2.1 - Social Control Flashcards
Define social control.
Any type of strategy used to stop people from behaving in a deviant way.
What is internal social control?
Controls over our behaviour from within ourselves eg. Personality and religion
What is external social controls?
Controls over our behaviour through social agencies eg. Education and CJS
What are the 3 internal social controls?
- Rational ideology
- Tradition and culture
- Internalisation of social rules and morality
What is rational ideology?
The idea that we have a conscience, so when we do something wrong we feel guilty so it guides us to avoid these situations
What theory backs rational ideology as a social control?
Frauds psychoanalysis theory
FootNote
Id is based on the pleasure principal and doesn’t consider consequences.
Superego is based in the moral principal which makes us follow societal norms.
Ego balances both of these
What do other theories suggest about rational ideology as a form of social control?
That aspects of socialisation is how we understand what is acceptable in society
How is tradition and culture a form of social control?
We have adopted ways of behaving through our culture (nationality, ethnicity) as we are socialised into learning and accepting culture Al norms and values.
FootNote
Examples:
Not eating pork because of religion and dressing modestly
How is internalisation of social rules a form of social control?
Primary socialisation is the initial training from parents to learn norms and values. This includes appropriate ways of behaving and knowing the difference between right and wrong. Socialisation is a life-long process and continues through the influence of peers, education etc, rules and morality are given to us by society so we follow them
FootNote
Example: saying please and thankyou. politeness
What is an agency that informs social control?
The criminal justice system which use legal sanctions against a person to make them conform.
What are the 2 external forms of social control?
- Coercion
- Fear of punishment
How is coercion used as a form of social control?
It uses a threat of force to make someone behave a certain way. But is]t can also be non-violent
FootNote
Examples:
- corporal punishment (canning) in schools before the 80’s
- workers going on strike for better conditions making consumers boycott certain products if they are unhappy
How is fear of punishment used as a form of social control?
Punishment is inconvenient and shameful/humiliating as we might loose our freedom, jobs and friends. Therefore this is used as a deterrence.
What are the 2 types of deterrence?
- individual
- general
What is individual deterrence?
When a person receives a punishment for a crime in the hope it will stop them from reoffending. So a person might receive a suspended sentence to persuade them to change their behaviour.
What is general deterrence?
When we know that others have been punished harshly for crime which leads us to not committing similar offences due to fear
What do control theories argue?
That most people don’t commit crime because of the controls that society puts on them
What is Hirschi”s control theory?
That we form d]strong bonds to society which prevent us from committing crime
What are the 4 key features of Hirschi’s control theory?
- attachment
- commitment
- involvement
- belief
How does attachment stop us from committing crime?
If we have stronger bonds to society we will care more about what others think if we commit a crime. This prevents people from being deviant
How does commitment prevent us from committing crime?
A person that invest in life will be at risk of loosing more, eg. family and status. So they will not be deviant as they don’t want to loose what they have
How does involvement stop people from committing crime?
People that are more involved in society will have less time due to things like work so we would not have time to think about being deviant. Also engaging in structured socially accepted activities strengthens the self disabling against deviant thoughts
How does belief stop us from committing crime?
The more that we believe that the law is the right thing and mainstream values are correct the less likely we are to break them. How strong is our moral code and do we respect authority
