Human societies are quite diverse, which paves the way for disorder and conflicts that can impede social, political, and economic progress. This reality has informed these societies to design and implement sets of rules and norms in a bid to regulate behavior. Laws that are usually in written form are a universal social regulatory framework that highlights the expected behavior as well as the consequences for failing to adhere to these provisions. On the other hand, norms, mores, and folkways are unwritten codes of conduct, but unlike laws, it is not a guarantee that their violation would lead to sanctions. Folkways are of particular interest in this discourse considering that a breach of these unwritten codes of behaviors makes one be viewed as ignorant.
Folkway Violation
When I was eight years old, I was informed that we would go on an educational tour to a coastal city that was 100 miles away from our school. This would be the first time I had an opportunity to leave my home based in a rural setting. When we arrived at our destination, and I got out of the bus, I was amazed at the height of the buildings and the size of the traffic. I could not stop staring back at the high-rise buildings, an activity that made me trip over a couple of times. I hesitated to cross the streets since I had not seen so many vehicles before, thus forcing my teacher to hold my hand.
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How I Felt While being Deviant
The incident made me feel odd and inadequate, considering that the rest of my classmates and the city people went about their business as if everything was alright. I could not help but wonder why they seemed unbothered by all the buildings and vehicles. At the time, I did not understand that they were used to the experience, meaning to them, being in the city was a part of their daily routine. I felt embarrassed when I realized that all of my classmates crossed the streets with ease without having to be guided or aided to do so.
Reactions that I Received while Violating the Norm
The people I was with and those who saw me were surprised at my reaction going by how they looked at me as an alien. My classmates laughed at me since they could not understand how a person would know little about city life at my age. Other pedestrians kept looking back to see if I was still struggling to cross and staring at the buildings. My class teacher did not appear surprised at all since she knew my history, and all she could do was to hold my hand and reassure me that I would be alright.
Analysis of the Experience using a Theoretical Framework
This experience which points to a violation of a folkway, may be analyzed using various theories of deviance. According to Kendall (2016), deviance refers to either criminal or non-criminal behaviors that attract significant disapproval from a section of members of the society. One of the theories that I would apply to the incidence is the differential association that Edwin Sutherland coined. This theory establishes that a reference group determines norms to be followed and, in turn, influences how others behave (Akers & Jennings, 2019). In the incidence, people who live and work in the city are the reference group in that they have developed a framework regulating how people are supposed to behave when they encounter tall buildings.
The other theory that would be applied to this experience is control theory, which outlines both external and internal controls in regulating behavior. Deflem (2015) notes that internal controls include values, morality, integrity, and the desire to be a good person, while external controls include family, police, and friends, all of which prevent people from going against norms. However, in my case, the internal control was not enough to stop me from staring since I had not been exposed to such a scenario before. The external controls, on the other hand, did not help much since they did not adopt the right approach to let me know that by staring, I was violating a folkway.
Conclusion
Norms and laws regulate human behavior to ensure conformity, which in turn enhances the likelihood for improved social and economic outcomes. Despite having both written and unwritten codes of behavior, people still go against them for selfish interests. At times, the behaviors may be inconsequential, as in the case of folkway; one fails to act according to expectations. My experience in the city where I kept staring at tall buildings since it was my first time there and the reactions that I got depicts the impacts of foregoing social norms. The application of differential association and social control theories would improve one’s understanding of why people adhere to or ignore social norms.
References
Akers, R. L., & Jennings, W.G. (2019). The social learning theory of crime and deviance. In Marvin D. Krohn (Ed.), Handbook on crime and deviance (pp. 113-.130). Springer.
Deflem, M. (2015). Deviance and social control. In Erich Goode (Ed.), The handbook of deviance (pp. 30-44). Wiley-Blackwell.
Kendall. D. (2016). Sociology in our times . Cengage Learning.
