Sociological Theories In The Movie West Side Story

Throughout history, mankind has changed and been influenced by the acts of one another. Sociologists have studied the behaviors of humans and they have coined numerous terms, theories, and principles to try and describe why humans behave the way they do. In the movie West Side Story numerous sociological terms are depicted, such as labeling theory, social norms, formal and informal sanctions, and the results of what governs groups within society when all else fails.
West Side Story tells the tale of a battle between two street gangs in New York, both competing to be the best, while also incorporating the impossible love between two people destined to hate each other, which ends in tragedy. The streets of New York are ran by an American gang

West Side Story is about the Jets and the Sharks, both gangs were formed first by others, identifying them as a gang, or unified group, and then by every member identifying under that gang title. This is the basis of the concept coined by sociologist as labeling theory, which is defined as “the belief that individuals subconsciously notice how others see or label them, and their reactions to those labels, over time, form the basis of their self-identity” (Conley, __). In the movie West Side Story, Bernardo was known as a Shark, no matter where he went, the police officers, the school teachers, the owner of the local store, and members of the Jets knew that Bernardo was a Shark. In turn Bernardo viewed himself as a shark, and the leader of the

The great love of Tony and Maria, they tried to keep their love a secret, scared of other reactions. When Bernardo saw Tony and Maria dancing, he freaked out and rushed her home, and Anita tried to tell Maria to stick to her own kind, Puerto Ricans, to forget Tony. They were expected to follow the informal sanctions, which are rules that no one speaks of but everyone knows about them. Another definition of informal sanction is “the usually unexpressed but widely known rules of group membership; the unspoken rules of social life” (Conley, ____). Though when murdered is committed the Jets all go into hiding and a plan to protect themselves because they broke a law society implemented and expected them to follow to stop crime, they broke a formal sanction. A clear definition of formal sanctions is “mechanisms of social control by which rules/laws prohibit deviant criminal behavior” (Conley, ___).
It is to question what keeps everyone in a society in order, why do people follow social norms? Conley believed that deviants keep society together and I disagree. When both formal and informal sanctions were broken in West Side Story everyone came together, they put their hate aside and honored the death of Tony. Society is held together by our actions, our desire to do good keeps us together, as Philip Zimbardo showed any good person can do bad things. The movie West Side Story shows how race