Resocialization

Resocialization or resocialisation (British English) is the process by which one's sense of social values, beliefs, and norms are re-engineered.

If individuals exhibit deviance, society delivers the offenders to a total institution, where they can be rehabilitated.

The goal of total institutions is resocialization, which radically alters residents' personalities by deliberate manipulation of their environment.

Strategies to erode identities include forcing individuals to surrender all personal possessions, get uniform haircuts and wear standardized clothing.

The privilege of being allowed to read a book, watch television, or make a phone call can be a powerful motivator for conformity.

As well, over a long period of time, a strictly-controlled environment can destroy a person's ability to make decisions and live independently, which is known as institutionalisation, a negative outcome of total institution that prevents an individual from ever functioning effectively in the outside world again.

Adult socialization often includes learning new norms and values that are very different from those associated with the culture in which the person was raised.

[1][2] Resocialization is defined as a "process wherein an individual, defined as inadequate according to the norms of a dominant institution(s), is subjected to a dynamic program of behavior intervention aimed at instilling and/or rejuvenating those values, attitudes, and abilities which would allow... to function according to the norms of said dominant institution(s).

According to Fox and Pease (2012),[4] the purpose of military training, like boot camp, is to "promote the willing and systematic subordination of one’s own individual desires and interests to those of one’s unit and, ultimately, country."

"[3] This warrior identity or ethos, is the mindset and group of values that all United States armed forces aim to instill in their members.

Drill sergeants then give the young men and women a romanticized view on what it is to be a soldier and how manly it is.

The recruits are constantly insulted and put down to break down their pride and destroy their ability to resist the change that they are undergoing.

Drill sergeants put up a facade that tells their recruits that finishing out basic training sets them apart from all of the others who fail.

Recruits are made to march in a formation in which every person moves the same way at the same time, which causes a sense of unity.

Drill sergeants also feed the group small doses of triumphs to keep the soldiers proud and feeling accomplished.

The second type is the prisoners must partake in rehabilitation measures to help fix their deviant ways.

Rehabilitation aims to bring an inmate's real behavior closer to that of most individuals, who make up the dominant society.

Whether it is treating an addiction or redefining the values of a person, the treatment is what socializes the criminal back to societal norms.