Dominique Nelson

Dr. Rosenfeld
Soc 201
17 November 2014
Soc201 Take Home Exam:
Extraordinary Groups

1. In America, thousands suffer from the voracious disease of AIDS, up until the eighties
it was a stigma on those who had it. They were labeled as dirty, the disease was labeled as the
gay mans disease, and the victims were ostracized. As the beginning of the 2000s dawned
and educated information started to spread, the public came to realize that the disease was not
as simple as once assumed, and that anyone could get it because it was a sexually transmitted
disease. Prior to the 2000s when AIDS patients were ostracized, and stereotyped with specific
sexual practices, along with other characteristics, they were a subculture until the twenty first
century, but never an extraordinary group.
AIDS patients, firstly, are both in and of America, unlike other Extraordinary Groups such
as the Amish. Patients are directly involved in the day to day grind of any American, and are
constantly affecting and being affected by society. Patients do not attempt to build a Utopian
society whilst, simultaneously blocking out America, nor do they have the motivation to do so.
However John Humphrey Noyes, ignored and cast aside for his beliefs, did; believing and
preaching Perfectionism, he incorporated into the most radical social experiment the world had
ever seen.
AIDS patients, besides, the facts attached to them by rumors and information produced
by ignorant gossip spreaders, did not have traits specific to them like extraordinary groups.
For example, making a living, architecture, marriage and sexuality, leadership,
education, none of these are made specific and apply only to victims of the disease. There is no
architecture or leadership system specific to those with AIDS, there is not a specific way to
make a living for victims with aids, unless referring to possibility that it was discovered that you

had contracted AIDS (pre 2000s) you might have been discriminated against in social settings
like the workplace. Those with AIDS have to be educated about their disease, but this applies to
all diseases and conditions a person might suffer from. There is no specific school system, like a
one room school house, and girls and boys attending during different seasons like The Amish.
As well as rules for sexuality and marriage, there really is none. Gay men dont have a
disposition to the disease, as widely rumored as that was. The practice of having safe protected
sex, and disclosing medical conditions that might affect one or more of the partners (such as
STDs) is not exclusive to AIDS patients and should be practiced by all sexually active people

3. Rumspringa, translating to running around, is the title placed on the sociological

phenomenon that takes place during the rebellion of Amish youth. Universally, during
adolescence, the youth rebel. However Amish youth rebel by forsaking the rules of their people.
Sneaking out late at night, drinking, using cars, are all behaviors deviant to the Amish religion.
Despite that, the youth participate in these activities and relish in the sins of the English world
while their parents turn a blind eye, literally. At the conclusion of rumspringa, a decision is to be
made, whether as young adults, they will remain in the English world, or will they return to the
religion of their parents and return as members of the Amish Church. Ironically 85-90% of the
teenagers do return to their religion. The Amish have managed to create a Utopian society
based on their beliefs that even their rebellious youth after experiencing the temptations of the
world of the English, return and are baptized into the faith voluntarily.

On the left, young Amish female

enjoying a cocktail that would be
otherwise banned in her
community. On the right, two
Amish girls not in their village, a
city backdrop behind them. She is
using a cellphone, which would
also be banned because modern
technology is rejected by the
Amish. Note: even though it is
Rumspringa, Amish girls,
specifically, continue to dress in
Amish costume.

Both Spring Break and Rumspringa are similar in that

it is an acknowledged length of time in which young
people engage in deviant behavior, unsupervised,
unquestioned, and with relatively little consequences,
at least until people had the ability to tag you
Facebook. However similarities stop there; during
rumspringa, out of curiosity and rebellion, Amish
teenagers seek out experiences exclusive to English

teenagers, while non-Amish teenagers live in American society daily. Also non-amish teenagers
acts of deviance are not limited to Spring Break, they are just less often; it is possible for an
English teenager to partake in inappropriate behaviors throughout the school year, but Amish
lifestyle does not permit any of the sort: makeup, cars, drugs, etc., unless one is welcome to the
idea of burning in hell. At the end of either, both parties must buckle down and rededicate
themselves to daily life, college students must return to school in September, and the Amish
must make a decision to come home and be baptized or not. While a college student has
several options on how far, or to what point they can take their educational career, the Amish
youth know that joining the church as a young adult is for all intents and purposes an
irrevocable act (71).

4. Whilst studying extraordinary groups, it has been learnt that each group has its own
set of characteristics from education to diet. One of the identifying factors, especially to groups
like the Oneida or the Shakers, is the architecture of their society.

Double staircase from a Shaker

Village in Kentucky.
Note: There are also separate
doors as well as staircases to
prevent contact from the opposite
sex.

Each group has their owned detailed infrastructure that is directly related to the
principles they follow. The Oneida had the grand Mansion House, big enough for communal

living, but the rooms were small enough to discourage passing the time as individuals, as
opposed to as a group. The Shakers, from their dining halls, to hallways, to the double staircase
in Lebanon are all set up to help the Shakers relish the joy of celibacy. After traumatic
experiences trying to bear a child, many being the complications of childbirth in the late 1700s,
Mother Ann had decided that no good came from man and woman having sexual relations, and
eventually even physical contact between opposite sexes became prohibited. Instead of
personal love, Gospel love was encouraged. Dining halls had extra tables so men and women
could be seated separately, the hallways were constructed with great girth to prevent the
possibility of men and women brushing shoulders, and many rooms had separate doors for
each sex. The infrastructure of the Shakers community serviced their society by encouraging
the rules of celibacy and the prohibition of touching the opposite sex in a literal way.

5. Perezs restaurant, as idealistic as it is could succeed, but based on how it is running

as described in the New York Times article from 2010, it wont be able to. Superficially the
restaurant seems like an obvious recipe for disaster. Two different cultures with neighborhoods
with a history of riots in such close proximity is simply dangerous. While Caribbeans have a
preference for their style food, Hassidic Jews, as an extraordinary group have a diet limited by
laws.
Deeper than this, is that the meaning of deviance is extraordinarily different between the
cultures of Hasidic Jews, and Caribbean (who are still part of mainstream America). It is
seemingly impossible to make both sides comfortable. For example, young adults who enter the
restaurant with slightly revealing clothes would make the Hasidic Jews extremely
uncomfortable, and put them in the awkward position of constantly averting their eyes. Another
example presented in the article was when the waitresses, after being made of aware of
customers birthday, sang a birthday song, something completely normal to Americans but not to
Hasidic Jews, those who are not permitted to hear women sing.

While there are efforts to curb these issues by having a professional make sure food is
being made kosher, and always having an observant Jew in the kitchen; unless the owner pays
attention to these subtleties, she will lose the customers that are Hasidic Jews.