AC2.1: explain forms of social control Flashcards
What is meant by internal social control?
(3 key words and description of internal social control)
Internal social control refers to rational ideology, tradition, internalisation of social rules and morality.
Your conscience tells you what is wrong. We will conform due to our self-respect demanding it.
What is meant by rational ideology?
It is the idea or belief to achieve social control. your conscience, with feelings of guilt, anxiety or worry from within, guiding you to reach a solution or follow rules and laws.
What is meant by tradition?
It can be seen as your own customs, norms and traditions, which ensures that you are conforming to the rules. Sometimes religion or culture or purely your upbringing ensures that you are not breaking the law, for example not eating red meat on Good Friday.
What is meant by internalisation of social rules and morality?
The internalisation of social rules and morality is working out what the right or wrong thing to do is, based upon social values. Such as waiting your turn in a queue and not jumping in front of it.
What is meant by external social control?
(2 keywords and description of external social control)
External pressures will compel or persuade members of society to conform to the rules. such as teachers giving their student detentions or extra work for failing to turn in homework. By doing this, they are ensuring that you do not do it again.
The most visible form and obvious form of social control is exercised through people and organisations which are specially empowered to enforce conformity to society’s law, e.g. police, judges, prisons. The mere presence of the police can ensure that the vast majority of people are behaving. however, those who commit crimes are arrested by the police. if you face charges, then other organisations such as the courts and ultimately prisons will try to bring about social control. Through using coercion and fear of punishment as methods to ensure that people are abiding to the law.
What is meant by coercion?
Coercion can either be physical or non-violent. Physical coercion can take the form of imprisonment, bodily injury and in certain countries the death penalty. Non-violent coercion involves strikes, boycott and non-cooperation. Prisons clearly use coercion and the threat of loss of liberty, which can be seen in a suspended sentence, with the continued threat of custody for future breaking of the law.
What is meant by fear of punishment?
The use of fear of punishment as a threat to stop people from offending is called deterrence. Deterrence has two key assumptions: individual and general deterrence.
What is individual deterrence?
Individual deterrence is punishment which is imposed on offenders in order to deter or prevent them from committing further crimes. Such as a suspended sentence or a conditional discharge, where there are either more serious, consequences for further reoffending.
What is general deterrence?
General deterrence is the fear of punishment which prevents others from committing similar crimes. Such as a lengthy prison sentence, to see the potential consequences are being deterred from committing the same action. there are policies which promote this, and are known as “getting tough on crime”, this includes “mandatory minimums” and “three strikes and you’re out”.
Mandatory minimums: a life sentence for murder - seven years for a third drug offence and three years for a third burglary.
Three strikes and you’re out: third conviction for a violent crime, likely to be life sentence (in USA).
Control Theory: Walter C. Reckless
Developed one version of control theory, which is known as containment. He argued that we can resist from committing further crimes due to inner and outer containment.
- inner containment comes from our upbringing and particularly the influence from our family.
- outer containment refers to the influence of social groups, including the laws of the society we live in.
- a combination of internal psychological containments and external social containments prevents people from deviating from social norms and committing crimes.
Control Theory: Travis Hirschi
Hirschi believed that people must form social bonds which prevent criminal behaviour. He stated that there are four bonds: attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. These must be properly formed to prevent someone having a propensity to commit crimes.
