1. According to Durkheim's article What makes sociology different, people only conform to a norm (a written or unwritten rule that specifies appropriate social behavior in a given setting) if there is a threat or direct and physical use of force against those who deviate from the norm.

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Juan Bass

Social Studies

18 December, 01:03

1. According to Durkheim's article What makes sociology different, people only conform to a norm (a written or unwritten rule that specifies appropriate social behavior in a given setting) if there is a threat or direct and physical use of force against those who deviate from the norm.

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Roman Sanford · Answer 1

Durkheim makes a difference between sociology and the rest, stating that it (sociology) focus on generalizing their analyses to create universal social laws. This is different, for example, to physicists that use observations from any situation in order to theorize and support formulations of universally applicable laws.

Now, talking about norms, they could be seen as a restrictive behaviors, where the individual believes that by adhering to morality, they are serving the common good, and for this reason, the individual submits voluntarily to the moral commandment, a form of adhering to a society and being part of it. As Durkheim argues, this moral authority is primarily to be located in religion (heaven, hell, go to church)

So, they could be restitutive or restorative. Whatever the fault is, there is a way of "paying back" like sentence in jail, paying extra money and so on.