THE IMPACT OF MASS MEDIA ON CHILDREN SOCIALISATION

THE IMPACT OF MASS MEDIA ON CHILDREN SOCIALISATION

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW 

2.1 INTRODUCTION

In the convention on the rights of a child, the UN’s definition of a child is an individual who is not more than eighteen years of age. Every child needs to go through the socialization process in order to fit well into the society. Dominick (2002:483) sees socialization as a complex process extending over a number of years and involving various people and organizations who contribute in some degree to the socialization process. The socialization processes include all those means by which children learn behaviours and attitudes relevant to their future as consumers.

Eshleman (2000:387) asserts that infants may grow up to be criminals, teachers or athletic superstars but first they must learn to care for basic needs, learn to interact with other humans and learn what behaviour was expected and accepted. In fact, they learn to be human and the process of acquiring the physical and social skills needed to become a social being and a member of society was called socialization.

Elkin and Handel (1989:20) stated that there are two

preconditions for adequate socialization:-

1. Children must have the requisite biological inheritance.
2. There must be an ongoing society.

The first precondition for socialization was a biological inheritance that permits learning processes to occur. Therefore a brain, digestive system and a beating heart are clearly prerequisites for socialization. Though temperaments and intelligence may be basically biological, the development or direction on that they take was influenced and modified by the society in which the child exists.

The second precondition for socialization is an existing society that has values, norms, statuses, roles, institutions and a wide variety of social structures that are highly regular and patterned but in constant change.

Mead (1950:115) postulates that in the process of socialization children go through a play stage in which they imitate people whom they observe.

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THE IMPACT OF MASS MEDIA ON CHILDREN SOCIALISATION