Norms and Values

Sociology: Chapter 3, Section 3

Norms: The Rules We Live By

• Norms are rules defining what is appropriate or inappropriate (or what is “normal”)

• -A Hindu peasant may die of starvation in the midst of healthy cattle

• -A young girl in Africa might become engaged to a person she has never met

• -A Roman emperor might have exiled relatives to small isolated islands for disgracing the family

• Each of these are cultural norms for when/ where people live

How do you feel about these norms? Do you think your feelings have anything to do with your culture?

Norms: The Rules We Live By

• Sometimes we are not aware of norms until someone breaks it

• We may not realize standing in line waiting for movie tickets is the norm until someone tries to break into the line

• Waiting your turn is expected behavior in our culture

• Other norms might range from minor ones like clapping after a performance or more major ones like laws against stealing

• What other norms are you aware of?

Are there norms to beauty?

• Is beauty culturally defined?

Cultural Etiquette

• Discuss Page 82• Which custom would seem the strangest if

you were visiting that country?

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• There are three basic types of norms: folkways, mores, and laws

• Folkways are customary ways of acting that lack moral overtones

• It’s not a huge moral issue if someone decides to sleep on the floor rather than on a bed, or wear shorts with a suit and tie, or wear different colored socks, or talk loudly in a quiet library

• We might think that person is strange, but not wicked

A violation of folkways may make others

uncomfortable, but it’s not illegal

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• Some violations of folkways bring a stronger reaction than others

• Many might not even notice if you don’t offer your seat on a crowded bus to an older person

• However, being loudly drunk and obnoxious at a party will probably lose you some friends for a while

• What other folkways can you think of, where a violation doesn’t make someone evil, just odd?

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• Mores (pronounced “MOR’-ays”) is based on the word “moral,” meaning it has something to do with right and wrong

• Violation of mores is considered detrimental to society at large, and can bring about scorn, but are not necessarily a violation of law

• Some mores are that we are respectful during the pledge of allegiance or at funerals, we do our own work on tests, and we don’t throw paper at other students

Cheating is morally wrong in our society, so it is a violation of our mores

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• The most serious mores are taboos• Taboos bring about a strong punishment from

the group or from their god• A Hindu taboo is the killing of cows• A Catholic taboo is abortion• A Mormon taboo is marital infidelity• An Islamic taboo is disrespecting the Koran• -None of these are illegal, but they do bring

strong social or religious punishment

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• Laws are norms that are formally defined and enforced by officials

• They are consciously created and enforced; specific action must be taken to recognize a law

Laws are carefully worded and defined, so that they may be enforced in the manner in which

they are intended

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• Mores can be an important source for laws. • For many years, there was a norm against

murder, but it was never written down. Everybody just knew that it was wrong to murder

• As society advanced, the law against murder was formally defined and enforced, with specific penalties

Around 1750 B.C.E, Babylonian King Hammurabi was one of the first to write laws and

consequences, thus making them official

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• Folkways can also be a source for laws• Smoking was acceptable behavior into the late

1970’s• Increased evidence that smoking was bad for you

and for others led to laws limiting or banning smoking altogether

• Today, no smoking is allowed in places where it used to be commonplace, such as restaurants

There was a time when it was acceptable and even expected to be able to smoke in

restaurants, airplanes, and other public places

Folkways, Mores, and Laws

• Not all mores become laws• It’s not against the law to cheat on an

exam, but it is immoral• Not all laws were once mores• Failure to pay a parking fine was never

one of the mores

Silly Laws Still on the Books• Sometimes there are laws from a while ago that

are still on the books, but we don’t know why, and they are rarely, if ever, enforced

• It’s illegal to play cards on a train in New York, for an elephant to drink beer in Natchez, Mississippi, or wear roller skates in public restrooms in Portland, Oregon

• Discuss the laws listed by state on page 86• Speculate what might have caused such a law

to be written

Enforcing the Rules

• Some people do not conform to norms. So sanctions can be used to encourage conformity.

• Sanctions can be rewards or punishments• Formal sanctions are administered by an authorized

person, like a judge, teacher, or President of the United States, to a deserving person

• Sanctions could be a Congressional Medal of Honor or an Honor Roll certificate as a positive sanction, or a sentence of five to seven years in the penitentiary as a negative sanction

A judge may impose a formal sanction against someone who violates a law

Enforcing the Rules

• Informal sanctions can be applied by any member of a group, not necessarily the official in charge

• If someone is loud in a movie, it doesn’t have to be the usher who quiets the person (as an official sanction); it can be anyone in the theater telling them to be quiet (as an informal sanction).

Someone talking on a cell phone in a theater may receive informal sanctions from others in

the theater, not necessarily the usher

Values– The Basis for Norms• Values are what make norms and decide sanctions• Values are broad ideas about what most people in a

society consider to be desirable• Since values can be such a general concept, different

norms can come from the same values• Both the United States and the former Soviet Union

believed in “freedom” as a value, but in the Soviet Union, freedom meant everyone getting full employment, medical care, education and housing.

• In the U.S., none of those are assumed rights. But we have free speech and a representative government, which they didn’t have.

Why are Values Important?

• Values are the general basis for specific norms• If we value democracy, our norms will ensure

personal freedom• If we value human welfare, our norms will

provide for the most unfortunate citizens• If we value hard work, our norms will include

sanctions against laziness

Basic Values in the United States• There are six values that seem especially important

in the United States:• Achievement and Success: People emphasize

achievement, especially in workplace. Success is based on effort and skill. Wealth is a symbol for success.

• Activity and Work: we like to work, we don’t want to be unemployed, we want promotions based on merit rather than favoritism

• Efficiency and Practicality: we search for better ways to do things, relying on science and technology

Basic Values in the United States

• Equality: “all men are created equal” is in our creed, and our definition of this has expanded over the years. Equal opportunity if not equal results.

• Democracy: the people (voters) have the power. We vote for those in power, and can vote them out.

• Group Superiority: Despite belief in equality, many Americans do believe in the superiority of their own subgroup (religious, ethnic, or social class).

How Fluid are America’s Values?

• Those six values were identified in 1970, and some things have changed since then, such as less overt racism, which might affect how people report on the group superiority value

• There are other values which have been identified as important, such as honesty, optimism, and friendliness

Assessment

• Complete all three questions on page 91