#resocialization

In the military, the first step for any soldier is boot camp. This first stage to being able to serve your country is a brutal 8-12 weeks. During these weeks the officers are working to break down what you think you already know and believe. By breaking through these borders, they are able to do something unique that not many other institutions do. They are able to rebuild you into the type of soldier that they want you to be. This type of process is called resocialization. The actual definition of resocialization is the process of changing your self-values, beliefs, and norms (Conley, 2017).

Resocialization is actually a very important step in boot camp. If the military could not succeed in doing so, then we would not have the uniformed military that we currently have. We have such a strong military because by breaking their soldier down, they can rebuild them with the military’s own values, beliefs, and norms.

The military breaks down the incoming soldiers in a series of steps. For example, in the army the very first thing that happens when you get off the bus is the officers are yelling at you to get off the bus and to move faster. Some steps that follow are being issued a uniform, so then everyone is basically under the same identity. Also, for the weeks you are there, there is a lot of physical labor and training. These training are mainly to get you into the mindset of going over seas and if needed to kill someone you are able to do so. These steps are all part of resocialization. The military has got this method down well because by the end of boot camp, the soldier know are instilled with the military's values, beliefs, and norms.

Words- 298

 References: 

 Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a Sociologist. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Socialization is a process of learning to interact with others and establishing behaviors and rules for us to follow based on these established interactions. It’s an ongoing process throughout our lives. These are “guidelines” presented to us by society teaching us how to function productively as a member of a society based on a collection of “standards” we are presented with. Ultimately your exposure to these interactions helps you develop your personality and who you become as a person.

When does Socialization Begin?

Socialization begins from the moment you are born. From the choice of name, your parents give you, to the outfit color you are dressed in and the toys we are given that have predefined gender roles. Most commonly your outfit color will match your name and biological anatomy of male or female and even that new toy will be associated with a role to perform or expectation of behavior associated with it. Meaning: That new doll defines you as female or that new toolset like dad’s is giving you expectations and ideas of behavior that is expected to go with the object. That’s right, it’s a social construct beyond basic biological anatomy that labels our genitalia and certain sexual traits. Before society gave it a meaning and association with a gender and certain roles and traits that we modernized it simply was just an object. 

Nature versus Nurture: The age-old debate. 

Which wins? The answer is both have a hand in how we develop. Our bodies, for example, may have a reaction to dust and result in sneezing. That's natural. Nurture however is when we are trained to cover our mouths and nose and when someone responds with a “bless you.” The nurture part may change when you are in a different location that doesn’t say “Bless you” or where you aren’t taught the same behaviors. There are limitations to both nurture and nature although they tend to work in conjunction with one another during socialization. Without socialization, the human aspect won't fully develop.

We are heavily influenced by agents of socialization. 

Primary sources: 

1- Family/siblings 

*Note: Demographics, social class, and even birth order can change roles and traditions.

2- School and other institutions: Now peers and teachers also influence us and possibly religious leaders.

3-Media: What is being presented in magazines, on ads, what are we hearing in music and what cultural aspects and changes are we acquiring that help to define us as we become consumers of this media source?

Hi! Here’s how I answered this ask a year and a half ago. I mostly agree with what I wrote there, except that I have become a lot more dubious about the existence of “resocialization” in the interim. I used to think it was really uncommon, but possible. Now, I don’t think it’s possible. I think some trans people (certainly not the majority, but a minority who are able to pass over extended periods) are able to publicly appear to have been resocialized as the opposite sex, in some contexts. But I think when I initially wrote about this, I underestimated the extent to which our formative years literally form us.

A simpler way to put it is, we as trans women may think that living “as women” for a certain amount of time will make us “effectively women”. That’s what I thought when I started my blog. However, I don’t think that way anymore. Not only am I male (always have been, always will be), I am an adult male, hence a man. (Though, a weird kind of man who most people perceive to be a woman.) It’s complicated but I’m ok with that!