are first the only and then the dominant institution of socialization. From the age of 3–4 years, television, peer groups, school and friends begin to influence the child.

The onset of puberty marks the end of childhood and the child's entry into adolescence. Boyhood And youth includes two stages:

Actually adolescence or adolescence, corresponds to puberty and lasts from 12 to about 16 years. At this time, under the influence of constitutional changes, the teenager develops a new idea of himself;

- youth, lasting from 16 to 21 years (the first period is from 16 to 18 years and the second period is from 18 to 21 years), corresponds to the adaptation of young men of both sexes to the family, school, and environment of their peers. Adolescence represents a period of transition from adolescence to adulthood; youth is characterized by a sense of psychological independence, although a person has not yet had time to take on any social obligations.

The second period of socialization is distinguished by the completion of the formation of mental abilities and the rapid development of the cognitive sphere of the individual (psychological side), as well as the expansion of the circle of social connections and relationships and the change in the role and authority of various institutions of socialization. How authority will be redistributed between institutions of socialization and what direction the whole process will take depends on the specific living conditions and upbringing of the individual.

Maturity as the period of socialization includes two stages:

Stage early adulthood covers the period from 20 to 40 years. It corresponds to a person’s entry into an intense personal life and professional activity;

- mature age, lasting from 40 to 60 years, is characterized by stability and productivity, especially in professional and social terms.

By the period of maturity, the basic system of social attitudes of the individual turns out to be already formed and quite stable. The individual acquires greater independence and criticality in the perception of various social influences; the main institution of socialization becomes one’s own life experience, including the experience of social relations. This experience is refracted through the existing system of social attitudes, which, like a filter, distributes new knowledge about social reality in accordance with existing ideas and value judgments.

The final period of socialization is old age lasts from 60 to 90 years and is most often accompanied by a person’s withdrawal from active life. The process of socialization for many people at this age is very selective and occurs in a limited, in contrast to previous periods, range of social relations, as a rule, where wisdom is in demand. The specificity of this period also lies in the fact that the continuity and dynamics of the socialization process are largely determined by personal (motivational), rather than social, factors.

After 90 years, a person is considered a centenarian.

The process of socialization never stops and always has conscious or unconscious goals. In this regard, the concepts of “maturity” and “adulthood” are not synonymous. In fact, even at the individual level, the concepts of “maturity” and “adulthood” do not completely coincide. Thus, the level of personality development most often correlates with the degree of its socialization.

The criteria of maturity, accordingly, appear as the criteria of socialization. Maturity indicators include:

breadth of social connections;

A measure of the development of personality as a subject of activity;

The nature of the activity is from appropriation to implementation and conscious reproduction;

Creative abilities;

Social competence.

The last criterion is integrative, since it covers all the others and is simultaneously present in them.

The socialization of adults differs from the socialization of children in several ways. Socialization of adults is more likely to change external behavior, while socialization of children shapes internal personality structures. Socialization in adults is designed to acquire certain skills, while socialization in childhood is more focused on the formation of character and motivational structures.

Socio-psychological socialization mechanisms (Yanchuk V.A.):

- imitation - conscious or unconscious reproduction of imposed patterns of behavior, the experience of significant other people, patterns drawn from other sources.

- suggestion - unconscious, uncritical assimilation and subsequent reproduction of experience, thoughts, feelings, patterns and algorithms proposed by authoritative others.

- belief - conscious, critical assimilation and subsequent reproduction of values, norms, guidelines, behavioral algorithms, etc.

- identification - identification of oneself with certain people or social groups, through which the assimilation of various norms, relationships, forms and algorithms of behavior is carried out.

- empathy - emotional empathy through sensory identification of oneself with another.

The listed mechanisms are presented in a sequence reflecting their age-related effectiveness.

The concept of “socialization” means involvement and connection with society. The prefix “a” in the concept "asocialization" means the antisocial nature of this connection, the socialization of the individual with the opposite sign. Term "asocialization" means the process of assimilation by an individual of antisocial, antisocial norms, values, negative roles, attitudes, behavioral stereotypes, which objectively lead to the deformation of social relations, to the destabilization of society.

If, at a certain stage of normal socialization, some deformation occurs under the influence of certain factors and for some reasons, the destruction of previous, positive norms and values occurs, in place of which new antisocial norms and values and patterns of behavior are adopted. This process is referred to as "desocialization" .

The mechanisms of asocialization (desocialization) of an individual are the same mechanisms of socialization: imitation, suggestion, identification, guidance, etc. Although the process of asocialization is carried out spontaneously, unconsciously, nevertheless, like socialization, it can be purposeful (parents, educators, or leaders of criminal groups can teach teenagers antisocial behavior quite consciously, using the mechanism of reward and punishment).

