Unit 4 Topic 3 - Forms of Social Control Flashcards
What is internal social control
Controls over our behaviour that come from within ourselves and can include our personalities and values
Describe how the internalization of social rules and morality maintains social control
Humans learn how it is acceptable to behave through the process of socialisation
We internalize the rules that society sets out and make them internal, this becomes our own internal moral code and automatically follow those of society
People who do not internalize society’s rules will end up breaking the wrong rules and following the wrong morals
What is socialization
The process of learning what behaviour is acceptable in society, through social interaction.
What is rationality?
Correctly internalizing society’s rules through effective socialisation, to develop the ability to make rational decisions
What is the rational choice theory?
Suggests that humans are rational beings, who weigh up the cost and reward of an action, when deciding how to behave
Describe how rational ideology and rational choice theory maintains social control
According to this theory, criminals choose to behave criminally – they think the benefits of committing a crime outweigh the potential cost of getting caught
As a result, people will obey the law if the costs outweigh the benefits
Explain Freud theory
We have 3 parts to our mind which form our personality:
Id, Ego, Superego
Describe how moral conscience and superego maintains social control
We obey society’s rules because our superego tells us to do so – it tells us what is right and wrong and inflicts guilt on us if we fail to do the ‘right’ thing
The superego is there to restrain the selfish, primal urges of the id – the id may lead us into criminal behaviour
People will obey the law if we are socialsed to have this superego or sense of morality as well as your super ego telling you what the wrong is
Describe how cultural traditions maintain social control
The culture we belong to becomes part of us and the way we behave – through the process of socialisation
Conforming to these traditions is a way of affirming one’s identity and being accepted as a member of the community
The different traditions can act as a form of internal social control to ensure that the individual acts a certain way
Describe external social control
Comes from outside of yourself, from other people in society that externally control our behaviour through agencies of social control
Explain agencies of social control
Agencies of social control are organisations that impose rules on us to make us behave in a certain way e.g family, education, criminal justcie system
Describe how the agencies of social control maintain social control
These agencies may impose negative sanctions for undesirable behaviour, or give positive sanctions to people who conform
Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning - Punishments deter undesirable behaviour and rewards encourage acceptable behaviour
People obey the law as these agencies act as a deterrent that gives out sanctions for certain behaviour
What agencies of social control exist within the CJS?
Police, CPS, Judge and magistrates and National Prison and Probation service
Describe how the fear of punishment maintains social control in the CJS
This is the idea that punishment acts as a deterrent which stops people committing crime and obey the law
Some theorists (Right realists) argue that the fear of being caught and punished is what stops many ‘would-be’ criminals from breaking the law
Describe how Coercion maintains social control in the CJS
Coercion involves the use or threat of force, in order to make someone do, or stop doing something
Force may involve physical or psychological violence, or other forms of pressure
e.g. The negative sanctions of the criminal justice system
For example, sending someone to prison for stealing - aimed at preventing further offending
