Sociology

All societies have norms and values; they can be formal or informal, mores or folkways. Society also does its best to encourage or enforce what it views as appropriate behavior while discouraging or punishing those that shows negative behavior. At the same time however, where there is a "right" way to behave, there is also a wrong way. In this case of societal norms, the wrong way is considered deviant. Deviance is behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a society. Although, the subculture that doesn't conform to the norms or common values of a given society is a deviance subculture. Some of the common values held in the U.S. include striving to get a good education, being successful, and having a career. Norms on a bus, is behaving properly or/ and follow the rules given. Most people in our society do follow the guidelines. When choosing a location to do my observation, I chose to ride the TARC bus to see the different types of groups interacting with one another. There were multiple people getting on and off the bus. Also, there was not just subculture on the bus, but also counterculture on the bus. There were younger people using the TARC bus than older people. So, an older lady was shocked at how this younger lady that took action when a white guy said the phrase, "What's up my n*gga?" The young lady responded back with, "What's up?" See in the 60- year-old lady's lifetime, she isn't used to hearing a different race saying "n*gga" unless it's used as an insult. So the older lady said, "Excuse me?" Then the young lady explained to her that that's how the "younger generation" greets each other, no matter what the color of your skin complexion. Then the white guy apologized to the both of the women and said he wouldn't do it again. The language that today's society is completely different from decades ago. Another thing I seen was the use of technology. Almost everyone on the TARC bus had a cell phone. Most people used their cell