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NIOS Class 12 Sociology Chapter 8 Norms And Values
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Norms And Values
Chapter: 8
MODULE 1: SOCIOLOGY – BASIC CONCEPTS
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.1
Q.1. Tick (✔) mark the right answer:
1. Which of the following would be an example of value?
(a) Nandini believes that it is wrong to cheat in a test.
(b) Rajesh believes that it is good for his children to read books.
(c) Sanjib believes that children should not drink tea or coffee.
(d) All of the above.
Ans. (d) All of the above.
2. An example of a positive sanction would be
(a) A jail sentence.
(b) A cash award from a government for being a good citizen.
(c) Someone smiling at you for being kind to a lost child.
(d) Both (b) and (c).
Ans. (b) A cash award from a government for being a good citizen.
3. Norms may be
(a) The normal behaviour in a group.
(b) Unwritten laws.
(c) Statements about what is believed to be good or bad.
(d) All of the above.
Ans. (b) unwritten laws.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.2
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words from the brackets:
1. Norms are ……………. expectations. (individual shared, group shared)
Ans. group-shared.
2. Norms are backed by different kinds of ………….. punishment. (reward, sanction)
Ans. sanction.
3. Three kinds of norms are folkways, ………………., custom. (tradition, mores, ritual)
Ans. mores.
4. Norms give ……………… to society. (cohesion, threat, competition)
Ans. cohesion.
5. Norms help to ……………… social order. (break, maintain, sustain)
Ans. maintain.
6. In case of ……………… social norms contradict each other or just simply breakdown. (deviance, normlessness)
Ans. normlessness.
7. In case of normlessness, social control becomes ……………. . (effective, strong, ineffective)
Ans. ineffective.
8. Without appropriate norms society is threatened with ……………. . (punishment, disorganization, instability)
Ans. disorganization.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.3
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words from the brackets:
(i) Any change in social structure will take place with changes in social ………………. . (institution, values, action)
Ans. values.
(ii) Indian socialism is based on the principle of allocation of resources and roles based on ……………… . (birth, merit, class)
Ans. merit.
(iii) ………………. emphasis the equality of opportunity. (socialism, holism, democracy)
Ans. democracy.
(iv) In case of holism, individuals should pursue …………….. goals. (individual, collective)
Ans. collective.
(v) Socialism is based on the principle of ………………. distribution. (merit based, status based, need based)
Ans. merit based.
TERMINAL EXERCISES
Answer the following questions in 100 to 250 words:
Q.1. Define the following terms:
(a) Norms. and
(b) Value and explain then in your own words.
Ans. (a) Definition and explanations of the word Norms:
(A) Meaning: Norms refers to the guidelines people follow while interacting with other persons. Norms are shared standards of desirable behaviour. They indicate how people have to believe in a particular situation.
(B) Explanation:
1. Norms are rules followed by people in different situations.
2. Norms vary from society to society, from group to group and from situation to situation.
3. What may be most desirable action in one society, may be considered disgraceful in another.
4. Norms are prescriptive as well as proscriptive, which means that norms prescribe or require us to behave in a certain way but at the same time prohibit people from doing certain activities.
5. How one has to behave in classroom (in a group of students and a teacher) in the presences of a teacher in a court in the presence of a will be applicable to those who are present in that situation.
6. Some norms are more important to the members as compared to some other norms.
7. Norms also govern our emotions and perceptions. For example, people are supposed to feel sad and depressed while attending a funeral. Members of all societies follow these automatically without questioning.
(b) Definition and explanation of the word ‘Value’:
A. Definition: Harry M. Johnson has defined values “as a conception, or standard, cultural or merely personal, by which things are compared and approved or disapproved relative to one another-held to be relatively desirable or undesirable, more meritorious or less, more or less correct.” He further says that all kinds of things, such as feelings, ideas, actions, goals, means etc. can be evaluated.
B. Explanations:
1. It is very clear that value is concerned with what is good and desirable, which is indispensable for the survival of society.
2. Values have through ages.
3. Norms can be seen as a reflection of values.
4. Norms are unwritten laws.
5. Variety of norms can be seen as an expression of a single value.
6. Thus now we can say that, an ordered and stable society is not possible without shared norms and values.
Q.2. State the relationship between norms and values.
Ans. Relationship between norms and values: Values may be defined as a measure of goodness or desirability. They provide general guidelines for conduct. In this sense they are often referred to as “higher order norms”. But norms are given much more specific meaning. They define appropriate and acceptable behaviour in particular situations. Values are cherished only through the observance of norms. The relationship between the two can be made clear by the following example. A society may cherish the value of “privacy”. This value provides only a general guide to behaviour. Norms define how the value of ‘privacy is translated into action in particular situations and circumstances.
Example: For instance, norms relating to privacy may insist that person letters must not be opened without permission etc. A person’s private life or individual life is his own concern and others must not interfere into the personal matters. In this way a series of norms direct how people should behave in terms of the value of ‘privacy’.
Q.3. What are different types of norms? Describe in your own words.
Ans. Types of Norms: There is no standard classification of the norms in the sociology texts. Each sociologists has presented a somewhat different list. There can be divided into two preliminary groups of categories.
These are:
1. First Group of Category of Norms:
Norms are both (i) prescriptive. and
(ii) proscriptive.
(i) Prescriptive norms: There norms dictate what people should do.
(ii) Proscriptive norms: These norms tell us what people should not do.
Conclusion: Frequently, the prescriptions and proscriptions come in pairs, that is, we are required to do something and forbidden not to do something we are required to wear cloths in our society and forbidden to go naked outside (or on the street or mohalla).
