Illegal Drinking and Sociological Theories

In the distance a new born baby is hungry and starts to cry. This loud cry echoes and catches the attention of its parents. By crying the baby just communicated to its parents the best way it could and got a response. Social interaction can occur in many ways including a baby crying. People socialize almost everyday with others through different methods that includes speech, body language, eye contact or other forms of expression. Sociologists can examine and analyze how groups of people relate to one another through different approaches. The roles people take can be explained through different sociological theories such as the dramaturgical theory, exchange theory, social pressure, and labeling theory of deviant behavior.

As a student in high school there were many social situations that affected me. One event in particular involved a group of my friends. At the time, most of us were only 15 years old and never got into trouble. However, this certain social experience changed that. It was during school in the morning and one of my friends showed us that he brought some alcohol. He opened the bottle and started drinking some. My other friends joined him and then encouraged me to have some. My conscious told me that it was a bad idea because it was against the law and we were on school property. However my friends still changed my mind because of peer pressure. Half an hour later all four of us were in the principle’s office with the confiscated alcohol bottle. Luckily, we all only received one day of detention and a lecture from the principle about abiding school rules and state laws. Through the symbolic interaction approach this event can be explained through the different theories.

Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory notes that life is similar to the theater and that people engage in role performances (Sandstrom 2003). In other words, from Goffman’s perspective people act differently depending on whom they are with and where they are at. Also they perform how they think others want to see them. For example, during the event at school my performance at the time was geared towards my friends. On the other hand when we were all sitting in the principle’s office my performance changed from being with my friends back to being a student.

Another theory that associates with my event is the exchange theory. According to Sandstrom, “Exchange theory proposes that an individual will be more or less likely to engage in a given behavior based on the rewards or punishments he or she has received for acting similarly in the past (Sanstrom 2003; 22)”. In other words, depending on results of past experiences individuals can choose to act on a given situation. After receiving detention for drinking, my decision was to not drink illegally at school again. Therefore, my experience relates to exchange theory by decreasing my illegal drinking behavior because of the awareness of being punished for it.

Social pressure can also explain my illegal drinking event that happened at school. According to Asch, “All the social sciences take their departure from the observation of the profound effects that groups exert on their members (Asch 2004; 1)”. To reiterate, Asch’s point is that in a group setting individuals can be more influenced by others than if they were alone. Asch’s also points out that this kind of pressure can occur when a majority of a group has consensus and can influence another individual’s decision. For example, my friends all were drinking the alcohol in front of me and wanted me to join in. To not drink with my friends would have been going against the group. That kind of pressure influenced me to give in to the group.
Another symbolic interaction theory that can explain my event is the labeling theory of deviant behavior. According to labeling theorists, If we are repeatedly defined as deviant based on our actions we are likely to internalize this label and think we are deviant (Sandstrom 2003; 178). Alternatively, labeling theorist suggest that when individuals label someone as doing something deviant over and over again that person may come to believe they are deviant and accept their label. Our principle at our school had labeled my group deviant because we not only broke school policies, but also broke the law. However, my group only had that one experience where we were labeled deviant so we didn’t label ourselves as deviant.

In conclusion, my event was not just another experience but can be explained and supported by the symbolic interaction approach and theories. Dramaturgical theory, exchange theory, social pressure, and the labeling theory of deviant behavior from different view points explained why my event occurred. Sociological theories provide information and support on the different roles people encounter on a daily basis. With the development of these roles helps people construct society.