3.6 Religious and Political Socialization

LO 3.6: Discuss the process of religious and political socialization.

Religious socialization refers to the process by which groups transmit religious norms to others (see Chapter 1). Religious groups may engage in formal religious socialization through classes for children and new converts. Parents are another source of religious socialization. Actively religious parents engage in several behaviors to socialize children into the family’s religion. These behaviors include leading through parental role modeling (being a good example), taking part in their religious community by sending children to religious-affiliated summer camps and youth groups, doing religious practices like praying as a family, and setting rules and boundaries that require children to engage in religious behaviors like attending weekly services (Kelley et al., 2021).

Photo 3.19

A Christian Family Reading the Bible Together

Secular, or non-religious, parents also engage in religious socialization. Manning (2013) observed and interviewed 48 U.S. adults who did not participate in religion. She wanted to understand how these parents determine the role of religion in their children’s lives. It is not the case that religious nones or religiously unaffiliated people lack any religious or spiritual beliefs or practices. While many do not, some do. She found secular parents who sought and provided religious education to their children, either a specific religious education or one that provided knowledge of a range of religious frameworks. She also discovered religious parents who did not belong to a religious group who provided no religious education to their children. Religious education also varied depending on the busyness of parents and their children, as well as the difficulty in finding a religious community that reflected their beliefs.

Another study examined how religious socialization occurs in three distinct settings: Ghana, India, and Poland (Golo et al., 2019). The researchers interviewed 562 young adults in these three countries to understand the role of parents and family, community, schools, peers, and media in developing young adults’ religious norms. They found that young adults in Ghana, India, and Poland, young adults mostly conform to their family’s religious norms but do engage in rethinking and making decisions about their beliefs as adults. Overall, religious socialization occurs through various paths, is ongoing, and involves the agency of the people being socialized.

Political socialization is the process by which individuals develop values and beliefs related to politics and government. Research has found gendered differences in political interest and ambition that begin in childhood and persist into adulthood (Bos et al., 2022). Bos et al.’s (2022) study finds that children view politics as dominated by men, and that girls are more likely to perceive political leaders as men and as less likely to have feminine traits. Children have absorbed messages from their families, media, and more about who makes a good leader, potentially influencing their choices about political leadership for themselves and how they vote as adults.