Transcription
Hi student! I'm Brian Perez from Teaching and Digital Tools.
In the last video, we saw what the Norms are and what they are for. This time, we will learn more about the classes or types of Norms that exist. We can distinguish between social, moral, religious, and legal norms. Different contexts correspond to each of them: they have different characteristics, the people involved, and the type of sanctions provided for non-compliance change.
Types of Norms:
1) Social norms: They are the product of agreements or customs that regulate social treatment for coexistence within the framework of respect. They are rules of behavior for the most common aspects of social life. They are strongly influenced by context. In other words, they change depending on the situation in which we find ourselves and in front of the people around us at a given time and place. If you think about it carefully, you will realize that you do not speak in the same way with your friends as with your teachers or your parents. Nor do you behave at school in the same way as at home. There is no authority that forces people to abide by them. But in case of moving away from the behaviors expected by a society, it can exert social pressure on us, which results in a social sanction. That is, if we maintain inappropriate behavior in a certain context, people will begin to refer to us in a certain way or treat us in a way that indicates that we are not acting as appropriate. In these circumstances, we may not feel entirely comfortable and may not be able to get along with people in the way we want. In extreme cases, we will feel excluded from the group, or else, people will begin to move away from us. In this way, although there is no authority that forces us to abide by these norms, we prefer to abide by them in order to live better together.
Examples of social norms: They are respectful treatment with others, listening to people without interrupting them. In case of interrupting, we apologize, do not raise your voice in public places, and use appropriate clothing.
2) Moral norms: They are those that create certain personal behaviors in the individual. They tend to guide behavior so that one acts in accordance with ethics. They aim for the individual to comply with a set of values or principles to be an exemplary citizen. They are autonomous: This means that they are created by oneself. In addition, there is no authority outside the subject himself that forces him to abide by them. They are fulfilled voluntarily, although deep down they come from a collective morality. Morality is a social construction. Therefore, these norms are often taken as criteria of what is considered correct or incorrect, to justify or condemn human behavior within a given society. The history and geography, specific to each nation, influence the shaping of public morality, and it affects individual morality. As a result, moral standards are different in each society and change over time. They are also closely related to values. Let's look at the following examples: If an individual prioritizes honesty within his scale of values, he is likely to think that telling lies is wrong, and as a moral norm he assumes the mandate not to lie. While if a person prioritizes the value of solidarity, he will tend to give the seat of the group to pregnant women, or he will allow the elderly to be attended first in the shops. Breaking your own moral standards creates contradictions between what is thought, believed, and done, which can lead the individual to experience remorse. That is why it is said that moral norms weigh on the conscience.
3) Religious norms: They are mandatory precepts that regulate the conduct of man in relation to divinity. Its fulfillment is imposed by faith. They emanate, or come directly from God, or his representatives on earth. Examples of religious norms are the prohibition of consuming pork, fasts, alcohol restriction, baptisms, etc. In short, they regulate compliance with certain traditions or the prohibition of certain behaviors, depending on the religion in question. It is important to clarify that unlike moral norms, these norms are heteronomous, that is, they are not created by ourselves, nor do we participate in their creation, but are imposed by someone or something else, outside of us. In ancient times, many civilizations intertwined social life, morals, and justice. In fact, some of the earliest antecedents of codes of conduct are the commandments; such as not killing, not stealing, not lying, honoring your parents, among others, which nowadays monotheistic religions maintain as religious precepts. Back then, breaking these rules could carry very severe penalties. With the passing of the centuries, the religious sphere and the civil sphere were separated. So today the Church does not intervene in the affairs of the State, and the State does not intervene in the affairs of the Church. Which leads us to the most important rules in the States of law:
4) Legal norms: They are all those laws, decrees, regulations that have the force of law. Its purpose is to order the behavior of people while they are members of a society. Unlike social or moral norms, they are coercive, that is, legal regulations have the authority, the power, to force people to behave in this or that way, using as a last resort, the public force if necessary, and non-compliance carries a penalty. These sanctions have nothing to do with social disapproval or remorse. Rather, they involve sentences ranging from a fine to deprivation of liberty. Even; in some states, the death penalty still exists! Given the importance and weight that all legal rules have for a society, they are dictated only by competent authority: Only the State can create laws. Legal norms are always created with the intention of protecting people or their rights, promoting the well-being of the Nation. It is important to mention that these rules are heteronomous, because they are imposed on us by an entity outside of us. They are universal, because they apply to all people who are part of the State. They are also mandatory since people cannot decide which laws to respect and which not. They must all comply. In the majority of the States, these norms are in writing, in different codes, and their non-compliance always foresees a specific sanction that is also regulated by other legal norms. In this way, equal treatment is guaranteed before persons who violate the law.
Some examples of legal norms are: the duty to pay taxes, the prohibition of stealing, the prohibition of selling alcohol to minors, not throwing garbage on public roads, working hours not exceeding 8 hours a day.
I hope this information is useful to you. If you want to support us to continue creating content like this, subscribe to the channel, like the video, comment on it, and share it so that it reaches more people. Until next time.