Positive Deviance and Conformity in the Andes Survival Story
This paper applies core sociological concepts—positive deviance, conformity, and obedience—to the 2010 documentary I Am Alive, which chronicles the Uruguayan rugby team's survival after a plane crash in the Andes. Drawing on Hughes and Coakley's framework of "sport ethic" and Schaefer's sociology textbook, the paper argues that the survivors exemplify positive deviance through risk-taking and self-sacrifice. It further analyzes how the group's decision to practice anthropophagy was normalized through conformity strategies, including religious framing of the Eucharist and collective pacts, demonstrating how social control mechanisms operate even in extreme survival situations.
- Introduction: Deviance and the Sport Ethic: Defines positive deviance and applies it to Andes survivors
- Anthropophagy as Positive Deviance: Analyzes cannibalism as justified positive deviance
- Conformity and Obedience in a Survival Context: Examines collaborative leadership and group persuasion
- Social Rituals and Collective Survival: Explores pacts and routines as conformity mechanisms
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What makes this paper effective
- Efficiently applies multiple sociological frameworks (positive deviance, conformity, social control) to a single compelling case study, demonstrating conceptual range within a short format.
- Uses the Eucharist analogy to make a nuanced observation about religion as social control, elevating the analysis beyond simple description of events.
- Acknowledges the relativity of deviance at the outset, which provides a solid theoretical foundation for the more controversial claims about anthropophagy that follow.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates applied sociological analysis: the writer takes abstract concepts from peer-reviewed literature and a course textbook and systematically maps them onto real-world documentary evidence. Each claim is grounded in a specific citation, and textual evidence from the documentary is used to support theoretical points rather than simply retelling events.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized into two numbered sections mirroring the assignment structure. The first addresses deviance and defines positive deviance before applying it to the film. The second addresses conformity and obedience, examining leadership style, group persuasion tactics, and the role of social ritual. A references section follows in APA format.
Introduction: Deviance and the Sport Ethic
Deviance is relative, referring to behavioral deviation from established social norms within a specific community (Schaefer, 2016). What is deviant in one period of time may become normative in another, and vice versa. Likewise, what is deviant in one culture may not be considered deviant in another. Although deviance is typically framed as maladaptive behavior that either leads to or is categorized as criminal, deviance can also be constructive, productive, and "positive" (Hughes & Coakley, 1991, p. 307). In fact, athletes engage in what is known as "positive deviance," in that their behaviors constitute a cohesive "sport ethic" that includes taking risks, pushing past personal limits, and making sacrifices for the greater good of the game (Hughes & Coakley, 1991, p. 307).
The 2010 documentary I Am Alive chronicles the Uruguayan rugby team's remarkable survival in the Andes and is a perfect example of positive deviance in action. The survivors take innumerable risks that entail pushing past their physical and mental limits—most notably the decision by Nando and Roberto to trek through the mountains against all odds of survival. They do so not merely to save their own lives, but for the good of the team as a whole.
Anthropophagy as Positive Deviance
Of all the behaviors exhibited by the men in the film, the one that is most universally deviant is anthropophagy—consuming human flesh. Although a few small cultures have practiced ritual cannibalism in some form, eating the flesh of human beings is considered deviant in almost all contexts (Osborne, 2010). The survivors use a variety of methods to justify their deviant behavior, including invoking the Eucharist as an analogy and, most importantly, convincing themselves that anthropophagy is critical to their survival. Although anthropophagy is deviant, it is equally deviant to give up on life or to turn down the opportunity to survive when there is a clear and rational solution to the problem of starvation.
Conformity and Obedience in a Survival Context
Conformity and obedience are not overt themes of I Am Alive, but the film does illustrate how these dynamics helped the survivors maintain unity and collaborate on their strategies. The type of leadership exhibited is collaborative. Although Nando Parrado emerges as the strongest natural leader, he defers to other members of the group for their areas of specialization—as when Roy demonstrates his expertise as a radio operator (Osborne, 2010). It is not so much that individuals obey arbitrary authority, as Schaefer (2016) describes in relation to the Milgram experiments, but rather that the individuals understand the necessity of working together.
Several members of the group agree to begin eating the dead, something that requires a form of conformity. Nando and a few others use the power of persuasion to convince their companions that "to be part of the project of life," one must do whatever it takes to stay alive—even if it means going against the prevailing social norms surrounding the consumption of human remains (Osborne, 2010). One survivor even uses the phrase "one of us" to describe the way each person conformed to the newly established norm of anthropophagy as a means of survival (Osborne, 2010). Another strategy employed to encourage conformity involves framing anthropophagy in religious terms, specifically as an extension of the Eucharist ritual (Osborne, 2010). This framing illustrates how religion has historically functioned as a powerful instrument of social control, and is ironically invoked in this survival situation to encourage positive deviance.
References
Hughes, R. & Coakley, J. (1991). Positive deviance among athletes. Sociology of Sport Journal, 8(4): 307–325.
Osborne, B. (Director). (2010). I Am Alive [Feature Documentary]. AMS Pictures.
Schaefer, R. T. (2016). Sociology: A Brief Introduction. McGraw-Hill.
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