Conformity and Obedience

CioConformity obedience and authority
Conformity basically means compliance with common practices
Compliance means doing what other people in our social standing do in our daily lives. Most people, in most social groups, conform in everyday things like speech, dress codes, eating habits etc.
This kind of conformity is known as ‘’Social control’’- the numerous pressure as individuals grow turns them from babies into members of our society. The main agencies of social control are the family, the peer group, the media, religion, employment and the law. All of these encourage conformity of one kind or another. The conformity types of behaviour are called ‘’social norms’’
Social norms; these are the normal types of behaviour in normal social groups * Age groups * Colleges and classes in college * People of same social economic background * Women/Men * Ethnic groups
The role of self-esteem in Conformity;
Low self-esteem is linked to feelings of insecurity. Research has tended to show that people with low self-esteem, or low feelings of security, are most likely to be the people that would conform. It is believed that those with low self-esteem can increase their sense of personal security if they belong to a group and adopting its norms because there is ‘’safety in numbers’’
Self-esteem is related to how a person has been brought up, academical performance and to economic and family background.
The relevance of conformity in the uniformed public services:
The uniformed public services encourage conformity among their members in various ways: Uniform and rank structures, working in teams, espirit de corps, and by having social clubs, sports clubs, and other activities which encourage individuals to mix and socialise outside working hours. The message from the uniformed public services is that conformity is a good thing for their image and for the work of each service.
Conformity can be used to be a strong bonding force in the uniformed public services, but if it becomes to strong then this can sometimes lead to problems. In a diverse csociety people are different, and they are usuall quite proud of their differeences, it is what makes them unique. People criticse the public services because they feel that to many of the services have too many white males. In general they are good at their jobs, but they tend to be full of themselves and have that "bullish" attitude. This means that they have become less welcoming to the female or ethnic minority recruits, aswell as gays and lesbians. The feeling is that these men have been conforming one another so that they exclude everbody else and this they hope will put off new recruits.
Obedience basically means the act of carrying out an order
As a practice, it means that orders are carried out regularly and that these orders are carried out with dependence. As a quality, it is a habit that people develop that allows them to follow orders without delay and without complaint.
Obedience differs from conformity. When someone conforms, they do something without being asked to do it. E.g. An officer who would wear their uniform on duty.Where as, when someone obeys, they do what they are told to. E.g. A soldier following an order to shoot somebody.
Following orders;
In thte uniformed public services being able to follow orders quickly and promptly is an absolute must. This does not mean that employees are robots and do exactly what they are told all the time, but the short of it is whenever an order has to be obeyed then it has to be obeyed. Due to this reason, people who are not able or prepared to follow an order, are not likely to be employed in the uniformed public services.
Even though employees in the uniformed public services have an obligation to follow orders, the people giving the orders have an obligation to give orders that are reasonable and are justified.
Orders are part of the general drive towards discipline orders help to give the uniform services structure and keep everything intact.
Conscious and unconscious obedience;
Those who have very little experience in following orders join a uniformed public service may have problems following orders and may have to make themselves do so. Though after a while it may become very natural to them and they just get used to obeying to orders. The move from having conscious to unconscious obedience.
In order to be a public servant the uniformed public services stress that a servant has both conscious and unconscious obedience. the first so work id done in a discipline and organized manner. The second in emergencies were instinct and instant response is needed.
Unconscious obedience is not the same as blind obedience.

Compliance;
Compliance is doing something that other people want you to do. Though sometimes like “compliance with common practices" this is seen as conformity. In other contexts such as “compliance with an order" this will mean obedience.
Depending on the context, compliance can have different meanings, compliance could be willing or it could obedience in which the person is happy to follow orders. Some feel that compliance is forced upon people. Compliance also means to obedient to rules, regulations and laws. Within the uniform services willing, cheerful obedience is good because it suggests that the team is happy and working well.
Status as a factor in obedience
The same is in the uniformed public services as in life, if an order is giving it is more likely to be obeyed by someone if the person giving the order is of a higher status. In the uniformed services status usually will mean rank, and orders will most of the time come from the higher ranks to the lower ranks. Those at lower ranks only really get to suggest ideas.
Though someone times exceptions will occur to the norm of higher telling lower what to do. For example if someone is an expert in an area they will be given temporary authority. Therefore for that short period the expert is the boss. This might be seen in a road traffic accident where the police would be the one with the higher status until the vehicles become on fire then the Fire service become the bosses because they are the experts.
Influences
These factors can change the nature of the orders or how they are received by individuals.
Fear - This is fear of punishment, of loss of rank, physical beating or of peer-group ridicule. All of these may contribute to people obeying orders that they would not normally obey. Fear of a person (e.g. a commanding officer) should not be the motivating factor for obeying orders. If an individual is following orders due to fear this would suggest that there is some form of harrasment, poor team relationships or levels of understanding are bad. These are potential serious problems iin the Uniformed Public services. The likes of bullying can be a serious problem and can face people with leaving, driven to depression or even taking their own lives.
Reward- Rewards are used as an incentive to follow orders, but should only take the form of appraisal, and not gifts. Giving rewards that would be considered obvious lays those handing them out to be seen as having favourites or corrupted. As everyone is to be considered equals favouritism in the Uniformed Public Service is not something that is illegal.
Love- Love can sometimes mean intense admiration for some. For e.g. Soldiers may get very close to each during hard times and begin to consider people like a family member. This may also love their country. This type of love can make people be highly obedient and can sometimes lead to self-sacrifice.
Sexual love or falling in love can happen in the uniformed public services, and can be seen as bad for obedience as love can blind people. This is why women were not allowed in the armed forces and so were homosexuals until 2000. It was felt that love undermined service discipline.
Respect- Within the uniformed public services there are two types of respect: * Respect due to rank- e.g. saluting a senior officer * Personal respect for individuals.
Both act as a stimulus for obedience and conformity and do so without undermining authority.