Examples Of Social Norm Violations In Society

In society, there is a specific way people are expected to behave. These are known as social norms, or “rules of behavior,” (Henslin, 2011, p. 49). Social norms are determined based upon people’s values, or “their ideas of what is desirable in life,” (Henslin, 2011, p. 49). However, these norms are often violated in different ways. Some of these violations are mild, others can be extreme and can cause either a positive or negative effect on society. A folkway would be an example of a mild violation because it’s “not strictly enforced,” (Henslin, 2011, p. 51). A more extreme norm violation is called a more. A more is, “essential to our core values, and we insist on conformity,” (Henslin, 2011, p. 51). There are different sanctions or “reactions
I decided to stop and get a coffee before my first shift. After I had ordered, I noticed a boy sitting at a table with a friend in the corner of the café. This was completely normal until I realized he was dressed in a Chewbacca onesie. I had to do a double take and smirked a little once I realized what I had witnessed. The lady behind me saw what I did and looked at me and shook her head then rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face. Two other women who were waiting for their drinks were whispering and looking his way. They seemed almost disgusted because unlike the smirk upon my face, they shared a scowl that showed their distaste for poor chewy. There was even a gentleman who was sitting at a different table a few feet away who kept glancing at the boy in between his sips of coffee and the pages he read in the paper. The man in the Chewy pajamas had his back facing everyone, so he missed the reaction he was getting from people. The man’s decision to show up to Starbucks in his fuzzy pajamas obviously broke norms because first of all no one expects anyone to sit in a public place in their pajamas, unless they are a small child and second because no one expects a grown man to wear fuzzy onesies, especially out in public. The sanctions of the people around were both positive and negative, the lady behind me found humor in it, while the two women waiting for
On Valentine’s Day I went to breakfast with my parents at Cocos bakery on Rosedale Hwy. It was obviously packed because of the holiday. Once we were seated, I began conversing with my parents, but instead of talking at in indoor level, I shouted everything I was saying. Note that this is extremely uncomfortable for me because I am generally a quiet person. So I begin to loudly tell my parents stories about work and school and about deciding what I should order. I saw the people at the table across from us constantly glaring at me and would stop mid statement to look over in my direction because my voice was distracting them from their train of thought. The couple scooted farther away so they would sit in the middle of the wrap around booth and turned their heads together and would converse facing each other. I could tell my parents were feeling uncomfortable by my screaming also. My dad would look away from me when I talked and would look at the people around us noticing how loud I was speaking, and my mom finally got so fed up she told me, “you need to speak quieter you’re yelling”. Of course I still continued to yell rather than speak in my inside restaurant voice. My parents got frustrated with me and by the time the food was there they looked like they were ready to leave because I was embarrassing them. I continued this behavior and another table who had just been seated with three older couples kept glaring at me. At one point