2. Second Groups of Category of Norms: The second group of category of norms is that some of the norms pervade in entire society and others, less pervasive, prevail only in certain groups. We shall call the command norms and the later associated norms.
Example:
(i) Communal Norms: A communal norms would be the custom of shaking hards upon meeting a new acquaintance, a custom that appears throughout our society, in all group and classes.
(ii) Associational Norms: The example of associational norm would be the custom of wearing scared thread among Hindus and it applies to the members of upper castes but not to all other castes.
Conclusion: The above referred both ways of classifying norms as prescriptive or proscriptive and as communal or associational repovesent categories that cross each other.
However, all the norms may be subsumed under three major concepts-folkways, mores and custom, which we shall discuss here:
(i) Mores. and
(ii) Folkways:
(i) Mores: Mores represents yet another category of norms. Mores is a term used to denote behaviour patterns, which are not only accepted but prescribed.
(ii) Folkways: In simple words, when the folkways clearly represent group standards, the group sense of what is appropriate, right and necessary for the well being, then they are known as folkways.
Mores may be positive or negative. Positive mores represent what should be for example, respecting elders, speaking the truth, etc. While negative mores represent ‘don’ts’, examples like do not steal, do not tell lies. Mores are the means by which individuals gain identification with their fellows. As a result mores bind people into one strong cohesive group. In this way the mores help to maintain social order. For example, students must wear uniform is school. It is not only accepted but also prescribed form of behaviour. This prescription creates pressure on students, and they cannot deviate from this rule. And, this dress code undoubtedly gives the students a common identification in the school.
(iii) Customs: Customs another kind of social norms, are socially accepted way in which people do things together in personal contacts. Our accepted procedures or practices of eating, meeting people, playing, working etc. can be called custom. Custom preserves our culture and transmits it to the next generation. For example, it is the custom to touch the feet of elders before examination or at different other auspicious and religious occasions in India, but not in western countries. People have seen their elders to maintain this customs. People have learnt this and they themselves maintain this. In this way this particular custom has become a part of our culture from generation to generation. They have added stability and certainty to our social life. Customs are found in all the communities of the world. No society can do without them. Therefore, customs act as an effective means of social control. Individual can hardly escape their grip. Customs also provide the background from the formulation and establishment of rules. Customs become laws when the state enforces them as rules to be abided by the citizen.
Q.4. What is the importance of value in our society? Explain with example.
Ans. The importance of values in Indian Society: Values are important for the following reasons:
1. Values provide stability in group interaction: They hold the society together because they are shared in common. Since they are shared, the members of a society are likely to see others as “people like themselves.”
2. Values bring legitimacy to the rules that govern specific activities: The rules are accepted and followed because they embody the values.
3. Values help to bring about some kind of adjustment between different sets of rules: For example, if India cherish the value of equality they will have to modify the rules governing the interpersonal relationships between husband and wife and man and woman and woman and between castes.
Q.5. What do you mean by normlessness? Explain with example.
Ans. Meaning and explanation of the “Norm/essness”: Normlessness is a sense of detachment from existing social norms or rules, mostly society functions in an orderly fashion. A good number of people conform to the norms of their respective groups unconsciously. Thus, ordinarily people do what is expected from them by society. This keeps the society running smoothly. But this is not always the case. In a state where existing social norms contradict each other or face a collapse, people feel detached from their own fellows. This is a state when there exists lesser consensus or a lack of certainty on values or goals. At those moments people have little commitment to shared norms, and lack societal guidelines for personal conduct. They are inclined to pursue their private preferences without regard to the interest of the society as a whole. Social control becomes ineffective. Hence, the society is threatened with disorganization. This situation is called anomie.
SOME OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION
VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q.1. What is meant by following terms:
(a) Norms.
(b) Values.
(c) Culture Pattern.
(d) Monocultural.
(e) Personality.
Ans. (a) Norms: The norms are the rules of behaviour approved by society.
(b) Values: The values refer to what ought and what ought not to be done.
(c) Culture Pattern: A typical type of culture or specific type of culture.
(d) Monocultural: Some type of culture or one type of culture.
(e) Personality: It refers to that totality of a person which of biological constitution, attitudes, values, views, habits and behaviour patterns.
Q.2. What do you understand by the ‘Agency’? (Imp.)
Ans. Agency: Agency here means the institutions which are responsible or the socialisation. A mental construction of the person is called self. By it (self) an individual or the person sees her/him – reflected by others, in their reaction.
Q.3. Define Self. (Imp.)
Ans. Self: A mental construction of the person is called self. By it (self) an individual or the person sees her/him-reflected by others, in their reaction.
Q.4. What is the meaning of cultural environment? Write very briefly. (V. Imp.)
Ans. Cultural environment means man made environment. It includes all cultural institutions and even the customs and of the community.
Q.5. Write the meaning of the following:
(a) Individual.
(b) Inherited.
(c) Process.
(d) Instinctive.
Ans. (a) Individual: Human being or person.
(b) Inherited: The transmission of rights of property.
(c) Process: It is a continuous action.
(d) Instinctive: The inmate motivation drives leading to species, specific behaviour patterns.
Q.6. Make distinction between personal and social norms.
Ans. We can make a distinction between personal or private norms and social norms. Private norms are purely individual in character and they live with individuals only. They may influence only the behaviour of the individual concerned. For example, an individual may make some resolutions on the New Year’s Day, say, he would stop smoking and decide to abide by it.
