CUSTOMS
Like folkways and mores, ‘customs’ also represent one of the types of informal means of social control. They are as universal and pervasive as those of folkways and mores. Customs are the socially accepted ways people do things together in personal contact.
As MacIver and Page have pointed out, groups, institutions and associations sustain their formal order by means of an intricate complex of usages or practices. Such accepted procedures or practices of eating, conversing, meeting people, training the young, caring for the aged, playing, working, etc., can be called customs. In simple words, customs are the long established habits and usages of the people.
Definition:
1. According to MacIver and Page, “The socially accredited ways of acting are the customs of society.”
2. According to Kingsley Davis, “Custom refers primary to practices that have often been repeated by a multitude of generations, practices that tend to be followed simply because that they have been followed in the past.”
3. Duncan Mitchell, in his ‘Dictionary of Sociology’ writes: “The term ‘customs’ refers to established modes of thought and action.”
4. Lundberg says that customs are those “folkways that persist over relatively long periods of time so as to attain a degree of formal recognition and so as to be passed down from one generation to another.”
Features or Characteristics of Customs
1. Established habits become roles or norms of action.
2. Customs often involve reciprocal obligations.
3. Indians (Hindus) traditionally expect youngsters to bow and touch the feet of elders, yet this is not a strict moral obligation.
4. Individuals anticipate certain behaviours in specific situations but may not condemn those who act differently.
5. Customs are distinct from norms if norms are solely evaluated based on behaviour, excluding expectations.
6. Evaluations and expectations can align or diverge.
7. Customs can lead to monotony, stifling freshness and spontaneity in life.
8. Due to various factors, modern customs play a lesser role than in earlier societies.
9. Scientific advancements and rational attitudes have weakened old customs.
10. People are less bound by customs, more individualistic and direct.
11. Modern society is complex, democratic, competitive, and information-oriented.
12. Increased literacy and communication have enhanced understanding of human behaviour.
From the above points, it becomes clear that customs can evolve into binding norms but lack the evaluative aspect of norms. While individuals anticipate specific behaviours, deviations may not always be condemned. Customs can lead to monotony and are less crucial in modern society due to factors like science and individualism.
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