MODULE IV: LAW AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL
1.SOCIAL CONTROL: MEANING. NATURE AND FUNCTIONS.
2. INFORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL- FOLKWAYS, CUSTOM, AND MORES.
3. INFORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL NORMS, VALUES, BELIEF, RELIGION
AND PUBLIC OPINION
4. FORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL – EDUCATION, LAW, COERCION
1.SOCIAL CONTROL: MEANING ,NATURE
FUNCTIONS……
1. It forces persons to get obeyed social
decisions.
2. It maintains the equilibrium and stability in
the society.
3. It helps in choosing behavior and fulfilling
one’s desire for social status.
4. It helps in proper socialization of the
individual.
5. It helps in performing social roles
6. It helps in mitigating tensions and conflict
among members.
7. It breeds conformity in society.
TYPES OF SOCIAL CONTROL
1. INFORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL-
FOLKWAYS, CUSTOM, AND MORES.
The informal means of social control grow themselves in
society. No special agency is required to create them.
It is exercised through customs, traditions, folkways,
mores, religion, ridicule etc. Informal control prevails
over all the aspects of man’s life
Thus informal means like praise, ridicule, boycott etc.
effectively control his behavior. Moreover, the child
through the process of socialization learns to conform to
the norms of the group.
Folkways, Custom, and Mores.
Term coined (along with ethnocentrism and mores)
by William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) in Folkways: A
Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners,
Customs, Mores, and Morals (1906).
•Folkways are social standards, not
moral standards (mores) and the repercussions for
breaking a folkway are minimal or nonexistent; if they are
enforced, the sanctions are typically to be informal and
lenient.
• A custom is defined as a cultural idea that describes a
regular, patterned behavior that is considered
characteristic of life in a social system.
•
INFORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL NORMS, VALUES,
BELIEF SYSTEM…
• Norms are ways of behaving that are considered normal in a particular
society. ... If you say that a situation is the norm, you mean that it is usual
and expected. They are most commonly defined as rules or expectations
that are socially enforced. Norms may be prescriptive (encouraging
positive behavior; for example, “be honest”) or proscriptive (discouraging
negative behavior; for example, “do not cheat”).
• E.g. Footwear in Hinduism
• - Hindus do not wear footwear inside homes, temples, and other holy
places because they consider the feet to be the lowest, most impure
part of the body.
• -They consider feet and shoes to be the farthest from the heavens, and
in constant contact with the dirt of the earth.
• Values are the motive behind purposeful action.
They are the ends to which we act and come in
many forms. Personal values are personal beliefs
about right and wrong and may or may not be
considered moral.
Cultural values are values accepted by religions
or societies and reflect what is important in each
context.
RELIGION AND PUBLIC OPINION…
• Religion is an attitude towards superhuman powers. It is a
belief in powers superior to man. It expresses itself in
several forms like superstition, animism, totemism, magic,
ritualism and fetishism.
• Public opinion greatly influences our actions. For fear of
public ridicule and criticism we do not indulge in immoral or
anti-social activities.
2. FORMAL MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL –
• This type of social control is exercised by
known and deliberate agencies of social
control, such as law, punishment, army,
Constitution etc.
• Man is forced to accept these forms of social
control. Generally these forms are exercised
by secondary groups.
HISTORICALLY………..
• Social control developed together with civilization, as
a rational measure against the uncontrollable forces
of nature which tribal organizations were at prey to
within archaic tribal societies.
• Criminal persecutions first emerged around sixth
century B.C. as a form of formal social control
in Athens, Greece. The purpose of these
persecutions were to check certain groups and
protect them from malicious interests.
EDUCATION, LAW, COERCION….
• Law is a body of rules enacted by legally authorised bodies
and enforced by authorized agencies.
• Education is a process of socialization. It prepares the child
for social living. It reforms the attitudes wrongly formed by
the children already.
• Coercion is the use of force to achieve a desired end. It may
be physical or non-violent. It is the ultimate means of social
control when all other means fail.
• Social control is thus study of the mechanisms, in the form of patterns of
pressure, through which society maintains social order and cohesion. These
mechanisms establish and enforce a standard of behavior for members of a
society and include a variety of components, such as shame, coercion, force,
restraint, and persuasion. Social control is exercised through individuals and
institutions, ranging from the family, to peers, and to organizations such as the
state, religious organizations, schools, and the workplace. Regardless of its
source, the goal of social control is to maintain conformity to established norms
and rules
