社会化と家族研究の方法をめぐって

抄録

Main interest of family study in the sociology of education is not in family itself but rather in socializing function of the family. The family is, so to speak, an independent variable for the students of sociology of education.
Socialization is internalization of institutional values (culture) in a given society. Human beings live in the symbolic world, and basic values of each society are expressed by means of native language and transmitted generation to generation through everyday conversation, and we can also say that the mind comes to be moulded by the language.
From this point of view, some problems pertaining to present day studies of socialization and family could be pointed out.
1) The present day studies emphasize behavioral facts too much. The meaning implicated in or with the behavior should be taken up more seriously.
2) The significance of structural variables needs to be reconsidered. Man is not directly determined by structural facts.
3) Multiple choice prepared by the researcher is in use too easily. We should take interviewees' responses as they are. Categories should be found after the interview on the basis of the data collected.
4) In the socialization study developmental stage (age) of the child does not necessarily have primary importance. To choose and set up the theme of socialization- what socialization about what institutional value- is essential.
After all, we propose to pay more attention to the symbolic interaction theory. We think it will greatly contribute to the study of socialization and family in Japan.