Socialization is lifelong process of internalizing culture and learning necessary behavior to function in a given society.

Socialization (or socialisation) is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society. Socialization is thus the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained. In this paper, socialization theories include psychoanalytic theory, object relation theory, social learning theory, formation theory and symbolic interaction theory. In this paper, object relation theory has been discussed in explaining socialization. Theories of socialization, under the broad term of sociology, are a fairly new science compared to traditional sciences like physics and chemistry. The idea that academia can explain social phenomena arose during the industrial revolution and the height of slavery. The major modern theories of socialization find their roots in the antebellum South and the social uprisings of the mid-1800s. Modern sociology looks at social learning using three levels: macro, mezzo, and micro. The macrolevel looks at how society as a whole functions and where people fit in to it. The mezzo and microlevels explain how friends and our own experiences effect our socialization, respectively. According to Clausen (1968:34) Socialization describes a process which may lead to desirable, or 'moral', outcomes. Individual views on certain issues, such as race or economics, may be socialized (and to that extent normalized) within a society. Many socio-political theories postulate that socialization provides only a partial explanation for human beliefs and behaviors, maintaining that agents are not 'blank slates' predetermined by their environment. Scientific research provides some evidence that people might be shaped by both social influences and genes. Genetic studies have shown that a person's environment interacts with his or her genotype to influence behavioral outcomes. Object relations theory is an offshoot of psychoanalytic theory that emphasizes interpersonal relations, primarily in the family and especially between mother and child. "Object" actually means person (Martin Buber, where are you now that we need you?), and especially the significant person that is the object or target of another's feelings or intentions. "Relations" refers
1

to interpersonal relatios and suggests the residues of past relationships that affect a person in the present. Object relations theorists are interested in inner images of the self and other and how they manifest themselves in interpersonal situations. Kohut's "self psychology" is an offshoot of object relations. In explaining object relation theory, Westen (2002:76) notes that, social relationship experienced by children determines the development of adult personality in view of the object relation theory attachment and individuation are the main key concepts. Infants may be strongly attached to the parent who is their caregiver. As they grow older, they learn to separate themselves from their parents both physically and emotionally. Within sociology, one of the most wide known application of object relation theory is provided by Nancy Chodorow. According to her, she supports psychoanalytic theory on socialization in that, children identify with their same sex parent, meaning that boys and girls differentiate themselves in their early age. Chodorow's most influential book is thought to be, Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. In this book, she challenges the traditional view that females are biologically predisposed toward nurturing infants. She argues that mothering, fulfills a woman's psychological need for reciprocal intimacy. Chodorow also describes the difference in the mother's relationships with their sons as apposed to their daughters. She states that mothers are close with their infant sons, but they view their male children as different and do not share with them the same sense of "oneness" that they experience with their daughters. She claims that mature males that are unaccustomed to a psychologically intimate relationship are, therefore, content to leave mothering to women (Haber,2002). Chodorow's thinks that object-relations theory is a gender identity formation and is largely a result of the dynamics of family relationships. She has different views on the oedipal stage of childhood. She argues that a girl's pre-oedipal bond with her mother can continue after she develops a fascination with her father. Chodorow also believe that in the preoedipal stage, the infant experiences a primary identification with the mother and forms a primary love for the mother that makes no differentiation between the child's needs and the ability of the mother to fulfill them. Gradually the child establishes a sense of self through an expanded awareness of its
2

own physical self. The child begins to differentiate from the mother as it becomes less dependent upon her. She emphasizes the impact of same-gender mothering on the psychosocial development of girls as well as boys (Flax, 1993). Chodorow believes that psychoanalysis cannot make universal claims that concern psychological development. They must take into account the cultural and historical conditions of the present time. She characterizes Freud's work as only sometimes describing how women develop in a patriarchal society. Instead of his work arising out of clinical observation, Chodorow illustrates Freud's work as making unsupported statements about how women and men "ought to be"(Flax, 1993). Chodorow is often appointed as a leading theorist in feminist thought, especially in the field of psychoanalysis and feminist psychology. Her essays are included in many books concerning gender roles and construction as well as psychoanalysis. Her evaluations of the ways in which the psychological dynamics of the gender system is systematically generated and subject to historical change and development, are acknowledged as significant contributions to feminist theory. Chodorow is now at the University of California at Berkeley, and she continues her controversial theories that psychoanalysis and feminism have generated (Rhode, 1990). In conclusion, Socialization is a lifelong learning process, one could support this notion in line with object relation theory in which Chodoros theory notes that, the greater valuing of motherhood coupled with greater involvement of men in early child hood will produce less gender stereotypes personalities. In another words, her work has been interesting practical implications, namely if men were to acquire more mothering skills they have to be natured in their early age.

References Carlson, N. R. et al.. (2005) Psychology: the science of behavior (3rd Canadian ed) Pearson Ed.
3

Clausen, John A. (ed.) (1968) Socialization and Society, Boston: Little Brown and Company. Flax, Jane. (1993). Disputed Essays on Psychoanalysis Subjects Politics and Philosophy. New York: Routledge. Haber, Art. (2002). Habert's Art. Reviews: Nancy Chodorow's Biological Clock. Retrieved October 7, 2002, from http://wwwhaberarts.com/chodorow.htm Rhode, Deborah L. (1990). Theoretical Perspectives on Sexual Difference . Binghampton: Vail-Ballou Press. Macionis, Gerber (2010) Sociology 7th Canadian Ed. Pinker, Steven. The Blank Slate. New York: Penguin. 2002. Rhode, Deborah L. (1990). Theoretical Perspectives on Sexual Difference . Binghampton: Vail-Ballou Press. Ridley, M. (2003) Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience, and What Makes us Human . Harper Collins. Westen, D. (2002) Psychology: Brain, Behavior & Culture. Wiley & Sons.