What is resocialization? How does the process of personality resocialization work?

The concept that is covered by the word “socialization” includes the process of connecting with society. The whole essence of this phenomenon lies in the individual’s assimilation of values, roles and norms that are approved by the majority of people. The concept of “socialization” is opposed by two others. Their names are formed by adding prefixes. These are “desocialization” and “resocialization”. The first of these means processes in which a person internalizes antisocial and antisocial values ​​and norms. At the same time, a person acquires negative attitudes and behavioral stereotypes. This leads to destabilization and deformation of public relations.

Mechanism of desocialization

Why does a person choose an antisocial path? At the initial stage, this happens unconsciously. Children and adolescents adopt the behavior patterns of those adults who lead an antisocial lifestyle. In doing so, they satisfy their desire to gain approval from this negative microenvironment. Moreover, in their opinion, this way they become adults faster. In this case, the negative microenvironment exercises social control over the individual. In this case, adolescents or children receive praise, approval and support if they have taken the path of antisocial behavior. Hard work, mercy and kindness in such an environment are simply ridiculed.

The entire process of desocialization sometimes occurs spontaneously. However, in some cases it is carried out purposefully. An example of this is instilling criminal behavior in adolescents to involve them in illegal activities. In this case, the mechanism of punishment and rewards is widely used.

Resocialization in childhood

The process of socialization is characterized by its vastness and infinity. In fact, throughout a person's life. It is particularly intense in childhood, while as one grows older, this characteristic begins to predominate in resocialization.

It should be noted that resocialization in childhood also has its own characteristics. Moreover, these features are quite important for the future life of the baby. First of all, attention is drawn to the fact that for an adult, resocialization is an adjustment of external behavior and accompanying attitudes, while for a child it is the formation of his specific value guidelines.

We should not forget that an adult is capable of analysis and evaluation, defining for himself some kind of subjective concept of “norm” that accompanies him throughout his life. The baby does not have this ability, therefore, during secondary socialization, he is unable to form a personal concept of norms, but only accepts those that come from his parents and educators.

In adolescence, the process of resocialization is no less important. It consists not only of instilling in a teenager the ability to accept various social roles and functions, but also the adjustment of previously failed or forgotten social skills, morality, the ability to communicate and form relationships, and social connections. Resocialization carried out in educational institutions also has its own specifics. It must necessarily be structured taking into account the individuality of each child, identifying the specifics of their upbringing and possible missed social skills. At the same time, the most important tool in the process of resocialization of a child or adolescent is a constant emphasis on their positive qualities and strengths.

Correction path

Resocialization is applied to an individual who has taken an antisocial path of behavior by various state institutions of social control. This concept means a certain type of change that occurs in a person, which allows him to adopt a type of behavior that is radically different from the previous one. In this case, the prefix “re-” means the destruction and dismantling of negative values ​​and norms that have been internalized by the individual. During this process, a person accepts those positive concepts that are approved by society.

Approaches to understanding socialization

Definition 1
Socialization in the most general form is understood as the process of a person’s assimilation of social experience, its subsequent transformation into personal values, intentions, behavioral patterns, and orientations.

This process is two-way, has a pronounced subject-subject character, and during its implementation, the mutual influence of society on the individual and the individual on society is noted.

Are you an expert in this subject area? We invite you to become the author of the Directory Working Conditions

The course of socialization depends on numerous economic, political, social, historical, cultural, and technological factors.

In general, there are two main periods of socialization:

  • primary, which begins from the moment the child is born and ends by the age of 18, during which the individual becomes an individual, an active member of society;
  • secondary, which lasts throughout the rest of the individual’s life.

Socialization, therefore, is a continuous, permanent, social process.

Use of the term

The concept of “resocialization” is quite widely used not only by representatives of social psychology and sociology. This term is also mentioned by lawyers and teachers. It concerns social measures that are applied by society to people who have taken the criminal path.


