When have we as a society, drawn the line between what is right and what is wrong? Perhaps it was the moment society begun labeling things, people, sex, and conduct. The word deviant means a person or thing that deviates or departs markedly from the "accepted norm" (dictionary.com). As individuals of a society, we have “norms” in place that need to be followed. If you do not meet those “norms”, or if you try to change them, you are considered deviant. Since the moment we are born, we begin social constructs are determining who we are. We grow up filtering everything that comes across us.
Furthermore, we use those filters to build feelings, create judgment, and form opinions about other human beings. I see it every day at work; the majority of my customers are people who receive Social Security and welfare assistant. A few of my co-workers criticize, judge, comment, and stereotype the typical African American, single mother without a job. The comments I hear are “look at her long acrylic fancy nails,"“she drives a better car than mine,” “she probably paid a fortune to maintain that fake hair.” Those are a few of the comments I heard while doing my research.
The fact that she is black and receives assistance from the government makes her deviant. What is the ideal appearance for black women that receive welfare? Are they not allowed to look good? Perhaps having a nice car, long pretty nails, and expensive hair extensions helps them cope with the pressure from society.
My coworkers are educated white females that grew up in better neighborhoods, with more privileges than some of my customers. Not only the white females are making those remarks, also the black women that are light skinned come in with racial comments. It is like a battle of color; the darker you are, the more criticized you will get. For some of them it is outrageous to see a single African American mother cashing her welfare check and speeding it on things that make them look beautiful. It is easy to judge and make assumptions because we are using those filters that were inserted in our brains, ideas that blacks are lazy, troublemakers, and love to live off from the government. All those racial comments are brought back to life when we less expected, even in the work force where everyone should be treated equally.
As humans we are always looking for approval from our peers. Following the rules of society put us in a different social category. We do not want to become the "others", those that are considered poor and are less fortunate. Men and women that have power and money are the ones who make the rules and create the label to teach who is "normal" and "deviant." Stephen Pfohl mentioned, “It is a story of both deviance and social control” (Pfohl, 6). The ones that have the power, are the ones who can make the labels for the society they live in. In the case of my coworkers, having the power of being behind the counter, where the money is, gives them the power to label the black single mother cashing the welfare check.
Works Cited Page
Pfohl, Stephen. “Images of Deviance.” Readings in Deviant Behavior. Alex Thio, Thomas C. Calhoun, and Addrain Conyers. Boston, 2010. 6. Print
After reading your post, I found myself conflicted. A part of me agrees with the fact that perhaps the enhanced outer appearance is a coping mechanism for the societal pressures and stigma. Howard Becker said it best: "Social rules define situation and the kinds of behavior appropriate to them, specifying some actions as 'right' and others as 'wrong'"(1). Taking this into consideration with my personal experiences, I disagree with your conclusions.
ReplyDeleteSociety has stigmatized receiving public assistance, but why? The most simple answer: Because there is a large enough number of women/men receiving the benefits/funds who use them inappropriately. I have seen first hand many women who receive their check on the first of the month, pay the essential bills, and spend the rest on themselves. Their children do not receive any new clothes, toys, or anything new. The women I knew would get their nails done, by themselves new clothes while their children simply stood by.
This is not to say that all women/men who receive assistance practice these behaviors, I know just as many who use the funds to pay their bills and all of the remaining money goes to their child(ren). The unfortunate truth remains that enough people have participated in these behaviors to make it a social issue. Which raises the question: Who is more deviant, the parent who spends their funds inappropriately, or the parent who uses them for their intended purpose?
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I have to jump in here, to disagree that there is a "large enough" number of welfare abusers. Because this is a sociology class, I am going to ask us to look way beyond what we have seen with our own eyes, and even beyond what we have heard from the people we have known in our lives. You can know a lot of people--a LOT of people--but there are 7 billion people on this planet. Even if you know 1000 people, that is a very, very small blip. And we don't know a random assortment of people; we usually know people who are like us in some ways. So we will never be able to look at the people around us, and generalize their actions to the total population.
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, there are people that have abused the system. But in general, this is NOT the case! In a sociology course we need to look at social-level patterns, and the pattern is that (1) the largest proportion of welfare recipients are white, and (2) the myth of the African-American welfare queen is just that--a myth. Check out what I say about it on the course blog. We all have life experiences filtering how we see each others' actions; sociology challenges you to look beyond what you have seen, to look at the bigger picture. I am going to ask you to do that in this course. Think about it like this: is it a social issue because there is some truth? Or because some people want us to believe it is a truth, so we don't have to feel bad about the terrible way we treat the poor?
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ReplyDeleteI wrote this comment not based upon the race or even sex of those who misappropriate funds delegated to care for their children. I took your comments into consideration, and realized I should have obtained outside sources to support and reinforce my information.
ReplyDeleteI have found some support, such as the $11 Million dollars misappropriated from California welfare funds. These funds were spent on round trip air fare and withdrawn from Casinos, bars and other places in Florida, Nevada and Hawaii. (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/over-11-million-in-california-welfare-funds-spent-in-vegas-casinos/)
I had never intended to insinuate that this "large enough" number was even remotely significant, only that it was large enough to have drawn attention to the problem. I am not intending this to be as argumentative, only to clarify a few points I felt were misunderstood. Upon closer examination, I also came upon multiple sources stating it is more common that those recipients who are applying due to financial need are actually using the funds as needed. The most commonly discovered type of fraud are those who are receiving assistance who have regular jobs and do not report the income. One such example is a Seattle, WA couple living in a 1.2 million dollar home while receiving welfare.(http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Welfare-fraud-investigators-raid-1-2-mil-Lake-2341224.php) While this is an extreme example, it shows how the stigma surrounding welfare recipient can be misrepresented to include those who truly need the benefits.