2.1 forms of social control

Question 1

what is social control?

Answer 1

persuading or compelling people to conform to society’s norms, laws and expectations

Question 2

what does the term internal social control mean?

Answer 2

Controls over our behaviour that come from within ourselves – from our personalities and our values. Also known as self-control.

Question 3

what does the term external social control mean?

Answer 3

Control over people exacted by society and societal agents of social control (parents/teachers)

Question 4

what theory is linked to internal forms of social control?

Answer 4

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
-the superego (part of our personality) tells us what is right and wrong making us conform to societal norms
-it develops through socialisation
-its purpose is to retain the urges of the id, inflicting guilt when we go against our superego

Question 5

how does tradition and culture link to social control?

Answer 5

-the culture we belong to becomes a part of us through socialisation
-it becomes our norms and determines what we find right and wrong
-conforming to these norms is important as it allows the development of an identity and the acceptance as a member of a community

Question 6

what is socialisation?

Answer 6

-the process of internalising rules
-this can be from parents/schools/peers
-societal codes become our codes too and therefore we conform willingly

Question 7

what is rational ideology?

Answer 7

this is used to describe the term where we internalise social rules
-these tells use what is right and wrong and keeps us within the law

Question 8

which type of socialisation can external social control be linked to?

Answer 8

secondary socialisation

Question 9

what are agencies of social control?

Answer 9

organisations/insitutions that impose rules in an effort to make us behave a certain way.

Question 10

what are negative sanctions?

Answer 10

punishments

Question 11

what are positive sanctions?

Answer 11

rewards

Question 12

what are negative and positive sanctions also known as?

Answer 12

forms of behaviour modification

Question 13

which agencies in the CJS have power to enforce formal legal sanctions?

Answer 13

police
judges/magistrates
prison services

Question 14

how can the police use formal legal santions?

Answer 14

they have the power to stop/search/detain/question/arrest suspects

Question 15

how can the CPS use formal legal sanctions

Answer 15

Can charge/prosecute suspects

Question 16

how can judges/magistrates use formal legal sanctions?

Answer 16

-they have the power to bail the accuses or remand them into custody
-they sentence the guilty

Question 17

how does the prison service use formal legal sanctions?

Answer 17

they detain prisoners for the duration of their sentence
-they punish prisoner’s bad behaviour (solitary confinement)

Question 18

what is coercion?

Answer 18

the use of threats of force to make someone do something
-can be physical/psychological

Question 19

how is fear of punishment a form of coercion?

Answer 19

involves threat of force if you do not obey the law

Question 20

how is fear of punishment a form of social control?

Answer 20

Some theorists such as right realists, argue that fear of being caught and punished is what ensures that many people continue to obey the law

In other words, fear acts as a deterrent

Question 21

who is Hirschi?

Answer 21

a theorist who argued that people conform to societal norms because they are controlled by their bonds to society
he argued that the weaker the bond the more likely to break them

Question 22

what are the four elements to an individuals bond to society?

Answer 22

1) attachment (the more attached to someone->the more their opinions matter-> the stronger the bonds)

2)committment (more committment to conventional lifestyle->more risk->stronger bond)

3)involvement (the more involvment in convential activities->less time/energy for criminal ones->stronger bonds)

4)beliefs (Socialised to believ what’s right/wrong->stronger bonds)

Question 23

Grottfredson and Hirchi

Answer 23

-suggested that low self control is a cause of delinquency
-due to poor socialisation

Question 24

Riley and Shaw

Answer 24

-argued that parents should be involved in their teenagers lives (spend time with them/take interest in shool/friends)
-lack of parental supervision=delinquency
-poor socialisation

Question 25

walter Reckless

Answer 25

suggested we have psychological tendencies that lead to criminality
-effective socialisation provides ‘internal containment’ (builds self control)
-while external controls (parents) provide ‘external containment’

Question 26

Frances Heidensohn

Answer 26

-patriarchal society controls females more closely
-women spend more time doing domestica duties so they have less time/energy to commit crimes

Question 27

Pat Carlen

Answer 27

found that females who had not been able to form attachments to parents (abuse victims/grew up in care) were more likely to offend