What Are Social Norms

The five social norms that I am glad exist are the standards of personal space, the expected standard for personal hygiene, the expected standard for manners in public i.e. avoiding belching or flatulating in public areas, the norm of individual choices, and the social norm of education being a standard.

A norm is a behavior or unspoken rule that society has deemed as normal or acceptable. Those who do not follow the norms of a group may be shunned or looked at as different. The norm I will be violating for my project is asking people that I am unfamiliar with to do something simple for me. It is not common for a stranger to ask another stranger to do something that they are seemingly able to do. This norm acts as a mechanism of social control by keeping people from talking to those who are unfamiliar. It also puts forward the idea that we should be able to do all simple tasks ourselves. To break this norm, I am going to wear tennis shoes with one of the laces untied and ask strangers passing by to tie my shoe for me.

Coming from a foreign country where english is a second language, I didn’t know how to communicate. How was I going understand the information in school? How will I create new friendships without speaking? All these questions plagued me. As I sat quietly everyday trying to avoid making a sound, hoping not to get called on to answer a question or speak out loud in the class, I was trying to make clear of what these people were saying. I realized that just sitting there and listening wouldn't help me better speak English; I had begun trying to speak english with my father so I can become more fluent. After months of dedication, I was understanding and speaking a language completely different to mine. That was by far the most difficult

We live in a world where we are defined and judged by our every detail. It does not matter if it is our race, religion, gender, sexuality, or economic status, people are always ready to make inaccurate conclusions of who we are. The problem with this is that over time it has made our society fill with hatred, leading to certain groups feeling as if they are superior to others. Minorities have been oppressed and and discriminated against with barely any hope for the future. As a result, it is up to people worldwide to come together and fight for the right of equality.

There was forever a peculiarity that I was not blind to, a certain strangeness that grew increasingly and often times embarrassingly pronounced the more I became aware of the rigors of social norms. His whole existence spoke of an inner duality, a cosmic unbalance that resulted in his inherent oddity.

When researching the topic of social norms and norm violations, there is an ongoing list. This is because almost everything we do in society is based on these social norms. If/when these are broken it can be punished as little as someone giving a dirty look, or as large as severe jail time. Social norms come into existence when a society does a specific task over and over until it becomes a normal occurrence. One of the biggest concerns is the war on drugs. Marijuana use is harshly punishments yet causes little to none negative effects. On the other hand, we have tobacco which there are barely any laws on yet it is killing thousands of Americans.

As we know, norms are social expectations that guide our behavior. In this paper, I will discuss norm violations that I’ve observed, and my own personal norm violation that I committed. I will describe what happened, what was done, and the reactions of the people around when these norms begat. I will also discuss the significance of folkways, mores, values, and sanctions to my observations.

When offered the opportunity to shake someone’s foundation a bit by testing social norms I was initially hesitant. I thought to myself what could I possibly do that would meet the requirements for the assignment and not utterly embarrass me in the process. As luck would have it I was stuck in yet another endless meeting at work. I found my mind wandering to my “to do list” as often happens in these situations. I remembered this assignment and thought to myself…why not. I then opted to never break contact with people I worked with for an entire day. What better place to start then in a meeting where my victims were essentially trapped.

A social norm that exists and its values are taught at an early age to control and maintain order is line etiquette. This social norm exists in various instances to provide an expectation of acceptable behavior when driving a car, shopping, waiting to watch a movie or various other events. In elementary school, children learn to stand it line and wait their turn for numerous activities. During a fire drill, children learn to line up and follow the teacher when exiting the building. This control helps to ensure that everyone exits the building safely. During lunch, children wait in line until it is their turn to receive their lunch. This helps to maintain order, so that everyone obtains a lunch. By not waiting in line for tickets to a movie at a theater, I have chosen to violate this social norm. I will cut to the front of the line and attempt to pay for my tickets.

In comparison from the three generations of women in my family, including my grandmother, mother and myself the difference in women’s opportunity, freedoms and overall social norms have greatly changed. From expectations in the home, work, school and society there has been a large leap in positive alterations, many would agree that this change is for the better of societies overall functions. The biggest difference between the three generations of women was societies common idea that a woman belongs in the home. Although, this stereotype is still prevalent one can see a trend of raising young women to become independent and successful. Women have fought for their freedoms for many years and although there is still the question of true equality

“Children are natural born explorers” (Paredes, 2014). They question everything and seek answers to feed their never ending curiosity. As a child, I remember asking my parents what the purpose of school was. I would ask them questions such as Why do I go to school? What happens if I don’t go? and Why was school created? In response, my parents would tell me that school is important because it provides an environment where I can learn, and they would say that without an education, I had no future. They would also say that since all little children go to school, I have to go as well. I never really understood the purpose behind education when I was younger, but nonetheless I continued to go to school and learn and grow simply because going to school, in itself, is considered to be a social norm. Now that I am older, I am able to decipher what the purpose of education is. In fact, education serves multiple purposes. Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons both argued that “education is meant to bind members of society together- it creates social unity and solidarity” (Thompson, 2008). While Emile Durkheim proposed this theory, Parsons was able to develop it; he

An examination of today’s social norms reflects significant changes in family lifestyles over previous generations. The American Psychology Association (n.d) reports that “40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce” (“Marriage & Divorce”). This data indicates children’s intimate parents are not staying together anymore. In a relatively short period of time, perceptions about living with one’s parents have changed considerably. In fact, failing to leave the house was “considered a sign of serious slackerdom [sic] 10 years ago, [while] today’s twentysomethings [sic] see living at home not as a sign of failure, but as a financially rational decision” (Prather, 2002). An article written about teen health

The media is shown to people to create social norms in society. The media feeds on assumptions about " the ways in which we believe men and women are supposed to behave". It doesn't focus on experiences in real people (Ryle, 2015). In the media, women are shown as objects to men. In the video, it shows different food commercials how women are portrayed in advertisements as prostitutes and moms taking care of food for the children.

The institutionalists’ on the other hand focus on group norms. The analysis of labour markets and employment systems relies on the existence of stable, slow-changing and fairly transparent institutions to provide the foundations for their analysis (Wootton, 1955). The work of social norms has been the foundation upon which institutionalist theorists try to explain how and why labour market structures are the way they are.

Society, without even saying a word, has given us rules and guidelines that we have to abide. Social norms are rules or guidelines regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable or appropriate within a culture. They are so embedded within our daily life that often we do not notice them. Because norms are so ingrained within our society, deviation of social norms can lead to be ostracized or even arrested depending on the situation. Violating norms, like promoting hate message about poor people, in society can be explained through the functionalism theory.