...lives by. If there were no standards, then society would not be able to be maintained correctly. People have freedoms and liberty, but they know their limits. To have these social norms help us to live comfortably in a society together. I decided to break the norm by standing up the whole time in my history class, even though there were plenty of seats available. First of all I discussed it with my teacher, so he would understand what I was doing. Except I told him that I did not want anyone knowing about it. I entered the classroom, then sat my things at my desk, and then stood up with my notebook and pen. When the teacher came into the room and put up our notes to copy, I started writing. Which, by the way, was very difficult. More students began entering the classroom, their responses to what I was doing at first, were just weird looks. I did not mind the looks, because I was laughing on the inside. It seemed to blow the students minds because I was standing up. It was amazing to me that I was doing just a little thing out of the normal routine, and everyone acted as if I were doing something wrong. After about 10 minutes into class, I started hearing little whispers between the students. They were asking each other what I was doing. I actually done a lot better than I thought that I would be able to do, because when the students started...
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...This film explores the concepts of the complexities of legal ethics and grey areas. There were many situations in this film that displayed “grey area cases”. The first example was when Remmy Bressant admitted to planting evidence. Though this is legally wrong, morally, he did what he thought was the best for the child. He said that he only did it because he wanted to give the child another chance at life. Another situation that dealt with legal ethics was when Patrick shot and killed the man who molested Johnny. Obviously, you cannot kill someone who raises both of their arms. However, morally, he did what he wanted to. Morally, he thought that he deserved to die. And finally, the most “grey” of all situations was when Lieutenant Doyle and Remmy Bressant teamed up together. Doyle kidnapped a child. It is against the law to kidnap a child. Just because morally, it may have been the best for Amanda, it does not make it legal. I think that there is a very fine line between always adhering to the rules and going with our morals. The thing is that, our moral are somewhat based on the rules set by society. We form our morals based off societal norms thus, most of the time, by adhering to your morals, you are also adhering to the laws. However, we can see that in some cases this is not true. Therefore, I believe that you should adhere to the rules. Everyone’s morals are different. So, if everyone were to follow their morals over the law, it would all become too chaotic. People would...
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...while those elements are very important. Are they more effective at affecting the behavior of some actors more than others? Norms can effect the behavior of actors in different ways. Norms can affect an actor indirectly via an other actor, the example of Women's suffrage demonstrate so, indeed during the early 1900s this change in behavior become really important in the United States while other states were demanding the same change at home, the fact that it became really important in the US helped to influence the change in those other states and then became an international norm. Such domestic changes like the Women's suffrage which become international norms led to cause other changes regarding humanitarian rights (rights to life, food, shelter etc). One norm that can hardly effect the behavior of one actor can still do so by affecting the behavior of other actors that will next influence the first one to make this change in its behavior. An other example is the practice of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in India. In fact if a family does not perform FGC to their daughter in a community (a tribe for example) where that is normally the case, where it is the norm, their daughter risks to be marginalized and ostracized by her peers but she also might never be able to get married. Social norms not only dictate the behaviors to adopt but also condemn deviation from it. Expectations from the group and social pressure are a much more powerful tool to affect the behavior of some actors...
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...of people. The dictionary definition of “right” is something that is “morally or socially correct or acceptable,” but there is a conflict that arises between the two factors of the word. General morality may derive from a universal set of principles, while social mores are laws and standards that are relative to groups of people. This conflicting definition enables the meaning of “right” to be ambiguous. Thus, an act can be morally wrong, but socially right, or vice versa. The ambiguity of justice has influenced philosophers such as Sophocles to explore the true definition of justice by writing tragedies such as Antigone, where a clash between the morally correct and the socially correct is purposefully staged to spark questions on the true meaning of justice, morality, and ethics. Sophocles’ writing can also be analyzed through the ideas of other philosophers such as Confucius and Nagel in order to see how the overarching ideas of philosophers from different cultures and eras converge to challenge the same ideas. Ultimately, through Antigone, I want to try to show that the definition of right and wrong can be more focused if one eliminates or challenges law and takes the human natural intuition to act morally into more...
