HANDOUT 7.1A Case History: Bobby James

CHAPTER 7

Conformity

HANDOUT 7.1a Case History: Bobby James

Bobby James was born in Bellevue Hospital in New York City. He was the sixth of eight children born before Mr. James abandoned the family once and for all when Bobby was five years old. During the next five years, Mrs. James and her eight children lived in a number of different apartments in the Bronx. Sometimes they moved because they could no longer pay the rent, and sometimes they moved because the older children got in trouble with the school officials or the police. Sometimes they moved simply because Mrs. James feared her children would be hurt or become involved with drugs or in serious crime if they stayed where they were any longer.

After these five years, Mrs. James’s health declined and Tommy, the oldest, assumed the authority in the family. Mrs. James relied heavily on Tommy to discipline the other children and to hold the family together. When the younger children got out of hand at home or in trouble at school or with the police, Tommy would slap them around, often brutally. Bobby and the younger children were terrified of their oldest brother and were relieved when he left two years later to join the army. Two other older brothers, Ray and Aaron, twins a year younger than Tommy, left the James family six months later when they were convicted of selling narcotics to other high school students.

After Tommy left for the army, Bobby began to get in more and more trouble at school. Whereas his elementary school teachers had described him as “scared,” “anxious,” “sullen,” “uncommunicative,” and “quiet,” his eighth grade American History teacher called him “openly hostile, aggressive, and disruptive.” His English teacher called him an “unruly animal.” Bobby never studied out of class and was not promoted at the end of eighth grade.

Following each incident at school, Bobby was compelled to commit some new misbehavior. With each new punishment and failure, his conviction grew that his teachers, like everyone else, were out to get him.

At the same time, Bobby fell into more and more trouble with the police. The summer after he turned thirteen, Bobby and a friend were arrested for stealing a case of beer off a delivery truck. They were taken to the neighborhood police station. As Bobby described the incident, “Larry and me was sitting there waiting and these two cops come along and ask me if Aaron and Ray were my brothers so I said yes. One grabs me by the arm, twists it real hard, and says, ‘Are you junkies too, you little bastard?’.... I hate them ****ing cops.” The police stated that Bobby was quite unruly and verbally abusive to them and that he had not been provoked.

After several more run-ins with the police during the rest of the summer, Bobby was assigned to a juvenile court parole officer, Mr. Simmons. Mr. Simmons was friendly and at first spent a good deal of time with Bobby. Bobby’s teachers found that he was making a tremendous effort to behave himself and complete his schoolwork. Despite his progress, however, one teacher described him as “a lit time bomb about to explode.”

As the year passed, Mr. Simmons spent less time with Bobby. Bobby managed to get through the school year without much trouble and was promoted, but a possible summer job Mr. Simmons had mentioned didn’t materialize. The summer had scarcely begun before Bobby was arrested for selling marijuana to some other teenagers from the Junior High School. Before he appeared in court, Mr. Simmons visited him. “Bobby,” Mr. Simmons reported, “seemed unhappy but cool and detached, though once or twice, as we talked, he looked like he might cry. Perhaps if I had been able to spend more time with him, this wouldn’t have happened.”

HANDOUT 7.1b Kindness-Punishment Scale

1.Love, kindness, and friendship are all that are necessary to make Bobby a better kid. If he can be placed in a less hostile environment--with a warm, friendly atmospherehis troubles will clear up.

2.Bobby should be sent into new surroundings where the most emphasis will be placed on providing him with warmth and affection, but where he will be punished if he really gets out of hand.

3.Bobby should be sent into an environment where providing him with warmth and affection will be emphasized slightly more than punishing him, but where he’ll have to shoulder some responsibility, and discipline and punishment will be frequent if his behavior warrants it.

4.Bobby needs an equal measure of both love and discipline. Thus, he should be placed in an atmosphere where he will be disciplined and punished if he does wrong, but rewarded and given affection if he behaves himself.

5.Though not too strong or frequent, punishment and discipline should be emphasized more than kindness and affection. Thus Bobby should be placed in an atmosphere of serious discipline but one which allows opportunities for warmth and kindness to be shown him.

6.Bobby should be sent into new surroundings where the most emphasis will be placed on discipline and punishment, but where praise and kindness will be presented when he behaves himself.

7.There’s very little you can do with a kid like this other than to put him in a very severe disciplinary environment. Only by punishing Bobby strongly can you change his behavior.

HANDOUT 7.1c Guidelines for the Confederate

You are to support the harshest treatment of Bobby James (“7” on the kindness-punishment scale). You must maintain this position regardless of the strength of the opposition.

