WHAT ARE NORMS?
Social norms are standards of behaviour shared by the members of a social group, to which they are expected to conform. Norms refer to accepted and required behaviour for a person or a group in a particular setting. They are rules for social living.
The word “norm” is derived from the Latin “norms” , which is a carpenter’s square or rule.
Norms require people to do certain things, and forbid them from doing certain other things.
Norms are based on values. They prescribe through relatively specific rules what is considered to be good or desirable by the society as a whole, or by a particular group. There is a diversity of norms belonging to various groups, and these sometimes come in variance with each other. For instance, the norms of the family and the broader kin-group require that one should help his or her kinsmen in every way.
Customs as Norms
The primary sanction against the violation of the norms of custom is social disapproval Customs as Norms Customs regulate most of our day-to-day behaviour. Customs are socially accredited ways of action. They are so deeply rooted in the way of life of a society, that people conform to them almost by force of habit, without being conscious about it.
Fashion as Norms
Fashion is a term which applies to a wide variety of aspects of life as opinions, beliefs, recreation, dress, jewellery, furnishing, architecture, etc. It is according to Maclver and Page “the socially approved sequence of variation on a customary theme” A fashion which is the latest, tends to be the most preferred, even when it may be ugly or uncomfortable.
Institutions as Social Norms
These social norms are so compelling that they become the necessary conditions of behaviour. Institutions embody more social recognition and compulsion than customs Maclver , has defined institution in a narrower sense. According to him, institutions are “established forms or conditions of procedure characteristic of group activity”. In this sense institutions too constitute social norm.
Legal Norms
legal norms have the power of the state behind them Legal Norms In modern society the state alone wields the ultimate sanction of physical enforcement through imposition or threat of imposition of fine, imprisonment, or death. Laws are often derived from customs, but norms become a part of law only when they are upheld by the state.
Social norms become a part of the personality of the individual through the process of socialization. In the process of social control, norms play the most crucial part for it is norms that regulate social behavior.
The maintenance of social organization is unthinkable without the operation of norms.
Deviance
Norms provide the standards for the control of behavior of individuals towards each other, and in relation to various groups and the community as a whole. This does not mean, however, that there is absolute conformity to social norms by all the members of a society at any time.
Anomie
Anomie literally means the lack of norms or normlessness. But the situation of complete normlessness seldom exists. Sometimes there is lack of clarity about norms. But the term anomie is more frequently used to indicate ambivalent orientation towards norms. R.K. Merton has explained anomie in terms of the gap between culturally defined goals and the legitimate means to reach them.
Source: IGNOU (SOCIOLOGY )
Comments
Post a Comment