In pedagogy, resocialization is the acquisition of new skills and values ​​that should replace the old ones that are outdated or insufficiently learned. This entire process is directed towards individuals with various types of deviant behavior. The goal pursued by resocialization is the restoration of lost social status, as well as the reorientation of negative attitudes. The solution to this problem lies in the positive attitude of the pedagogically oriented environment towards the individual. “Resocialization of convicts” is a term used by lawyers when solving problems of penal policy. It applies to young people. It is noted that young subjects have a higher ability to resocialize than representatives of the older generation. For young people, this term may not mean the process itself, but its result.

Resocialization from a psychological point of view

You can use a more concise and succinct definition of resocialization: it is the process of changing a previously socialized individual. It is worth noting that resocialization from a psychological point of view is always associated with the process of desocialization, that is, a violation of socialization, and may even be its consequence.

In other words, resocialization in psychology is a fairly targeted “repair” of certain violations of the cultural and social attitudes of the individual that were violated during previous processes of desocialization or asocialization. It should be noted that young people are more easily amenable to the processes of resocialization, based on the fact that at a young age various social and cultural connections are not so strongly formed, so the work to restore them is not so extensive.

A much more problematic contingent in such work are prisoners who have been isolated from society for a long time, drug addicts, people who are addicted to gambling and suffer from it, alcoholics, as well as patients who have experienced a severe catastrophe and stress.

Resocialization and desocialization are indeed strongly interconnected and may even represent a single process. This happens throughout the life of an individual, at certain cycles, when he takes on some social role. An example would be marriage, fatherhood or motherhood, entering university, first job. When such changes occur in life, the subject not only experiences resocialization, adapting to a new role and new social conditions, but also desocialization occurs at the same time - a rejection of previously habitual attitudes and behavior patterns that now become impossible.

Who carries out resocialization?

The entry of an individual onto the path of antisocial development is recorded by institutions that exercise social control. At the same time, they can also take appropriate resocialization measures. This process involves educational, military and labor groups, schools and families, public organizations, as well as law enforcement agencies represented by their preventive structures. Often, the resocialization of an individual is carried out without imprisonment. However, if a person commits a socially dangerous act, more stringent measures may be taken against him. In this case, by a court verdict, he is sent to prison. At the same time, resocialization is a certain stage designed to restore the socially useful connections of the individual with society. During this process, asocial roles and behavior must be destroyed, and positive patterns of social values ​​must be consolidated. The special institutions that carry out the process of resocialization in this case are the following:

— educational and labor colonies where minors are kept;

— corrective labor colonies;

- prisons.

The main task that these social institutions are designed to solve is the re-education and correction of convicts, that is, resocialization.

Desocialization and its causes

So what is desocialization? This is, first of all, a person’s loss of social experience , which is reflected in all his activities and the possibility of self-realization. A person becomes an outcast, as a rule, not of his own free will - this is caused by severe stress or initially incomplete socialization.

Of course, desocialization is a multi-level process. A slight desocialization can occur during a long absence from the team, for example, during a prolonged illness or a long vacation. A person loses direct contact with people and “falls out” of his usual way of life. The same effect can be caused by the abuse of social networks, television programs and computer games, that is, if real life is replaced by virtual life.

At this level of desocialization, deep changes in the psyche do not occur, so this process can be reversed . If a person decides to change his lifestyle and change his attitudes, then he will begin to resocialize. Resocialization involves self-education, acquiring new values ​​and mastering new roles, or returning to a normal standard of living. Desocialization and resocialization are also natural processes of growing up, as an individual changes throughout life and revises his views.

Deeper desocialization occurs, for example, due to improper upbringing in the family. Surrounding a teenager with an atmosphere of indulgence and trying to protect him from all the difficulties of life will increase the chances that socialization will go wrong. Greenhouse conditions do not contribute to the assimilation of the norms and rules of the society that surrounds the individual, so it is more difficult for such a person to get used to it and sometimes it is difficult to perform the simplest actions, including communication with people. In addition, the process of socialization can be influenced by belonging to various kinds of subcultures or criminal groups: their norms and rules are often opposite to social ones, which also creates unfavorable development conditions for the individual.

