Are We Prisioners of Socialization?

How were you shaped by socialization? Family influences, and culture very much influence our perceptions about ourselves and they greatly influenced how we interacted socially as children. In addition to our family structure, our experiences within that structure and the quality of the other social structures in which we are exposed to greatly influence the self whom we grow into, the way we perceive society, and the way we behave within our life time.

Many of the people that I grew up around came from an educated and loving home environment. As a young child I developed many positive relationships with my peers and have fond memories of my elementary school years. But as "times grow longer, and children get older"...Interests, and activities differ between ourselves and others and often we grow apart; or we nurture those friendships, and spend lots of time socializing and growing up as great companions.

When you reflect back to your late childhood and early adolescence was your family dynamic still the same, as it was years before? For many of the same people I knew,  it was. Morals and reasoning skills begin to develop, and be used. Many adolescence are able to keep up with added volume of school work and extra curricular activities while being supported by their home environment. These adolescence  in-turn reflect positive social development, and academically continue to advance. But for others, school work has become more challenging, developing a true sense of self  is distracted by "identity searching" , morals, and healthy social relationships can also be merely absent because of the absence of a positively functioning home environment, and positive social support.

For the adolescent whom lacks the positivity in their early and latter development, often times begin to Deviate from the norms of society without the realizing that socialization plays such a large part in our lives. Sometimes the deviance continues, and then becomes harmful to the individuals and others around them. Either in form of gang activity, substance abuse, and or violent actions.

For some, the enlightenment of social order never comes,  and then deviance continues their entire lives. For others, this enlightenment comes later in life. Some are capable of make positive changes for themselves. but for some, however, only become aware of the social exceptions enforced by society after being stripped away from their self-identity and put into total institutionalization (Jail or Prison) 

The self awareness of  how society is shaped and the part we play within it;  is a very rich quality to posses in my own life. This way of thinking was not influenced by my parents. I think I am lucky to have the "light turned on" during my early to emerging adulthood after the experiences during my adolescence. The song I have chosen to apply my blog to is called  "You've Got Time" by Regina Spekor, it is the opening theme song to the Netflix Original Series Orange is the New Black. A show that shares the perspectives of institutionalized women in a prison in America.