This volume is subtitled New Frontiers in Socialization . With a combination of invited and author initiated papers - all anonymously peer reviewed - this volume seeks to produce a cohesive source of information on socialization and the life course. It advances theory and research related to socialization during specific periods of adult life or across adulthood. We focus on the adult years because most scholarship on socialization pertains to the first two decades of life. The book addresses socialization experiences within one or more contemporary contexts - families, neighbourhoods and communities, peer and friendship groups, educational settings, work organizations, volunteer associations, medical institutions, the media, and nation and culture. It also discusses the processes that occur in these settings, the primary agents of socialization, the content of socialization messages, and the consequences of these experiences for individuals and society at large.