sociology breeching essay

A norm is something that is accepted by society as the right thing to do. The norm I chose to breech was the idea that cereal should be eaten with a spoon the way I broke this norm is by using a fork as a replacement for the spoon. I performed this test in presence of toddles and both women and men. For this experiment I expected for a child to be confused and react with a question, females to have a negative response and as for men to find it odd or even amusing. My technique was to proceed with my usual routine and attempt to be as normal as possible. This test took place during breakfast time at home where I was exposed to children, and also during lunch time at my workplace. My younger nephews who are both under six told me I was using the wrong eating utensil even though they knew I was doing something that was not normal they mimicked my action and found it extremely comical, this wasn’t surprising since kids tend to have a since of hummer and will most often imitate adults. When the same procedure was done in front of adults all women made face gestures and comments like “What are you doing?” the majority just looked away and avoided eye contact. As for adult males most giggled and made teasing comments but were particularly kind and notified me of my mistake they even directed me to were the proper tools were located. When breaking the folkway that states that all food should be eaten with the proper utensil most people automatically felt uncomfortable and not hesitate to make a reaction. This results show that people do respond differently to abnormal acts which affect the way they view the character of the norm violator. Individuals who breach norms are often viewed as unusual therefor societies tend to want to associate themselves with people who share some of the same ideas.