Blog Post #6 - Norm Violation

Blog Post #6 - Norm Violation

Now it's time to get back into the field and DO some sociology! Do remember your detached observation blog from a few weeks ago? This time you are going get the chance to interact with your observed environment.

For this week's blog post, you are going to get a feel for social deviance by performing your own norm violations.

A norm violation is acting out in a way that is different than what you are socially expected to do. When you violate a social norm, people will notice - and they will likely react with surprise, confusion, or become upset! The norm violation project is designed to help you see just how narrow the box of "acceptable behavior is" and how it feels to swim against the stream.

To successfully complete this project, you will want to plan ahead! Pick a venue where you will be visible to others - they can be strangers, friends, or family. Think about the way you are "supposed to behave" in that scene based on your status and role. Then, design a way to obviously defy to social expectations.

Some previous students have done projects like...

• Pretending to have a different status to see how people treat you (e.g. hold up a "will work for food sign," add a fake "baby bump" to simulate pregnancy, speak a different language, or wear a head covering like a hijab.)
• Wearing clothes inappropriate to the scene. (e.g. Fancy dress for fast food or pajamas to the store.)
• Pretending not to know something that you are expected to (using a grocery cart backwards or shoes untied, pretend not to know how to pump gas)
• Walking through a drive-thru fast food lane instead of driving in a car
• Breaking social expectations like standing way too close to people when you talk or never making eye contact with others
• Paying for your purchase with change (or pennies!) instead of cash/card

Once you have your plan, you may want to enlist an assistant to watch how other people react to you. They can stay in the scene before and after you do your norm violation to see how people react. (Sometimes people will pretend to ignore your norm violation and you may think "They didn't notice!" when really they were just too intimidated to confront you.)

Whatever scene/situation you choose be sure that you follow these critical rules:

• Do not put yourself or anyone else in harm's way. I strongly recommend against any norm violation that involves driving, vehicles, or safety. If you distract someone and they cause an injury, you could be accountable.

• Do not commit any illegal acts. I will not post bail, write a letter to a judge, etc.

• Do not act out in a social situation that will permanently harm your social standing. For example, don't embarrass yourself at a social function so that you can never return. It may be safer to try this project in an area that you don't plan to return to. (e.g. Go to the grocery store in the next town over.)

 In your reflection on FlipGrid, please provide these details:

• What was your norm violation. (Where, how did you violate the norm, why did you pick this plan?)
• How did you feel about the violation before, during, and after?
• How did the "audience" in the scene react to your norm violation?
• Did anyone try to correct your behavior through formal or informal social control?

If you truly cannot participate in this assignment due to anxiety or another medical condition, I am willing to consider a situation where you direct another volunteer to break a norm for you. If so, please contact me via email for approval.

I look forward to reading your norm breaking experiences. Remember to be brave in the face of experiencing social control - it's supposed to feel awkward. That's the power of social control!

~MC

Reflection # 5 - When Status Does Harm

Reflection #5 - When Status Does Harm
In FlipGrid: Two minute response and include at least three concepts from the chapter.

Due Saturday, June 22nd at 11:59pm.
Two or more comments on your peers' work by Monday, June 24th

Now that you have read Chapter 4 and 5 to discover the power of social connections...

I'd like you to explore how the statuses we have can shape our lives in powerful ways - including doing harm to us. I have selected four films from PBS' "Frontline" series that illustrate how a person's status can expose them to trauma or direct them to behave in self-destructive ways. In each case, the damage is not so much about the person but the system they are in and how their social surroundings direct behavior based on a status.

Choose one of the following four films and watch it in its entirety. Then, compose a two minute response in FlipGrid on how the film illustrates the connection between status, role, and social behavior.

Please note: while you will need to summarize the film (to explain it to those who watch other films) this is not just a "virtual book report." Your whole reflection should not be limited to telling us what happened. Instead, try to connect the film to ideas from your reading.

 Successful responses will include examples that connect the film to terms from the chapter such as: status symbols, conformity, role strain, role conflict, groupthink, in-group and out-group, reference group, role exit, master status, etc.

Your choices for films are...

Football High: Corporate sponsorships, nationally televised games, minute-by-minute coverage on sports websites -- for players, parents and coaches, high school football has never been bigger. But is enough being done to ensure players' safety as the intensity of the sport grows? In Football High, FRONTLINE investigates the new face of high school football.

• How does the "role" of being a football influence the decision making of parents and children?
• What does the social structure of high school football demand of its participants?

Watch "Football High"

Flint's Deadly Water:  A FRONTLINE documentary, drawing from a two-year investigation, uncovers the extent of a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak during the Flint water crisis — and how officials failed to stop it. 

• What statuses contribute to individuals being exposed to additional risk of dangerous drinking water?
• Why was the health of residents in this city undervalued by state and local government officials?

Watch "Flint's Deadly Water"

COVID's Hidden Toll: FRONTLINE examines how the COVID crisis has hit vulnerable immigrants and undocumented workers. The documentary follows the coronavirus pandemic’s invisible victims, including crucial farm and meat-packing workers who lack protections and have been getting sick.

• How does the intersection of being "undocumented" and "essential workers" create a special vulnerability among those interviewed?
•  How does a gap in access to healthcare for some impact the health of the whole community?

Watch "COVID's Hidden Toll"

Sex Trafficking in America: This film tells the unimaginable stories of young women coerced into 
prostitution – and follows one police unit that’s committed to rooting out sexual exploitation.

• How does being young and female expose individuals to potential threats?
• When a person passes through the justice system, how does this status effect them? 

Watch "Sex Trafficking in America"

I'd also like to hear what you thought about whichever film you choose. Did watching the film change the way you think about this particular population?

Best wishes,

~MC

All images courtesy of PBS' Frontline series: http://www.pbs.org/frontline