Breaking A Social Norm

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A norm is something that is usual, typical or standard. Norms deal with behavior and rules or regulations on how we should act. It could be said that are the dos and don’ts of society. There are two types of norms, prescriptive and proscriptive. Prescriptive norms talk about how we should act and what we should do. Proscriptive norms tell you what not to do. Minor norms, also known as folkways, deal with everyday life. A violation of a minor norm comes with a minimal punishment. An example of a minor norm punishment would be ignoring friends. Major norms, also known as mores, are considered essential for a society’s survival. For example, laws made by the government. An example of a punishment for violating a major norm would be going to jail. Folkways can evolve into mores and mores can devolve into folkways. This paper will discuss an event of breaking a specific minor norm with family, friends and strangers. The norm that was …show more content…

That is when the violation of the minor norm occurred once again. At first I started asking her questions about the test that was coming up and the response was “What?” You can hear the confusion in her voice due to this act of having a conversation through a bathroom door had never happened to her before. That is when I started testing her on the material we were studying fighting the urge to laugh. At first she would respond with the answers and then she said “What are you doing you’re acting really strange.” I immediately responded with “No breaks, keep studying” and asked her another question. After that question she wouldn’t answer. I repeated the question and I still got ignored. When she finally came out of the bathroom, I asked her why she wouldn’t answer my last question; her response was “who has a conversation while someone is going to the bathroom?” That was when the revealing of the project was

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