Throughout all American time, the culture within society has been evolving. The American cultural norms have shifted throughout the years, deeming some acts as lawful, and others as deviant. The United States is an extremely diverse country, where many people hold many different views on certain subjects. Some of these views are held by most of the people in the United States, such as the view of rape and murder being morally and ethically wrong. However, there are other views in which the United States citizens are divided on if these actions should be considered as a norm or as a deviant action.
Because of our diverse society, it is difficult for social scientists to determine which behaviors the country considers as a norm and which behaviors are considered deviant. The purpose of this paper is to try and discover the true American norms in today’s society in order to fully understand which behaviors are deviant. While uncovering these truths, we will also learn why some of these behaviors are feared more than other deviant behaviors.
In order to accomplish these tasks, I plan to utilize the dominate American beliefs by breaking the culture up into several groups. These groups will consist of individual rights, responsibilities of society, expectations of work and basic needs, and ethics and morality. We will look at topics such as gun laws, abortion, and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) lifestyle for individual rights; rape, robbery, murder, and gangs for society’s responsibilities; the use of welfare programs for expectations of work and basic needs; and finally, divorce and teen sex and teen pregnancy for ethics and morality. By looking at all these different factors, we should gain an understanding of the American norms and which behaviors Americans believe to be deviant.
Individual Rights
Individual rights are a large part of American’s identity. With every new Supreme Court decision and American laws that are established, citizens are constantly turning to their individual rights to take a stand on the new doctrines. When discussing such laws and reforms that the government tries to enforce, American citizens constantly turn to the Bill of Rights to protect their individual rights. They look at the freedoms guaranteed to them ever since December 15, 1791, when the first ten Amendments of the Constitution were ratified.
Second Amendment rights: The Second Amendment is known for the right of United States citizens to bear arms, more commonly known as the right to own guns. Recently, there has been a lot of controversy with this topic as more gun-related violence has been taking place. One of the most recent debate came from the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14th, 2018. During this shooting, seventeen people were killed and another seventeen were injured when nineteen-year-old, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire on the school with his AR-15. Cruz obtained his AR-15 legally, which is one of the most striking factors of this case, according to some.
Some Americans are questioning the laws as to why it is legal for someone to own an assault rifle. Following this deadly shooting, in a March 2018 Gallup poll of 67% of Americans voiced their support for tougher gun laws (Reinhart, 2018). This has reached the highest percentage in about twenty-five years. This number has been steadily growing since the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
According to another Gallup poll conducted by Reinhart (2018), there is a divide among political parties and people’s views on owning firearms. The United States Republican party has strong ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA). Because of these strong ties, roughly 88% of Americans hold a favorable view of the National Rifle Association, while only 24% of Democrats hold a similar view. Overall, American’s view of the National Rifle Association is dropping from a 58% approval rating in 2015 to a 53% approval rating in 2018. Regardless of the recent activities, the most recent poll from Gallup still shows a majority of Americans support the NRA, thus making the ownership of guns a non-deviant behavior in today’s society. One can assume, however, that in upcoming years this may not be the case.
Abortion: Another common debate within American society is the view of pro-choice vs. pro-life. In modern United States, citizens are split evenly with this topic, with 48% identifying as pro-choice and 48% identifying as pro-choice. Regardless of people’s views on if abortion should be legal, my focus will be on whether or not American citizens view abortion as morally wrong or right. In a Gallup poll, Jones (2018), finds that roughly 48% of Americans find abortion to be morally wrong, 43% find it to be morally acceptable, while the remaining 9% had no opinion. However, it has also been found that a majority support abortion only in some circumstances, such as rape and incest with a 53% approval rating.
Roe v. Wade was established in 1973 which made abortion legal all throughout the United States. Recently, there has been talk about the Supreme Court being able to overturn this ruling with the, then, Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Now that Justice Kavanaugh has been officially sworn into the highest court in our land, the Republicans hold a majority of the Supreme Court seats. Because of this, this allows for the Supreme Court to have a chance at overturning the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade. In a 2018 Gallup poll by Megan Brenan, citizens were asked if they believe that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Despite the majority of Americans at 48% who believe abortion is morally wrong, 64% believe that Roe v. Wade should stand and not be overturned. Even within Republicans, a majority who are pro-life, have polled 52% wanting the 1973 decision to remain.
