2.1

Question 1

What is Social Control?

Answer 1

• A means and methods stopping people from deviating from the norm and instead making them conform to what is expected by society.

Question 2

Two main forms of social control

Answer 2

• Internal = when we control ourselves, self-control which comes from our own personalities, beliefs and values.
• External = when other people or groups in our society control us. These people or groups are called agencies of social control. Examples are parents, teachers, the criminal justice system, local authorities.

Question 3

Internal Social Control

Answer 3

• Rational ideology
• Tradition
• Internalisation of social rules and morality

Question 4

Internal Social Control
- Rational Ideology

Answer 4

• Influence of rational thinking on an individual’s decision-making and motivated by feelings and thoughts.
• People do not engage in criminal activity as they believe the laws of the land are right and proper and exist to protect the population. They abide by the law as they believe it is the best means of achieving social control.
• Individuals may choose not to commit crime because of their own feelings of guilt or shame, or due to empathising with victims. Their reasons are part of their psychological makeup and crime is not worth the risk of how it will make them feel.
• An example could include abiding by road traffic regulations and not speeding or driving while using a mobile phone to ensure road safety for other users.

Question 5

Internal Social Control
- Rational Ideology - Socialisation

Answer 5

• Socialisation is the process through which individuals learn the norms and values of society, leading to social cohesion and a functional society
• Individuals have a moral code, often a result of socialisation (by family and peers), that guides them in their decision making to not commit crime.

Question 6

Internal Social Control
- Tradition

Answer 6

• Cultural background of individuals which influence the behaviour they undertake
• Limits behaviours upon religious practices, family background (beliefs passed on from parents or grandparents) or belief in what is right and wrong
  - e.g. 10 commandments “do not kill”(Christianity), avoid taking substances that cloud the mind(Buddhism)
• If individuals go against tradition, it could lead to shame to their family

Question 7

Internal Social Control
- Internalisation of Social Rules and Morality

Answer 7

• Moral judgement based upon what is deemed to be socially acceptable in a given society.
• Based on what others in society would do and conformity to the rules and regulations of what is expected of individuals.
• Influenced by opinions of those surrounding the individual and the wide societal reaction to deviating from social rules.

—-So why do people not commit crime?—-

• They fear that it would lead them to be isolated, and not being accepted by society
• examples of tradition
  family rules(shoes off inside), Culture(no sex before marriage), Parents values(Honesty), Traditions(Holding the door open)

Question 8

Internal Social Control - Links to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

Answer 8

• controlls or behaviour from within ourselves
• ID - Instincts/wants/needs
• EGO - Reality/balances the superego-ego
• SUPEREGO - Morals

Question 9

External Social Control

Answer 9

• Coercion
• Fear of Punishment

Question 9

Agencies of Social Control examples

Answer 9

• peers, family, schools
• Rewards – for those who conform.
• Punishment – for those who don’t conform.

Question 10

External Social Control
- Coercion

Answer 10

• This is control over an individual’s behaviour over exerting some kind of external force
• This can be violent / non-violent or physical / psychological control over people’s behaviour.
• Physical: force through injury, imprisonment or capital punishment
• Psychological: force through loss of freedom, possible consequences and threats of future action (e.g. being monitored by the police)

Different agencies may use coercion to control behaviour. For example:
Police
Prison service

Question 11

External Social Control
- Coercion - Examples

Question 12

External Social Control
- Fear of Punishment

Answer 12

• This is seen as a deterrent to stop people from committing crime
• Individual deterrence = targeted at specific individuals about the possible consequences of future criminal behaviours (e.g. giving someone a suspended sentence - they are afraid that if they behave badly their sentence will become imprisonment)
• General deterrence = aimed at the whole of society, deters the rest of society from committing a crime that someone else has done, often used in policy making (e.g. Zero Tolerance policies, minimum sentences for drug dealing / carrying a weapon)

Question 13

Control Theory
- Reasons for abiding by the law

Answer 13

• Travis Hirschi is the father of control theory.
• Control theory tries to answer the question of why people conform rather than why they commit crime.
• People conform because they are controlled by their bonds to society, which keep them from deviating.
• He argued that there are four elements to how we bond to society:
  Commitment - ambition to achieve positive future goal e.g. job,house
  Involvement - those involved in social activities e.g. sports
  Attachment - positive attachment to parents and peers promotes pro-social behaviour
  Beliefs - belief in societies values e.g. honesty

Question 14

Control Theory
- Reasons for abiding by the law - Containment theory

Answer 14

• Walter Reckless developed the containment theory.
• He argued that we can resist committing crimes due to our inner and outer containment.
• Inner (internal psychological) containment comes from our upbringing
• Outer (external social) containment refers to the influences of social groups including the laws of society.
• Reckless said that a combination of inner psychological containment and external social containment stops people from deviating from norms and committing crime.