AC2.1 Social Control Theories Flashcards
What are the two types of social control?
Internal and External social control
What is Internal social control?
Controls over our behaviour from within ourselves.
What is the key term for internal social control?
Rational Ideology
What does the personality refer to?
Enduring characteristics and behaviour that comprises a person’s uniqueness, such as traits, interests, drives, values, self concept, abilities and emotional patterns.
What do values refer to?
Things that you believe are important to the way you live and work.
What do values do?
They should determine your priorities, and deep down, they’re what tell you if your life is turning out how you wanted it to.
What is rational choice theory?
Rational choice theory insists that crime is calculated and deliberate
What is rational Ideology a combination of?
Personality and values
Who proposed the idea of the Id, ego and Superego?
Sigmund Freud
What did Freud suggest the Id was?
The most primitive part of the mind that represents instinctual drives and desires.
What does the Id operate on?
The pleasure principle, it seeks immediate gratification, regardless of consequences
What are the key characteristics of the Id?
Unconscious
Focused on satisfying urges
Impulsive and irrational
Demands instant pleasure or avoids pain
What did Freud suggest the Ego was?
The rational, decision-making part of the psyche that develops to mediate between the Id and the external world
What did Freud suggest the Ego’s function is?
It balances the Id’s demands with reality
What does the Ego operate on?
The reality principle, it considers social norms, rules and consequences
What are the key characteristics of the Ego?
Partly conscious, partly unconscious
Uses logic, reasoning and problem solving
Acts as the “executive” of personality, moderating the Id’s impulses to avoid harm or social rejection
What did Freud say the Superego is?
The moral conscience and ethical component of the psyche
What did Freud say the Superego function is?
To be a combination of the id and ego, be a balance between the two that shows how a person’s early life represents how they are as a human being
What does the Superego operate on?
The morality principle, it guides behaviour to align with moral standards
What are the key characteristics of the Superego?
Partly conscious, partly unconscious
Strives for perfection and judges actions
Can impose guilt, shame or pride based on behaviour
How is the Superego divided into two parts?
The id - Child like thoughts, I want I want
The Ego - the morally good
What is internalisation?
Internalisation means taking social norms, roles and values into one’s own mind. Society was sen as the primary factor responsible for how individuals learned to think and behave
What are the agencies of control of external control?
Peers, Family, Criminal Justice System and School
What is Coercion as a form of social control?
The practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.
What was Travis Hirschi belief on social bonds?
“Delingquent acts occur when a individuals bond to society is weak or broken”
What is a social bond?
A social bond is a relationship between people or groups based on shared feelings, interests or group experiences.
What do social bonds say about commitment?
If we share goals like getting a good job, we lead convention law abiding lives
What do social bonds say about involvement?
The more involved we are in conventional lives and society the less likely we are to commit crime
What do social bonds say about attachment?
Bonds with other people - if we are about people we stick to the rules of life together - we have empathy for others and understand the consequences of our own behaviour on others
What do social bonds say about beliefs?
If we have been socialised to believe it’s right to obey the law, we are less likely to break it.
What did Gottfredson and Hirschi say about the importance of parenting?
Low self-control is a major cause of crime and may result from poor socialisation. Where moral values are not internalised and there is inconsistent or absentee parenting
What did Walter Reckless say about containment?
Effective socialisation from parents can provide containment of criminal tendencies. It build self control
