Reasons for RAOK Essay

Reason for the RAOK

One of the most similar and stereotypic images of a homeless person in America, apart from the type of clothes they wear, is the type of hair and heard they sport. It is always portrayed as unkempt and shaggy. I chose this positive deviant behavior out want to change that perception. I also felt that if seen to be more presentable to society, it would be much easier for a homeless person to get help from random strangers, be it for spare change, as it reduces the stigma associated with homeless people, one of dirt, which is a huge cause for people to avoid them.

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What is the expected behavior of these people in this setting?

In this setting, the expected behavior would be gratitude and acceptance, coupled with a bit of bewilderment as what I was offering was not a common thing that is given to homeless people with most preferring money food or sadly drugs. However, It was also expected that there would be some reluctance to the shave based on the same reason, that a shave is not what they want. The expectation was that they would request for money in place of the shave.

Verbal and non-verbal reactions of participant

The homeless man I approached with the ideas of a free haircut frankly looked at me like I was crazy. I had to repeat the request for him to believe that I was serious. Oddly enough he requested for cash rather than a haircut, but I managed to convince him with a couple of photos of my work. He had a big bushy beard and long blonde and dirty hair on his back, and I had some great ideas. I had a battery shaver, and all we did is sit on the pavement as I proceeded to shave him.

We first got a few odd stares from passersby, all who seemed to see something new. Some more idle people started crowding to watch a homeless man being shaved.

Some of the spectators pointed their camera phones in our direction, and by the time I was through with the hair on his head, a sizeable crowd had gathered. One of the spectators shouted, "Make him ranger loud rock from Vikings. "Another came and asked for a selfie with the homeless man as he was being shaved.

Some in the crowd, however, was unimpressed with accusations of dirtying the town with our antics, and others asked whether we couldn't find somewhere better to do this.

By the time I was finishing with his beard, two police officers had approached us for an explanation as to what was happening, and they only let us go after I explained the project to them in private.

The homeless man I shaved was a white man, tall in stature and well built. He appeared in his mid-thirties and was male. The fact that he was white might not have impacted the situation as much as the fact that he was homeless. He was however respectful and came to learn he was the victim of the 2008 financial crisis, before which he was a businessman.

If the situation were reversed, I would have reacted as the homeless man did. This is because money carries way more importance than a haircut for a homeless man; however, if only offered the option of a free haircut, I would have gladly gone for it.

Reason for choosing the RAOK

The reason for choosing this RAOK was the increased littering in the park yet the dustbins were still present and available. I had the idea that painting them in a colorful noticeable way may sensitize people to dispose of responsibly.

Norm violation - expected behavior in this setting

In this setting, the common behavior is the subtle ignorance of people littering, with a sort of invincible agreement for park users to look away while the other litters with a promise of doing the same vice versa. The norm that was broken was the subtle acknowledgment of littering and pacified reaction it receives.

Reactions/sanctions

People who witnessed the act took it for vandalism and reacted in a negative way. Most of the park users observed me with disapproving eyes, with other park users approaching and confronting me for painting the park dustbins. They claimed I was being destructive. The park attendants were called and I was ejected after having painted close to three quarters the park dustbins.

Reactions

Those whom I had in mind while performing my act of positive deviance did not understand the reason behind what I was doing. It seemed no one noticed the state the park was in. however, if the situation was reversed, I would also [probably have aced the same way, as the perception of a young man with a painting can and a brush is not a welcome scenario in America.

Reasons for choosing the RAOK

Due to the racial tensions currently in the USA, the specific RAOK was my way of reducing the same, through learning about as many people as I could. I chose this specific RAOK as it can easily cover a wide demographic of people, and was quite comfortable and inviting.

Expected behavior in this scenario

The expected reaction to this was a lot of conversation and positive warm reactions' knew I would make a lot of friends, and that people would be willing to give me information about them and share over a cup of coffee.

Impact of age, race, and gender to the exercise

My physical characteristics had a huge impact t the whole exercise, as I realized soon that people with some relationship to me, be it racial, societal or cultural were mostly positive and those without were a bit suspicious at first.

In case the situation was reversed, I would have a more positive outlook and response to such a scenario. This is due to my worldview, and openness to other people races and creeds.

Personal effect

During the performance of the first RAOK, the deviance can be attributed to shaving a homeless man, and also shaving the same person on a pavement on the street. On the second deviance, I was able to colorfully paint a huge number of the parks dustbins to assist in the reduction of littering. On the third one, the deviance can be attributed to randomly greeting offering people coffee in the street in exchange for a conversation about them.

Some of the tasks were quite difficult out of the risk associated with them while others were not as difficult although they achieved positive results. The park deviance was specifically difficult as had the notion I might be detained by the park guards. With regard to the homeless man's shaving and the coffee deviance, they were much easier, as I am easy going and find it easy to talk to people.

Lessons learned

Positive deviance may be a tool for improvement in a society. It is the result of taking that what already works in the society and amplifying it rather than looking for new solutions. In the first scenario, the shaving of the homeless man will have the result of his more decent treatment in society as a human being. In the dustbin deviance, people will start disposing of their waste in a more efficient manner and in the coffee for conversation deviance; the effect was the dilution of the stranger mentality after realizing that different people go through sort f similar problems.

Conclusion

In conclusion, deviance although considered mostly based on the negative deviance, can be an important factor in the achievement of gals and success. The fact that positive deviance does not follow accepted norms but still achieves success is an important substitute in case the normal way of doing things does not bear fruit.