Monday, August 18, 2014

Social Influence as Manifested in the First Episode of the Series, House entitled “Twenty Vicodin”


Conformity

At the opening of the 8th season of the anticipated series House, Gregory House was in a meeting before the parole board. They said he would eventually get out of the prison for the reason of overcrowding in the jail. All he has to do is to wait for five consecutive days, starting from Monday to Friday, behave, and do nothing that would interrupt and cause delay of getting out. In short, he must not be involved in any trouble. Inside the jail, House was still a member of it, as a convict, even though he was about to leave it in five days. He did the usual routine. He worked as a janitor, almost. He cleaned the comfort rooms and even collects garbage and wastes from the jail’s hospital. This was not his usual life for he had been a doctor. So, to achieve his goal of getting out of the prison, he conforms to the environment he’s not used to.
                       
Obedience

Dr. Adams, who was at first unimpressed of Gregory House’s knowledge about medicine, gave Nick, the one with suspected lupus, some aspirin as suggested by House in an attempt to induce the attack. Dr. Adams said she was actually frightened when House was about to give Nick the drugs. But when the confrontation between House and her supervisor ended, she decided to give those aspirins to Nick, as ordered by House before they were caught. Here, Adams decided for herself and trusted House about the situation and needs of the patient.
The second instance in which obedience was evident was when House gave his own painkillers to the head of the jail’s neo-Nazi gang. When these people demand something from him and he can’t give one, they would hurt him, inflicting pain and fear so that their requests would be granted. When they knew House was about to leave the jail, they even requested more, now by demanding him twenty vicodins.

Compliance
After the incident where Nick was given aspirin, House requested twenty vicodins to Dr. Adams. Along with his painkiller, these vicodins will be given to the “leader” of the Neo-Nazi gang inside the prison and will serve as his “tax”. But instead of giving it to this leader, House intentionally throw the vicodins. He now faces the rage of the gang for this action. Apparently, when House seemed to be beaten by the group, his roommate, the big man who has this cricket House cured, came to rescue him (House). The big man, being gratified with the little favor House did for him and to his cricket, helped his roommate survive the fight. Aside from helping the cricket, House, having medicinal expertise and background, makes sure that his sociopathic roommate takes his medications. They both exhibit reciprocity norm in which one returns a favor of a good deed after receiving another good deed from the other.

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Reference:

            PoliteDissent.com. (October 3, 2011). House episode 1 (season 8) “twenty vicodin”.                                  Retrieved March 19, 2014 from http://www.politedissent.com/archives/8035

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