• Social norms are group-shared standards of behaviour, setting limits on individual behaviour.
• They serve as blueprints for behaviour, guiding, controlling, and predicting human actions.
• Social norms contribute to order and stability in society, helping it withstand disorder and instability.
• They are referred to as the sustaining forces of society, maintaining unity in social life.
• Social norms are numerous and varied, differing in severity and durability.
• Their influence on individuals and society is not uniform, and norms are not systematically classified by sociologists.
• Broad categories of social norms include folkways, mores, customs, fashions, rites, rituals, ceremonies, taboos, traditions, conventions, statutes, laws, etiquette, and others.

FOLKWAYS

Definition

• The term ‘folkways’ was introduced by W. G. Sumner in his 1906 book titled Folkways.
• The word literally means “the ways of the folk“, where folk refers to people and ways refers to their behavioural habits.
• Folkways are norms to which people conform because it is customary in society.
• According to Sumner, folkways represent man’s unique means of adapting to the environment.
• Folkways often include customs, conventions, usages, and etiquettes.
• Folkways involve behaviours that have evolved to meet the needs of social life.
• According to Gillin and Gillin, folkways are behaviour patterns of everyday life that generally arise unconsciouslyin a group.
• A. W. Green defines folkways as the ways of acting that are common to a society or group and passed down through generations.
• Lundberg describes folkways as typical or habitual beliefs, attitudes, and styles of conduct observed within a group.
• Merill defines folkways as social habits or group expectations arising in the daily life of a group.
• In simple terms, folkways can be understood as “repetitive petty acts of the people.”