How do culture, socialisation and the agencies of social control shape who we become, and how do sociologists explain the acquisition of identity?
Key concepts and processes of cultural transmission (Component 1, Section A): culture, norms, values, roles and status; the nature versus nurture debate; primary and secondary socialisation; agencies of socialisation and social control; and the acquisition of identity by class, gender, ethnicity, age and nationality.
The compulsory Section A content of WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1: culture, norms, values, roles and status; the nature versus nurture debate; primary and secondary socialisation; the agencies of socialisation and social control (family, education, peers, media, religion, work); and how identity is acquired by class, gender, ethnicity, age and nationality.
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What this dot point is asking
Section A of Component 1 (Socialisation and Culture) is compulsory and tests the key concepts and processes of cultural transmission. You must be able to define culture and its building blocks, explain the nature versus nurture debate, distinguish primary and secondary socialisation, work through the agencies of socialisation and social control, and link all of this to how identity is acquired by class, gender, ethnicity, age and nationality. It is the conceptual foundation on which the whole course rests.
The answer
Culture: norms, values, roles and status
Culture is learned, not inherited. That is why it varies so widely between societies: what is normal in one culture (eating with the hands, particular gender roles) may be deviant in another. Cultural diversity within one society, and subcultures (smaller groups with their own distinctive norms and values, such as youth subcultures), both show culture is socially constructed rather than fixed by biology.
The nature versus nurture debate
The debate asks whether human behaviour is the product of nature (biology, genes, instinct) or nurture (socialisation, environment, culture). Sociologists overwhelmingly emphasise nurture.
- Cross-cultural variation. Gender roles, family forms and values differ between societies, which would be impossible if behaviour were biologically fixed.
- Feral and isolated children. Cases of children raised without normal human contact show that without socialisation, "human" behaviour such as language does not develop on its own.
- The interactionist position. Biology provides capacities, but socialisation shapes how they are expressed; nature and nurture interact rather than competing as a simple either or.
Primary and secondary socialisation
Agencies of socialisation and social control
The same agencies that socialise us also exercise social control, encouraging conformity through sanctions. Formal social control uses written rules and official sanctions (laws enforced by police and courts, school rules); informal social control uses unwritten expectations and reactions (approval, praise, ridicule, disapproval).
- The family - primary socialisation; teaches basic norms, values and gender roles.
- Education - transmits skills and shared values through the formal curriculum and the hidden curriculum (the implicit lessons of school life, such as punctuality and obedience).
- Peer groups - exert peer pressure to conform to group norms, important in adolescence.
- Religion - provides moral codes and shared beliefs, a source of values and identity.
- The mass media - circulate shared images, representations and norms, increasingly central in modern society.
- The workplace - socialises adults into occupational norms and expectations.
The acquisition of identity
Identity is socially constructed through these agencies. Sociologists study several dimensions:
- Class identity - shaped by occupation, education and consumption.
- Gender identity - the social meanings of masculinity and femininity, taught from primary socialisation onward.
- Ethnic identity - a sense of belonging based on shared culture, language and heritage.
- Age identity - the social meanings attached to childhood, youth, adulthood and old age.
- National identity - a sense of belonging to a nation, reinforced by education, media and shared symbols.
Examples in context
Hidden curriculum and identity. A pupil learns the timetabled subjects (the formal curriculum) but also absorbs unspoken expectations: to obey authority, be punctual, accept rewards and sanctions, and accept that some pupils are ranked above others. Functionalists read this as preparing pupils for the world of work and transmitting shared values; Marxists read the same process as reproducing a docile, obedient workforce that accepts hierarchy. The point for Section A is that one agency (education) transmits culture and shapes identity in ways different perspectives interpret very differently.
Try this
Q1. Distinguish between a norm and a value, with an example of each. [4 marks]
- Cue. A norm is a specific rule for a situation (queuing); a value is a general belief about what matters (fairness). The example must fit the definition.
Q2. Explain the difference between primary and secondary socialisation. [6 marks]
- What the marker wants. Primary socialisation is the first stage in the family; secondary socialisation continues through peers, education, religion, media and work. Strong answers add what each transmits.
Q3. Evaluate the view that the agencies of socialisation shape identity more than biology does. [16 marks]
- What the marker wants. A two-sided argument drawing on cross-cultural variation and feral child cases for nurture, a fair acknowledgement of biological capacities for nature, and a supported judgement, ideally interactionist.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC specimen20 marksExplain and analyse how agencies of socialisation transmit culture and shape identity.Show worked answer →
The Component 1 Section A question is compulsory and tests the core concepts of cultural transmission, so it rewards precise definitions plus applied analysis, not just a list.
