Techniques and Processes of Socialization of the Black Child.

Certain techniques have been found to be effective in the socialization process, and because these are basically learning principles they are tenable for socialization in any group, as socialization itself is a learning process. The peculiar differentiating aspects of group identity lie in the content (the particular values and goals espoused by the different groups), and style (their distinctive forms of expression) - not in the processes through which the groups achieved these values. Black Americans must use the same techniques that are presently used to socialize the Black child to the middle class white American value system, and re-connect the Black American with his own historical identity. Using all the known techniques of learning, from role-playing to story-telling, the processes of socialization for the black child must be filled with black ego-enhancing content. Black children must be taught the skills for exploding derogatory myths and critically analyzing written material - books, newspapers, and so-called scientific studies. They must be disciplined to careful study and to love of knowledge. Such a process of socialization for the black child toward a self-respecting, self-actualizing authentic person, demands an armament of ego defenses to serve as counteractives to the unrelenting stream of assaults by a sometimes inhospitable larger culture. (Author/CS)