ABSTRACT
People whose vision fails will learn in two contexts the attitudes and behavior patterns that the blind are supposed to have, in their personal relationships with those with normal vision and in the organizations that exist to serve and to help blind people. The relationships between sighted and blind men contribute to the socialization experiences of blind men in a number of ways. A major component in the experience of being a blind man is defending the self from imputations of moral, psychological, and social inferiority. Socialization processes that occur in the context of personal relationships are most salient for people readily identifiable as blind. Socialization processes that occur in blindness organizations could be salient for all persons who have been identified as blind according to the currently accepted administrative definition. Blindness becomes the primary factor around which they organize their lives and in terms of which they relate to other people.
