Lecture 3 Social Control

Introduction
Every society requires to maintain social order and cohesion to preserve or protect itself from
disruptive activities and behaviours. We refer to the mechanisms by which societies maintain
order and cohesion as social control. Social control therefore is the study of the mechanisms
including the form of patterns of pressure that societies utilize to maintain social order and
cohesion. These mechanisms establish and enforce a standard of behavior for members of a
society and include a variety of components, such as shame, coercion, force, restraint, and
persuasion (Carmichael, 2012). Social control is exercised through individuals and institutions,
ranging from the family, to peers, and to organizations such as the state, religious organizations,
schools, and the workplace. Regardless of its source, the goal of social control is to maintain
conformity to established norms and rules. Social control is typically employed by group
members in response to anyone it considers deviant, problematic, threatening, or undesirable,
with the goal of ensuring conformity. In this lecture we examine the social and structural
differences and similarities between societies in the application of social control including social
sanctions such as punishment of deviance.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

1. Define the term social control and explain its functions in various societies
2. Describe the different levels and mechanisms of effecting social control in
different societies.
3. Compare and contrast between the different means and agencies by which
societies exercise social control and ensure conformity to social norms.

Definition and Need for Social Control

In any human society, there are deviations from the accepted norms of a society or group. This
movement away from the accepted social standards is called social deviance. Each society or
group expects and attempts to ensure conformity of its members to its norms. Those members
of a society or a group who abide by the rules and norms of the society (or the group) are called
conformists, while those who don't are called non-conformists. A society or a group applies
some formal and informal mechanisms to achieve conformity. Individuals may not act
according to the defined values and norms of the group. Therefore, violation of values and
norms and deviating from the standard values and norms are often common.

Definition
Social control is thus simply defined as all the mechanisms and processes employed by a society
to ensure conformity. In other words, social control is any cultural or social means by which
restraints are imposed upon individual behaviour and by which people are initiated to follow

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the traditions and patterns of behaviour accepted by society. It is, simply, a means by which
conformists are rewarded and non-conformists are punished.

Social control is a central element of the social organization and development of societies in
general and industrial societies in particular. Social control refers to the devices or mechanisms
by which social order is maintained and human values are upheld in any given society.
Fundamentally, the term ‘social control’ refers to the capacity of a society to regulate itself
according to desired principles and values. In broad terms the concept of social control
embodies the notion of the processes of developing conformity with the group or societal norms
and values (Janowitz 1975:82).

In 1925, George Herbert Mead in the International Journal of Ethics, 1925, was among the early
social scientist who attempted to define the term social control. He defined social control as the
degree to which individuals in society are able to assume attitudes of others who are involved
with them in common endeavours (Mead 1925). Meads articulation of the meaning of social
control to a large extent corresponded to the widespread influence of social philosophy in
American sociology. Prior to Mead, the sociologist George Vincent had in the first volume of the
American Journal of Sociology in 1896 defined social control as ‘the art of combining social
forces so as to give society at least a trend toward an ideal.’

From the perspective of social organization, we may define social control as the patterns of
influence that a population or society exerts on individuals or social groups. Social control,
therefore, refers to the capacity of a social organization to regulate itself; and this capacity
generally implies a set of goals rather than a single goal (Janowitz, 1975). It is a term that is
closely intertwined with the value position of a society or group.

In order to maintain the organization and the order of the society, therefore, members have to
be kept under some form of regulation or control. This control is necessary in order to have
desired behaviour from the individuals and groups and to enable people to conform to shared
ideals and values. The ideals and values define and prescribe how members of a society can act,
behave or relate to one another in various areas of social life. Thus, in order for society to
advance and sustain itself, it has to exercise a certain control over its members since any marked
deviation from the established ways is considered a threat to its existence and welfare. Such
control has been termed by sociologists as social control.

Social control is the term sociologists apply to those mechanisms by which any society
maintains a normative social system. It refers to all the ways and means by which society
enforces conformity to its norms. The individual internalizes social norms and these become
part of his personality. In the process of socialization, the growing child learns the values of his
own groups as well as of the larger society and the ways of doing and thinking that are deemed
to be right and proper.

