Conformity And Nonconformity?

Part A: Define Conformity and Nonconformity
The definition of conformity is the compliance with social standards and laws in a particular culture, environment, society and time. Conformity happens when a person changes their attitudes, beliefs or actions to align more closely with those in the surrounding groups and environment, as a result of real or perceived group pressure. There are 2 types of conformity, normative conformity, and informational conformity. Normative conformity is conformity that occurs because of the desire to be liked and accepted, this is most widely known as peer pressure. For example, a student begins smoking because their peers are smoking, and feels the need to do this in order to gain acceptance. Informational conformity,

When the movie is finished, all your friends were saying how much they liked it. In this instance, if you were to suppress your own opinion and say that you liked the movie, you would be conforming.
In contrast, nonconformity is a deviation from social norms. It happens when the rules and expectations of a group are violated. This often occurs when a person chooses to act upon their own thoughts and intuition, rather than the expectations of the group, or the society and culture in which they live. An example of nonconformity is attending a wedding and wearing only casual clothes when everybody else is dressed formally.
Part B: To what extent have the values and behaviours of one group influenced the perceptions of this group in the wider

For example, on the night of December 22nd 2002, the Bra Boys had an altercation with off-duty members of the local police force. This event has ultimately resulted in the Bra Boy group being labelled as rebellious, young teens with criminal tendencies by some in the wider society. However, this view was challenged as a result of the actions of the Bra Boys during the Cronulla Riot. In this instance, the leaders of the Bra Boys were a crucial part in instigating the eventual peace between the Australian and Lebanese communities. As a result, the wider community now perceived the Bra Boys as respectful young adults, who valued equality between different cultures. From these instances, it is clear that the behaviours and values of the Bra Boys have influenced the way in which they are perceived by the wider society to a great extent, serving to both reinforce the negative stereotype surrounding the group, as well as challenge it and portray the group in a new