Social Norms
In your discussion board you will wrote a short assignment that assessed
your understanding of the topic of social norms. You were asked to
address the following question by using an example: “Why do you think
this particular theory of social norms fits your example?” Now that you
have received feedback, you will need to reflect on your assignment. For
the second part of this assignment you will need to revise your board
and build it into a 3-page paper analyzing the role of social norms. The
final draft of this paper will require the following elements: 1)a
description of social norms and a thorough definition of the theory you
chose, 2) a detailed example and application of the theory to your
example, 3) an analysis of what information is missing from our
understanding of social norms (particularly those that dictate when
people help and when they do not), 4) justification from the text to
hypothesize about why one theory fits or doesn’t fit your example, and
5) a description of possible questions that remain. This second
iteration of the assignment is intended to develop your problem solving
skills and your ability to evaluate the usefulness of social theories.
Papers must be 3 pages in length, double spaced.
Here is my discussion post:
This board will serve as the pre-activity for you to partake in a short
assignment that assesses your understanding of the topic of social
norms. In your response for this week please describe a time when you
have personally helped someone or a time when you were helped.
Additionally, analyze this occurrence from either the
social-responsibility norm or reciprocity norm models (discussed on
pages 382-384 of the text.) Please address the following question in
their response: “Why do you think this particular theory of social norms
fits your example?” Please be as detailed as possible in this post as
you will have the opportunity to strengthen your mastery in this area
through discussion with myself and our TAs. You will use this post and
the feedback you receive to revise your ideas before you expand and add
new sources of information for your final paper (assignment 2) that is
due in a few weeks.
The social responsibility norm describes a concept in which some individuals have a moral motivation to help and assist others without expecting anything in return, while the reciprocity norm is a concept in which individuals help or assist others while expecting something in return for their help.
A couple of years ago when I was a sophomore in high school, there were an influx of Palestinian refugees in Gaza who had nowhere to go, as they were all bombed from their homes. My best friend and I were living in Kuwait, and decided to throw a small charity event where we accepted old clothing, shoes, toys, and even sold some of our precious items to help the children regugees. I gave away around eight trash bags of my old items, and I encouraged many of my friends from school to do the same. In the end, we raised around $3,000 in one night, and multiple bags of clothes, shoes, and toys that we donated to the refugee children in Palestine.
This is an example of the social responsibility norm, as my friend and I didn’t do it as a favor expecting something in return, but we did it out of our morals and the need to help people who need it the most. I didn’t expect anything in return, but I ended up getting peace in my heart knowing I helped children build a new life, and confidence knowing I ran a successful event that educted others in my community about the struggles these people were going through, and that our help really does make a difference.