LGBTQ lifestyle: Although being part of the LGBTQ community is not a norm in the United States society with only 3.4% of Americans claiming to be a part of the community in 2012, the acceptance of this community is growing. The acceptance of this lifestyle in America raises questions regarding whether taking part in this lifestyle choice is considered deviant or just a part of who these people are. As time goes on, polls consistently show a support for homosexual rights. For instance, in a Gallup poll posted in 2013 by Elizabeth Mendes, 50% of Americans believed that marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by the law. 48% claimed that these couples should not be recognized by law. In addition, 63% of Americans in 2012 believed that relations between homosexuals should be legal in the United States as long as the relations were consensual. The country’s view of homosexuality was exacerbated when the Supreme Court rules in Obergefell v. Hodges which granted homosexuals the right to marry in every state within the United States.
Overview: While taking a look at each of these different norms in America’s society today, it is important to place each of these in different categories. For example, there are differences between descriptive and injunctive norms, implicit and explicit norms and mores, folkways, laws, and norms. Some could argue that the second amendment rights would fall into the explicit norm category along with the law category. Explicit norms are those that are written openly, which we can view in the Constitution. This would thus be a law because the Constitution is the law of the land. I believe that abortion rights would fall into the mores category, which governs important sociocultural behaviors, dealing with morality and ethics. Finally, I would place LGBTQ rights in the folkway category, which are commonly observed practices in American culture.
Responsibilities of Society
Some norms within the United States were created as a way to protect the general population. While thinking about these norms, it is generally agreed upon that these are set in place for the safety of others. The norms that are set as responsibilities of society are a lot of times laws that define actions as deviant behavior, such as rape, murder, and robbery. Others are a less serious offense, however, they are viewed as being wrong in many societies in the United States, usually because other criminal activities are associated with these, such as being in a gang.
Rape: Rape is a serious issue in the United States. Rape consists of sexual assault where one person physically forces another into some type of sexual activities. With this understanding, people throughout all the world believe this is a deviant behavior, not just in the United States. The main question is why rape is considered deviant. In America, every 98 seconds a person is sexually assaulted. This has been a problem for a long time, and despite the government’s attempts to stop this crime, it continues.
One of the most recent rape cases that have been brought to light in America is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against now Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Dr. Ford claimed that in 1982, Judge Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her while at a party. Dr. Ford came forward after 30 years to report the sexual assault that was taken place against her while in high school. Many people began to ask questions about the validity of her accusations because so much time had passed. However, in a Gallup poll conducted by Jeffery Jones, taken at the peak of the accusations, 39% of Americans said they favored his confirmation to the Supreme Court and 42% were opposed. In previous polls, before the accusations, the majority of Americans favored his confirmation. This shows that people tend to take sexual assault seriously when accusations have been raised.
Robbery: Robbery is another issue that is a deviant norm in the United States society. Robbery is one of the laws set in place to protect the citizens of the country. Many people view robbery as wrong and get angered at the sight or hearing of it taking place. In a Gallup Poll by Justin McCarthy, it suggests that about seven out of every ten Americans fear identity theft and the hacking of credit card information. This has been on the increase ever since the invention of the credit card scanning machines that people are placing on ATMs and other credit/debit card readers. This is placed in the responsibilities of society because of the criminalization of robbery in America.
Murder and the death penalty: Murder is a deviant action in many countries in the world. In America, citizens despise murder, because it is the taking of a life. However, a major question is this category surrounds murder by the government. What is the norm about how murders should be treated while in prison? Some wonder if it is worth the tax payer’s money to house and feed these people for the rest of their life, or if we should be allowed to kill them, humanely, for their crimes against humanity. According to a 2015 Gallup poll by Jeffery Jones, about 60% of Americans favor the death penalty for those convicted of murder. The support for the death penalty has been fairly consistent throughout time. In 1936, 59% of Americans favored the death penalty. Those who favor this form of capital punishment believe it is in the best interest of the country.
Gangs: There are many instances when a young person will join a subculture, more commonly known as a gang. There are multiple different factors that play into these people joining a subculture, and the circumstances are different for each individual. These social problems can lead to the formation of gangs and the violence that takes place within. The Los Angeles Police Department suggests several motivations for young people to join gangs in their article Why young people join gangs. Some people may join a gang due to financial reasons and may want to benefit from the group’s protection. Others may have a narcotics problem, and they may join a gang to reap off the gang’s profits and accessibility to these drugs.
