Conformity, Authority, and Social Inequality: Sociology Essay

Conformity and Authority in Classic Experiments

Asch's conformity experiment placed one person in a group of others tasked with answering a series of questions. All the other group members were paid to give wrong answers to see if the single participant would conform and also provide incorrect responses. The results revealed significant variation in conformity: approximately one-third of participants gave wrong answers about half the time, two-fifths gave wrong answers some of the time, and one-quarter never followed the group, maintaining their own correct answers despite group pressure.

Milgram's obedience experiment employed a different setup. One person sat in a "shock chair" while another read a series of words to them. The participant would repeat the first word, and the person in the chair would repeat the second. When the person gave a wrong answer, the reader would push a "shock button," administering an electric shock. With each incorrect answer, the voltage increased. A third experimenter was present to assure the reader that they had to continue and that the person being shocked would be okay. The goal was to determine how far people would go before quitting. Although most people wanted to stop when the shocked person began screaming in pain, once the experimenter told them they had to continue, most did.

These findings reflect deep patterns of socialization. People appear to be programmed from birth to listen to authority figures. When an experimenter told participants they had to continue, most did exactly that. Throughout childhood, we are taught to listen to and follow the orders of authority figures—bosses, teachers, parents, and elders. Likewise, in group settings, people tend to do what others are doing to avoid being "the odd one out." Many children get in trouble because their friends were doing the same thing. Most people in a group will follow along with the rest regardless of whether the action is right or wrong. Peer pressure and obedience to authority are powerful forces that shape behavior, even when individuals recognize the wrongfulness of their actions.

Social institutions are ways developed by society to meet its needs. Medicine, government, politics, education, and the military are all examples of essential institutions that sustain modern society.

Medicine provides cures for disease and illness, heals injured persons, and prevents death in many cases. Without medicine, many people would die from conditions now considered treatable.

Understanding Social Institutions

Politics and government establish laws and determine who enforces them. Without these institutions, society would descend into total disorder and chaos.

Education transmits knowledge to future generations and provides skills required for specialized work. Without education, knowledge would not be handed down, and many jobs requiring particular skills could not be filled. Education may be the most foundational institution, as many others depend on an educated population.

Military protects against attacks from other nations, defends borders, and provides citizens with a sense of safety and security. Without military defense, societies would be vulnerable to external threats.

Deviance and Social Theory

Deviance is defined as breaking any norms in a society, whether committing a small offense or murder. Both are forms of deviance, though they differ greatly in severity and social consequence.

Conflict theorists explain deviance by pointing to the oppression of the working class by the upper class, who own industries. They argue that economic pressure and inequality cause workers to commit crimes. Conflict theorists further stress that the upper class uses the law as a tool to keep the working class in subordinate positions, creating a self-perpetuating system of control.

Social Stratification and Inequality

Functionalists, such as Durkheim, argue that social factors influence crime and that crime is a normal and even necessary part of societies. From this perspective, deviance is another way for people to reach goals that might otherwise be unattainable. When legitimate paths to success are blocked, individuals may break norms and commit crimes to achieve their objectives. Functionalists see deviance as serving a role in social adaptation and change.

Social stratification is a system of dividing people from top to bottom into groups based on wealth, education, race, and other characteristics. In the United States, stratification is primarily organized by wealth, with people classified as upper, middle, or lower class. It is also determined by sex and race. Historically and today, a white man typically occupies the top position in most cases, while an African American woman often occupies the bottom. Importantly, stratification is not about individual achievement alone; it is about the group to which a person belongs and where that group fits in the overall social hierarchy.

The elites maintain stratification through several mechanisms. They control what information is released to the public, employ surveillance and information systems technology, and develop ideologies that justify their positions and actions. Technology appears to be the most controlling factor. Law enforcement agencies possess advanced surveillance technology that makes committing crime and escaping detection nearly impossible. The military commands weapons far superior to those available to the general public. Walking into a store, bank, restaurant, or mall without seeing surveillance cameras is rare today. While these mechanisms of control may seem oppressive, they also help maintain social balance. Elites use stratification to keep themselves at the top, the lower classes at the bottom, and the middle class in between—a structure that, intentionally or not, provides some stability.