As the session begins, each participant will be asked to choose a treatment for Bobby. The moderator will then let the discussion begin. No other instructions are given. Often, much of the communication is directed toward the confederate, particularly in the beginning. Be ready for this. You should not initiate the conversation but rather should wait to be spoken to. Sometimes, communication with the confederate falls off, with the other participants haggling over the differences between their positions. If this happens in your case, after several minutes of being ignored you should break back into the conversation to see if you will continue to be rejected. However, in some groups the confederate is never off the hook: The others in the group may continue to try to get you to change your mind. You should be polite but rigid, never switching from “7.”

Come to class prepared with a set of arguments about why you believe in this position. Don’t reveal all your arguments right away; save some for later points in the discussion.

The moderator will again poll the participants after the discussion has ended. You should not switch from your support of treatment “7.”

HANDOUT 7.1d Post-Discussion Ratings

Be assured that your answers will be kept confidential. Please answer each item.

How well do you think your discussion went?

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
very poorly / very well

How much did you enjoy the discussion?

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
very poorly / very well

Try to guess which of the following types of movies each of the people in your discussion group would rate the most positively (in terms of enjoyment, not necessarily critical analysis): (a) light comedy, (b) heavy drama, (c) romantic comedy, (d) very violent, cold movie, (e) very sexual movie, (f) nonviolent suspense thriller, (g) science fiction, and (h) film biography or documentary. Write down the name of each group member (excluding yourself) and the type of movie he or she would pick. Feel free to cite the same type of movie more than once.

1.______

2.______

3.______

4.______

5.______

Imagine that your group was asked to run a newspaper for a day. Below are five tasks that need to be done. You have to determine the best matches of person to task so that your paper will be run in the way that you think is best. Excluding yourself, assign one person from your group to each task by writing his or her name next to the task.

Writer. / ______
Public relations. / ______
Proofreader. / ______
Political analyst. / ______
Sales manager. / ______

Please rank the other people in your group in terms of how likable you think they are (that is, in terms of how much you think you would like them if you got to know them). Again, keep in mind that your answers will be confidential. Because your responses are all relative, the “worst”-rated person may still be seen as quite likable in an absolute sense.

MOST LIKABLE

1.______

2.______

3.______

4.______

5.______

LEAST LIKABLE

HANDOUT 7.2a Compliance Study

Instructions for the Experimenter

Approach one same-sex student you do not know, carry with you a stack of papers in an envelope, and say, “Hi, I’m trying to finish up a psychology experiment for my class. I have an attitude questionnaire I need people to fill out. It takes about 30 minutes. Would you be willing to do it?” (If the student asks “when,” say that you will contact him or her with a list of available times for next week.) Record the answer below.

If the student says “YES,” ask for his or her mailing address and say, “Unless it turns out that we already have enough subjects, I’ll send you a note with a choice of times. Thanks.” Later, throw out the mailing address.

Be sure to bring this completed form back to class.

______

Your name: ______

Your sex: / M / F

In response to the request to complete a 30-minute questionnaire, the student said:

YES / NO

HANDOUT 7.2b Compliance Study

Instructions for the Experimenter

Approach one same-sex student you do not know, carry with you a stack of papers in an envelope, and say, “Hi, I’m trying to finish up a psychology experiment for my class. Would you be willing to help me out by answering a couple of questions right now?” If the student agrees, ask the following questions, and record the answers:

Do you think alcohol should be banned at sporting events to control violence?

YES, NO, UNDECIDED

Do you think that restaurants should be required to have large no-smoking sections?

YES, NO, UNDECIDED

Then say: “I have a questionnaire for you to fill out. It takes about 30 minutes. Would you be willing to do it?” (If the student asks “when,” say that you will contact him or her with a list of available times for next week.) Record the answer below.

Be sure to bring this completed form back to class.

______

Your name: ______

Your sex: / M / F

In response to the request to complete a 30-minute questionnaire, the student said:

YES / NO

HANDOUT 7.2c Compliance Study

Instructions for the Experimenter

Approach one same-sex student you do not know, carry with you a stack of papers in an envelope, and say, “Hi, I’m trying to finish a psychology experiment for my class. I need students to volunteer for two 2-hour evening sessions. Would you be willing to do it?”

Assuming the student turns you down, say: “Well, I also have a questionnaire to be filled out. It takes about 30 minutes. Would you be willing to do that?” (If the student asks “when,” say that you will contact him or her with a list of available times for next week.) Record the answer below.

