Deviance of Social Normative Behavior - Essay Example

Deviance of Social Normative Behavior Introduction What we call good mannerism, sociologists give it the name of social norms. The violation of a social norm leads to embarrassment for the person who is trying to disobey the norm. This is something we are taught since our childhood through education, and is inculcated in our personalities even if not taught explicitly. There are some manners that our parents teach us; some are taught by teachers; and, still there are some that we come to know ourselves when we observe them around us. According to Deutsch, Coleman and Marcus (2006, p.521), “social norms guide behavioral expectancies about how people should behave toward each other”. We do not walk on the wrong side of the pathway; we do not yell in the public place; we do not climb stairs when we are on elevators; we do not say good morning at night; we do not pick our noses in front of people; we do not walk backwards in public; we do not ask anybody to leave the seat for us in a bus; and, the list continues. We do not do so because all of these are social norms which we do not even consider violating because it has been inculcated within us that we are not supposed to violate the rule or else we shall be called inhumane, illiterate and disapproved. Social norms are considered as markers of social standards in a society. Mugny (as cited in Dubois, 2004, p.18) defined deviance as “a socially perceived transgression of rules or norms in force in a given social system; it is a behavior which calls into question both the social norms and the cohesiveness or unity of the system.” I was supposed to break a social norm of my choice and note people’s behavior toward my norm violation. I was also supposed to make a notice of people’s feelings, behavior, and thoughts during the act, and to observe how people reacted to my behavior. I wore a Halloween mask, went out to an ice cream parlor named Baskin 31 Robins, and ordered an ice cream. The larger definition of deviance as it applies to my experiment is that it is such a violation of social norms that does not ask for penalization of a person on the basis of his act, but does bring a sense of embarrassment to that person, so much so that the value of the person as a respectable citizen of the society becomes questionable. The act of entering an ice cream parlor and ordering an ice cream is not defined in a society just like all other rules, still there is a normative behavior that is expected of a person when he enters a public place and interacts with the people around. The violation of the normative behavior makes others question the sanity and decency of the person, and the act is considered as deviant since it does not align with what is expected normally. Hypothesis There is no stark difference between the control reactions of people of different ages, sex, races and religions toward a person exhibiting deviance of social normative behavior. Literature Review There are a number of sociological theories of deviance (anomie theory, control theory, differential association theory, labeling theory), but the one that goes best with my experimental act of deviance is the control theory of deviance. The theory suggests that there are inner and outer factors and forces that control a person from exhibiting deviance from social normative behavior. Inner forces include a desire to be considered as a respected individual of the society and a desire to be valued and appreciated. Outer forces include a person’s family circle of friends, employers, law enforcement agencies, and the like factors of the society. Both of the internal and external factors prevent a person from showing a behavior that brings devaluation to his internal sense of pride and self-satisfaction. However, the absence of one or both of these factors results in a lack of self-control which makes a person do such acts which are not generally acceptable or expected. Checkroun and Brauer (2002) conducted a study in which they discussed the effect of bystanders’ opinions on norm violations. According to them, bystanders’ judgments work as a social control for the perpetrator of the socially deviant act. They found that “the presence of others would inhibit people's tendency to communicate their disapproval to the deviant but only if personal implication was low” (Checkroun & Brauer, 2002, p.853). This means that personal implication or personal effects of the deviant act are an important part of the social control that observers exhibit on seeing a socially deviant act. The researchers conducted field studies in which the participants drew graffiti in an elevator and threw litter in the park. The bystanders showed an exhibition of more social control in experiment 1 rather than in experiment 2. Graffiti in the elevator made them inhibit more social control because they felt more personally implicated. Silver and Miller (2004) conducted a study in which they reflected upon the association between social control exhibition and neighborhoods that were structurally disadvantaged. As we already discussed that there is an external force, besides an internal one, that expects a person to conform to the normative behavior. Police is an excellent example of such a force. The researchers examined multilevel data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. They found that those neighborhoods where police contribution was high showed more social control than those where police attachment and satisfaction was low. This proves the point of the social control theory, that there has to be an external force in addition to an internal force that compels a person to conform to the social norms and not deviate. The researchers found that the youth in such neighborhoods where police effect was low felt encouraged enough to deviate from normative behavior. Hence, they committed more crime and wrongdoings. In contrast to this, in those neighborhoods which were under regular check by the police, youth showed great level of conformity to social norms and did not get indulge in crime. Methods I planned to experience violating the social norm of entering into a public place (an ice cream parlor) with a Halloween mask on, and watched people’s reaction. I went out on a sunny morning, and headed toward the ice cream parlor to order an ice cream for myself. I had already borrowed a Halloween mask from my younger sister. I wore the mask just before entering the parlor. I had planned beforehand how I would bring my plan into action, and I was mentally prepared for all kinds of severe reactions from any humiliating or controlling guy that I might have to confront in the parlor. The thought was scary though. I had never ever got into an argument with people, and I dreaded it. I was wishing that I encounter some very nice guys, but then again, what was the use of the experiment then. I had to note down how bad or how cool people behaved toward my counter-conformity. When I reached the ice cream parlor, to my surprise it was a huge group of people over there, much more than what I had expected. But, what could I do then. I had no time to make another plan and go through the process of mentally preparing myself all over again. There were people of all ages. There were kids, teenagers, young adults, and a couple of older adults. Most of them were American, but some were Chinese and Asians too. There was also an African-American