Deviance concepts and social implications

Deviance Project

I have been attending my church for my entire life. I was raised in this church and was married in this church. Although I only attend occasionally now, my parents are still faithful members who attend every week without fail, despite their age, my mother is seventy-five and my dad is eighty-five. To say this is a conservative congregation is an understatement, and so when I showed up one Sunday morning for Sunday school and church wearing jeans and a casual shirt, it became obvious that I was demonstrating a deviant behavior.

This is not only a conservative group of people, but an older group as well, the majority of the members being fifty years and older. There are very few young adults thus children are almost non-existent. There are no screaming or crying noises in this church. If there are, someone will very politely instruct the parents on the virtues of the "crying room" at the back of the church, in which parents can sit with their screaming child and still watch the church activities through a glass window. When Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs," he apparently was not talking about crying children disrupting a Sunday morning church service, and everyone in this church knows it (Luke 18:16).

Yes, to walk into this church is very similar to walking into a local restaurant during senior dinner discount hour. All one sees is a sea of gray hair. This is a congregation that still dresses in their "Sunday best." Women always wear "nice" dresses or pant suits, with matching shoes and bags. Some of the women still wear hats, and a few still carry gloves. The men are always in dark suits, however a few will be daring and occasionally wear slacks and a sports jacket. Thus, any variance from this dress code is an unspoken taboo.

Those who show up dressed in anything but "Sunday best" are seen in several ways. Some of the more staunch members seem to exude nothing but disdain, and will try very hard not to find themselves in a position where they will actually have to come face-to-face and be forced to shake hands with the deviant. And a few will even try to avoid eye contact. Others are polite, but with an air of indifference, much like one has when going through a receiving line of people you do not know and will never see again. Still others look puzzled and bewildered, as if some terrible mistake has occurred and they cannot figure out how or why. Then there are those who all but shake their heads at the nerve of anyone coming to the Lord's house dressed in common street clothes. There are a couple of people, who are known to be the black sheep of their families, usually due to a divorce or some other personal scandal, who truly seem silently amused, and even a bit envious that they themselves would never have the nerve to go against the "old school" dress code.

Walking into Sunday school class dressed in jeans and a casual shirt did elicit an array of reactions. There was a lot of throat clearing, and quite a few "ahem" sounds. There were also many averted looks. Sara Keller would not look me directly at me, however I caught her several times trying to catch a quick glance here and there throughout the class. Most of the people who were near my age did not seem to be particularly offended. In fact I believe that most of them could have cared less what I wore. I think the only reason any of them would care would be because their parents go to this church and they knew that their parents would be offended. Aside from "sounds of silence" and catching Sara Keller a time or two trying to catch a peek, Sunday school went fairly well. I was not particularly treated as a deviant.

However, church service proved to be a very different experience. I purposely waited for the majority of the congregation to take their seats. Then I walked in and made my way down the center aisle, through the sea of gray, to sit with my parents who always, always, sit on the fifth row from the front, on the left side of the center aisle. As I walked down the aisle, I made certain that I scanned the church so that I would be able to observe everyone's reaction. I wanted to be able to make eye contact whenever the opportunity arose.

When I initially started walking, everyone turned to see who was coming in "almost late" to church. This is a common practice. I think most of them arrive early just so they can sit and watch everyone else walk in. I smiled at everyone. I smiled all the way down the aisle. And I was still smiling as I took my seat next to my parents, who for the most part gave me a look that seemed to say, "What has gotten into you? We thought you had grown up. This is such a disappointment." I knew immediately that my mother was mentally fretting about how she was going to explain my behavior to her friends. More than likely she settled on something like the fact that I had overslept and did not have time to dress properly, but thank God I made it to church on time.

All through the service, I was very aware that some members of the congregation were glancing here and there at me, however I looked straight ahead, eyes focused on the minister, who only looked directly at me once. However, after the service, he did shake my hand, he could not really avoid it since I walked out with my parents.