Social control can be defined as the formal and informal ways that society influences human behavior to maintain social order and conformity. There are several key concepts related to social control, including deviance from social norms, sanctions used to enforce norms, ideology, and the normalization of certain behaviors. Formal social control comes from institutions like education, government, and law, while informal control comes from primary groups like family and friends. Theories of social control include Marxism, which views the state as protecting capitalist interests through repression and ideology, and functionalism, which sees social order and consensus maintained through crime and the codification of laws.
2. Today’s Class
• Lecture on social control which will look at defining social control,
explaining some of the key concepts related to social control and
looking at Marxist, Functionalist and interpretivist understandings of
social control.
• Activity
3. Definitions
Jary and Jary (1996)
“Practices developed by social groups of all kinds which enforce or encourage
conformity and deals with behaviour that violates accepted norms”.
Mannheim (1936)
“Social control as the sum of those methods by which society tries to influence
human behaviour to maintain a given order”.
Ogburn and Nimkoff (1964)
“The patterns of pressure which a society exerts to maintain order and establish
rules”.
4. Key concepts
Deviance- non-compliance to social norms. This is a contested term.
Sanctions- Enforcement by any means of social norms or moral codes.
Ideology- a powerful set of ideas.
Normalisation- the social processes that establish certain types of
behaviour as ‘normal’. Related to the concept of norms.
Conformity- behaviour controlled by group pressure.
5. Purpose of social control
1. Maintaining social order.
2. Regulation of the individual.
3. Compliance with social decisions.
4. Establish or maintain social
unity/solidarity/conformity
5. Provide social sanctions
6. Agencies of social control
Family, neighbourhood, community, society, friends, armed forces,
public opinion, media, law, education, government messages,
employment, police, administration, religion, sports and clubs.
The ways in which we interact with these agencies changes over our
lifecourse, therefore the influence of these agencies is changeable.
These agencies represent informal and formal types of social control,
you can also get a sense that some are more structured and others
offer more agency.
7. Formal social controls
• The formal means of social control come from social instutitions.
• Individuals are forced to accept these forms of social control, they are
not optional.
• These forms of social control are exercise by secondary groups.
• Formal social control are linked to the concept of power. Who has
power in society? How is creating formal social controls?
Examples- Education system, the media, government, law, police,
armed forces, administration.
8. Informal social controls
• These forms of social control are generally established due to societal
need.
• Differ from person to person, and those which they take not of will differ
depending on the individual, how they have been socialised and what
sanctions are in place.
• Generally exercises by primary institutions (think about socialisation).
What else does this tell us about power in society? What would
interpretivists make of this?
Examples- family, friends, public opinion, customs, stranger solidarity and
judgement.
9. Sanctions
Sanctions are the ways in which social control is enforcement, however this
does not only have to be negative, sanctions can also refer to positive
enforcement practices, such as:
Positive- a smile, a pat on the back, money, food, a meaningful gift, applause,
promotion, commendation.
Negative- being told off, shouted at, being tutted at, police caution,
detention, a written warning, prison sentence, community service, ex-
communication.
Sanctions can also be informal and formal.
10. Socialisation and normalisation
Socialisation
Ensures new members of society learn social norms, begin to interpret
sanctions (positive and negative), primary and secondary socialisation
are means of social control.
Normalisation
Behaviour, sanctions, values and norms become so routine and
internalised that they are unquestioned and ‘normal’. Foucault and self-
regulation, surveillance and self-censorship.
11. Marxism and social control
Althusser (1969)
Repressive state apparatus:
The state maintains and widens the monopoly of the means of production to
benefit capitalists. This supports capitalist class structures, maintaining
inequality. Therefore the state represses threats to capitalism, largely
through the police, government and law and are unified in protecting
capitalist interests.
Ideological state apparatus:
Idea that institutions like the family, education and religion teach individuals
how to behave in order to benefit capitalism. Although this is more difficult
to secure capitalist agendas through ideology.
12. Functionalism and social control
Durkheim – crime as functional
• The codification of moral order. Allows laws to be established that
represent broad social guidelines for all individuals to comply to.
• These laws are publically displayed, which allows them to be
distributed and boundaries visualised.
• Crime as testing legal boundaries. Idea that law is a social static, or
slow to change without being challenged.
• Crime allows individuals/communities to integrate which leads to an
increase in organic solidarity and importantly, social consensus.
13. Interpretivism and social control
Weber- ‘politics as vocation’
• Weber studies the link between the state and violence. He concludes
that the state has a monopoly on violence, this legitimises violence
exercised by the state (eg, death penalty, soliders killing one another
in battle). This concept is linked to his work on rationalisation and
authority. Consider how this is similar to Althussers repressive state
apparatus.
• Again makes us think about the role of power in social control.
14. Activity
Think about the ways in which you have been subjected to different
forms of social control. Answer the following questions
• Have they changed over your lifecourse? If so, how? If not, why do
you think this is?
• Do you think you have conformed to social control mechanisms
you’ve been subjected to?
• Have you ever exerted social control?
