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Sociology 3.2
Mechanisms of Social Control, Social Order and Conformity. …
Sociology 3.2
Mechanisms of Social Control, Social Order and Conformity.
Most societies use social controls to regulate human behaviour and to make sure most (if not all) individuals conform to the norms and rules of a society.
Most members of society consent to these controls because they are aware of the long-term benefits these could bring
Formal agencies of social control tend to use repressive or coercive types of control, which are expressed in written laws.
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The workplace is an important agency of social control because people get to learn specialised skills for a certain job that are essential to the smooth running of the economy
Employers can employ a number of positive sanctions such as pay raises or promotions to reward those who are performing well in the workplace.
Employers can also use negative sanctions (which are underpinned by the law) for those who perform poorly in the workplace.
Employers have the power to give employees informal and formal warnings before completely terminating their employment.
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Informal agencies are mostly made up of social groups in which relationships are close and direct, such as families and peer groups.
Social control is often maintained in these groups through informal mechanisms, such as religion, tradition, customs and mores.
David Morgan (1996) suggests that a great deal of interaction between a child and its parents, revolve around encouraging conformity.
For example, a parent may use negative sanctions to discipline a child for deviant behaviour, and positive sanctions to reward them for behaving according to the norms.
Positive sanctions may include praise, an extra show of love and affection, or material things that a child may like.
For negative sanctions, parents may show children a "withdrawal of love" or keeping them from doing or using the things that they like. Some cultures may allow or even encourage the use of physical punishment.
A study in 2013 by Sylvia Y.C.L Kwok found that 72% of Chinese children said that their parents beat them as a form of punishment. Kwok concluded that it is common for Chinese parents to physically and emotionally punish their children to solve conflicts and discipline them.
However, over 40 countries consider physical punishment as a crime.
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Another important agency of socialisation is religion. However, this can also act as a formal agency of social control in countries that intertwine religion and law (eg.- Sharia Law).
Most religions encourage conformity by promising rewards in the afterlife, spiritual rebirth, nirvana and redemption
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In countries where religion shapes the law, those who question and do not follow the teachings of the religion may be punished by the state.
Lately, surveilance has been a medium of social control. It is informal becuase a large aspect of it is internalised by individuals, however it is also formal, because surveilance is mostly used by the government.
Michel Foucault compared modern society to a type of prison named panopticon. In this prison design, it is possible for a single guard placed in the centre to easily observe a large number of prisoners, who in turn are unable to predict whether or not they are being watched. Through this, social control is maintained because prisoners internalise the possibility of being watched, and monitor their own behaviour just in case.
The same principle is evident in modern societies since governments are now implementing the use of surveillance systems, therefore, individuals, in theory, are now trying to monitor their own behaviour, just in case they might be watched.
The use of surveilance by the govenment is often a topic of debate, as some consider it a breach of privacy