The individual lacks an open choice of social roles. .
Talcott Parsons one of the most important theorists of socialisation. He saw socialisation as vital to the process by which a value consensus is produced in society. Through socialisation the individual internalises society's values, they become a part of an individual's personality. Individuals take on aspects of society's culture, which makes their behavior largely predictable and contributes to the maintenance of social order. The creation and maintenance of a value consensus allows society to meet basic needs, such as the need for common culture. Socialisation provides people with common goals; it teaches them the appropriate behavior associated with particular roles and allows them to learn the norms. Parsons argued that the family is the most important agency of primary socialisation. He saw socialisation as taking place primarily through identification with adults. Children identify with adults of the same sex and tend to imitate them. Parsons believed that it is beneficial to society if women take primary responsibility for childcare, while men are the main breadwinners. Part of socialisation involves learning different gender roles in which women are more expressive and men are more instrumental. Parsons saw schools as an important agency of secondary socialisation. Parsons described school as a focal socialising agency because it acts as a bridge between the home and society at large. In schools members of society learn to treat others according to general rules or universalistic values. This contrasts with the family, where children are treated as individuals according to what are believed to be their individual needs. They are treated as a particular person, in terms of particularistic values. At school therefore, children become accustomed to conforming to abstract, formal rules. His theory focuses on how society as a social system maintains order.
