(2.1)forms of social control

Why is social control needed

For society to function smoothly, people need to behave more or less as others expect them to.

What does social control include

Involves persuading or compelling people to conform to society’s norms, laws and expectations. Society has various means of achieving control over its members’ behaviour, this is split between two groups

What are the two factors

•internal forms of social control

•external forms of social control

Internal forms

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What are internal forms

These are controls over our behaviour that come firm within ourselves - from our personalities or our values. As such, they are therefore also forms of self-control

What does this lead to

They lead us to conform to the rules of society and the groups that we belong to because we feel inwardly that it is the right thing to do

Moral conscience or superego

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Why do we conform to society because of Freud

According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, we conform to society’s expectations and obey its rules because our superego tells us to do so.

How is our superego developed

Our superego develops through early socialisation within the family, as a sort of internalised ‘nagging parent’ telling us how we ought to behave.

What is the function of the superego

Its function is to restrain the selfish, ‘animal’ urges of the id. If we acted on these urges, they would often lead us into anti-social and criminal behaviour. The superego allows us to exercise self-control and behave in socially acceptable ways.

Traditional and culture

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How is culture relevant to socialisation

The culture to which we belong also becomes part of us through socialisation. We come to accept its values, norms and traditions as part of our identity.

What is an example of culture and socialisation

Believers follow the religious traditions that they have been raised in, such as the Muslim traditional of fasting during Ramadan.

Why is conforming to trading important

Conforming to such traditions is an important way of affirming one’s identity and being accepted as a member of a particular community

Internalisation of social rules and morality

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What becomes a part of our inner-self or personality

Both our superego and the traditions we follow become part of our inner self or personality. Yet both of them start as things outside us-either as our parents’ rules and values in the case of the superego, or as those of our culture or social group in the case of tradition

What is the process of socialisation

In both cases, we internalise these rules through the process of socialisation- whether from our parents or from wider social groups and institutions such as religion, school and peer groups.

How does society’s rules become ours through socialisation

Society’s rules and moral code become our own personal rules and moral code. As a result, we come to conform willingly to social norms

What is ‘rational ideology’

Rational ideology is a term that has been used to describe the fact that we internalise social rules and use them to tell us what is right and wrong. This enables us to keep within the law

External forms of social control

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What are agencies of social control

These are organisations or institutions that impose rules on us in an effort to make us behave in certain ways.

What do agencies of social control include

They include the family, peer groups and education system.

What is a negative example of agencies of social control

Teachers may give a disruptive student a detention

what is a positive sanction (example) of social control agencies

A hardworking student may receive praise

What do positive and negative sanctions impose

Both positive and negative sanctions help impose social control.

What does this introduce

Skinners operant learning theory of behaviour reinforcement -

The criminal justice system

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What do the police do

The police have powers to stop, search, arrest, detain and question suspects

What do the CPS do

The CPS can charge a suspect and prosecute them in court

what powers do judges and magistrates have

Judges and magistrates have powers to bail the accused or remand them in custody, and to sentence the guilty to a variety of punishments

What does the prison service do

The prison service can detain prisoners against their will for the duration of their sentence, and punish prisoners’ misbehaviour (e.g putting them in solitary confinement)

What is a positive sanction from the police service

Assisting the prosecution is likely to earn an offender a lower sentence, good behaviour by prisoners may earn them more privileges and earlier parole.

Coercion

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What does coercion involve

Coercion involves the use or threat of force in order to make someone do (or stop doing) something.

What may force involve (coercion)

Force may involve physical or psychological violence, or other forms of pressure.

What are examples of coercion

The negative sanctions of the criminal justice system above are examples of coercion: sending someone to prison for steal ain’t is a form of coercion aimed at preventing further offending

Fear of punishment

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how is social control achieved through fear of punishment

Fear of punishment is one way of trying to achieve social control and make people conform to the laws.

How is fear of punishment a form of coercion

Because it involves the threat that force will be used against you if you do obey the law

what do theorists imply on deterrence

Some theorists, such as right-realists, argue that fear of being caught and punished is what ensures that many would-be criminals, continue to obey the law.

Control theory

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What do control theorists ask and how is it answered

Control theorists - ‘why do people’ obey the law? Travis Hirschi- is that people conform because they are controlled by their bonds to society, which keep them from deviating. Hirschi argues that ‘delinquent acts occur when an individual’s bond to society is weak or broken’

What are the 4 individual’s bond to society according to Hirschi

•Attachment

•Committment

•involvement

•beliefs

What is attachment

Attachment- the more attached we are to others, the more we care about their opinion of us, the more we will respect their norms and the less likely we will be to break them. This is especially true of attachments to parents and teachers.

What is commitment

Commitment- how committed are we to conventional goals such as succeeding in education and getting a good job? The more committed to a conventional lifestyle, the more we risk losing by getting involved in crime, so the more likely we are to conform

What is involvement

Involvement- the more involved we are in conventional, law-abiding activities, like studying or participating in sports, the less time and energy we will have for getting involved in criminal ones. This is part of justification for youth clubs: they keep young people off the streets and busy with legal activities

What are beliefs

Beliefs -if we have have socialised to believe it is right to obey the law, we are less likely to break it.

What do control theorists emphasise on parenting

Many control theorists emphasise the role of parenting in creating bonds that prevent young people from offending.

What is an example of parenting

Gottfredson and Hirschi argued that low self-control is a major cause of delinquency, and that this results from poor oscillation and inconsistent or absent parental discipline.

What do Riley and Shaw argue on lack of parental supervision

Riley and Shaw- found that lack of parental supervision was an important factor in delinquency

What do Riley and Shaw on what parents should do

•involve themselves in their teenagers’ lives and spend time with them

•take an interest in what they do at school and how they spend time with their friends

•show strong disapproval of criminal behaviour and explain the consequences of offending

What does Walter Reckless point out on parenting

Walter Reckless- points to the importance of parenting and socialisation. We have psychological tendencies that can lead to criminal, but effective socialisation can provide ‘internal containment’ by building the self-control to resist the temptation to offend. He also argues that external controls such as parental discipline can provide ‘external containment’

What do feminists argue on parenting

Feminists- also used control theories to explain women’s low rate of offending.

What does the feminists Frances Heidensohn argue

France’s Heidensohn - argues that patriarchal (male-dominated) society controls females more closely, making it harder for them to offend.

What is an example of feminists explanations

Women spend more time on domestic duties, leaving them less opportunity to engage in criminality outside the home.

What did Pat Carlen find

Pat Carlen - found that females who do offend had often failed to form an attachment to parents because they had suffered abuse in the family or been brought up in care