1) I want you to think about how you came to have the morals and values that you have today. Think about the person you are today, and then think about how you came to these morals and values. 2) What people/groups influenced you to act in deviant ways and what people/groups influenced you to act in non-deviant ways. How did they achieve this? 3) Discuss what each group considered normal and deviant and how you learned from them.
Application of Differential Association Theory
Differential Association Theory reasons that a person acquires their behaviour, more so criminal activities, in the same way they learn to do everything else in life (TRS Psychology, n.d.). From a personal perspective, my morals and values result from my association with other people from various social milieu. Some of the morals and values I have acquired include respecting others, honesty, empathy, and determination through interactions with various people and groups, including religious people.
From a Christian worldview of human purpose, I have learned that everyone is unique and equal in their own ways; thus, race, culture, or background should not define who they are. Subsequently, respecting every person regardless of their background, race, or culture is one of the morals I uphold. This is in addition to being honest, sympathizing with people, and driving to achieve success through moral methods. All these morals and values were instilled in them by their association with religious people. This was through seminars and workshops held and run by religious people.
Additionally, interactions with peers evoked deviant behaviours. The type of music we preferred advocated for egoism, violence, and disrespect for other people. Accordingly, listening to this music genre resulted in certain behaviors. For instance, secular music instils provocative thoughts surrounding violence, which influenced me to pick fights and use vulgar language, hence disrespecting others.
Deviance varies across distinct groups of people since people uphold different norms and values (Casella, 2020). Among peers, caring about the world is regarded as uncool; thus, it’s an abnormal act, while promoting violence and the use of vulgar language is the norm. Conversely, the opposite is true for religious people, whereby loving other people and treating them with respect is the norm, while disrespect is deviant. Therefore, these experiences taught me that whatever path we choose to follow depends on which association outweighs the other associations and affects our characters as individuals.
References
Cassella, K. (2020). Social Work and Deviant Behavior. Eastern Gateway Community College.
TRS Psychology. (n.d.). Differential Association Theory. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/LP4Ay2bl6Uc