The Adolescence of Political Socialization

This article assesses political socialization research in terms of its theoretical adequacy, descriptive findings, and methodology. Research in political socialization has uncovered much about the substance of childhood and adolescent political orientations and also has managed to link some agencies of socialization reliably to particular political attitudes. Major deficiencies include the lack of attention to socialization as a process, the divorce from useful psychological and social theory, and the reliance on restrictive and inadequate methodologies. However, if care is taken research in political socialization can aid educators in the design of curricula and teaching practices.