In relation to an individual who has embarked on an asocial, criminal path of behavior, society, represented by socialization institutions and social control bodies, carries out resocialization - the process of assimilation by an individual again (in the process of desocialization) or for the first time (in the case of asocialization) positive, from the point of view of society, social norms and values, patterns of behavior.

Social institutions engaged in social control (family, school, labor collective, military, public organization, preventive structures of law enforcement agencies, etc.), when detecting that an individual has entered an asocial path, can take appropriate resocialization measures. If there are systemic failures and discrepancies in the activities of these institutions, and a person has committed a criminally punishable socially dangerous act, then he may end up in prison. The essence of this stage of resocialization is:

Disruption of antisocial behavior and roles;

Assimilation and consolidation of positive patterns of behavior and social values;

Restoring and establishing social connections with institutions that allow him to lead a lifestyle approved by society.

Related information.

As already noted, a person as a personality is formed in the process of interaction with society, in the process of entering the social environment, i.e. in the process of socialization. Socialization is the process of assimilation and subsequent active reproduction of social experience, carried out in activity and communication. The process of socialization is the totality of all social processes through which an individual acquires a certain system of norms and values that allow him to function as a member of society. It should be emphasized that socialization is a two-way process; a person not only assimilates social experience, but also transforms it into his own values, attitudes, orientations, in which social experience is reproduced.

Along with the concept of socialization, there are concepts that are similar in meaning, such as “personal development” and “upbringing”. It is very difficult to clearly distinguish between these concepts. The concept of “personal development” places greater emphasis on the activity of the individual, the development of the psyche, although the inextricable connection of this process with the social environment is emphasized.

The term “education” is used in literature in two meanings – in the narrow and broad sense of the word. In the narrow sense of the word, the term “education” means the process of purposeful influence on a person on the part of the subject of the educational process with the aim of transferring and instilling in him a certain system of ideas, concepts, norms, etc. The emphasis here is on the purposefulness and systematic nature of the influence process. The subject of influence is understood as a special institution, a person appointed to achieve the named goal. In the broadest sense of the word, “education” is understood as the influence on a person of the entire system of social relations with the aim of assimilating social experience, etc. In this case, the subject of the educational process can be the whole society, and, as is often said in everyday speech, “the whole life.” If we use the term “upbringing” in the narrow sense of the word, then socialization differs in its meaning from the process described by the term “upbringing.” If this concept is used in the broad sense of the word, then the difference is eliminated.

There are three areas in which socialization is primarily carried out: activity, communication, and self-awareness. Each of these areas makes it possible to expand and multiply the individual’s social connections with the outside world.

Throughout the entire process of socialization, the individual masters more and more new types of activities, which allows him to expand the set of social roles performed and find personal meaning in the activity.

Communication in the context of socialization allows you to expand a person’s contacts with other people and their specifics, for example, the ability to focus on a partner, a more accurate perception of him.

Regarding self-awareness, it should be noted that socialization can be considered as the formation in a person of the image of his Self, which does not arise in a person immediately, but develops throughout his life under the influence of numerous social influences.

The process of socialization can only be understood as the unity of changes in all three designated areas.

Stages of the socialization process. The following stages of socialization are distinguished:

1.Primary socialization, or the stage of adaptation (from birth to adolescence, the child assimilates social experience uncritically, adapts, adapts, imitates).

2. Individualization stage(there is a desire to distinguish oneself from others, a critical attitude towards social norms of behavior). In adolescence, the stage of individualization is characterized as intermediate socialization, since. still unstable in the teenager’s worldview and character.

Adolescence (18–25 years) is characterized as stable conceptual socialization, when stable personality traits are developed.

3.Integration stage(there is a desire to find one’s place in society, to “fit in” with society). Integration proceeds successfully if a person’s characteristics are accepted by the group, by society. If not accepted, the following outcomes are possible:

Preservation of one’s dissimilarity and the emergence of aggressive interactions (relationships) with people and society;

Changing oneself, the desire to “become like everyone else” - conformism, external agreement, adaptation.

4. Labor stage socialization covers the entire period of a person’s maturity, the entire period of his working activity, when a person not only assimilates social experience, but also reproduces it by actively influencing the environment through his activities.

5. Post-work the stage of socialization considers old age as an age that makes a significant contribution to the reproduction of social experience, to the process of transmitting it to new generations.

There are other approaches to identifying the stages of socialization, in particular, from the point of view of psychoanalysis, socialization occurs only in childhood, and should be limited to the chronology of the corresponding period.

Modern concepts, however, emphasize that socialization occurs most intensively in childhood and adolescence, but personality development continues in middle and old age. The following differences are noted between the socialization of children and adults:

1. Socialization of adults is expressed mainly in changes in their external behavior, while children's socialization corrects basic value orientations.

