post 8 Deviance and Social Class

This unit has been discussions of deviance and social class. 


In Sociology, deviance describes actions or behaviors that violate social norms. This all depends on many factors of living such as the time era you live in or the place in which you live. There may be different social norms at a place that is a few hours away from you. These norms are surrounded around us and we are influenced by them daily.

In class we did an activity where we had to chose what we thought violated America's social norms. For the majority, our class agreed on what was a norm and what wasn't, but considering our surroundings, there were people who thought otherwise. This could have been caused by the people that the student grew up with or the place they were raised. There was no wrong or right answer to this activity, but this did help me become more socially aware. 

Another deviance activity we did was performing an act of positive deviance. Going out of your way to talk to someone that you normally wouldn't talk to, or even say hi to a total stranger in the hallway might seem weird, or out of your comfort zone, but it could potentially brighten someones day. I went against my day to day norms and there was a positive outcome by doing so.

We also talked about social class a bunch. I thought this topic was extremely interesting. As my family would probably be considered upper-middle class and because all of my friends that do not attend Stevenson always assume I am some rich snob, I thoroughly enjoyed this class discussion. I never realized how truly blessed I am. I am probably better off than 90% of America. THAT IS A LOT OF PEOPLE!!! I heard that if I had $20 to my name I am richer than many as well...and I still can't even fathom that statistic. Many people do not know the real meaning of poor-and I was one of them. We talked about wealth compared to income as well. Wealth is not only the money you make, but also the money you have in any assets or valuable personal belongings. People don't realize that owning things like a house or car are more than many Americans will ever own in their lifetime. Personally, my parents each have a car, my sister and I received brand new cars this year, and my two older siblings have each had a car given to them by my mom and dad. Saying this, I realize I am quite blessed and these conversations in class have given me a reality check. Next time I want to complain about not having something, or the newest and greatest iPhone, I will think back to these class discussions and realize how spoiled and fortunate I truly am. It also made me want to go home and give mom and dad a big hug and kiss for all the hard work they have done in their lives to get us to where we are today. 

Thanks for the interesting class discussions Sal! (50k Retweets and no essay!)