Socialization Process

Parrillo writes, “In the socialization process, individuals acquire the values, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of their culture or subculture, including religion, nationality, and social class (514).” According to Parrillo, the socialization process occurs when a child is exposed to prejudices and beliefs and, over time, accepts these notions. A child doesn’t necessarily have to be taught such beliefs or stereotypes. Acquired by simple exposure, these ideas will slowly leak into the subconscious. These ideas can be heard and displayed in the community this child is raised in, the media this child is exposed to, or the school this child attends. A child will hear a racist comment and will store this comment in the subconscious. Such comments will remain in the mind and will become a truth for the child. When the child is older, he might be a quiet racist or even be unaware that he is racist. As described by Parrillo in his essay, “… if we develop negative attitudes about Jews because we are taught that they are shrewd, acquisitive, and clannish — all-too-familiar stereotypes — as adults we may refrain from business or social relationships with them. We may not even realize the reason for such avoidance, so subtle has been the prejudice instilled within us (514).” I do think prejudices are instilled this way. A child can be taught hatred by his parents, but a child can also pick up this hatred at school or when watching television.
Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda of the Nazi party, revolutionized propaganda. He came up with a way of selling ideas that is still used today. He would create a horrible lie and continue to repeat this lie until it was considered truth. Goebbels would write his ideas into German films and books, leaking his views into the minds of others. Like children, the people of Germany slowly accepted Goebbels’ lies. Some Germans had always been anti-Semitic, but Goebbels’ propaganda turned many more Germans into followers and believers in the Nazi party. Goebbels’ propaganda was like the socialization process in that it used time and exposure to change the minds of people.
I’d like to think I refuse stereotypes, but I know that’s not entirely true. In elementary school, I remember some classmates would squint their eyes and say, “Look, I’m Chinese!” Because my two older siblings are Korean, I’m extremely sensitive to comments like that, and I used to have no problem telling people to shut up. But in middle school, all the smart kids were Asian, and so I began to buy into the stereotype that all Asian students are gifted in math and science. In the back of my mind, I knew this was untrue, but whenever my math class was assigned a project, I’d rush to the nearest Asian and ask her to be my partner. Towards the end of middle school, this technique proved to be unsuccessful because I was following a stereotype and not basing my partner picks on actual intelligence. I know this stereotype is untrue but, because of our culture, I cannot shake its hold on me.