Why are families important agents of socialization?

Families are considered to be the most important agents of primary socialisation.  Chiildren are most often heavily ependent on their families to carry out their basic needs (feeding, cleaning etc.).

Families are often the first people to teach children their norms, values and beliefs.  Parents do this through both verbal and non verbal communication.  Families help develop levels of trust, independence, initative (for example through demonstrating how to handle social situations), a sense of competence and ambition (such as through pushing their child in sport or academia) and also help them make decisions about who one is.

Functionalist sociologists believe that the family is a particularly important institution of socialisatin as it is the family which performs the crucical functions of socialising the young and meets the emotional needs oof its members.  According to functionalist sociologistss, stable families underpin social order and economic stability.