The UPSC mains GS -4 paper of Ethis is one of the major components of UPSC syllabus. A whole paper of 250 marks is dedicated to this subject. the reason of includng this subject is to make the aspirants aware of the ethical behaviour which is needed for good governance, as administrative job requires one to be ethical and moraly apt for the decisions he takes for the society. Surroundings play a very big role in anyones ethics and values and this article will help you understand how much the society, family, and education influenced a persons ethical values.

TOPICS

  • Role of Family in inculcating values
  • Role of Educational Institutions in inculcating values
  • Role of Society

ROLE OF FAMILY IN INCULCATING VALUES

  • The family is the earliest and the most influential agent of social initiation and socialization. Socialization via the family goes on throughout life. Parents, siblings, and grandparents become the immediate agents of socialization.
  • Values are inculcated in children through the actions of family members. Children pick up behavioral traits from all those who are in their immediate environment. Values are imbibed by children by observing what parents do (and not just what parents say).
  • The power of the family is strongest during infancy and toddler years. During the teenage, the influence of peer group and media usually overpowers the influence of the family. However, the family returns as a predominant agent of socialization during the adult years with the roles of marital partner and parents becoming prominent.
  • There can be differences in values between two families based on their socio-economic statuses.

 

ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

  • Schools and Colleges are important agents in the process of socialization and thus can help a lot in inculcating values. School is the first place where the individual values get compared with the larger value system of the society.
  • The curriculum imparts the values of accepted behavior. A school student learns not only from the official curriculum but also from the social curriculum of peer groups. Values are also imbibed from the practices and rules and regulations of school (e.g.: take permission of the teacher to speak while in class). This is the place where one learns the values of punctuality and discipline.
  • Values education is an explicit attempt to teach about values. There are five basic approaches to values education: inculcation, moral development, analysis, action learning,and values clarification.

 

ROLE OF SOCIETY

  • The society at large influences in character building, responsiveness and resilience.
  • The income level, education level, culture, national ideology, mass media etc. have important role.

An ideal society gives opportunity

  • To every individual to grow physically, intellectually and morally.
  • To explore the potential as individuals.
  • To shape the attitudes, beliefs, morals and ideals.
  • To develop the values of hard-working, honesty, tolerance, national integration, secularization, and dutifulness.
  • To discard negative values like dowry, casteism, communalism, alcohol, drugs.
  • To disregard social tensions, unrest, prejudices etc. to improve the quality of life.
  • To protect the nameless, faceless and voiceless and to ensure justice and equality.
  • To develop discipline as individual and collectively.

Values are very much influenced by the people around a person, it is important for an IAS aspirant to understand this as it will help us analyse the a person's behaviour. To read more articles onethics click here