Socialization is the process in which people learn the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate for members of a particular culture. This chapter examined the role of socialization in human development; the way in which people develop perceptions, feelings, and beliefs about themselves; the lifelong nature of the socialization process; and the important agents of socialization.

1. Socialization affects the overall cultural practices of a society; it also shapes the images that we hold of ourselves.

2. Heredity and environmental factors interact in influencing the socialization process.

3. In the early 1900s, Charles Horton Cooley advanced the belief that we learn who we are by interacting with others, a phenomenon he called the looking-glass self.

4. George Herbert Mead, best known for his theory of the self, proposed that as people mature, their selves begin to reflect their concern about reactions from others-both generalized others and significant others.

5. Erving Goffman has shown that in many of our daily activities, we try to convey distinct impressions of who we are, a process called impression management.

6. Socialization proceeds throughout the life course. Some societies mark stages of development with formal rites of passage. In the culture of the United States, significant events such as marriage and parenthood serve to change a person's status.

7. As the primary agents of socialization, parents play a critical role in guiding children into those gender roles deemed appropriate in a society.

8. Like the family, schools in the United States have an explicit mandate to socialize people-especially children-into the norms and values of our culture.

9. Peer groups and the mass media, especially television, are important agents of socialization for adolescents.

10. Socialization in the workplace begins with parttime employment while we are in school and continues when we work full-time and change jobs throughout our lives.

11. The state shapes the socialization process by regulating the life course and influencing our views of appropriate behavior at particular ages.

12. As more and more mothers of young children have entered the labor market, the demand for child care has increased dramatically, posing policy questions for many nations around the world.