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...Norms are based on your behavior. Norms can be put into many groups. Informal norms are everyday behavior. They aren’t written down and can be as common as saying “good morning” and washing your hands or saying a prayer before you eat. Formal norms are written down into a law, which, if broken you will face a punishment. Examples of formal norms are do not steal from a store or do not speed. We enforce norms by sanctions. Sanctions can be positive or negative. Positive sanctions could be as simple as smiling at somebody or as formal as receiving a raise. Negative sanctions could be a frown or going to prison. Society adapts the norms to the world around them. For example, people in Texas don’t need to wear the same winter apparel as people in Colorado. Norms are important in society because they regulate our everyday life. Our days are based on norms. I broke the norm of how I greet my friends every day. I did it by simply walking up to my friends, shaking their hand and saying, “Hey, How’s it going?” This took place on future freshmen day, which was on September 29, 2017. This took place at Saxony Lutheran High School in the science and math hallway. Most people who was around was my friends and other students at my school that I didn’t know. People were reacting by looking at their friends and laughing. They would ask me why I was doing this. They would give their friends a weird look. They would respond to my question, but hesitate before answering. Despite the...
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...Norms are the behaviors that are expected out of us depending on the society that we live in. The norms that we have learned about this year in class can be on different levels of importance and they are also situational. There are many different types of norms and they all mean different things. The two main norms I will be focusing on today with my acts of deviance will be Folkways and More. Folkways are minor rules that change from what group of people you are with and there really isn’t much of a punishment for them. The other norm, More, is a way more important and also cares a severe punishment for breaking them. There will be two act of deviance that I will be discussing today that I performed to see if it changed any of the other people I was around to break these norms. The first act of deviance will be to kneel in an elevator. I choose this because of the video we watched in class when the people stood backwards in the elevator and everyone that got into the elevator turned around as well. I want to see if it still works today and if it works with more people or just with a single person. I expect it to probably not work in today’s society and people to just look at me and my...
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...The social norm I chose to violate was to sit in an empty chair at an otherwise occupied table. I chose a table occupied by three people in a coffee shop in Portland, Oregon. There was not much of a reaction to the social norm violation I committed. The people at the table just looked at me for a moment. After an awkward moment of silence the people at the table said hello and made small talk with me. They were very friendly and easy going. They did not seem to mind that I sat at their table uninvited. After speaking for a few minutes I explained to them that this was a psychology assignment and let them read the assignment. The people at the table were somewhat confused as to why such a thing would be assigned by a college professor. They explained that they felt it was inappropriate for a teacher to ask students to put themselves into any of the listed situations. All the people stated they were not offended by someone actually doing these things. They were bothered that students were required to violate any of the “so-called social norms on the list”. I found my actions to be rude and inconsiderate. I would not like it if someone came over and sat at my table uninvited. Maybe someone wants to have a private conversation with the others at the table. Maybe someone is on a date and wants to be alone. Maybe the people at the table are criminals. Maybe the people do not care if someone sits at their table uninvited. The bottom line is that for me it was uncomfortable...
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...Philosophy 484 Professor Neiman 3/22/12 “Selling Starbucks in the Forbidden City” Ever since the Starbucks retail outlet has opened in the “Forbidden City” of Beijing, China, there has been a huge controversy over whether this store deserves to be in this sacred area of China’s history. I believe that Starbucks has a moral obligation to operate a retail store in the “Forbidden City.” The first objection from some Chinese citizens is that Starbucks is highly considered an American brand, and that American commerce is destroying Chinese culture that they claim goes back 5000 years. In some cases, people may believe that the Chinese have the cultural right to maintain their culture in places of great history, which would definitely apply to the Forbidden city Museum. This claim against Starbucks contradicts this statement somewhat since there are already thousands of stores in the museum. If the Chinese would have wanted to keep the Forbidden City sacred, you would think that they would have not allowed any stores in the area to keep it original so everyone could see the real history behind the place. Some may counter by saying that Chinese stores should only be allowed simply because it is already part of the Chinese Culture. In the case, it states that there are shops that sell American products, such as coke, cookies, and other merchandise. Wouldn’t this be considered American products and upset some Chinese citizens since it is considered American and not part...
