Social Norms In Sociology Essay

Introduction
Norms, values and socialisation are undoubtedly one of the most important fundamentals in sociology, and I have been fascinated by how these social factors affect and influence the “little man.” (Mills 1946) Throughout this short essay, I will explore these social factors influence the individual and society in the world in which we live.

Norms
Norms are an expectation about appropriate behaviour in a society. It is expected that those living within the society live up to and conform to those norms in order to achieve the societal values. Different types of social norms include, folkways, mores, taboos and laws.

Social norms are generally learned from an early age without us realising it, and as a result we assume that the norms

For example, in Ireland, education is, so it is a norm, and to delve deeper, a law, that everyone must attend school up until a certain age.

As social beings, values and norms have a major influence on the decisions that we make.

Socialisation
Socialisation, also known as “enculturation” (Bruce and Yearley, 2006), is the term that describes the process and experiences of how we learn about our cultures and from a wider viewpoint, how society passes culture through many generations. Through socialisation you become a part of a society or group , while at the same time you are moulding out the person you will become through what you acquire from social interaction with others
Socialisation allows us to learn from one another, to understand the views of other people and their cultures and to acknowledge how when combined, affect the society in which we live.
According to C. Wright Mills, it is impossible to understand society as a whole or solely the life of an individual. We must bring them both together in order to gain a full understanding and in my view, socialisation helps to achieve