Social control and Social Stratification Flashcards
Social control
The idea behind social control is as follows:
- All cultures have norms
- Society teaches these rules through socialization
- To follow rules is to conform
- To break these rules is to deviate
- Society rewards and punishes through sanctions, with the rules being both written (laws) and unwritten (norms, values and mores)
Two types of sanctions
- Formal - official punishment such as prison
- Informal - unofficial punishment such as nasty comments
(these sanctions can also be praise, with formal praise being official recognition, and informal praise being unofficial recognition)
Agents of social control
- Education; Establish norms and mores, socializing us to be positive members of society
- Media; expose us to bad behavior to discourage, control and monitor people’s attitudes and information exposure
- Family - Informal punishment and formal praise to engage us in primary socialization
- Criminal justice - prison
Theoretical ideas of social control - functionalism
- Creates social harmony
- Ensures shared norms
- Prevents anoime (normlessness)
- Agents of socialization are responsible (structural)
- Deviance from social norms is expected and has a positive function to identify societal issues
Theoretical ideas of social control - Marxism
- The poor proletariat need to be kept from starting a revolution
- Ideology and state agencies control the people - ideological and repressive state apparatuses
- Rich stay rich and powerful and use their influence to control this and dominate
- Sometimes social control needs to be oppressive
The impact of social control
- Creates a lawful society
- Creates shared norms and decreases conflict
- Maintains social order
- Brings harmony and consensus
- Maintains the patriarchy / bourgeoisie
- Prevents anoime
- Supports socialisation
- Makes clear what actions are deviant
- People grow to fear the system
- Keeps us safe
- Creates a clear identity
Social Stratification
The division of society into a hierarchy of unequal groups, in this case in reference to social class.
Social mobility
The ability to move up the social ladder, can be achieved through status in work/education, marriage, inheritance or globalization.
Tripartite System
Upper class, middle class, working class in triangle format. The traditional British class system.
How was class previously defined and how has it changed?
It was previously defined by differences in wealth, income and occupation; the new BBC survey classifies it by looking at the social, cultural and economic capital of people in order to decide positions in society, expanding the class system past the original three categories of the tripartite system.
What is social capital?
The networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society.
What is cultural capital?
The social assets of a person that promote social mobility in a stratified society. It refers to accumulated experience and cultural knowledge.
What is economic capital?
The occupation, wealth and income of a person.
Why is this new system important?
- Prevents class discrimination
- Encourages social mobility and allows society to establish the policies to increase social, capital and economic capital
- Promotes progress towards an unstratified society in terms of class
- Makes class less rigid and more flexible for definition, and the ability to not be defined by class is promoted
