Deviation from social norms
Cards (9)
- Norms tell individuals what is deemed as socially acceptable behaviourThese can be implicit (unwritten rules) or written in law.Anybody who does not follow these unwritten rules/norms are classed as abnormalEach culture will have their own norms and will have made their own collective judgement about what is ‘acceptable’ behaviour in their culture.
- Examples: Queuing is a norm in the UK.Wearing socially acceptable clothes, for example it would be inappropriate to wear a bikini to school, or dress informally to a black tie event.
- Unfortunately, in some cultures homosexuality is seen as being against the social norms, up until recently it was against the law in the UK.
- Anti-social personality disorder (psychopathy) is classified by the DSM as having an absence of prosocial internal standards. They do not conform to our moral norms/standards.
- A strength is this definition distinguishes between desirable and undesirable behaviours so it can help people live together in society
- A weakness is it can lead to abuse of human rights-Ie. Anyone that doesn’t follow social norms is deemed as mentally ill, this can be seen as a way of excluding nonconformists. Some psychologists say that some modern categories of mental illness are abuses of peoples right to be different.
- A weakness is social norms can vary over time and culture-What was once the norm historically may no longer be the norm-Norms for one culture may be different from the norms of another culture.
- Cultural Relativism: ‘The idea that cultural norms and values are culture specific and no-one culture is superior to another culture’
- How does this relate to cultural relativism?Norms vary across culturesWhat is seen as the norm in one culture is often not the norm in another culture.For example in some countries it is socially acceptable to stand closer to strangers in publicVoice pitch and volume, touching, direction of gaze and acceptable subjects for discussion have all been found to vary between cultures.