Deviance: The Breaching Experiment

Neill Johnson Herrera Jan Wigan Salon  SA 21 - G

Noe Michael Inson Roselle Nneka Vicencio        Feb. 24 ,2015

Mark Julius Martinez Luis Javier Tanjuatco  Ms. Emily Roque

Deviance:

The Breaching Experiment

What norm did you violate?

In living our everyday lives, there are those norms that if violated, people tend to frown upon. Thus, these norms must be kept personal. Throughout history, some norms are generally seen as accepted only when they are performed or conducted in private. That is why the norms that we chose to violate were bathroom activities such as nose-picking, nail cutting, and cleaning one’s ears, which are normally done inside one’s personal comfort space.

The group also took into consideration how people coming from different social classes would react to the group’s social experiment. Thus, the group decided to conduct the experiment in two social settings. One was done in a mid to high class social setting such as in Promenade, Greenhills, San Juan City and in Alabang Country Club, Ayala Alabang Village. The other social setting was performed in a lower class public space such as that of the Marikina Sports Complex Plaza. And in doing so, the group was able to acquire insights regarding the varying reactions of people coming from different social classes as they witness the violation of norms the group conducted.

Describe the breaching experiment in detail. What was the activity? Where did you do it?

For the first part of our breaching experiment, the group decided to go to Promenade, in Greenhills San Juan, because the new wing of the said mall just opened. The group decided to go to this mall because it gives of a high-end feeling as compared to malls like SM, Rockwell, Shangri-la and the like. As the group arrived in Promenade, we looked for a restaurant that will suit our goals. And we found the Japanese restaurant named Yumi. As the group arrived in the restaurant, we were still quite indecisive about the project. We thought that what we’re going to do can really be embarrassing as we ourselves felt that way. But after a few moments of getting ourselves together, one of our groupmates decided to do the experiment so that he could eat already. Mark, at first took out his cotton buds. At the lo surprise of everyone, nobody was really minding mark. By the looks of it, we believe that people do not really mind if something is done without disrupting other people’s business. They were just their own businesses, not even looking nor complaining about our groupmate Mark. So after eating, Mark decided to bring out his nail cutter, which was the second task of the group in violating the norm of things that are done in the bathroom. This is where everything came into place.

For the second part, the group decided to go to Alabang Country Club, in Ayala Alabang Village. We chose this place because it is an exclusive country club wherein only a very few people are accepted to be a part of the club. It gives a decent and well-mannered place to relax, have fun, eat good food with family and friends. As we entered the country club, we went straight to the veranda where plenty of the members eat, such as the golfers, and hang out. First, we looked for a table that can suit as our experimenting spot; a table that was somewhere in the middle of the veranda and near the walkway so that a lot of people could see. Luis, first took his cotton buds and started cleaning his ears. However, no one minded him. We believe it was because it wasn’t that visible to people; maybe they thought that he was scratching or touching his ears. Second, was picking his nose. This, however, gathered some responses as it was visible to the people, but no one decided to stop him. The people just minded their own business. Lastly, was cutting Luis’ nails. This was very embarrassing for Luis because it gather much more attention to the members and the waiter. This was where the waiter decided to tell us to stop because it is very rude.

For the third part of the social experiment, the group decided to conduct it at the Marikina Sports Complex Plaza, Marikina City. This public space was chosen because the group classified it as a hangout place of people who belonged to the lower class. When the group arrived at the plaza, it was observed that a lot of families from the lower class spent quality time with their children. Going back to the social experiment, one of our group members was tasked to sit on one of the benches in the plaza. After being able to find an empty bench, Noe pulled out one of his cotton buds and began cleaning his ears. For a few minutes, no one noticed what Noe was doing. One couple just minded their own business. However Noe noticed that some bystanders who were smoking began to take notice of what he was doing. It looked like they were gossiping about what Noe was doing. In another case, Noe sat on a bench occupied by a lady. When Noe began cleaning his ears, the lady slowly moved away from him until she was seated on the other end of the bench. This was also what happened when he transferred to a waiting shed nearby. However since the shed didn’t have much space, the man beside Noe just covered his mouth with his fan.

What were the different reactions of the people? List all reaction. Why do you think they reacted this way? What caused the reaction? Did the deviant act reaffirm/reinforce the existing norms based on the reaction?

The people in the restaurant somewhat got annoyed by the sound of cutting nails. The group saw the expression of disgust in other people, as the loud crisp sound of cutting one’s nails surrounded the area. Since the Yumi was just a small intimate Japanese restaurant, to our surprise the sound was amplified to a much greater extent. Because of this, some people were cringing, some people were annoyed, but still some were indifferent. There was even an instance when the head waiter himself went to the group, and talked to Mark, because some customers who were having their Saturday dinner, were already bothered by the sound that the nail cutter created.