At a more mature age, factors such as:

  • job loss
  • death of loved ones
  • participation in prolonged hostilities
  • presence of mental illness or personality disorders
  • various addictions

Severe stressful events can take a person out of his usual lifestyle and social circle for a long time; he becomes withdrawn and loses developed social skills.

In addition to all of the above, there is also voluntary desocialization. A classic example is going to a monastery - a person withdraws from the world and everything that is inherent to him, but does not degrade, but adopts other norms of behavior and is spiritually enriched. It is worth noting that in such cases, desocialization and resocialization occur simultaneously.

The severity of the problem

The topic of resocialization is associated not only with those who have committed criminal acts. It also applies to other categories of people. Thus, the resocialization of drug addicts, patients, as well as those who have experienced stress during natural disasters, military operations or accidents is of great importance for society.

Such people need not only social assistance. To carry out the normal process of resocialization, psychotherapy and psychocorrection (auto-training, etc.) will be needed. Social adaptation of such people should not be expected unless the emotional tension of the individual is relieved.

Bottom line

Desocialization means a person’s refusal to accept socially accepted norms and rules in order to go to another, antisocial environment. This can happen either voluntarily or forced. For the most part, a person resorts to this form of development when he is unable to cope with the harsh living conditions in which he finds himself. As a result, he becomes maladapted, that is, an outcast from society.

If an adult must be responsible for his own decisions, then children and adolescents are victims of desocialization. They simply found themselves in an environment that was not conducive to their normal upbringing and development, which is what public organizations should deal with and eliminate.

Source: psymedcare.ru

Socialization.

Socialization is the process of an individual acquiring social qualities, skills, and abilities that allow him to live and work in society.

(See material HERE).

Desocialization.

Desocialization - (the Latin prefix de means the absence or elimination of something) is the loss of a person for some reason of social experience.

The degree of desocialization can be of different levels : from mild disorientation in a certain situation to a complete loss of connection with the social environment.

There are many reasons : a long-term illness that isolated a person from his usual environment for a long time, extreme situations (for example, being in a concentration camp or mistakenly in a mental hospital), sometimes service in hot spots can affect this, and this is a mental illness.

Resocialization work

Social rehabilitation in Western European countries is carried out by relief societies and various foundations, the Salvation Army, the Church, etc. Similar work in Russia is carried out by rehabilitation centers. In this regard, there is a need for the accelerated development of a humanistic psychology that would be focused on the needs of this social practice.

It is worth saying that the need for social adaptation exists for almost every person. Moreover, positive results appear only when emotional stress is relieved.

How does the resocialization of drug and alcohol addicts proceed?

During the period when the patient leaves the hospitable walls of the Rehabilitation Center, he gets the opportunity to test the acquired knowledge and skills in practice. During resocialization, drug and alcohol addicts will have to go through the following stages:

  • The transition from communication with a limited number of people - Center employees, other participants in the rehabilitation program to life in society, everyday, everyday contacts with the outside world. For individuals who have lost basic communication skills, this can often become incredibly difficult. Even simple attempts to apply for document restoration or buy groceries in a store turn out to be akin to an ordeal.
  • Restoring relationships with family members. In this case, we are often talking about codependency, in which the help of psychologists is required for everyone who finds themselves in close emotional contact with people who abuse psychoactive substances.
  • Improving quality of life. Restoration of previous professional skills or retraining, giving a chance for new creative, social realization. As part of individual rehabilitation programs, people with addictions are introduced to sports, they acquire a hobby, a new, more prosperous social circle that provides the necessary support.
  • Finding means and ways to release negative emotions without alcohol and drugs. Both group and individual psychological work in this case allow you to control your emotional state, teach self-discipline, instead of trying to escape from the problems of real life.
  • Application in practice of all acquired knowledge about the disease, prevention of possible relapses. Before moving to outpatient rehabilitation, the patient goes a long way and gains real ground with which he can continue to lead a healthy, sober lifestyle without additional stimulants.
Rating
( 1 rating, average 4 out of 5 )
Did you like the article? Share with friends:
For any suggestions regarding the site: [email protected]
Для любых предложений по сайту: [email protected]