The Individual and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Individual and Society - Essay Example The individual has violated a type of social norm referred to as injunctive norm. Injunctive norms commonly refer to what is approved or disapproved by the culture, and they encourage behavior through the informal social sanctions. In other words, injunctive refer to the perceptions of what it is supposed to be done (De Cremer, Murnighan and Van Dick 69). For example, the individual has violated of what it is perceived to be done, not to litter the environment. The society in general, requires that the environment is kept clean and the incidences of littering are considered to be against the social norms. Thus, the individual has violated the social norms that require the environment to be kept clean. In USA, there are several organizations and interest groups that have taken the initiative of keeping the environment clean through methods such as litter prevention. Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (par. 6) asserts that littering is a personal choice. In other words, it is an individual behavior to choose to litter on the ground. 83 percent of the litter is disposed properly meaning that most people hold the notion that littering in the wrong places is not good. Thus, litter prevention is a social norm that is accepted by most people living in the USA. It will not be proper for an individual to litter in the wrong places in USA. As stated earlier, choosing to litter (that is, to litter on the ground) is an individual behavior. According to Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (par. 6), 81 percent of individuals litter intentionally; through methods such as flinging, dropping or flicking. It further states that individuals tend to litter in environments already littered. Some of the individuals believe that litter prevention is not their responsibility. These people lack sense of ownership for beaches, walkways, parks and other public places. They believe that someone will pick