A 70-year-old woman in a bikini is not considered to be the norm. Norms exist in many different ways. They may be:.
Highly informal and unwritten, e.g. giving gifts on special occasions.
Written rules of an organization, e.g. codes of conduct.
Specific expressions of values, e.g. the vote of thanks at the end of a ceremony.
Norms change for varying reasons, but in spite of this, society needs to ensure that norms are upheld by its members. Thus every society has a system of rewards and punishment which it applies in order to increase the probability that norms are adhered to. This system of rewards and punishment is referred to as sanctions. Sanctions govern the rewards and punishments associated with norms. When a norm is upheld, a sanction may be a smile, a slap on the back, or a comment such as "that was really nice-. When a norm has been ignored, silence may be all that is needed to register one's disapproval. Sanctions are used to effect social control and to ensure social order is maintained.
TYPES OF NORMS .
Sociologists recognize different types of norms. The distinction that they make among the different types are based on the extent to which adherence to the norm is insisted on. Against this background, they have identified four types. These are folkways, mores, customs and laws.
FOLKWAYS.
This term was coined by the William Graham Summer, an American Sociologist. According to Summer, "folkways refer to a conventional practice, accepted as appropriate but not insisted upon-. In other words, folkways are socially correct behaviour. Examples of folkway are the changing of curtains at Christmastime. A person who does not follow a folkway may be looked upon as strange but such a person would not be rejected by the society. Or, if you were at a dinner party where it is socially acceptable to eat with a knife and fork and someone decides to eat with a spoon, they would be breaking an established folkway.