As for the country club, nail cutting was the most annoying act as compared to the other two acts because of the sound it makes. Nose picking and ear cleaning gather minimal reactions wherein some people nodded their heads, walked past by us or they ignored us from the other table. Nail cutting gathered complaints from the waiters wherein the one waiter told us to stop.

By the looks of the other people’s reactions, the group believes that just like us they reacted this way because the norm that we violated should only be done in a private and personal setting. These people are used to doing things like this in bathrooms in their own respective houses. In our opinion, what really caused the reaction was the fact that the nails that were cut could have made their appetite go away. There could be a possibility that the nails be placed in their food without even noticing it.  Because of this, the deviant act in our situation reinforced the existing norms based on the customers reaction in Yumi and at the county club veranda.

Aside from the norms, what sociological themes are at play for people react in a certain way? Is it function of gender (gender norms, roles) social class (rich or poor norms) beliefs of institution (religion,family, peer). Compare reaction.  

The group’s goal for breaching activity was to challenge the idea of self-grooming done in private spaces. In doing this, the group was also able to challenge the idea of the modern-day Filipino bourgeoisie; the idea that the people perceived to be part of the middle to upper class’ actions and public behaviour should reflect their social status. Those of the more privileged classes, especially the youths, are expected to be very prim and proper when it comes to their image. When the group was conducting the experiment, and we saw how the people reacted, we took into consideration how the idea of class affected their reaction.

Each group representing the lower and higher class different reactions. The people perceived to be of the lower classes  could have found it to be funny or gossip-worthy. Because they’re seen as tumatambay lang, what they normally do would just be observing the people around them, so they’d talk and gossip about whatever weird or interesting happenings they would see. Their reactions were more visible to the group compared to those of the higher class. As mentioned in the previous parts, the people in the restaurant looked like they didn’t seem to mind. However, towards the end of the experiment when Mark pulled out and started using the nail-cutter, the customers started complaining to the waiting staff about how they felt that the self-grooming of Mark was very inappropriate and sort of disgusting. The reaction became more observable when the action done by Mark started to directly affect the customers’ time in the restaurant. The main difference in the reactions of the two groups was that one group’s reaction only became observable when it directly affected them, while the other group’s reaction was very evident right from the beginning of the experiment.

How did you feel when you did this experiment? How does it feel to deviate from the norm? Were you hesitant to do the experiment?

Honestly we were quite hesitant to do the experiment in public places mainly because people would immediately center their attention towards you and criticize. But as we progressed to different kinds of settings we started to notice that the reactions were different as to where we perform it. On the first try we were a bit shy in performing the act because we haven’t really tried doing it in the past. But as we transitioned to different settings we were more at eased compared to the previous once. In fact we became more participative and enthusiastic while doing so because we were more now interested to the reactions of the people. In terms of deviating the norm we felt that we are in control of our own actions because we were not restricted by what society dictates. It also felt that we do not belong from the society since the people surrounding us alienated our actions.

Other observations and analysis on the activity

If we think about the norm we deviated on a different perspective, I think the group wouldn’t be too enthusiastic to do the activity if it was done in an environment where they will be judged by people who knows about them. The confidence that the group gained in doing the activity came from the fact that almost no one around them cares about what they were doing. And if they did, their judgements won’t affect the members of the group since they have no direct impact in their lives. However if the activity was done in school, things could have been different. Fearing that their friends might judge them or misinterpret their actions, the group will probably try to do it in a more secluded area in school or not do it at all.

This breaching experiment taught us many things about how people perceive actions that are out of the ordinary. For the most part, whether the activity was done in a public or private place, people did not mind what the group was doing. It was because most of them were busy focusing on the things they were doing. Some of them were having dinner with their families or were too romantically focused with each other. The only people who took notice of the group’s actions were the ones who were either not busy with anything, such as the bystanders who were just smoking, or people whose jobs makes them responsible for what others are doing, such as the waiter who is concerned about his other customers and the restaurant’s overall image. This experiment does not entirely speak of the universal reaction against these kinds of unusual activities. Although some people did not actually mind about what the group was doing, some of them surely saw what we did and may have felt disgusted about what the group did. However since they are faced with a situation where it would be inappropriate to sermon us about proper conduct, they just let it pass. Furthermore, they could have thought that they were not in position to berate about what the group was doing and that perhaps it would be “safer” not to care.

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