This is a good topic to discuss as it is what I did my group presentation on :D
'So moral codes, what are they?' you may ask, well that is the thing isn't it. Moral codes are not a set of spoken rules, rather they are a set of morals and social norms (guidelines, as captain Barbados would put it!) that is shared by a group of people, not just random people but a particular in-group that all share the same rules. Weider discussed this in the reading using his study of a group of people living at a half-way house as an example. Weider explained how the codes constructed behaviour and how this in turn reinforced the code in a continuous cycle. The convicts at the halfway house even began to use the code as a means to manipulate the staff into allowing them to do what they wanted. They did this by using the code as a moral ground for exemption or exception.
But how does this apply to us?
Well moral codes are all around us and structure our group behaviour. Dress code is a simple example, it is not strictly a spoken rule that we must dress a particular way in certain circumstances, rather we just 'know' that it is acceptable behaviour or dress for that particular occasion.
Nathan you have made some really good point son moral codes
ReplyDeleteThere is not set codes for each individual, but as we grow up and go through different stages of life we learn moral codes through our both being taught and what we see
The point of dress codes I relation to moral codes is a very good point as it a code that we just get to know and its concepts we are told to dress in certain ways, but most know that we are to dress certain ways depending on where we are going or what we are , e.g. you would not wear swimmers to a job interview, but if you are going to the beach or pool this would be suitable , just like we know not to go out in public with no clothes on
We learn to know what is acceptable and not acceptable
Moral codes are different from culture to culture and from groups that are formed within cultures etc.
This is a good post! You've demonstrated quite effectively that moral codes are situationally and culturally bound which is a really important concept. Your example of dress codes is also really useful. Dress is culturally specific and has great significance to our personal identity. Dress code isn't just about specific events it's (as Goffman might suggest) about how we want to project our front stage self to others. In a sense everytime we choose our clothes in the morning we're transmitting a code to everyone who sees us that day. The extent to which we comply with the culturally relative social codes and norms will determine the amount and type of attention we attract from those who we socially interact with and it's all in our own choices!
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