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There are various means and agencies by which societies induce or compel their members to
observe and conform to the norms of the society. In the next sections we will be examining the
needs, forms or types and the different mechanisms by which societies realize the goals of social
control. We will further be examining the concept of social control with a view to describing the
logic underlying the organization and practice of relevant institutions that impose controls on
individual and group behaviour in diverse societies.

Principles and levels of social control

As we have shown above the central purpose of social control is securing conformity with
established norms by preventing, adjudicating, remedying and sanctioning non-compliance. It
focuses on formal mechanisms of social control that deal with normative and non-normative
behaviour and social problems such as crime, dangerousness, delinquency and other socially
undesirable behaviours. Social control is achieved through social, economic, and institutional
structures (Crossman, 2019).

Thus, social control generally operates on the principle of internalization, that is, the
assumption that both individuals and groups in society, would incorporate values, patterns of
culture, etc. within the self as conscious or subconscious guiding principles through learning or
socialization. Through socialization process, people are taught from birth the behavioural and
interactional expectations common to their family, peer groups, community, and greater
society. Socialization teaches us how to think and behave in accepted ways, and in doing so,
effectively controls our participation in society. The internalization principle, does however
recognize the irreducible elements of coercion in a legitimate system of social control. Coercion
element refers to the recognition of the need to apply some minimum threat of use or actual
force to ensure conformity to the societal norms and values. Janowitz (1975:84) however,
considers social control to be the opposite of coercive control, that is, the social organization of a
society which rests predominantly and essentially on force-the threat and the use of force.

In general, we recognize that social control tends to take two forms in every society: informal or
formal. Informal social control involves conformity to the norms and values of society as well as
adoption of a belief system learned through the process of socialization. This form of social
control is typically enforced by family members and primary caregivers, teachers, coaches,
peers, and colleagues. Systems of rewards and punishment are often used to enforce informal
social control. Rewards often take the form of praise or compliments, awards, job promotions,
and social acceptance and recognition. Punishment tends to involve social exclusion and
rejection, teasing or ridicule, reprimands, or withdrawal of communication.

State and institutions such as the police, the military, prisons, the judiciary, city authorities,
schools and financial institutions enforce formal social control. In many cases, a simple police
presence is enough to achieve this form of control. In others, police might intervene in a

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situation that involves unlawful or dangerous behaviour to stop the misconduct and maintain
social control.

In F. Ivan Nye’s book Family Relationships and Delinquent Behaviour, published in 1958, he
examines the subject of juvenile delinquency (offending or deviant behaviour among minors) as
a means of theorizing about deviance and social control. Nye focused on the family unit as a
source of control and specified three types of control: (1) direct control, or the use of
punishments and rewards to incentivize particular behaviours; (2) indirect control, or the
affectionate identification with individuals who adhere to social norms; and (3) internal control,
or the appeal to an individual’s conscience or sense of guilt to encourage conformity.

Nye therefore observed that youth may be directly controlled through constraints imposed by
parents, through limits on the opportunity for delinquency, or through parental rewards and
punishments. However, youth may be constrained when free from direct control by their
anticipation of parental disapproval (indirect control), or through the development of a
conscience, an internal constraint on behaviour.

Types of Social Control

There are two major types of social control mechanisms. These are: negative and positive social
control mechanisms.

Negative Social Control: This involves punishment or regulating behaviour of deviants. A

deviant is a person whose views and actions are different in moral or social standards from
what is considered normal or acceptable in the context of a certain social group. This social
control may be at micro/ informal level and macro/ formal levels. Micro/ informal level social
control occurs at the level of small groups such as peer groups, family, and interpersonal
relationships. Examples of negative social control at micro levels include: simple gossip or
backbiting, a simple frowning, reprimanding, pinching, beating, ridiculing, scolding,
ostracizing, etc. The punishments can be in the psychological, social or physical/ material
forms. Punishments at macro or formal level include: fining, firing, demotion, imprisonment,
banishment or excommunication, capital punishment and so on.

