Weekly Research (8): The Code

This week's reading is by Wieder, who talks about his stay in the Halfway House and writes about his observations of 'the convict code'. On the whole, he found that all activities within this place were based around this unspoken code, used to rationalise behaviour and even that certain behaviour was discouraged with the use of labels such as snitch, kiss-ass or sniveler. Labels are quite an intense motivator if there's a code at work, attributing negative meaning on anyone with that label - but now I'm overlapping my topics.

Naturally enough, codes can be spoken or unspoken, and there are many codes that are just assumed knowledge (the unspoken kind) - for example, being quiet in a library, not playing silly buggers in a hospital, or going to the beach without your bathers. The spoken rules would be more attributed to a game of tennis, or soccer or chess - the unspoken rules here would be not to swap two pawns even if it changes nothing whatsoever to the gameplay, but again, that's breaching and totally not what we're talking about here.

I'm going to bring up pirates here, because I do love pirates and if there were going to be a fight between pirates and ninjas, I'd like to think that pirates would win. Although, in reality, you would imagine there would be a draw and that in the final moments of the pirates life, he'd shoot that smug prat of a ninja in the back.

"Stick to the code," Jack Sparrow Captain Jack Sparrow says in the first film, Curse of the Black Pearl, when Gibbs needs direction on how to properly act if their plan goes wrong. Saying just that was enough that Gibbs was able to know exactly what to do and saved a lot of time having pre-established rules. Will Turner asks what the code involves and Jack Sparrow explains "Anyone who falls behind, is left behind" and unfortunately, that ends up being himself. It's interesting to note how that justifies the behaviour of leaving their beloved Captain behind, as its the code that dictates this, against the better judgment of the entire crew. Now, I'd like to think this is relevant, because, pirates.

For the benefit of my following, I want to bring up the fact that I'm becoming hyper aware of the fact I haven't branched out and commented on any other blogs at all yet. I'd also like to take this opportunity to state that there are unwritten rules involved in my responding to other's blog that is hindering my progress and what better time to talk about such things than a blog about codes of conduct. Firstly, it's counterintuitive to respond to a blog that has already accumulated a dozen or so responses, as more often than not, there's nothing left to say but it's also awkward to repeat something that someone else has said in a single response. What's awkward still is singling out one person who is remarkably incorrect about the week's topic and write why they are incorrect as a response to their post. The social conduct here would to break it to them nicely by beginning "you raise some good points, but I find...('I disagree with a burning passion, are you blind')", but as a frequenter of the blogging scene, I know it's a bit of an uncool thing to do. So I'm left on my own blog again.

In a way, code's of conduct are a paranoia and anxiety generator - and I'm sure that serves some evolutionary purpose, but I'm sort of not into it because its hindering my ability to be one with the community (funnily enough).

Tune in next week to find out if my anxieties are overcome and I post a response instead of a blog!

References:
Wieder, D. Laurence. 1974. “Telling the Code.” Pp. 144-172 in Ethnomethodology, edited by Roy Turner. Harmondsworth: Penguin.