SOC 233 Lecture Notes - Taboo, Emergency Vehicle, Reference Group
Document Summary
Reference groups: any and all groups that influence the attitudes and behaviours of individuals. Anomie: discontinuity between cultural goals and the means to achieve these goals. Example of nonfunction the function of painting your car. Late for class because of traffic delays. Painting your car might help you sell it, but the colour you choose to paint it has no function (this could be argued). However, if you are an emergency vehicle, the colour is of great function. Note merton suggests we need to get away from universal functions, as they vary depending on the context they are in. Adolescents look to other adolescents for how to behave; normative guidance and points of comparison. Shift from parents or family in childhood, to peer groups in adolescence. Stage in which we see a shift in one"s reference group from family to friends.
