16/09/14
Norms
Norm is an expected and accepted behaviour by a society. We get our norms from our parents, cultures, or traditions, but sociologists disagree on where they can come from.
Norms are based on a kind of agreement, so they can be changed by time which is called social construction. People also see norms as a ‘social glue’ as it binds different individuals together. A norm requires an action as it is a behaviour. An example of a norm can be the fact that most of the people put on their seatbelts once they get in the car.
Norms are passed on from generation to generation and ‘adapted to fit the social climate’ which is the change of norms, values, family, gender, race, etc.
However, there are people who don’t follow the norms and they’re called deviants.
Fox is a sociologist who spent 3 years observing the English norms, cultures and wrote a book based on her studies. One of the thing that caught her attention was the use of mobile phones which seemed to be in everyone’s life regardless of class, gender, ethnicity and, increasingly, age. Fox mentioned in her book that people use it for different causes, teenagers use them as a status symbol whereas man are interested in the technological aspects of what they can do. She also believes that women …show more content…
It is also a contested concept, which means that sociologists vary on their exact definition of it. William says it’s a ‘way of life’ and that it contains all details of the way people live their life in a society: their norms, interests, values and ideas on life. If we take the meaning of culture this way it becomes a comprehensive definition, allowing us to connect it to many different groups within and between societies. Some people argue that William’s view on culture is so wide that it has no meaning at all, because he practically says that anything can be a part of