5 Formal & Informal Social Control

McPherson Report

• followed murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence

• concluded parts of police force were ‘institutionally racist’

• “ black men 9 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white men “

• formal social control treat certain groups less equally than others, therefore face stricter controls than others

Gordon

• ‘selective law enforcement’

• rare prosecutions upper & middle class criminals

• blame should be pointed at capitalism not working class

Goffman

• total institutions

• identity stripped, eg. clothes, given number not name

• how formal social control can impact identity

Murray & Hernnstein

• informal social control through family needed for those with predisposition to aggression & impulsiveness