Norms Public Library Norm Audit

Norms

Public Library Norm Audit

Vocabulary

Social Context

Norm Expressions Observed

The purpose of this paper is to examine a number of the social norms exemplified in a particular public location. I chose to observe social interaction in a common public library. Over the course of the approximate hour I spent studying the library's patrons and personnel several behavioral patterns emerged, and it became apparent that certain types of behavior were acceptable while others appeared to produce annoyance or other forms of sanction. All of the interactions, however, were highly specific to the public library setting; put elsewhere, certain actions that produced sanctions would be perfectly acceptable, while others simply would not fit. It is important to note that the patterns I observed remain reasonably unofficial codes of conduct, and that adherence to them is relatively implicit. Therefore, violations of these social norms were more likely to be overlooked depending upon the individual's familiarity with them -- age, for example, tended to be one of the most influential variables. Overall, my brief examination of the public library as a social setting revealed a number of facts that often tend to be overlooked or taken for granted.

Vocabulary social norm is, essentially, a guideline dictating appropriate behavior dependent upon the social context. Generally, "Social norms theory states that behavior is often influenced by how individuals perceive that other members of a social group behave." So, these norms are created and perpetuated by individuals' interpretations of how others act, in combination with their desires to adhere to common practices. Collectively, these perceptions come together to formulate specified methods of procedure for certain social situations. Often times, sociologists define the most iron-clad form of customary behavior to be "mores"; these constitute "must behaviors, the basic patterns of ideas and acts of a people." These mores are often backed up by more formal rules or laws within a particular society. More unofficial than both norms and mores are folkways. These tend to be, "Behaviors which are construed as somewhat less compulsive than mores of the same society, and do not call for a strong reaction from the society if violated." In other words, folkways are behaviors that are generally looked upon with favor when held to, but are not obligatory in their nature.

The implicit rules that constitute social norms are, at times, violated. Obviously, these rules are less obtrusive than the laws that work to preserve individual freedoms, so accordingly, the sanctions associated with their abuse or defiance are less substantial. A sanction associated with violation of a social norm could be as insignificant as a deep sigh, or the rolling one's eyes. Nevertheless, sanctions remain strong indicators to both participants and observers of the presence of a social norm and its apparent interruption.

A taboo, by contrast to a norm, is "a behavior that dictates the individual must abstain from certain acts." Taboos are also highly dependent upon social context, but make up actions that must be avoided under the circumstances of a given situation. For instance, it would be taboo to laugh uncontrollably at a funeral, but at a comedy club this behavior would be perfectly acceptable and encouraged. The most strong taboos tend to be associated with death, and understandably so.

Social Context: Public Library

The setting where I chose to investigate these fundamental sociological concepts was a public library. A public library, as opposed to a school library, is just that -- public. Anyone can walk in and spend hours there without being required to display identification, membership, or any other indicators of social position or class. Consequently, a very unique mix of individuals can be found interacting in ways that would, perhaps, be quite different if placed in alternate locations. Additionally, the public library supplies a fundamental social demand for information; drawing people of varied ages, backgrounds, and interests to a single site. Since such a wide variety of purposes can be served by visiting the library, an equally wide variety of people frequent it.

Doubtlessly, there exist a number of norms dictating conduct in a library; the most obvious of these being speaking volume. Yet, there are codes of conduct regarding what things are appropriate to say, what clothes are appropriate to wear, how you should approach a stranger, just to name a few. Clearly, it is a social norm to use polite language while in the confines of a public library; an individual swearing with disregard for those around him is very likely to receive some sort of sanction or rebuke. Largely, the public library is a setting in which regard is taken for those around you, but a certain level of anonymity remains. In accordance with the widespread understanding that quiet is desirable, conversation is not readily taken up. Essentially, a pervading social norm is that everyone endeavors to keep to themselves and mind their own business.

When I visited the library it was at approximately one in the afternoon on a Wednesday. Many of the people there were accompanied by their children; most of whom were quite young -- not yet of school age. So, the age distribution was primarily adults ages thirty to fifty, with a number of young children under the age of five. I was one of only a handful of people that did not fit into these two age groups.

Norm Expressions Observed

During my time observing the people in the public library I witnessed several specific norms of behavior. The first was exemplified by a pair who appeared to be father and son. Although the son was very young, they were not in the children's section of the library. The boy asked his father in a normal, fairly loud, speaking tone why they needed to go downstairs to get back outside. The father replied that sometimes buildings are built on hills, so that what is the ground level at one entrance will be the second floor at another. The son then asked if they could go on the roof to see if this was true. The father said that it was true but that they could not go on the roof. The boy whined, and frowned as if he was about to cry. At this, the man shushed the boy and told him he needed to remain quiet.

The clear social norm seen in this interaction is the regard for silence in the library. Throughout the conversation the father appeared to be deliberately speaking in an exaggeratedly soft tone, as if to remind his son that he needed to speak quietly. Additionally, the boy's wish to ascend to the roof was automatically declined. This illustrated both that the man likely felt he lacked the authority to get to the roof, and that the wishes of a five-year-old boy can easily be ignored by virtue of his age.

The second conversation I overheard was between a library patron and one of the librarians. The patron was a man, approximately forty year of age, and the librarian was a woman of comparable age. The librarian was behind the checkout counter and had already checked the man's book out when he began to talk to her. The man recounted a story to her of when he lived in Florida, and had checked a book out from a local library there. He said that he really enjoyed the first few hundred pages of the book, and that he usually read it while sitting in a lawn chair on his back lawn. Often times he left books and other objects on the chair overnight. but, when hurricane Andrew struck the chair and the book were blown away. He tried explaining this to the librarian in Florida but was charged for a book that he never finished. All these years later, he decided to take a chance and rent it again. The librarian laughed and the man went on his way.

Apparently, this man's goal was to entertain the librarian as well as explain to her why he checked out the specific book he did. His use of humor was intended to reveal some level of understanding to the librarian. "Social scientists who study humor agree with students of organizations in that they stress the importance of social context for meaning attached to humorous stories." The man adhered to the use of appropriate language, and he chose a topic of conversation that was inoffensive and fitting for the library setting. He did, however, inadvertently hold up the checkout line which appeared to both annoy the librarian and those behind the man in line. Midway through the story, the librarian motioned for him to move aside and began checking out the people behind him in line. Prior to this, the woman directly behind him looked at her watch and sighed deeply. The nonverbal sanction was apparently recognized by the librarian. So, although his language and tone were appropriate for the library, they were perhaps in violation of norms regarding checkout lines.