The Social Factual Norms By Durkheim Sociology Essay

The Social Factual Norms By Durkheim Sociology Essay Over the past years the headlines of newspapers have read everything from Neighbour says Nia chucked on line (NZHerald: 2008) to just this month very violent brain injury killed baby (NZHerald: 2011). In New Zealand on average one child is killed every 5 weeks due to Child Abuse. This figure should not come as a surprise; as over the past decade stories of fatal child abuse cases have been frequently covered in the news (Child matters: 2011). Norms are a social fact (Durkheim: 1982). These are the words from the famous French sociologist Emile Durkheim. He went on to explain that we are born into a pre-existing order, with rules and norms that have already been premade and set. And that if we want to live in this society we are born into, we must learn to abide by these pre-determined sanctions (Durkheim: 1982/1895, p56-57). These already set norms include those associated with the issue of child abuse. We dont have to think twice when reading horrendous articles in the newspaper of children being put in clothes dryers and severely beaten. We already know that it is morally wrong. Although in different cultures around the world different types of abuse may be seen as a form of, what they see as normal punishment. These social facts still exist around us. They were there before we were born and will still remain weather we choose to agree or disagree with them; most of which have consequences if you do chose to stray from them. This brings us Sharyn Roach Anleus 5 key questions surrounding norms; 1) whose norms? , in the case of child abuse it is our society/country of New Zealands norms. The norm is that it is not right to abuse children, or anyone. It is seen as a bad thing and as a country I am sure that there will not be many people who would say that it is ok to abuse. 2) How do some norms become official or legal? Harming a child is wrong and when hearing about these inhumane acts of violence against children we may be urged to do something about it, but if we are being real with ourselves, on our own; without economic or political power it would be difficult to put forth and solidify our beliefs into laws. Although with this issue there are many people with power who share the beliefs of our society. Such as Green MP Sue Bradfords; the anti smacking law was passed in 2007(NZ Herald: 2007). Since she had political power, with the support of the community the bill was passed. Three years have passed an d a new law will be passed that will see those people who turn a blind eye to child abuse prosecuted (DominionPost: 2011). This will be a positive thing as many cases of child abuse drag on for months as the people involved; who could have very well saved the Childs life have been to afraid or not bothered to report the abuse happening. Why are some norms more important than others? Does visibility make a difference? And can there be deviance without breaking social norms? As said in the book straying from these social norms can lead to deviance over a period of time. The example given is that of a soft drug user over time leads to hard drug use. This approach can be put into context with child abuse. Child abuse may be as obvious as bruises or as subtle as a parent neglecting their child. There can never be a good reason for child abuse to occur; but there definitely is a reason behind it .The straying could be the perpetrator; an adult being a parent, relative or friend showing their anger, due to various causes (e.g. stress in the home, work etc) through minor outburst such as yelling at the child or accidentally slapping them over time letting it get out of control and making it a regular occurrence of more severe abuse. Interactionist theory of deviance argues that deviant behaviour is learned. As is other behaviours. Just as deviance is socially constructed; Child abuse is considered as sociological fact as it is not an innate behavioral pattern for human beings to follow. It is mostly a learned behavior usually from interactions with the parents of the abusers. Sociology is the study of society, or to be more precise it is about group interactions within society. We are all part of groups such as school, cultural ethnic groups. One of the first groups that we interact with is with our families. This is where we learn much of what influences us as adults, and if abuse is what is learned as a child, it is most likely to be performed when the abused children grow up.The oxford dictionary of Sociology defines Child abuse as referring to: The maltreatment or injury of a child by an adult or adults. Such abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, or a combination of all three. It might be perpetrated by one person or by several, within a family or outside it, and in public or in private. (Oxford: 2011) Over the years what may have been seen as an act of firm punishment is now; being discovered as a form of deviance. In the chapter Straying: Deviance in Being Sociological, Michael Lloyd makes it clear that norms are a key attribute when defining Deviance. The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label (Becker, 1963, p9).Behaviors that are considered deviant are highly biased.Crime/deviance is defined by those in power. In context in the Kahui child abuse case where the father of the twins was wrongly accused for months over the killing of his twin babies. A stigma was formed which led people to think badly of him. And because of this label it seemed to the public that he was the abuser and that he had done it. Instead of him fighting for his right, because so many people were already against him due to this label, there was nothing he could do about it as a majority of people would not believe him. Until it was found that it was actually the babys mother who was the abuser then was this stigma lifted, and peoples view towards him changed. The damage would have still been there today and will take a while for him to socially construct himself again. Another form of social construction can be seen in Georges Canguilhems analysis of normality. Ian Hackings looping effect links on to the labelling theory as stated in his example person A does not want to be person H. if others think of a person as someone they are not(false accusation, stereotyping) That person will change their behaviours because they are aware of what others are saying about them. For example the deviant; the person doing the child abuse. Or the abuser that becomes out of the child that has been abused, may because of the stereotype of there being previous abuse in their household they may or may not want to live up to that labelling .But because of what others are saying they will get treated like the deviant whether they like it or not creating a looping effect. Harold Garfinkels documentary of identification method revealed that the jury he was studying the jurors came up with the outcome then filled in the reasons. These theories show that deviants are socially constructed through social interactions; the way people are treated influence how they act . And without deviance there would be no social change (Lloyd: 2007) The authors main purpose to introduce the complexity of the relationship between straying and how over time can lead to deviance was supported by including the viewpoints, theories and ideas of different people. Lloyd did not make many assumptions apart from assuming that the reader knew the meaning of straying; saying that it is a term used in everyday talk so we can do without a definition'(Lloyd,2007,p317-318). Through this text Michael Lloyd could be seen as being biased towards deviance being a social fact in society. He addresses the five questions surrounding norms which Sharyn Roach Anleu summarised following Emile Durkheims theory of norms being a social fact. These questions prove that deviance is an area of sociology that is full of debate and competing theories (Lloyd, 2007, p319). By including this and a commentator Colin Sumners claim that, the field reached a dead -end by the late 1970s Lloyd has saved himself from being completely biased by taking into account differe nt viewpoints of the topic. The sociological theories; Beckers labelling theory, Ian Hackings looping effect theory of human kind Harold Garfinkels identification of the documentary method of interpretation and ideas from this chapter help to understand and explain what is happening in the very serious social issue of child abuse in New Zealand.