If the student says, “YES” to either question, ask for his or her mailing address and say, “Unless it turns out that we already have enough subjects, I’ll send you a note with a choice of times. Thanks.” Later, throw out their mailing address.

If the student says “YES” to the first question, go to a second student and start the experiment again. In this case, record only the response of the second student.

Be sure to bring this completed form back to class.

______

Your name: ______

Your sex: / M / F

In response to the request to complete a 30-minute questionnaire, the student said:

YES / NO

HANDOUT 7.4a Observing Norms for a Day

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN THE MORNING, PREFERABLY JUST BEFORE YOU LEAVE YOUR DORM, APARTMENT, OR HOUSE.

Is there a particular code of etiquette about how much time one can use the bathroom, shower, etc. in the morning? Is this different at other times of the day?

Is there a norm about clothing worn in, or to and from, the bathroom (e.g., bathrobe, full set of clothes, towel only, slippers)? Is this different at other times of the day?

If you share a room with others, is there a norm about being quiet in the morning, not turning lights on, turning alarm clocks off, taking turns using particular appliances, taking turns using the bathroom, etc.? Or is the situation pretty random?

When you decided what clothes to wear for the day, to what extent did considerations about norms play a role? If you were back in high school, would you have selected different clothes? If your friends started to wear clothes or hairstyles that are quite different from what they’ve been wearing, would you dress differently or change your hairstyle?

Are there other morning-related norms you’ve observed that might be of interest?

HANDOUT 7.4b Observing Norms for a Day

IF YOU EAT LUNCH IN A DINING HALL, COMMON ROOM, CAFETERIA, OR OTHER LOCATION WITH SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE, ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS DURING LUNCH.

What norms can you observe concerning the behavior of those around you?

Are there particular seating arrangements that tend to be consistent? Do people who sit together tend to be of the same race, from the same dorm, on the same team, at the same level of status or attractiveness, etc.?

What are the norms about what and how much to eat during lunch? What are the norms about what and how much to drink during lunch?

What are the norms about the order in which different foods or courses should be eaten? Are there norms about going back for seconds or thirds?

Are there norms about how much time one takes during lunch, or about whether one can read during lunch?

Does everyone throw out their trash and, if applicable, return their trays to the appropriate location?

HANDOUT 7.4c Observing Norms for a Day

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS SOON AFTER THE LAST CLASS OF THE DAY.

What are the norms about where to sit in class? That is, do certain students tend to sit in the same location most of the time? Do students avoid the front or the back rows? Are certain types or categories of students (e.g., athletes, students who like to talk a lot, students from a particular dorm, popular students, etc.) likely to sit in particular parts of the room? Do any of these norms vary across different classes?

What norms are there about class participation in your classes? How do these norms vary from one class to the next?

Is there a norm about whether and when students ask questions during class? Do you ever want to ask a question but feel uncomfortable doing so? If so, why?

Do your instructors seem to follow a norm about their appearance (e.g., in terms of clothes or hair)?

What are the norms about when to show up for various classes (e.g., a few minutes early, right on time, a few minutes late)? Are there norms about when to start packing up one’s books to get ready to leave?

What other norms of behavior did you observe in your classes?

HANDOUT 7.4d Observing Norms for a Day

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS IN THE EVENING.

During a typical day, do you feel any pressure to conform to a norm about physical activity or extracurricular interests? Did you feel this pressure today?

During a typical day, do you feel any pressure to conform to a norm about studying or doing academic work? Did you feel this pressure today?

During this past day, in what ways do you think you conformed to the attitudes, opinions, or behaviors of others? What instances of others’ conformity did you observe?

During this past day, in what ways do you think you resisted the social influence pressures exerted by others? What instances of others’ resistance did you observe?

HANDOUT 7.5 Violating Norms

At some point between the end of this class and the beginning of the next one, I’d like each of you to deviate from at least one widely accepted norm. For example, you might wear very non-normative clothes to class or dinner. You might eat your meal in front of people while standing, or while singing. You might greet people or return others’ greetings in a very unusual way. You might argue a point with other people who all disagree with your point. Try to be creative, but be sure to do this in a way that is safe and that won’t get you into trouble (for example, disrupting a class, breaking a law, or saying hateful or prejudiced things would definitely be a bad idea). Just before you violate the norm, record your thoughts about your expectations, emotions, etc. in a notebook. As soon as you can after you’ve violated the norm, record how you felt as you were doing it and soon after. What were other people’s reactions? Did you feel a great pressure to stop doing what you were doing, or did it feel fun or liberating? Why do you think you felt this way?