Positive Social Control: These mechanisms involve rewarding and encouraging those who
abide by the norms. It involves rewarding the model behaviour. The informal psychosocial
reward mechanisms include simple smiles, saying encouraging word, shaking hands, thanking,
showing appreciation, etc. Formal positive social control mechanism may include giving
awards, promoting to a higher level of status, etc.

Modes and Patterns of Social Control

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The principal modes of social control involve formal and informal forms of control. In all
societies, however, the overriding goal of social control is generally to achieve conformity and
obedience. We examine these goals and modes of social control in the next section.

Conformity

Social control is established by encouraging individuals to conform and obey social norms, both
through formal and informal means. Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviors to group norms. The tendency to conform occurs in small groups and in society as a
whole, and may result from subtle unconscious influences or direct and overt social pressure.
Conformity can occur in the presence of others, or when an individual is alone. For example,
people tend to follow social norms when eating or watching television, regardless of whether
others are present. As conformity is a group phenomenon, factors such as group size,
unanimity, cohesion, status, prior commitment, and public opinion help determine the level of
conformity an individual displays.

Harvard psychologist Herbert Kelman identified three major types of conformity: compliance,
identification, and internalization. Compliance is public conformity, while possibly keeping one’s
own original beliefs independent. It is motivated by the need for approval and the fear of being
rejected. Identification is conforming to someone who is liked and respected, such as a celebrity
or a favorite uncle. This can be motivated by the attractiveness of the source, and this is a
deeper type of conformism than compliance. Internalization is accepting the belief or behavior
and conforming both publicly and privately. It is the deepest influence on people, and it will
affect them for a long time.

Obedience

In human behavior, obedience is a form of social influence in which a person accepts

instructions or orders from an authority figure. Obedience differs from compliance, which is
behavior influenced by peers, and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of
the majority. Obedience can be seen as both a sin and a virtue. For example, in a situation when
one orders a person to kill another innocent person and he or she does this willingly, it is a sin.
However, when one orders a person to kill an enemy who will end a lot of innocent lives and he
or she does this willingly, it can be deemed a virtue.

Stanley Milgram created a highly controversial and often replicated study of obedience. In the
Milgram experiment, participants were told they were going to contribute to a study about
punishment and learning, but the actual focus was on how long they would listen to and obey
orders from the experimenter. The participants were instructed that they had to shock a person
in another room for every wrong answer on a learning task, and the shocks increased with
intensity for each wrong answer. If participants questioned the procedure, the researcher would

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encourage them to continue. The Milgram study found that participants would obey orders
even when it posed severe harm to others.

Informal Means of Control

Informal social control refers to the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about
conformity to norms and laws.

Key Points

 Informal sanctions may include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, and disapproval. In
extreme cases sanctions may include social discrimination and exclusion.
 Socialization is a term used by sociologists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting
and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies, which provide an individual with the
skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society.
 The family is often the most important agent of socialization because it is the center of the
child’s life.
 A peer group is a social group whose members have interests, social positions, and age in
common. It can also be an important agent of socialization.
 Informal sanctions: These are the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about
conformity to norms and laws. These can include peer and community pressure,
bystander intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as citizen patrol groups.

Informal social control —the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to
norms and laws—includes peer and community pressure, bystander intervention in a crime,
and collective responses such as citizen patrol groups. The social values that are present in
individuals are products of informal social control. It is exercised by a society without explicitly
stating these rules and is expressed through customs, norms, and mores.

Informal sanctions may include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, and disapproval. In extreme
cases sanctions may include social discrimination and exclusion. An example of a negative
sanction is seen in a scene from the Pink Floyd film The Wall, where the young protagonist is
ridiculed and verbally abused by a high school teacher for writing poetry in a mathematics
class. As with formal controls, informal controls reward or punish acceptable or unacceptable
behavior. Informal controls differ from individual to individual, group to group, and society to
society. For example, at a women’s institute meeting, a disapproving look might convey that it
is inappropriate to flirt with the minister. In a criminal gang, a stronger sanction applies in the
case of someone threatening to inform to the police.

