The Role Of Social Norms In College Students

My mother has always told me that certain things should not be done in public. Social norms are opinions and beliefs that are shared amongst a group. Throughout our lives our parents tell us things that aren’t socially acceptable, and that there are consequences for those actions. Those that don’t act in ways that are socially acceptable are isolated from society. Norms help to guide the general public by reinforcing it with a punishment in waiting.

Today on college campuses, it is not possible to make it through college without knowing someone who has at least tried a prescription drug or recreational drug for either party uses, to help them study and keep up in school, or simply to help them get by day-to-day. Maybe you have tried them yourself? College students all across the nation are abusing substances such as Adderall, Vicodin, Oxycontin, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc. Those students who drink alcohol are more likely to use prescription drugs for non-medical uses than non-drinkers.

Therefore, from the research I have gathered, I believe that a prevention program, which combines campus drug courts and general prevention should be very effective in decreasing the substance abuse on campus. If administrators and campus police work together to support this idea, then students will begin to take these matters more seriously. The Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence prevention notes that these support systems are very helpful when devising campuses programs (5). As previously discussed, many students do not associate any negative consequences with Adderall and they view alcohol as a rite of passage. However, by implementing new measures, these misperceptions will soon decline. Students will witness administrators and police who patrol and advise against these behaviors rather than officials who overlook or underestimate this public health issue. Students will also see their friends go to court for these offenses, which should also change these misperceptions. With innovative models, such as the one described, administrators will be able to take a greater role in this issue and implement more effective

Misfit. Rebel. Troublemaker. These are all names that may be given to people who go against the social norm. According to Andersen, Taylor, and Logio, the authors of Sociology: The Essentials, norms are defined as the specific cultural expectations for how to act in a given situation (2016). When someone disrupts the expectations, they commit a norm violation and may display deviant behavior. Since norms are so automatically built into our everyday lives, the rules of social interaction can be subtle and may be imperceptible to the people who participate in them. Therefore, sociologists often purposefully commit a norm violation in order to study what the rules or norms are. This approach, known as ethnomethodology, interprets society as being

In class, we recently learned about norms and values within our society. Some basic values held by society are honesty, kindness, and family while some norms in society are to wear clothes when you go out in public, don’t drink in public, and to say hello to people you know in public. In our experiment, my group and I decided to break a norm and say hello to people that we have never met before and throughout the experiment we received different reactions. Some people said hello back, while others either ignored us or gave us a strange look. One theory that guided this experiment was Emile Durkhiem’s ideas on social facts and collective conscience.

The norms of a culture are the rules that govern behavior. Norms define what behavior is required, accepted, or prohibited in particular circumstances and provide cues regarding how we should act—what people “ought to do” in their daily routine. Because there are cultural norms in society ideas about how we should behave, dress, think, etc. We generally have to meet the expectations of others that we will conform to these norms. Break a norm in public and judge the reactions of others.

Alcohol abuse is a serious health problem when it comes to college students. "The average amount of binge drinkers on college campuses is 50% of men and 39% of women" (<a href="http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/">http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/</a>). There are various reasons why students drink and serious short and long term effects on the body and mind. Alcoholism is a serious problem for college students and there are many actions being taken to try to lessen the problem among colleges throughout the country.

According to William Graham Sumner there are three categories of Norms; folkway, mores and laws. Norms are standards or guides for behavior that are expected in society. Mores are behaviors that have extreme punishments when broken and laws if broken have mild consequences. Folkways are a norm that is expected but not enforced and this is the kind of norm I have been tasked to break. For a sociology project is was expected of me to break a social norm to explain how sociology effects daily life.

Sheffield, Jack Darkes and Frances K. Del Boca). The numbers between 2-year and 4 year colleges that involve problematic binge drinking are respectfully higher on a 4-year college campus, however despite this elevation, binge drinking still presents its share of consequences at an undergrad level. The environmental differences contribute to the lower numbers at a community college level are associated with the lack of fraternities and sororities and the variations of social norms. Prevention and intervention efforts would need to speak to these differences in campus life and maneuver around the limited financial and personnel

College drinking is a major problem and it affects the lives of students their families and the community. As the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism website notes: “About four out of five college students drink alcohol. . .” (“College Drinking”). The Affects of alcohol have impacted the lives of many people. I believe drinking is a problem, and believe that it is a problem that it is often overlooked by Parents, colleges, and students. Parents, colleges, and students need to learn about college drinking, the factors that make it a problem, and how to prevent students from drinking while attending college or limit

Students gain expectations to drink alcohol from each other, as they depend on it, pressure each other and face a new environment and a new social setting. When in college, a student does not have anyone looking after them and so they get free time and they do not know how to use it. They end up filling up their extra time, with going out to frat houses, bars, and or other house parties to drink. Students go from being in high school, where they have to be home by curfew and drinking is still sometimes and issues, to not having a curfew and not having someone wait until they get home that night to make sure they aren’t drinking.

Everyone in the Brave New World is conditioned to conform to the societies rules: Community, Identity, and Stability. In the world we live in today, are we not conditioned the .same way? We are taught to follow the rules of society by example of our parents, churches, and even celebrities. We don’t describe the process as conditioning, but essentially they are the same thing. In Brave New World, conditioning is used to control the minds of the population, and in modern times, social norms control the population.

Society, without even saying a word, has given us rules and guidelines that we have to abide. Social norms are rules or guidelines regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable or appropriate within a culture. They are so embedded within our daily life that often we do not notice them. Because norms are so ingrained within our society, deviation of social norms can lead to be ostracized or even arrested depending on the situation. Violating norms, like promoting hate message about poor people, in society can be explained through the functionalism theory.

Alcohol and illicit drug consumption are all too prevalent today in high schools, colleges, and all across the globe. Students seeking to fit in or forget about the repetitiveness of school and homework have a tendency to experiment. Drug addiction is known by the scientific community to be a psychological condition based on excessive, obsessive, and compulsive actions. Once that regular user crosses the line into addiction their only concern is their self and their life revolves around the getting, using, and finding ways and means to get and use more. Most people start using drugs and alcohol occasionally, which is a voluntary decision,

College students are more likely to have problems with alcohol abuse or with alcoholism rather than with drug abuse or dependence; however, drug abuse is also a problem for many students. Some students are illicit abusers of prescription drugs, while others use illegal drugs: marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs. Peer pressure and/or loneliness or other factors may lead college students to substance abuse, although some students had previously abused alcohol and/or drugs in high school.