It’s a wonderful life Social norms are prevalent in our everyday lives whether we realize it or not. Social norms are set of generally accepted rules that society lives by. They dictate the behavior that is expected of us, as well as, the behavior we expect from others. They are a form of social control; however, it does provide social order in society. Without social norms our society could not function, and our lives would be chaotic. Sanctions are basically a form of punishment or reward for unconformity or conformity to social norms, respectively, although, not all social norms are punished if broken. A broken folkway for example, may not be punished but may still frowned upon for doing so. With the threat, fear, or rewards of sanctions members of society are much more likely to conform.
Social norms shape the way that we live our everyday lives and the way that we expect others should live, because our social norms are transferred to us through socialization we may not even realize their existence as rules and conformity. We may also take for granted the order and functionality that social norms bring to our society. It influences the way we have socialized our children, the decisions we make, and even enables social interaction with others to be somewhat predictable. Social norms encourage us to follow the rules and helps to limit deviance, it creates a sense of structure and order in our lives, we each know what is expected of us and what is not. Standing in line, waiting your turn, stopping for red lights, are all simple ways that we all conform to the socially accepted standard.
Social norms are transferred from one generation to the next, however, overtime our social norms may change. Things that were once considered taboo may no longer be viewed as such, homosexuality is a great example of how our social norms can change to become more widely accepted as the new norm. Social norms are present and functional in society, they may pressure us to conform or alter the way we want to behave, but social norms are for the greater good and they keep society functioning as whole. The day begins The alarms beginning sounding at 6:00 am, however, I like the snooze button a little too much. I am finally up and moving by 6:20 am, making sure the kids are up and moving as well.
Breakfast around here usually consists of grabbing some fruit on the way out the door. I take care of getting the coffee brewing and packing a lunch for Jacob to take to school. James is in college and usually just grabs lunch on the go. By 7:00 am, I am running through mental checklists to ensure that everyone has what they need for the day. 7:05 am, with coffee in hand, my husband heads to work, and both boys are off to school. Gender roles are the set of social and behavior norms that are deemed to be appropriate for each sex, for example, females are considered feminine and males are considered masculine. Gender roles play a large part in our socialization, it even dictates how we will be socialized.
Socialization refers to the process of learning the beliefs, values, and social norms of our culture. From the moment we are born, we are being socialized to fill our gender role simply based on whether we are born male or female. Females are generally socialized to fill more expressive roles while males generally fill a more industrial role. My husband and I are perfect examples in term of gender roles, I fill the more expressive role. I take on the tasks of getting everyone up and moving, packing lunches and getting everyone on their way. I keep the house running smoothing, while my husband takes on a more industrial role.
My Husband is employed with the state mental health facility located nearby. He works long hours to make sure that he can provide for our family. His work is done outside of the home, by doing so he maintains our way of life or our social status. 7:15 am, I quickly get dressed, brush my teeth, style my hair and put make up on before I head out the door. Erving Goffman (1922-1982), used a theatrical metaphor of stage, actors, and intended audience to understand social interactions. The Dramaturgical perspective is also known as Impression management and suggests, that we present ourselves in a way that influences how others will perceive us. I never leave the house without being properly dressed, hair styled and make up on. On rare occasion, I may not have to leave the house for the day, I don’t style my hair or put makeup on.
When I leave the house, I want to make a good impression on the people that I may encounter. When I step out my front door I present the better version of myself, in that way, I influence or control the way that others perceive me. Not everyone would agree with this theory, “Some have argued that the Dramaturgical perspective should only be applied to institutions rather than individuals. The perspective wasn’t tested on individuals and some feel that testing must be done before the perspective can be applied.” (Crossman 2018) 9:40 am I arrive at the school where my youngest son attends.
Earlier in the week I received a call asking for donations for a local family in need of winter clothing for their boys. Jacob is 15 years old and stands six feet four, his growth spurt has been hard not to notice, which is why the teachers were reaching out to us. It just so happened, we had a ton of clothing that our boys had outgrown, and we were more than happy to donate it. We realize that not everyone is as fortunate as we are. Lower class families often struggle to provide the basic needs, such as, winter clothing for their children and can even feel stuck. Lower class families are faced with challenge after challenge and social mobility can be a difficult task to achieve, but not completely impossible. Social mobility refers to the movement of social classes to move up or down between classes.
Social mobility can occur in several different ways, a few examples would include marriage, education and employment, or even loss of employment or divorce. From the conflict perspective we can recognize the inequalities that are present between the classes. “Social class positioning influences all aspects of everyday interaction.” (Markus & Fiske, n.d.) When we are born, we are born into our parents social standing, so we socialized, and educated to the standards of our parent’s position in society. Inequalities are the unequal opportunities and benefits for different social positions or statuses within a group or society. The lower classes don’t have access to the same resources than that of the higher class, thus they remain at the bottom of the social classes. Lower classes may not have access to the same type of education, employment, or even medical care.
This family, like many other low-class families, are struggling to get by and the cycle often repeats from generation to generation. When I was leaving, I noticed a group of children in about second grade being led by their teacher into the high school gymnasium. They were prompted by the teacher to stay in a single file line, be quiet, and to keep their hands to themselves. Most of the children did as they were instructed, however, a few failed to follow the instruction of their teacher. She swiftly reminded the students that if they couldn’t follow the rules they would not be participating in gym class today. It was amazing to see how the behavior of those children changed. This is a wonderful example as to how our social institution of education plays a role in our socialization. Socialization refers to the process of learning and being taught the beliefs, values, and social norms of our culture. Our primary group, our families, grandparents are the biggest influence in our socialization. They are primarily responsible for transferring culture belief, values, and social norms from generation to generation.
However, our secondary group is still a large influence in how we are socialized. Hidden Curriculum is the unintended or unwritten lessons that are learned just being at school but are not related to academic courses. This can be seen in the transfer of social norms, values, and beliefs from teachers or other students. These children were being taught to abide by the social norms, and how they were expected to behave. The teacher was using the possibility of sanctions (punishment) to reinforce conformity and to maintain control. If we look at this a little deeper we could argue that she was also using positive sanctions for those who did conform, those children knew that their good behavior would allow them to participate in gym class.
Although this may not have been the intended lesson of the teacher, it is part of the hidden curriculum, therefore, our teachers and play a significant role in our socialization. It is important to note that hidden curriculum can further perpetuate inequities among social classes. “Basil Bernstein (1977), Pierre Bourdieu (Bourdieu and Passeron 1977), and Michael W. Apple (1979), focusing on school knowledge, have argued that knowledge and skills leading to social power and reward (e.g., medical, legal, managerial) are made available to the advantaged social groups but are withheld from the working classes, to whom a more “practical” curriculum is offered (e.g./ manual skills, clerical knowledge).” (Anyon, 1980) Lower class students may be exposed to a hidden curriculum that teaches them conformity and offers very little decision making, where the higher classes hidden curriculum may be less focused on conformity and more interested in providing students with critical thinking and decision-making skills.
It’s a wonderful Life My role in society may seem minimal to some, but it is an important role, none the less. All the little things I do to support my family are also for the greater good of our society. I have socialized my children to be productive members of society, I keep our household running smoothly so that my husband is able to focus on work and helping the members of our community who suffer with mental illnesses. When I see some in need, I instinctively try to find a solution or way to assist, I see a need and I look for a way to fill it. It can be discouraging to see so many people who struggle through day to day life and if I can make a small difference in someone’s day, I feel grateful. Grateful for all I have and grateful for the opportunity to give something back. It’s not a perfect life, but what a wonderful life it is.
