Unit 4: Social influences on health and well-being.
2A.P1 Explain the influence of agents of primary and secondary socialisation.
2A.P2 Describe the effects of socialisation on the health and wellbeing of individuals.
2A.M1 Explain the effects of primary and secondary socialisation on the health and wellbeing of
individuals, with reference to relevant examples.
2A.D1 Evaluate the impact of primary and secondary socialisation on the health and wellbeing of
individuals, with reference to relevant examples.
This assignment is about social influences on the health and well-being of individuals. I will explain
how children from the ages of 0-2 years learn acceptable behaviour from their parents, carers,
siblings, extended family, and nursery workers (primary socialisation) and also how children from
the age of two upwards learn social behaviour from those in the wider community, e.g. teachers and
other people like coaches, school friends and religious leaders (secondary socialisation). I will also
explore how both primary and secondary socialisation can affect the children’s overall health and
wellbeing.
At the beginning of a child’s life, their family is the first social agent. They have limited view of
society and their learning is informal. From the age of 2 years old upwards, children begin to mix
with other people from outside of the family home. They will meet new adults and new children.
From about 5 years old children will most start primary school where the learning begins to get
more formal and the child begins to get a wider view of society. By this age children begin to do
activities that do not involve their parents thus being more independent. From about 12 years old
children will most probably start secondary school and begin to socialise themselves using social
media. The child does not get the same treatment within the family and so school and peer groups
are the primary source.
Primary socialisation is the process through which children begin learning the norms of society from
their agents of primary socialisation. Primary socialisation contributes to a 0-2-year-olds speech and
the values, beliefs, and attitudes of their culture. It is where children learn about relationships,
bonding, right and wrong, social skills, the importance of manners and important concepts . Primary
socialisation also has an important influence on a child’s ways of thinking. The way you react to
certain situations in front of your child will affect their development so make sure you take into
consideration what you say or do for example, if you attend a parent and toddler group with your
toddler and a parent begins to argue with you about a certain thing your child has done, you should
calmy attempt to defuse the situation and apologize rather than argue with her as your child will
look up to you and learn from the way you behave so you have to be responsible and make sure to
set a good example.
, The impact of primary socialisation on a 0- to 2-year-olds speech, values, and beliefs:
Primary socialisation plays a key role in shaping a child’s mind and personality in many ways. A new-
born child does not have any idea of the social and cultural elements and only becomes aware of
these things after meeting their agents of primary socialisation (family members and nursery
workers, etc.)
Speech: Parents play a critical role in a child’s language and development. Studies have shown that
children who are read to and spoken to a lot during early childhood will have higher IQ’s, larger and
more advanced vocabulary, and better grammar than those who are not. It is suggested that reading
itself may boost intelligence. People who were read to more as children usually have a better
imagination than those who were not. Lead author Stuart Ritchie told Medical News Today, “It’s
possible that reading helps train children to use abstract thinking, as they have to imagine other
people, places, and things while reading. This would be helpful in more general problem-solving
tasks, such as those on IQ tests. Also, being better at reading might involve more practice of sitting
down and concentrating on a task, which again would be useful for intelligence test performance.”
He also said, “It’s not too surprising that being better at reading might improve your vocabulary, but
it is more surprising that there were effects on nonverbal intelligence.” Which proves that reading to
your children not only improves their verbal communication but also helps their nonverbal
communication.
Reference: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280193
Case study 1:
Amy is a 16-month-old who lives in a living home with a big extended family. Her father works to
provide whilst the mother is a stay-at-home mum, he always makes time for his children and puts
Amy to bed and reads her a bedtime story along with her mother and siblings every night to
promote her speech and widen her vocabulary. She has two older siblings who always play with her,
have conversations with her, read to her and sing nursery rhymes with her to further promote her
speech and keep her happy and entertained. She has spoken and has a vocabulary of about four
words, her parents praised her verbally and it seems she is eager to learn more. Her grandparents
love to spend time with her and often accompany her and her mother to the park where they have
fun and help her to walk, this has helped as she took her first steps at the age of one and since then
she has taken small steps by herself and her mother is certain that she will begin to walk on her own
very soon. She attends a parent and toddler playgroup twice a week to interact with other toddlers
this allows her to develop socially. She has many toys that help with her cognitive development, her
favourites are playhouses, puzzles, and memory games. Amy’s mother sets up a range of indoor and
outdoor activities to allow Amy to stay occupied and learn new things whilst having fun. Her mother
has been teaching her the difference between right and wrong. She is praises when she does good
things and tells her off when she is doing bad things, so she knows the difference between
acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
