Many professional 4-H staff members lack a sufficient background in the social sciences, fail to understand the complexity of the socialization task, and are not aware of the changes made by other socialization agents in the community. This paper is designed to help the professional 4-H adult worker improve his role as a socialization agent. Socialization, the process by which a person learns the ways of the group in order to function within it, is viewed from the perspective of the individual and society. Among society's socialization agents are the family, the peer group, and the school; the adult agent learns to work within the framework of these influences. Some of the difficulties confronting the adult socialization agent are changing expectations and roles, the impact of technology, lack of cooperation, and less of adult influence. Better recruitment and training techniques are suggested, as are planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs. A bibliography is included. (RS)