The Ice Cream Incident :: English Literature Essays

The Ice Cream Incident The Ice Cream Incident Eric Mortinson November 18, 2002 There inevitably comes a time during the course of your life where everything you are employs itself to seek revenge from a friend or loved one. This paradoxical concept drives you to the point of hating someone you care dearly for. In the end, the typical result is absolute regret. This moment in my life came at the ancient age of 13. I was the intellectual king of my class. No cerebrum could surpass the database of knowledge I carried within me. This sovereign fantasy of mine was shattered on the nightmarish day Josh Renfro entered the 5th grade classroom at Evans Valley Elementary School. I knew immediately that I was outmatched at last. As the old saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." That's precisely what I did. I quickly befriended Josh and became a study partner, even doing an intricate report with him. That joyous year of friendship was over within a few months, and a new challenge awaited us new friends. Josh and I perceived middle school as an educational joke. Most of the material being covered had already been noted and logged into our far advanced memory banks. Getting an 'A' became so simple that we resorted to analyzing teachers and their techniques (which we used for later use) as a form of intellectual entertainment. It was a little past the middle of our 6th grade year when the infamous incident happened. It was late in the science period when Mr. Harrison made an odd request of Justin Watkins and I. He stated that there was a short film that was going to be viewed, that therefore required us to assemble the ancient film projector. As Justin and I constructed and positioned the prehistoric projector, we concentrated hard on the correct assembly and use of this long forgotten technological marvel. Little to our knowledge, a minute science assignment was given to the class as Justin and I worked feverishly. The period ended after the short film; the day ended normally. First period came, and with it came the rumor of an unknown assignment. I questioned, "Josh, did we have a science assignment 'cause someone told me we did. I haven't heard anything about it." "Nope," he replied innocently, "Mr. Harrison didn't give us anything to do. We just watched that movie remember?