Define culture (the shared way of life of a group: its norms, values, beliefs and customs) and explain that it is learned, not innate, which is the heart of the nature versus nurture debate. Distinguish primary socialisation (in the family, where a child first internalises norms and values) from secondary socialisation (through peers, education, religion, the media and work).
Then work through the agencies. The family teaches gender roles and basic norms; education transmits values through the formal and the hidden curriculum; peers exert pressure to conform; religion offers moral codes; the media circulate shared images and representations; the workplace socialises adults into occupational norms.
Top answers link transmission to identity, showing how class, gender, ethnicity, age and nationality are shaped by these agencies, and reach a judgement on which agencies matter most and why, supported by sociological concepts and studies.
WJEC specimen16 marksEvaluate the view that human behaviour is shaped by nurture rather than nature.Show worked answer →
This is an evaluation question, so set out both sides and reach a supported judgement rather than asserting one position.
For nurture, draw on feral child cases and cross-cultural variation: norms, values and gender roles differ between societies, which shows behaviour is learned through socialisation rather than biologically fixed. Sociologists overwhelmingly stress nurture because culture is transmitted, not inherited.
For nature, acknowledge that biology sets some capacities and that sociobiologists argue certain behaviours have a genetic basis. The balanced position is interactionist: nature provides potential, but socialisation shapes how it is expressed.
A strong conclusion argues that the weight of sociological evidence favours nurture, while noting that the two are best seen as interacting rather than as a simple either or, and supports this with named examples such as cultural diversity in gender roles.
Related dot points
- The main sociological perspectives applied across all components: functionalism (consensus, value consensus), Marxism (class conflict, ideology), feminism (patriarchy, its strands), interactionism (meanings, labelling), postmodernism (diversity, choice) and the New Right; structure versus action and consensus versus conflict.
The core sociological perspectives required across every component of WJEC A-Level Sociology: functionalism and value consensus, Marxism and class conflict, feminism and its strands (liberal, Marxist, radical), interactionism and labelling, postmodernism and the New Right, plus the underlying structure versus action and consensus versus conflict debates.
- Families and households (Component 1, Section B option): family forms and family diversity in England and Wales; demographic change (marriage, divorce, cohabitation, fertility, life expectancy, singlehood); relationships, roles and power within families; childhood; and perspectives on the family (functionalist, Marxist, feminist, postmodernist, New Right).
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on families and households: family forms and diversity in England and Wales, demographic change in marriage, divorce, cohabitation, fertility and life expectancy, the domestic division of labour and power, the social construction of childhood, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist, postmodernist and New Right perspectives.
- Youth cultures (Component 1, Section B option): youth as a social construction; the emergence of youth and youth subcultures; spectacular and other subcultures; class, gender and ethnic dimensions of youth culture; youth, deviance and the media (moral panics); and perspectives on youth subcultures.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on youth cultures: youth as a social construction, the emergence of youth subcultures, spectacular subcultures and the class, gender and ethnic dimensions of youth culture, the link between youth, deviance and the media through moral panics, and functionalist, Marxist, subcultural and postmodernist perspectives on youth.
- Education (Component 1, Section C option): the role and functions of education; differential educational achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity (home and school factors); processes within schools (labelling, the hidden curriculum, subcultures); educational policy; and perspectives on education (functionalist, Marxist, feminist, interactionist, New Right).
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on education: the role and functions of education, differential achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity through home and school factors, in-school processes such as labelling, the hidden curriculum and pupil subcultures, education policy, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist, interactionist and New Right perspectives.
- Religion (Component 1, Section C option): the role and functions of religion (conservative force versus force for change); types of religious organisation (church, sect, denomination, cult, new religious and new age movements); religiosity by social group (class, gender, ethnicity, age); the secularisation debate; and perspectives on religion.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on religion: the role and functions of religion as a conservative force or a force for social change, types of religious organisation (church, sect, denomination, cult and new religious movements), patterns of religiosity by class, gender, ethnicity and age, the secularisation debate, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist and other perspectives.
- Social differentiation and stratification (Component 3, Section A): systems of stratification; dimensions of inequality (social class, gender, ethnicity and age); theories of stratification (functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist); social mobility and life chances; and the changing class structure.
The compulsory Section A content of WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3: systems of stratification, inequality by social class, gender, ethnicity and age, functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist theories of stratification, social mobility and life chances, and debates about the changing class structure.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCE AS and A Level in Sociology specification — WJEC (2015)