Topic 5

Social Control

The mechanisms, processes, and institutions used to maintain societal order and promote predictable behavior in society.

Formal Social Control

Characterized by explicit rules and regulations, institutionalized procedures for compliance and monitoring, and delegation of authority to specific institutional bodies.

Informal Social Control

Characterized by implicit norms and principles, lack of institutionalized procedures, and no designation of authority.

White-Collar Crime

Financially motivated crime committed by someone of higher occupational status in the course of their occupation.

Defamation

The intentional spread of false ideas about a person that result in harming the person’s reputation.

Victimless Crimes

Crimes deemed wrong in and of themselves, where harm is only brought to the participating individuals.

Administrative Law

A specific form of social control that involves self-governing bodies, independent regulatory bodies, and government departmental regulatory bodies.

Crime

Public wrongs or social injuries that are deemed intolerable by the state.

Sanctions

Consequences given to individuals to encourage conformity and deter unwanted behaviors.

Social Change

Changes to the patterns of activities and/or relations within society, impacting how individuals relate to various social groups.

Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage

Achieved in Canada with the passing of the 2005 Civil Marriages Act.

Resistance to Change

A common feature in societies that hinders the efficacy of law as an instrument for social change.

Power and Law

The notion that the powerful create the law, which often reflects the interests of the elite.

Internal Social Control

The internalization of social norms that occurs through socialization.

External Social Control

Involves external pressures such as negative and positive sanctions applied by society.

Legal Case: Egan v. Canada (1995)

A Supreme Court case that ruled discrimination based on sexual orientation protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Factors Impacting Social Change

Elements such as law, new technologies, political changes, and societal values that influence how societies evolve.

Two Types of Formal Social Control

1. Those instituted by the state, 2) Those instituted by non-state actors.

Legal Case: R. v. Gladstone (1996)

A Supreme Court decision affirming non-treaty Aboriginal rights.

Legitimacy of Law

The belief that a rule ought to be obeyed, which enhances the effectiveness of law as a tool for social change.

Technical Social Control

Involves the systematic application of rules or technologies in managing public behaviors.

Criminal Law Amendment Act (1968-69)

Legislation that decriminalized homosexuality in Canada.

Egan v. Canada (1995)

Supreme Court case that addressed discrimination based on sexual orientation and led to protections under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Federal Human Rights Act amendment (1996)

Amendment that expanded protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation in Canada.

Vriend v. Alberta (1998)

Supreme Court case ruling that sexual orientation is a protected ground under Alberta's Individual Rights Protection Act.

M. v. H. (1999)

Supreme Court ruling that found Ontario's definition of 'spouse' discriminatory.

Civil Marriages Act (2005)

Law that legalized same-sex marriage in Canada.

Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act (2018)

Legislation that removed unjust convictions for same-sex activities in Canada.

Bill C-4 (2022)

Legislation that criminalized conversion therapy in Canada.

R. v. Drybones (1970)

Supreme Court case ruling the Indian Act violated the Canadian Bill of Rights.

Calder et al v. B.C. (AG) (1973)

Case that established the foundation for Indigenous land claims in Canada.

Lovelace v. Canada (1983)

UN Human Rights Committee found the Indian Act discriminatory based on sex.

R. v. Gladstone (1996)

Supreme Court ruling that upheld non-treaty Aboriginal rights.

Delgamuukw v. BC (1997)

Supreme Court decision defining Aboriginal title, oral history, and consultation duties.

Haida Nation v. BC (2004)

Supreme Court ruling on the government’s obligation to negotiate land disputes with Indigenous peoples.

Daniels v. Canada (2016)

Supreme Court decision recognizing Métis and non-status Indians as 'Indians' under the law.