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...Ethical relativism Ethical relativism is when an action that is being practiced is thought to be moral in one country but can be immoral and made illegal in another country. Whether it is right or wrong depends on the social norm in that culture or part of the world. There is no universal moral standard or global law that the world has to abide by at all times. Ethical relativism can also be based on personal moral beliefs based on emotion rather than reason. The reason why ethical relativism is so pervasive in American society is because the United States is occupied with many different races and culture from all around the world. It is also a country where you have the freedom to do what you want within reason. You have a country where people are going to bring their beliefs here whether right or wrong. Also, people who were born here were taught a certain way growing up. I believe that this goes back to personal beliefs you have as a person. As people grow up, they tend to think for themselves and start to have personal beliefs and emotions whether they are right or wrong on something. I believe that people eventually will do what they even thought they know it’s morally wrong. For example, serial killers kill people and they know it morally wrong and illegal to do so but they still do it because personally they feel the act is justified for whatever reason. Another example is in a show called “Dexter”, where the main character Dexter is a serial killer. His...
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...Charmaine Williams Professor Mitchell Sociology 1101 September 8, 2014 Breaking a Social Norm When asked to write a response paper on breaking a social norm, it was very hard for me to choose one that wouldn’t get me arrested or in a lot of trouble. I eventually came up with an idea an experiment to see people’s reactions to something that society considers a social norm. According to society social norms are the rules that we live by that dictate right and wrong behavior within our society. The social norms are also subject to some sort of punishment. In order to understand why my actions were considered to be breaking a social norm, I obtained permission from the general manager at The AMC Sony Imax Movie Theater in Stonecrest Mall to conduct an experiment. I will explain why, ringing cell phones, and telling other patrons the movie, or holding conversations with others is considered breaking a social norm not to mention an embarrassing experience when you get put out of the theater. On Friday September 5, 2014 I took my kids to the movies to see the movie LUCY. While there I sat next to some patrons while my cell phone rang and echoed through the theater, then I proceeded to answer my phone and carry on a conversation with the other person on the phone. The next thing I did was get up and move my seat next to another patron and began telling him everything that was about to happen in the movie. I laughed really loud and obnoxiously at parts of the movie that weren’t...
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...Term Paper The novel ‘joys of motherhood’ has brought different questions to light, with its clever plot of flash back on flash back and the clear illustration of themes and morals in the novel. The novel is said to be the best of the author, Buchi Emecheta’s collection. Nnu ego, the main character of the novel shows us the unfamiliar side where the relationship of females to motherhood, and how our cultural norms provide basics for judgement by humans. The novel rejects the feminist codes normally associated with motherhood. In the world we live in, we come across different societal cultures and norms, in this very essay we discuss the negative aspects of women adhering to societal norms and how women all round the world are likely to end up like Nnu Ego. Nigeria is a larger country with different cultures where some believe the first born child must be a girl, while others also believe in sending off their female children as soon as their ready for marriage. Such actives have been responsible for many societal problems faced in Nigeria. The novel by Buchi Emecheta shows us the violence that our culture causes makes people to develop some kind of violence against people who do not follow cultural norms, a good example was when it was time for Agunwa to be buried, Nwokocha Agbadis eldest wife who is said to have died due to the unpleasant scene of her husband and Ona. It’s a culture in their land that the personal slaves of Agunwa be buried with her as she will need them...
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...Abstract Morals and ethics are often confused, when in fact they have different meanings and application. This does not mean that there is no connection – morals, ethics and the law all exist because we are different and are responsible for words, actions and sometimes consequences. Morals are our own personal guidelines and behaviors that dictate actions in situations. Ethics are a set of rules or guidelines that we must follow in the different facets of our lives. The law is comprised of rules we are required to follow regardless of our morals or ethics and the violation of these rules can have consequences. Society has dictated certain parameter of conduct that has resulted in the need for law. These rules of conduct are in turn enforced by consequences and must be done in an ethical manner. The requirement for ethics in the application and enforcement of the law is essential to maintain good order and faith in the system. Its’ a Matter of Ethics As social beings, humans have been able to establish morals as guidelines for behavior, conduct with others and interaction in everyday life. Being able to apply values and beliefs to our behavior sets a standard for what we believe is wright and wrong. The choices we make are labeled as either right or wrong. But what about the gray area in between. When you know something is wrong, but knowingly making the choice to act against your better judgement. This would constitute a moral dilemma that our inner self...