Socialization

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Socialization is a term used by sociologists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and
disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies, which provide an individual with the skills and
habits necessary for participating within his or her own society. Primary socialization occurs
when a child learns the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate for individuals as members of
a particular culture. Secondary socialization takes place outside the home, where children and
adults learn how to act in a way that is appropriate for the situations they are in. Finally, re-
socialization refers to the process of discarding former behavior patterns and reflexes, accepting
new ones as part of a transition in one’s life.

Formal Means of Control

Formal means of social control are generally state-determined, through the creation of laws and
their enforcement.

Key Points

 Formal means of control include the threats of sanctions or enforced sanctions

manipulated by the state to encourage social control.
 The death penalty and imprisonment are forms of social control that the government
utilizes to maintain the rule of law.
 Social theorist Max Weber contributed to our understanding of formal social control by
writing about the state’s monopoly on violence.
 In democratic societies, the goals and mechanisms of formal social control are determined
through legislation by elected representatives and thus enjoy a measure of support from
the population and voluntary compliance.

1. Criminalization and Sanctions

Increasingly, control measures embedded within civil or administrative law target persons,
status or behaviour categorised as social problems (e.g., homelessness, drug use, irregular
migration, infectious diseases). While the consequences of controls on individuals vary, the
spectrum of behaviour and status subject to controls is widening. It is vital to determine how
such controls are enforced and against whom, again, underlining that such policies have
differential and significant influences on vulnerable groups. For instance, while the number of
laws that explicitly criminalise vagrancy may be in decline, a set of new administrative
measures or policies often produce the same effect of criminalising poverty. In Kenya, for
instance, it is more likely that a youth and someone living in informal settlements would be
stopped and even detained by the police than a person who is older, in formal employment or a
resident of middle income city district.

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It is therefore critical to monitor the impact of both criminal and non-criminal control measures
and to assess them against relevant human rights principles, including tests of proportionality,
non-discrimination, reasonableness, least restrictive or intrusive means and non-arbitrariness.
At the same time, as those who are poor and disadvantaged are more likely to be criminalised,
human rights analyses of crime and criminality must take full account of the way in which
crimes, social problems, victims and offenders are socially constructed and their relationship
with marginality and structural exclusion.

2. Segregation

Segregating those considered undesirable or dangerous includes the act of imprisonment, but
modes of segregation are also embedded in urban planning, treatment of infectious diseases or
responses to irregular migration. Societies are being re-segregated using private (e.g., gated
communities as compared to sprawling settlements) as well as public means and both judicial
and administrative mechanisms. The adoption of risk models and the categorisation of people
in terms of dangerousness has had a range of differential impacts on various segments of
society, institutions and social contexts.

For example, the assumption that segregating or confining a significant portion of those
presumed dangerous can, by itself, make our society safer is increasingly influencing social
policy and criminal justice. Prisons are increasingly becoming warehouses to segregate
“undesirable” populations rather than to enable rehabilitation and reintegration, thus rendering
imprisonment not just a tool of repression or punishment but also a means to produce and
manage marginality.

3. Surveillance

In many societies today, an increasing proportion of security-related activities are focused on

non-crime related matters, especially in surveillance of persons and spaces, based on the
assumption that the more data societies gather on individuals and groups, the better.
Contemporary sociological studies of surveillance are valuable from regulation of behaviour
perspective because they demonstrate a broad concern with surveillance as a means to order,
control and manage social relations; as a means of social sorting. Gathering of personal data
facilitates convergence and tracking while syndromic surveillance that compiles health
information anonymously contributes to the construction of notions and ideals of normality,
furthering control. The involvement of private entities also blurs the distinction between
governmental and commercial surveillance.

References

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Carmichael, J. 2012. Social Control. Oxford bibliographies.
https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756384/
obo-9780199756384-0048.xml Retrieved 10 January 2021.

Janowitz, M. 1975. Sociological Theory and Social Control. American Journal of Sociology, 81(1):
82-108