Norm Violation
Norm Violation
Sociologists describe norms as social laws that govern a society. However, these norms are not considered to be formal social laws in the society, they continually work to promote an enormous deal of control within the society. There are many ways of enforcing the norms in a given society such as formal application of sanctions, informal application through non verbal and body language. If a member, of the society does not follow these norms then he or she become labeled a deviant; hence leading the society to consider them as social outcasts (Coleman S. James 1994).
The norm to violate is on the dressing cord. It is common knowledge, that when someone goes to the beach he or she should have a specific dress cord to match the occasion. In this violation the situation in which the norm get violated, depicts a relaxing environment at the sea show/beach. Instead of wearing the usual beach wear, I wear a suit, a tie and a pair of gum boots. Then I go for sun bathing and later swimming. The reason for choosing to violate this norm is because I want to challenge the common normalcy belief of beach wear. Furthermore, to observe how people would react when they see me in awkward dressing.
This is during a summer holiday at Hawaii beach during the mid morning hours. We are on a vacation with some of my workmates having a splendid time at the beach. The temperature at the beach is a bit hot and scotchy. The workmates have worn the formal beach wear apart from me. When the heat from the sun increases I jump in the water to cool my body in the same attire. The setting of this particular project got mentioned earlier is at the beach area in Hawaii.
I chose this setting because I thought the idea is brilliant and unique from what has ever been witnessed at the beach setting. The aim of this violation is socially to evoke reactions of the workmates and the public within the same area of occupation. In addition, the exercise will enable me to realize creative my mind would creatively imagine weird ideas and enforcing them to actual reality. In this exercise, the ability in freely creating new and exciting ideas is also one of the objectives in this case.
Before violating this norm, I felt so weird and strange to myself since the violation appeared funny and freakish. Furthermore, I had mixed feeling for the exercise since my conscious was judging and condemning the strange activity. There were many thoughts running through my mind questioning me on the reaction of my workmates and the people how would see me violating these norm. As if not enough, I felt as if I was insane since I knew many people would be freaked by my action. However, I felt confident to undertake the task since, the idea was funny and there is the need to observe how my colleagues would react to this situation.
During the experience, I felt weird and somehow crazy since my looks appeared freakish and funny to most of my colleagues and the people at the beach. To make matters worse, when I based on the sun bathing chair the temperatures went high and I began sweating, yet I could not take off the court. The gum boots became so hot and burnt my toes, yet I pretended as if nothing was happening. Additionally, I felt ashamed when people looked at me and gestured their disappointment in me like shaking their head altering clicking sounds. On the contrary, since my norm violation was meant to evoke their natural reactions, their reactions confirmed my effect to them. This feeling made me feel relaxed and ready to complete the experience.
After the experience, I felt a bit embarrassed since I imaged how my colleagues felt to see me in that embarrassing situation. In addition, I did not know how to explain my reasons for this experience to the inquisitive workmates. However, I later felt fulfilled because I had accomplished the exercise and it emerged to be a success.
Most of my colleagues verbally expressed their disappointment and pity for me, since they did not expect me to display such kind of behavior. Others through non verbal responses expressed their feelings towards this weird behavior. For example, some could click their tongue while others could shake their heads to express their reactions towards my violation case. Some of my colleagues who knew my game plan laughed at my actions and went on with their activities. However, for those who thought I had a serious problem got scared as their facial expressions disclosed.
Conclusion:
Norms and social control are promoted by the laws placed by the society. When an individual violates the norms he or she is considered an outcast. Whenever a person fails to adhere to those laws, is labeled as deviant, which can lead them to being considered the outcast of the society of the community. Furthermore, norms also promote social control since they act as the laws used in gauging, and measuring loyalty to the cultural beliefs.
As a social being, the norms and social control are part and parcel of humanity. Whenever, a person violates the norms he, or she must face the ramifications of the actions. This assignment is an eye opener towards understanding social control and norms of the society. An individual’s behaviors such as violating the norms directly affect their relationship with other members of the society.
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