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...Case 1.1 1a. Whether or not dumping should be permitted is a moral question. 1b. "Are dangerous products of any use in the third world?" is a nonmoral question. 1c. "Is it proper for the U.S. government to sponsor the export of dangerous products overseas?" is a moral question. 1d. Whether or not the notification system works as its supporters claim it works is a nonmoral question. 1e. "Is it legal to dump this product overseas?" is a nonmoral question. 2. Dumping is a method of getting rid of unwanted products or substances that are harmful to people, animals, or the environment by exporting them to other countries in order to make a profit or mitigate a loss. An example used in the text is the flame resistant pajamas that were recalled because they contained Tris. These pajamas were dumped in overseas markets to help negate the company’s loss. 3. Dumpers dump because they want to either make a profit or avoid a loss in profit. I am sure some of the companies employees may have second thoughts on dumping, but not “making your number” can be quite a motivator to sidestep your moral beliefs. If I were one of the manufacturers of the Tris pajamas, I would have a hard time sending a product that I know to be toxic to a market with less restrictive regulations, but I think ultimately, I would do it if all information was disclosed not only to the government, but to the end purchaser as well. 4. Just because no laws may be broken does not mean it is always...
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...Resource Review: Resource Review-5 Sources Samuel Bakos DeVry University G.Nikhita Reddy#1, G. R. (2013). Effects of Wireless Electricity on Human Bodies. International Journal Of Engineering Trends And Technology, (6), 2567 In this part of the report I will be researching the ethical concerns society has with the introduction of wireless electricity. One of the main ethical concerns we have about wireless electricity is how will it affect the human body. This article details the different resistant levels men and women have to wireless electricity, as well as the difference resistant each body part may or may not have. Weckert, J., & Hoven, J. d. (2008). Information Technology and Moral Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press In this section of my paper I will use this resource that goes into detail of how technological advances need to be monitored almost like children to make sure they develop correctly. This resource covers the ethical concerns an emerging technology will undergo during its lifecycle. As a product goes through its lifecycle stages the ethics that relate to the technology need to evolve with the technology. Ling, R. & McEwen, R. (2010) ―Mobile communication and ethics: implications of everyday actions on social order‖, Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics - Special issue on mobile/ubiquitous computing, Norway, Vol 4, No 2. This article will be used as a point of reference for how the morals of mobile technology have changed social...
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...vengeance seeking angry suburban dwellers” (p101) as a feature of the film, Little Children. What is the nature of this “vengeance” and what it is a product of, and how do children fit into the regulation of the social order? In his 1516 book Utopia, Thomas More describes an island with only one entrance and only one exit, with those who belonged to this island knowing how to navigate their way through the treacherous openings safely and unharmed. The façade of this island has diverged and developed over centuries to its contemporary apparition of white picket fences tended by the authoritarian Father of his Nuclear Family, and has permeated into existing countries under the guise of “suburbia”. However, those who belong to the Island of Suburbia tend to experience difficulty locating the exit; and have thus created a stagnant population polluted by muted frustration, impatience and intolerance (McCarthy 1998:41, as cited in Huq, 2013). The exclusivity-induced isolation of the Island has created a homogenised mindset, impervious to outside influence or discourse, which is spherically bequeathed to younger inhabitants; a breeding ground for prejudice and unawareness disguised as social mores. The adverse consequences of this uneducated and uninterrupted mind-think is delineated and discussed in Todd Field’s Little Children (2006), a film which explores suburban dissatisfaction and perpetual childhood. Suburbia and its accoutrements is not an unfamiliar theme...
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