Science Behind Transmission of Norms and Values

Functionalists support the process of socialisation in society as the main agencies teach individuals the expected norms, values and attitudes in society which will create social order and prevent deviance, (item b). A functionalist which supports socialisation is Talcott Parsons who introduces his theory on the ‘organic analogy’. Parsons refers to the organs in the body as a reflection of how society operates in a stable manner. Socialisation benefits society as it teaches all the correct norms and values to all in society from a young age. This creates social cohesion, meaning that society becomes stable, which reduces and helps to prevent crime and deviance in society. Talcott Parsons introduced the term ‘value consensus’, which is formed due to socialisation. Value consensus is when all in society are in an agreement, leading to social stability. Agencies of socialisation, like family, reinforce value consensus. Family acts as primary socialisation, and it teaches the key norms and values of society, such as manners and societal norms. Such is taught from a very young age, which is significant in reinforcing value consensus as it unites all in society by creating agreement. However, a Marxist interpretation may dispute this as they would argue that primary socialisation is different for upper-class children and working-class children as the bourgeoisie teach their children the exploitation of the working class.

In contrast, socialisation is criticised by other sociologists including Marxists which argue that socialisation teaches specific norms and values that only benefit the bourgeoisie class and exploits the working class (item b). Marxists disagree with functionalists that socialisation benefits all social classes in society. Benefits the bourgeoisie class and exploits the proletariat class. Adorno argues that the culture and norms that are transmitted creates a divide between the two classes and reinforces the false needs of the working class. Pierre Bourdieu also argues that the culture and norms that are created in society benefits the upper class as it reinforces and contributes to the capital in society and the working class continue to work for the owners of products. Bourdieu furthers his theory by stating that, through socialisation, agents acquire habitus, which is the embodiment of generative social structures. A functionalist's perspective would argue against this as they believe that the socialisation process is coercive, forcing us to accept the values and norms of society. The values and norms of society are agreed upon by all members of society because there is a “social contract” in effect which prevents deviance and keeps society stable and balanced.

On the other hand, functionalists like Emile Durkheim argue that socialisation creates social order and reduces the likelihood of an anomaly occurring in society. There are two types of agencies of socialisation, including primary and secondary socialisation. Family is considered a primary part of socialisation, while the workplace, education, religion, peer groups, and the media are all secondary socialisation. Media contributes to creating social order as it unites groups of people who share the same key values, and forms a community. With this, there is less crime and deviance in society as the media encourages respect to a wide audience. However, this theory could be strongly argued against as riots, wars and crimes still occur daily. In September 2022, the police recorded that crimes in England and Wales exceeded pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. The 6.6 million crimes recorded were 10% higher compared with the year ending March 2020 (6.1 million offences). As well as this, data from the Ministry of Justice shows that 27% of working-age adults have a criminal conviction - and this increases to 33% when just looking at men.

The feminist perspective of socialisation is that socialisation contributes to the patriarchal system, which ultimately benefits men and exploits women. Duncombe and Marsden (1995) formed the theory of the ‘triple shift’. This theory states that women are expected to follow the gendered norms and values in society which would refer to domestic chores, emotionally and working. Men are allocated the ‘breadwinner role’ which means that the man of the family earns the highest income and is the main financial supporter for the family. This benefits men as they are in charge of income, leading to them having the utmost power and dominance in society. However, there has been progress and advancements that women in contemporary society (modern) are not expected to complete house chores or stay and home. According to the Women CEOs Report, there has been a 75% increase in female CEOs in the last century. This statistic is evidence of improvement in gender equality within society, which contradicts the feminist perspective that men are still considered the most dominant members of society.

In conclusion, functionalists support socialisation as they theorise that agencies of socialisation socialise individuals into the key norms and values of society. Talcott Parsons is a key theorist who emphasises the positive view of socialisation, through is ‘organic analogy’ theory of family being the ‘heart’ of society. The functionalist view is contradicted by Marxist and Feminist perspectives as they dispute that socialisation does not create social order by teaching key societal norms and values as the bourgeoisie and men will always exploit other in socety.