The Causes And Consequences Of Conformity And Obedience?

The concepts of conformity and obedience have been around since mankind first started to form communities. The social construct theory explains how groups of people came together and worked for the greater good. The individuals in these groups gave up some independence in exchange for the increased safety that groups provide. Obedience to the leaders and rules of these groups guarantees the protection. Since rules can govern behavior, these groups set up a situation where conformity due to informational influence was often a needed practice. Modern day examples of conformity and obedience are all around us. We obey the laws of our country, state and town; we conform to the norms of our neighborhood, peer group and place of employment.
David Kennedy (2014) explores this in the chapter he authored for the book “The Causes and Consequences of Group Violence”. He mentions that membership in gangs in rarely purposeful. Young men (mostly older teens to mid 20’s), usually drift toward gang involvement due to other family member involvement, protective from rival gangs in the area or due to their surroundings – young men grow up seeing others join gangs, so they also join (pg. 56). The first and last reason are examples of a descriptive norm, people do what others around them
(pg. 56) For many, the fear of being shot and possibly killed is not a strong enough reason to go against the norm of the environment of joining the group. Group members report many instances where they felt forced into violence due to pressures from others around them. It is important to note that veteran group members back this up by stating that most of the members of the group feel pressure to commit acts of violence due to a rival that would not back down, or from powerful peer norms (pg.57).
The pressure comes from living in a world where there is constant conflict and danger, a pressure that comes from both friend and rival. Due to this constant pressure and threat of violence most group members live by a street code that defines the rules and norms of their micro society. The main points are
“ Disrespect must be met with violence
The group is my family and we have each other’s backs
I and we are not afraid of the police, prison or death
The enemy of my friend is my enemy
I and we are the victims of outside oppression…..”