SOCI 2305 | Deviance | Spring 2026

Data Workshop Two – Putting a bandaid on stigma

(40 points)

Printed report due in-class Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Assignment.

Assignment handed out in class.

Spend a day in public wearing a colored band-aid on your face.

1. I handed out band-aids of varying colors in class – the range of colors you could choose from are pictured below.

2. Place the bandaid distributed in class on some part of your face so that it is readily visible to others. Visibility is key since you’re looking for how others respond to it. These band aids are distinctive – a solid color, not typical for band-aids - and are likely to catch peoples’ attention.

3. Spend a day – especially one where you are out and about and when you can expect to encounter family, friends or acquaintances and strangers in public - wearing the band aid. Take note of how others respond to your visual display of deviance.

4. It is important that you not tell others the real purpose of the band-aid otherwise they will respond to the band-aid as a non-transgressive act (in other words, no big deal).

Rules & cautions.

It’s important to conduct this experiment sensibly and soberly. A mark on the face, especially one so clearly visible will draw looks and questions from others. Don’t do anything other than wearing the band aid to provoke people’s responses. Do not respond in any way negatively to how others treat you. Following the lead of sociologist Harold Garfinkel, don’t let others “repair the breach by treating it as a joke or something that could be ignored.” Instead, as sociologist Jodi O’Brien urged her students, “act as if there is nothing wrong.” As O’Brien notes, this will confuse others and make them question, “just for a moment, the reality of the situation.” If the situation becomes too uncomfortable, then leave. Do not remove the band aid and remember to stay “in character” while wearing it. Do not to tell others the reason for wearing the band aid. You’re observing their responses to the band aid. You will have to engage in a mild deception to do so.

Preparing your report.

In thinking about your written report, use the following prompts and respond to the questions:

· Describe how you carried out the assignment, what you did, and where you went.

· Describe how others responded to you and how you dealt with others’ reactions: What did they do, how did they behave, which situations produced responses and which didn’t. Why do you think they responded as they did?

· Because the bandaid is clearly visible, your situation is what Erving Goffman calls discredited deviance. In this case the problem is about managing your interactions and potential tensions as you encounters others who don’t share the status characteristic – wearing the bandaid. Describe how you managed your interactions with others. Since you won’t be giving others easy explanations, this issue may be quite interesting.

· If you found displaying the band-aid uncomfortable what must it be like for others who are physically or visually different?

· Finally, what lesson(s) might be learned from an experience where your putative (supposed) deviance was more about who you were and not how you behaved?

Prepare a 3ish page report (double-spaced, typed, printed, & stapled) for class, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Make sure your name, the date, and Data Workshop Two are at the top of page one.