2. Adults can evaluate norms; children are only able to assimilate them.

3. Adult socialization often involves understanding that there are many “shades of gray” between black and white. Socialization in childhood is based on complete obedience to adults and compliance with certain rules. And adults are forced to adapt to the demands of different roles at work, at home, at social events, etc. They are forced to set priorities in complex environments that require the use of categories such as “more good” or “less bad.”

4. Socialization adults is aimed at helping a person master certain skills; The socialization of children mainly shapes the motivation of their behavior.

There are other points of view, for example, psychologist R. Gould proposed a theory that differs significantly from the one discussed above. He believes that the socialization of adults is not a continuation of the socialization of children; it is a process of overcoming psychological tendencies that developed in childhood.

In this context, it is logical to consider a process such as resocialization – the assimilation of new values, roles, skills instead of the old ones, insufficiently learned or outdated. Resocialization covers many types of activities - from classes to correct reading skills to professional retraining of workers.

Institutions of socialization. At all stages of socialization, the influence of society on the individual is carried out either directly or through a group, but the very set of means of influence is reduced to norms, values and signs. In other words, we can say that society and the group convey to the developing individual a certain system of norms and values through signs. Those specific groups in which the individual is attached to systems of norms and values and which act as original translators of social experience are called institutions of socialization.

At the first stages of socialization, the institutions are the family, preschool institutions, school, technical school, university, etc.

The family is traditionally viewed as the most important institution of socialization. It is in the family that children acquire their first interaction skills, master their first social roles (including gender roles, the formation of masculinity and femininity traits), and comprehend their first norms and values.

The school provides the student with a systematic education, which itself is the most important element of socialization, but in addition, the school is obliged to prepare a person for life in society and in a broader sense. Compared to the family, the school is more dependent on society and the state. The school sets the primary ideas for a person as a citizen and, therefore, promotes (or hinders!) his entry into civil life. The school expands the child’s opportunities for communication: here, in addition to communication with adults, a stable specific environment of communication with peers arises, which in itself acts as the most important institution of socialization.

As for the institutions of socialization at the labor stage, the most important of them is the work collective, the norms and values adopted in it, the style of leadership and decision-making, and ways of building relationships.

The issue of social institutions in the post-labor stage is quite complex and little developed. Such institutions, for example, include various public organizations, the members of which are mainly pensioners.

Naturally, each of the named institutions of socialization has a number of other functions; its activities cannot be reduced only to the function of transmitting social experience.

Questions for self-control

1. What does psychology study?

3. How have views regarding the subject of psychology changed in the history of its formation as a science?

4. What explains the emergence in the twentieth century. several independent psychological schools?

5. What are the subject and methods of S. Freud’s psychoanalytic direction?

6. What fundamental differences can be identified in the theory?

K.G. Jung, in comparison with the theory of S. Freud?

7. Why did behaviorists propose to exclude consciousness from the subject of psychology?

8. What are the basic principles of humanistic psychology?

9. Why is humanistic psychology considered as an alternative direction of psychology in relation to psychoanalysis and behaviorism?

10. Describe the main psychological schools of Russian psychology.

11. Describe the basic methods of psychology.

12. What are the distinctive features of testing as a method of psychological research of personality?

13.List the main characteristics and distinctive features of observation and experiment as the main research methods in psychology.

14. What is the essence of projective research methods?

15. Give a comparative description of the concepts “individual”, “personality”, “individuality”.

16. How do biological and social principles correlate in the concept of “personality”.

17. What personality characteristics can be identified?

18.What factors influence the formation of a person’s “I-concept”?

19. What is the difference between the concepts of “socialization” and “education”?

20. Describe the stages of socialization.

List of literature for section 1

1. Andreeva G.M. Social psychology: a textbook for universities. – 5th ed., rev. and additional – M.: Aspect-Press, 2010. – 363 p.

2. Brushlinsky A.V. Selected psychological works. – M.: Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2006. – 623 p.

3. Introduction to psychology / under general. ed. prof. A.V. Petrovsky. – M., 1996. – 496 p.

4. Gippenreiter Yu.B. Introduction to general psychology. Lecture course. – M., 2002. – 336 p.

5. Zhdan A.N. History of psychology: from antiquity to the present day: a textbook for students of psychological faculties. – M.: Academic project, 2008 – 576 p.

6. Nemov R.S. Psychology: textbook.for students.of higher.ped.educational.institutions. In 3 books. -5th ed. – M., 2006. –Book 1: General fundamentals of psychology. – 687 p.

7. Stolyarenko L.D. Basics of psychology. – Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2010. – 672 p.

8. Kjell L., Ziegler D. Theories of personality. – St. Petersburg, 2006. – 607 p.

SECTION 2. PSYCHOLOGY OF INTERPERSONAL INTERACTION

Theoretical aspects of the study of socialization. Social conditions for personality development

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