Norm Violation Of Social Norms

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Ever wonder why being naked in public is frowned upon. Over time, our society has been structured in a certain way that sets boundaries and rules that all of society has learned to conform too. This “certain way” has adapted and changed through time, setting in place a set of informal norms and values that the majority of society follows. When these rules are not followed, not all are necessarily illegal; there are subtle consequences that succeed the social infractions. Social norms are deemed as “unwritten law” That the majority of individuals have learned to live and adept with. The status quo or norms are the indirect standards that society has decided to abide by based off basic values. According to James M. Henslin, values are “the standard by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly” (pg. 49, 2015). Values also help shape the guidelines and origins of social norms. They stem from personal characteristics such as culture and ethnicity. The majority of society lives within norms and values for the fear of violating them and being judged by others. The threatened penalty for doing so is called sanctions. Henslin defines sanctions as, “either expressions of approval given to people for upholding norms or expressions of disapproval for violating them” (pg. 49, 2015). Sanctions can be simple consequences, such as judgment for others, or even as severe as a prison sentence. This is where norms and formal law start to bleed over because some norms are considered formal law while others are merely frowned upon. Society put under a microscope is consisted of several different groups that have their own expected norms and values. These groups have their own folkways and mores. Each group has a traditional system of how to behave while belonging to said group; these are called folkways. Mores are the specific characteristics of the group and/or community. I’ll use parents as an example of a specific group. When one becomes a parent they are expected to follow a certain folkway of living. They are expected to stay at home with their child and not go out as much. Parents are expected to prioritize their child over everything, no matter what. These mores should only be followed if a part of that certain group. Violation of these expected rules could result in sanctions of judgment that one is not fit to raise a child. Every group holds their own set of standard code that participating individuals should live by. The first norm violation I observed was on an early Saturday morning. My friend Brett and I had made plans to have breakfast at our favorite restaurant, Leo’s Burgers. When he first arrived at my house I noticed that he had his T-shirt on backwards and inside out. I could tell he didn’t notice so I let him think everything was normal. I decided not to tell him that his T-shirt was on inside out and backwards …show more content…
I realized that being able to identify when norms are being violated lead one very aware when norm is broken. I also learned how to get out of my comfort zone which used to be difficult for myself. I try to break the rules when it came to norm violation. Having a better understanding of why individuals from different cultures have different folkway, morals, values, and social norms. Norms are needed in every society to guide an individual to become more socially acceptable and an asset to society in the long run. When norms are violated consequences will eventually follow leading an individual to be almost out casted from everyone else. This could be good or bad depending on why the individual is breaking a norm. Albert Einstein was out casted in his younger years for being different but what the world didn’t understand was that he was advanced in fields that most individual can’t fathom. A more common example would be, when I left the bathroom without washing my hands. After my actions I received dirty remarks and fascial expressions from individuals who were in the restroom. Which made me feel inclined to wash my hands but realized that the purpose of the norm had a health conscious concept. Without social norms we will live in a world of

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