Administrator Challenge Paper Essay

My experience in corrections is limited to only 4 years. I feel that in my time there, I learned a lot about what the custody part of corrections job consists of, not necessarily what the parole portion or the prison administration does. As a first line supervisor within the correctional system, the staff was held to somewhat of the same standards as I did young airmen in the military. They were expected to be at work on time, read their post orders daily, and maintain control of the dormitory or segregation unit in which they worked. They were given the opportunity to make decisions on their own and only to keep me informed of what they were doing. Most of the decision making came from the Warden and his staff. We had a Correctional Major and Captains as intermediate level supervisor who took the brunt of the complaints between custody and administration. There were policies and directives being disseminated constantly within the prison. At time it felt like the saying â€Å"going blind with paperwork†, having to read everything being passed down. Some of the policies had justification and some seemed to be just frivolous fodder to give administration something to do. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay Another issue which was the cause of much contention within the custody ranks was the adherence to the rules or policies. One of the main culprits of many custody staff being fired or quitting was the use of tobacco within the facilities. The facility is a â€Å"tobacco free† facility. That means no tobacco for any offenders or staff members. Tobacco is an addictive drug and there were many staff members who snuck cigarettes and smokeless tobacco into the facility because of their need to have it, instead of waiting until their shift was over. This in-turn was also the cause of offenders running illegal contraband within the confines of the facility. Staff members would smuggle tobacco by the pouches into the facility as staff was rarely shaken down. This made it ideal for dishonest staff to make some extra money bringing in contraband to offenders. Once the offender had the staff member on the hook for smuggling, it was just a matter of time before the staff was caught and fi red for it. Tobacco often times was more expensive than drugs like marijuana, prescription medication, or cocaine. I feel that another of the main issues, at least within the facility I worked at, was the discord between custody and non-custody staff. Custody was in charge of all the offenders within the facilities, while non-custody had interactions with offenders, their main job was to teach in most cases. Many were college or high school teachers, facility supervisors over the industrial areas, and nursing staff or administration. These non-staff positions often tried to tell custody staff how to do their jobs. This often caused contention between all parties and when brought to the custody supervisor, was corrected after having spoken with the non-custody supervisor. This course has opened my eyes to the administration side of Criminal Justice. Prior to this course, I had no idea about how budgeting or the financial aspect of Criminal Justice actually worked. This topic is one which I am glad to have studied. I may not get to the administrative level of whatever Criminal Justice profession I choose, but having some knowledge of how it works will definitely benefit me in the long run. I would encourage anyone taking Criminal Justice or pursuing a career in Criminal Justice to take this course as the material if very relevant to the job, especially those seeking positions as administration. Also, mid-level supervisors should take it as it gives them insight into what is expected of the administration when it comes to policy, budgets and financial planning for the Criminal Justice System. I wish I had taken this course just a bit later in my college studies as I had quite a few irons in the fire during this courses duration. Trying to juggle college, a fulltime job, family life, and other outside entities were definitely distractors during this course. I did not get to dedicate the time fully to the course that if deserved and my grade refle cts that.

Shrock paper one - 1758 Words

Sean Baas Shrock 412 paper 1 28MAR15 Burglar on the Job Throughout the novel Burglars on the Job: Streetlife and Residential Beak-ins, the authors Richard T. Wright and Scott Decker study the interactions of those who are within the subculture of being burglars and how, why and who they commit these offenses toward. Within this paper we will be discussing the relationship of Mertons anomie theory and how this theory correlates to the acts and motivation of the individuals to accomplish the ability to acquire the means of society. Also we will be evaluating these individuals by explaining Hirschis social bonds theory allowing this to help us better understand those who have personal relationships and what effects this has on the†¦show more content†¦Hirschis social bond theory does not prove to be strong or loosely affiliated theoretically within this study. The pure fact that some of the individuals would steal from those who are close to them makes it a contradictory equation due to the fact that these victims are usually those who are closest to the hustler. [I spend the money from my burglaries for] needs, not wants, needs- roof over my head, food in my mouth and things for my kids.(Lynn-No. 095) (Wright and Decker, 45) On the other hand the hustlers would use their ability to affect anothers life just because they were an easy target or target hardening boundaries did not exist on the property. Mertons Anomie theory versus his Social-Bond theory was persuasively building on one another. When one commits an act resulting in the explanation of anomie it is a push and pull force that shows how a person will weigh the options to see how an act will be weighed on their survivability. With Social-Bond theory our family governs our conscience on whether we should do an act such as burglary. Using theShow MoreRelatedComputer Technology and Teaching Principles1869 Words   |  8 PagesComputer technology is one the most innovative advancements in modern-day education. Technology has made i ts way into the world of teaching practice and principle by expanding the way we approach instruction in the classroom. We are no longer confined to pencil and paper, but have the ability to project and present knowledge in an enhanced way to capture the minds of a generation of students whose society is built around ever expanding world of computer technology. As facilitators of learning, our