Social Control

The study of social control concentrates on the processes that society uses to keep social order and cohesion through patterns of oppression. The process by which a society works to secure adherence to the dominant values and standards in that society is known as social control. It co-regulates human behavior through its conventions, laws, and social structures. Social control has the power to sway people's actions in favor of maintaining social order. It is an essential component of social order since societies cannot function without population management.

Types of Social Control:

Social control can be divided on various bases. Some of the major classifications of social control are as follows:

1. Formal and Informal Social Control
2. Direct and Indirect Social Control
3. Positive and Negative Means

We will discuss the first two classes here.

1. Formal and Informal Social Control:

These are the basic means of social control.

• Informal Social Control

Informal means of control relate to a person's innate ability to distinguish between right and wrong. In society, the informal means of social control are expanding. There is no need for a particular agency to establish them. One informal method of social control is socialization. An individual internalizes the rules and values of a particular culture through this process. Three elements of informal ways of control are social values, sanctions, and punishment. When you learn the skill of socialization, you study and adapt to the particular values of a community. We examine informal forms of social control using social control theory. American sociologist Travis Warner Hirschi is the creator of this theory. It is often referred to as the self-control theory of crime or the social bond theory of crime. According to this theory, people tend to support societal norms and values because of their attached importance and meaning.

• Formal Social Control

The second type of social control is the formal means of social control. These are the systems of rewards and penalties that are institutionalized. Governments and organizations employ these strategies to stop social turmoil. The formal methods of social control come into practice following predetermined social objectives. Law and coercion are extensions of socialization because they foster the moral, intellectual, and social values of the individual. They are the most prevalent formal social control techniques currently in use. They make people able to see links between their social norms and their cultural background.

Law is a system of rules created to reinforce social values to regulate behavior. It helps maintain social order, especially in larger societies where informal means of social control may no longer be enough.

Coercion on the other hand is the use of force against social deviance and is only utilized by the state. It can only be used in extreme situations as a last resort because it may lead to revenge or can lead to deterioration of social order.

Formal means of social control are extremely important, especially if many groups in a society do not follow the same norms or beliefs.

2. Direct and Indirect Social Control:

Karl Mannheim has categorized social control into direct and indirect forms.

• Direct Social Control

Direct social control involves major groups or people who are close to the subject of the control directly dictating how a person must behave. Parents, neighbors, older siblings, grandparents, teachers, and friends are a few examples of these people or groups.

• Indirect Social Control

The regulation of behavior by distant authorities is known as indirect social control. Secondary groups, like academic and cultural institutions, may use social traditions, public opinion, and cultural taboos to implement this. Compared to its indirect equivalent, direct social control has a stronger and longer-lasting influence.

Social control is effective because human beings have a natural tendency for sympathy, sociability, a sense of justice, and resentment which are the four factors that ensure social order.

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