Another social problem that could affect a young person’s decision to join a gang is having a sense of aloneness and unimportance. These young people may join in order to gain fellowship and brotherhood with other members, so they feel like they are a part of something. Lastly, another big social problem that can influence gangs is living in a bad neighborhood. Many people join because they live in a gang area such as Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago or New York City. Because they live in these areas they are subject to violence by rival gangs. Joining thus guarantees support in case of attack and retaliation for transgressions as suggested by the LAPD. This could also be seen through intimidation and wanting other gang members to know that you have the protection of their certain gang.
Overview: As pointed out, these activities are clearly labeled as deviant in the eyes of Americans. Americans do not typically want to see harm done to others, and the majority of Americans even agree with killing those who kill others. It is clear that activities such as rape, murder, and robbery would constitute as explicit norms and laws. This is because they are openly stated, and they are the most serious form of social norms. Gang activity, on the other hand, would be placed in the implicit norm category along with mores. It is not against the law to be in a gang, but Americans typically view these people as deviant anyways, most likely due to the activities that take place in the gangs.
There are many people in the United States that are dependent on welfare programs to their basic necessities such as food. There are many reasons as to why people would be dependent on these benefits such as a disability or unable to work for medical reasons, however, many people are starting to think there is a much broader problem within these programs. United States citizens have started to look into different aspects of people applying and receiving these benefits, mostly because they want to know what their tax dollars are going towards. The two main complaints among people in regard to these programs are drug users and people who are just lazy and do not want to work.
Drug testing for benefits: When people think about their tax dollars, they often wish that their money is being used for something beneficial. One of these would consist of helping other people who are unable to help themselves. However, one issue that has been discussed a lot recently is people who are drug users and receiving welfare benefits. The question surrounding this issue is whether drug testing recipients should be mandatory, or if that practice would be too cost demanding.
According to a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports in 2011, roughly 70% of Americans are for drug testing welfare recipients and revoking their benefits if they test positive for drugs. This shows that the general population of the United States strongly agrees that people who test positive for drugs are undeserving of welfare benefits. The reasoning that is listed stretches from the belief that if people have the money to support their drug addictions, then they should have enough money to support their well-being without help from the government.
Overview: Drug testing for healthcare benefits are not openly stated and there are no laws regulating this. While some states are beginning to look into this process and having their citizens vote on the issue, there are no clear laws about it as of right now. Because of that, this would fit into the explicit norm category. This would also be an example of an injunctive norm because a majority of people agree that the government ought to do this, but in reality, it is not happening.
Ethics and Morality
There are several issues in society about ethics and morality in current times. For example, there are many different stances of issues such as divorce and teen sex. The purpose of this section is to examine the American people’s views of these topics in order to understand what the normal consensus of the issues is and what is considered deviant according to these norms.
Divorce: Throughout time, the acceptance of divorce has been growing. In a 2017 Gallup poll by Andrew Dugan, 73% of Americans believe that divorce is morally acceptable. This shows that despite the vows that they promise each other that they will be together until death parts them, Americans generally believe that divorce is not a deviant action. Divorce is becoming more and more acceptable, as shown in a 1954 Gallup poll, showing that 53% of Americans believed in divorce. This shows that divorce acceptability has grown 20% over the 70-year span that Gallup has been asking this question. The group in America that has the highest opposition to divorce consists of the “very religious” group, categorized as those who attend church or a place of worship at least once a week. However, even these people are shifting towards the majority of Americans and starting to believe that divorce is morally acceptable. 51% of the very religious group believes that divorce is morally acceptable.
Teen sex: One last category to consider is teen sex and pregnancy. In a 2018 Gallup poll by Justin McCarthy, a majority of Americans still believe that teen sex is morally wrong. In fact, 54% of American adults believe that teen sex is morally wrong, followed by 42% who believe it is acceptable. It is important to note the ages of those who were polled, however. This poll interviewed adults aged eighteen and above. Those who believed that teen pregnancy is acceptable were usually found in the age range of 18-29 with the acceptance rate of 59%. On the other hand, with older generations, Americans aged 65 and above polled about half of the acceptability rate of the younger generation, with only a 31% acceptance to teen sex being morally acceptable.
This category analyzes two different aspects of the spectrum, divorce, and teen sex. With divorce becoming more common and more acceptable as time goes on, it is clear that this is a norm in American society. This would fit in the mores section because it has to deal with morality. On the other hand, teen sex would fall into an injunctive norm because society believes that teens should not engage in sex, however, a majority of them are.