couple seated near the counter. My target audience included all of these people, as I wanted to know the difference between the reactions that came from the kids, youngsters and the elders. I wanted to know if race, sex, age and religion had an effect on how people exhibit social control on seeing a socially deviant act. This is what the hypothesis of my research is, that is, whether there is a huge difference between the control reactions of people belonging to differing races, sex, ages, and religions, upon seeing a person who is committing a deviant act. I intended to measure people’s reactions through close observation and precise internal control toward reacting or defending myself. Analysis/Discussion I found my heart beating at a faster pace than it usually beats. I know I was a bit puzzled, or frightened maybe. I am not the kind of a person who violates social norms usually. So, I was a little scared. I went up to a young American who was, according to my precision, right in the middle of the queue. I stood near him for some moments, looking at him and his dress. I was trying to come up to the conclusion what way he would react to my wearing that awful Halloween mask. I could well imagine how I would have behaved if I was in that guy’s position. I would have reacted in a very funny way, and that was exactly what I was expecting from him too. I went up to him. I looked at him, and he looked at me. Both of us exchanged some weird looks for about 5 seconds. I saw was an old nun with a walking stick in her hand, coming toward me. She rather seemed shocked than annoyed or amused. The start was awful indeed. The lady moved on with a strange look as if I had caught her committing some crime red-handed. I also saw an Asian man looking at me with strange looks. I knew he was thinking that I was some kind of a pickpocket. Most of the people were sarcastic in their looks and behavior. I saw some Chinese children who were laughing at me. They were giggling non-stop. However, there were some kids who had a frightened look in their eyes. I stopped an African-American kid of age around 8, and extended my hand. He looked at me with a big ‘no’ in his eyes, and ran away. Once again, I had not been welcomed. I felt as if people had totally refused to speak to or meet a stranger with a mask on his face. I was sure that people took me as a mugger or a pickpocket because that kid went straight to his father and told him about me, and then his father was staring at me. I decided to move on, and the next person I met was a young Japanese lady holding some flowers in her hand. It seemed as if she was waiting for somebody. I went up to her, and gave her a cheerful “Hello!” She looked at me and very shyly, shook hands with me. She was more embarrassed than amused upon having a stranger shaking hands with her. I was amused. Lastly, I saw an old American sitting on one side of the counter. He was already looking at me with amusement. I extended my hand toward him which he very hesitantly shook with his rough hands. I also heard some very funny remarks. People of all races, ages, sex and religions stared at me, as if I had gone nuts. They looked at me, and then looked at each other, as if they did not believe what they saw. There was another holy sister who said, “Is he out of his mind?” Some young women giggled, while some looked annoyed. A middle-aged man came up to me and said, “Man! You look awful.” I experienced that people of all kinds of backgrounds and characteristics observed their surroundings very keenly. I came to understand that people were good observers, and that they did not accept things that went beyond the conformity of social rules and norms. My experience was very interesting, as I came to know how people reacted to what they thought was weird for them to accept. My observations led me to conclude that my act was deviant because people behaved weirdly toward it. There was not a single person in the parlor that acted ordinarily or did not look at me with surprise. Wearing a Halloween mask and ordering an ice cream was not a very normal act, and so, I concluded that people were apprehensive to a great extent. Regardless of their age, sex, race or religious background, all of them looked at me with surprise and amusement. This strengthens my hypothesis that socially deviant acts are equally reacted to in all cultures. This is where the social control theory that I described previously kicks in. I, myself, did not feel very respectable in that disguise with the mask on, which supported the fact that my internal desire was acting as a force that was trying to prevent me from committing that deviant act. Secondly, people in the parlor acted as an external agent that disapproved my wearing that mask in a public place. For example, they looked at me with amusing looks. They laughed and giggled. They did not shake hands with me freely. They were in a kind of a surprise. For them, I was either a pickpocket or an entertainer. This further devalued my sense of self-worth and self-respect. This means that when a person feels that he is not being appreciated by the society, his internal sense of self-confidence greatly shatters. He feels as if he is the one who is does not fit into the society or lives up to the expectations of others. This becomes more embarrassment rather than fun. Hence, both the internal and external factors combined to create a perfect example of social control that disapproved my non-conformity of a social norm. Both the experiment and the experience were great. The whole experience helped understand the strength of social control in compelling a person to comply with the social standards and abide by the rules that are already set in the society. Conclusion The experience of norm violation or deviance was very interesting yet embarrassing for me at the same time. It was quite amusing for other people to see with a Halloween mask on in the ice cream parlor. What I gained from the experience was that people strongly react when somebody tries to violate a social norm. People use standards of social norms either intentionally or unintentionally to make judgments about other people’s behaviors and marking them as good or bad, right or wrong, justified or unjustified, and acceptable or unacceptable. I learnt that social norms help people decide how they should behave socially so that they are accepted in social context. I found out that the exhibition of social control is independent of race, ages, sex and religion. People for all kinds of backgrounds react to deviance in almost similar manner. There is no difference in their exhibition of social control on the observation of counter-conformity of social normative behavior. This is what the hypothesis of my experiment was, and it strongly asserts the importance of social control in one’s compliance with social norms. References Checkroun, P., & Brauer, M. (2002). The bystander effect and social control behavior: the effect of the presence of others on people's reactions to norm violations. European Journal of Social Psychology. vol. 32. no. 6. pgs. 853-867. Deutsch, M., Coleman, P.T., & Marcus E.C. (2006). Norm violations. The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Dubois, N. (2004). A Sociocognitive Approach to Social Norms. London, Routledge. Silver, E., & Miller, L.L. (2004). Sources of informal social control in Chicago neighborhoods. Criminology. vol. 42. no. 3. pgs. 551-584. Read More