SOCIAL CONTROL

Dr Shiwani Gurung
PG Tutor
Department of Community
Medicine
MEANING
• Social harmony - Survival and smooth functioning of society
• Solidarity - Unity
• Order - Not automatic, needs to be achieved.
DEFINITION
• Social control is the sum of those methods by which a society tries to influence human
behaviour to maintain a given order.”

-Manheim

• Social control refers to the system of devices whereby society brings its members into
conformity with the accepted standards of behaviour.”

-E.A. Ross
PURPOSE
To bring about:

• Social conformity (compliance)

• Solidarity (unity)

• To assure continuity of social groups and society

TYPES OF SOCIAL CONTROL

FORMAL CONTROL INFORMAL CONTROL

 FORMAL
• Deliberately created

• Specific

• Necessity of following is stated by associations and institutions

• Officials vested with power to exert control

Eg- laws, military, police force, institutions like banks etc

Agencies of formal social control
1. Control by Law.
2. Control by Education.
3. Control by Public opinion.
4. Control by Propaganda.
5. Control by Coercion.
1. Control by Law -

Laws is an authoritative canon of value laid down by the force of politically organised

society.” - Roscoe Pound

• Most powerful formal means of social control in modern society.

• Requires enforcing agencies- police, court, armed forces.

The main characteristics of law are-

• It is the product of conscious thought, deliberate attempts & careful planning.

• Law is definite, clear & precise.
• Law applies equally to all in identical situations.
• Laws are not the result of voluntary consent of person against whom they are directed
• General condition of human activity are prescribed by the states for its members.
Example-
1. Pre-conceptional and pre-natal diagnostic techniques Act 1994
• To prohibit prenatal diagnostic techniques for determination of the sex of the fetus
leading to female foeticide
2. Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971
3. Mental Healthcare Act 2017

• To protect, promote and fulfil the rights of mentally ill persons during delivery of mental
healthcare and services.
2.Control by Education -

The sum total of experiences which moulds the attitudes and determines the conduct of both
the child and the adult.”

- Durkhiem

• Transmits not only way of life but also knowledge (both theoretical and practical)

• Learn penalties of violating social norms.

• To develop intellect and ability to differentiate truth from error.

Example-
• Teaching of healthy habits in school.

• Right and wrong behaviour.

• Punctuality, cleanliness etc.

3.Control by Public opinion -

• “ Public opinion consists of the opinion held by a public at a certain time.”

- K. Young

• Of utmost importance in democratic society- the knowledge of needs, ideas, beliefs and
values of people can be ascertained.

• Agencies- press, radio, movies, legislature

Example
• Before becoming laws, there is a long process of a public opinion→ issue brought to notice of law-
makers→ bill → law.

1st bill 1989→ inadequate → need was recognised→ an advisory group created (NACO) →
representation from civil society, PLWHA, and the government→ consulted PLWHA, marginalized
groups, healthcare workers, women and children’s groups, state governments, NGOs, and lawyers→
bill→ Act.

• NACO- National Aids Control Organisation.

• PLWHA- People living with HIV/AIDS.

4. Control by Propaganda-

“Propaganda is an organised or systematic attempt made by a person or a group to

influence public opinion and attitude in any sphere.”

- Akolkar

• Can affect people’s ideas, behaviour and attitudes.

• Positive as well as negative impact, democratic as well as dictatorial.

Example -
• One child policy in China (lasted till 2015)
• Anti-tobacco policies
5.Control by coercion -

• Use of physical force

• Limit range of choice

Example -

• 1970s India- Forced sterilisation campaigns.

Informal social control
• Not purposefully created.

• Origins are not certain.

• Arise in their own way and gain popularity over time.

• No specific punishment but tends to be more effective than formal control

• No special personnel required to enforce.

• It works in simple settings like family, neighbourhood etc but not in larger complex
settings.

Eg- gossip, slander, folkways, mores, customs.

Agencies of informal social control
1. Control By Folkways & Mores.

2. Control by Religion.

3. Control by Morality.

4. Control by Sanctions.

5. Control by Miscellaneous Norms.

1.Control by Customs
• The socially accredited ways of acting are the customs of society.”

- Maclver and Page

• Most of our daily lives are regulated by customs.

• Conformed to almost unconsciously

2.Control by folkways and mores.

• Folkways- the ways of people. “The repetitive petty acts of the people.” Does not need
special agencies to enforce it. Not as obligatory as laws or morals.

• Mores / morals- “When folkways become regulators of behaviour it becomes mores.”

Essential for group welfare.

• Taboos associated with menstruation.

3.Control by Religion and morality
• One of the most effective method of informal control in both, primitive and modern
societies.

Religion- “Implies a relationship not merely between man and man but also between man
and some higher power.”

-Maclver

Morality- “That body of rules and principles concerned with good and evil as manifested to
us by conscience.”

• Both act as guide of human behaviour.

Morality- “That body of rules and principles concerned with good and evil as manifested to
us by conscience.”

• Both act as guide of human behaviour.

Example -

• Some religions prohibit family planning

• Some prohibit consumption of alcohol

4.Control by sanctions-
• The rewards or punishments used to establish social control, that is, to enforce the norms
in a society.”

• To bring about conformity.

• Positive- praise, flattery, suggestion, persuasion, medals, slogans etc.

• Negative- gossip, slander, satire, name-calling, censorship or some other overt action
(fines, ostracism, use of physical violence).
5.Other mechanisms of social control-
• Fashion / fads

• Rites, rituals, ceremonies and etiquettes:

• Ceremonies- Birth of babies, death- confers public recognition to these events.

• Rites are also ceremonies.

• Rituals are ceremonies characterised with repetitions.

• Etiquettes- code of precise procedures.