Socialization

In sociology, socialization is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society.
Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social
and cultural continuity are attained".[1]:5[2] Socialization is strongly connected to developmental
psychology.[3] Humans need social experiences to learn their culture and to
survive.[4] Socialization essentially represents the whole process of learning throughout the life
course and is a central influence on the behavior, beliefs, and actions of adults as well as of
children.[5][6]
Socialization may lead to desirable outcomes—sometimes labeled "moral"—as regards the
society where it occurs. Individual views are influenced by the society's consensus and usually
tend toward what that society finds acceptable or "normal". Socialization provides only a partial
explanation for human beliefs and behaviors, maintaining that agents are not blank
slates predetermined by their environment;[7] scientific research provides evidence that people
are shaped by both social influences and genes.[8][9][10][11]Genetic studies have shown that a
person's environment interacts with his or her genotype to influence behavioral outcomes.

Enculturation
Enculturation is the process by which people learn the dynamics of their
surrounding culture and acquire values and norms appropriate or necessary in that culture and
worldviews.[1] As part of this process, the influences that limit, direct, or shape the individual
(whether deliberately or not) include parents, other adults, and peers. If successful,
enculturation results in competence in the language, values, and rituals of the culture.[1]
Enculturation is related to socialization. In some academic fields, socialization refers to the
deliberate shaping of the individual. In others, the word may cover both deliberate and informal
enculturation.[1]
Conrad Phillip Kottak (in Window on Humanity) writes:
Enculturation is the process where the culture that is currently established teaches an individual
the accepted norms and values of the culture or society where the individual lives. The
individual can become an accepted member and fulfill the needed functions and roles of the
group. Most importantly the individual knows and establishes a context of boundaries and
accepted behavior that dictates what is acceptable and not acceptable within the framework of
that society. It teaches the individual their role within society as well as what is accepted
behavior within that society and lifestyle.

Enculturation is sometimes referred to as acculturation, a word recently used to more

distinctively refer only to exchanges of cultural features with foreign cultures. Note that this is a
recent development, as acculturation in some literatures has the same meaning
as enculturation.

Conformity
Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms.[1] Norms
are implicit, specific rules, shared by a group of individuals, that guide their interactions with
others. This tendency to conform occurs in small groups and/or society as a whole, and may
result from subtle unconscious influences, or direct and overt social pressure. Conformity can
occur in the presence of others, or when an individual is alone. For example, people tend to
follow social norms when eating or watching television, even when alone.
People often conform from a desire for security within a group—typically a group of a similar
age, culture, religion, or educational status. This is often referred to as groupthink: a pattern of
thought characterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of consent, and conformity to
group values and ethics, which ignores realistic appraisal of other courses of action.
Unwillingness to conform carries the risk of social rejection. Conformity is often associated with
adolescence and youth culture, but strongly affects humans of all ages.[2]
Although peer pressure may manifest negatively, conformity can be regarded as either good or
bad. Driving on the correct side of the road could be seen as beneficial conformity.[3]With the
right environmental influence, conforming, in early childhood years, allows one to learn and
thus, adopt the appropriate behaviours necessary to interact and develop correctly within one's
society.[4] Conformity influences formation and maintenance of social norms, and helps societies
function smoothly and predictably via the self-elimination of behaviors seen as contrary to
unwritten rules. In this sense it can be perceived as a positive force that prevents acts that are
perceptually disruptive or dangerous.
As conformity is a group phenomenon, factors such as group size, unanimity, cohesion, status,
prior commitment and public opinion help determine the level of conformity an individual
displays.

Human Dignity
An individual or group's sense of self-respect and self-worth, physical and psychological
integrity and empowerment.

Human dignity means that an individual or group feels self-respect and self-worth. It is
concerned with physical and psychological integrity and empowerment.
"Human dignity is harmed by unfair treatment premised upon personal traits or circumstances
which do not relate to individual needs, capacities, or merits. It is enhanced by laws which are
sensitive to the needs, capacities, and merits of different individuals, taking into account the
context underlying their differences.
"Human dignity is harmed when individuals and groups are marginalized, ignored, or devalued,
and is enhanced when laws recognize the full place of all individuals and groups within
Canadian society.
"Human dignity within the meaning of the equality guarantee does not relate to the status or
position of an individual in society per se, but rather concerns the manner in which a person
legitimately feels when confronted with a particular law. Does the law treat him or her unfairly,
taking into account all of the circumstances regarding the individuals affected and excluded by
the law?"

Human rights
Human rights are moral principles or norms[1] that describe certain standards of human
behaviour and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights in municipal and international
law.[2] They are commonly understood as inalienable,[3] fundamental rights "to which a person
is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being"[4] and which are "inherent in
all human beings",[5]regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any
other status.[3] They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of
being universal,[1] and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone.[3] They
are regarded as requiring empathy and the rule of law[6] and imposing an obligation on persons
to respect the human rights of others,[1][3] and it is generally considered that they should not be
taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances;[3] for example,
human rights may include freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture and execution.[7]
An individual's statutory right to equal treatment and free from discrimination prohibited by
statute and which, generally, provides a civil remedy to provide compensation or to punish such
discrimination when it is reported.

Common good
The term "common good" has been used in many disparate ways and escapes a single
definition. Most philosophical conceptions of the common good fall into one of two families:
substantive and procedural. According to substantive conceptions, the common good is that
which is shared by and beneficial to all or most members of a given community: particular
substantive conceptions will specify precisely what factors or values are beneficial and shared.
According to procedural formulations, by contrast, the common good consists of the outcome
that is achieved through collective participation in the formation of a shared will.

In philosophy, economics, and political science, the common

good (also commonwealth, common weal or general welfare) refers to either what is
shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, or alternatively, what is
achieved by citizenship, collective action, and active participation in the realm of politics and
public service. The concept of the common good differs significantly among philosophical
doctrines.[1] Early conceptions of the common good were set out by Ancient Greek philosophers,
including Aristotle and Plato. One understanding of the common good rooted in Aristotle's
philosophy remains in common usage today, referring to what one contemporary scholar calls
the "good proper to, and attainable only by, the community, yet individually shared by its
members."[2] The concept of common good developed through the work of political theorists,
moral philosophers, and public economists, including Thomas Aquinas, Niccolò Machiavelli, John
Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, James Madison, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, John
Rawls, and many other thinkers. In contemporary economic theory, a common good is any
good which is rivalrous yet non-excludable, while the common good, by contrast, arises in the
subfield of welfare economics and refers to the outcome of a social welfare function. Such a
social welfare function, in turn, would be rooted in a moral theory of the good (such
as utilitarianism).