Part: 1
Who is the deviant person in your social group? Our
primary aim is to discover how some social structures exert a definite pressure
upon certain persons in the society to engage in nonconforming rather than
conforming conduct (Merton 21). When society seeks to discover whom an
individual is they look at the individual’s goals, purposes, and interests.
Does the individual have a conformist behavior or are they different/deviant? I
am a conformist in some ways and deviant in others.
The Control Theory talks about goals and how
different choices an individual makes can affect them; getting an education,
building up a business, and acquiring a reputation for virtue (Hirschi). This theory talks about how the
individuals need to weigh the risk vs. benefit and consider the cost at which
the label of being deviant can affect their future. Choosing a reserved
profession I am held to a high standard. Personal safety, protecting someone’s
life, property, and the environment are the goals and standards that I will be held
to for the rest of my life.
At first I considered myself as exception or the
default. One reason why I’m not
the default is because I’m a woman. I’m not the average female. I have never
thought that I was going to grow up, meet the man of my dreams, have babies and
settle down. This “American Dream” isn’t something that has ever been in
my cards. Every little boy wanted to be either a cop or a fireman when they
grow up. By choosing not only one of the most physical but completive careers
one can enter. Being a firefighter for over four years now, I have entered a
male dominant career, which in tradition has violated the norms.
My middle class household taught me how to have the
drive for success in school and life. By growing up in a household with a stay
at home mother I was brought up in a stable environment. The Differential
Association Theory talks about how an individuals learning environment has
an extreme affect on their outcome in life. Is a deviant only a criminal?
Criminal behavior is not inherited but instead is something learned. Either
from participation or imitation it is an act that is considered breaking the
rules. Sutherland and Cressey talk about the principle of differential
association. In their theory it focuses on how a criminal’s behavior is learned
and how the range of intensity is dependant on multiple interactions in the
criminals life. This theory can relate by explaining why I’m not a criminal.
Behavior is learned meaning someone in an individual’s life must teach them such
behavior. The person’s associations are determined in a general context of
social organization (Sutherland & Cressey).
Part Two:
My social experiment for this assignment was really
hard for me to complete because I have a uniform required profession. Choosing
to act out in a deviant way by wearing make-up, jewelry, or even taking my hair
out of a ponytail is against the rules and are all thought of as a forbidden
act. Thinking out of the box I decided to take the issue that I have always
been interested in. The experiment started off with my fiancé and I going
dinner at a fancy restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings. Now, this restaurant has almost
every wall surface covered with a TV. They are the ESPN update for Vancouver.
Sitting in the bar watching pro-bowl and enjoying our food. I sent him off to
socialize and have “guy talk”. He
had two sentences to say in each conversation, “ What sport is the super bowl?
It’s baseball right?” Everyone he
spoke to at first laughed thinking it was a joke. Then the puzzled look came
which was followed by shock and an almost immediate end to the conversation.
Each person, female or male, judged him very quickly. It spread around the bar
very quickly as well, which brought the eye glares and snickers. When he came
back to sit next me we both received odd looks.
Many people asked where he was from or if he was
from this country. When they found that he was born and raised here in
Vancouver we found that they were even more stunned. They asked if he lived
under a rock, was home schooled, and if he even owned a TV.
My fiancé had his masculinity questioned. He said
that people made him feel a little silly about asking them those questions but
after seeing people’s reactions he found it interesting. Was he instantly
labeled?
We hold many labels but am I deviant or not is the
question.
Word Count: 776
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the sources you cited and I liked the way that you analyzed their meaning. I too, believe that Differential Association Theory plays a huge part in one’s affinity to participate in crime or not. If one is not taught to play soccer, they would not automatically know how to play the game. I think environment definitely plays a larger role than biology, as far as behavior is concerned. We learn from modeling and are more likely to behave in ways that are demonstrated to us.
I also really liked your deviant act. Your fiancé was a good sport for being able to put aside his pride. I could only image how many men questioned his sexuality just because he pretended to not know much about sports. I am sure that when he went to sit down next to you that people were trying to figure out what your relation to him was because it was no longer clear that he was heterosexual.
Disagree/Do Better
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your post, and I find it admirable that you chose to become a firefighter. I also think of myself an exception to the default. Instead of settling into a domestic lifestyle after getting married at a young age, I chose to attend college and pursue a career.
I think that you could have expanded more on your thoughts about being an exception to the norm by using conflict theory. Your decision not to have babies and settle down is an example of social conflict. Social Conflict is described in Deviant Behavior, “Social Conflict has to do with incompatible interests, needs, and desires of such diverse groups such as business companies versus labor unions, conservative versus liberal.. and so on.”(Thio, et al., 2010 )
Thio, Alex, Thomas C. Calhoun & Addrain Conyers. 2010. Readings in Deviant Behavior. Boston, MA. Pearson.
I appreciate the format you chose to use in this blog post. I feel it is an effective introduction to the concept of deviance; and inclusive of the proper course material to get the point across to the general public. I think your description and feeling of being the default can also be extended to your work place restrictions. The fact that you are unable to wear make up, or jewelery, or have your hair down is inclusive in a default female "norm"- or so I would suggest. Differential association theory supports this idea, because you have learned to be different in your work place environment.
ReplyDeleteI love your experiment aspect of the assignment. I would likely have been one of those shocked persons had I been asked such a question. I guess I think of the super bowl as an American rite to passage, an inherently unavoidable aspect of our socialization. However, I asked a question similar to this when I heard all the hype about the World Cup. I've never understood soccer, so oddly enough I had never given a thought to a soccer championship. I experienced many of the same labels your finance had. To answer your final question- I think to be labeled anything is deviant. To be labeled a woman, you are deviant from man. To be labeled a criminal, you are deviant from the non-offending society. Those are two very opposite examples, but if every label is inclusive of alternative default categories, all labels are ultimately deviant.