Social Control Theory

(noun)

Social control theory proposes that people's relationships, commitments, values, norms, and beliefs encourage them not to break the law. Thus, if moral codes are internalized and individuals are tied into, and have a stake in their wider community, they will voluntarily limit their propensity to commit deviant acts.

Related Terms

Examples of Social Control Theory in the following topics:

  • Social Control Theory

    • Social control theory argues that relationships, commitments, values, and beliefs encourage conformity.
    • Social control theory describes internal means of social control.
    • Social control theory seeks to understand how to reduce deviance.
    • Ultimately, social control theory is Hobbesian; it presupposes that all choices are constrained by social relations and contracts between parties.
    • Like Hobbes, adherents to social control theory suggest that morality is created within a social order by assigning costs and consequences to certain actions that are marked as evil, wrong, illegal, or deviant.

  • Social Control

    • The conflict theory perspective towards education focuses on the role school systems may play in implementing social control.
    • Conflict theory assumes that the ideas held by a society are the ideas of the ruling class.
    • Schools can further goals of social control by socializing students into behaving in socially acceptable ways .
    • Social control may also be enforced using formal sanctions.
    • Schools can further goals of social control by socializing students into behaving in socially acceptable ways.

  • Control Theory

    • Control theory explains that societal institutions without strong control of society can result in deviant behavior.
    • Control theory advances the proposition that weak bonds between the individual and society allow people to deviate.
    • These social bonds have four elements: opportunity, attachment, belief, and involvement.
    • Control Theory in sociology can either be classified as centralized, decentralized, or mixed.
    • Moreover, control theory is met with some resistance for its compliance to a conservative view of the broader social order.

  • Conflict

    • Social conflict is the struggle for agency or power within a society to gain control of scarce resources.
    • During war, one army tries to gain control over available resources in order to prevent the opposing army from gaining control.
    • Thus, the theory sees conflict as a normal part of social life, rather than an abnormal occurrence.
    • The three tenets of conflict theory are as follows:
    • The idea that those who have control will maintain control is called the Matthew Effect.

  • The Conflict Perspective on Deviance

    • Conflict theories emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system.
    • In sociology, conflict theories are perspectives that emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism.
    • Karl Marx is the father of the social conflict theory, which is a component of the four paradigms of sociology.
    • In conflict theory, deviant behaviors are actions that do not comply with social institutions.
    • Conflict theory is based upon the view that the fundamental causes of crime are the social and economic forces operating within society.

  • The Role of Socialization

    • Socialization prepares people for social life by teaching them a group's shared norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors.
    • The role of socialization is to acquaint individuals with the norms of a given social group or society.  
    • Socialization is also important for adults who join new social groups.
    • In his 1995 paper, "Broad and Narrow Socialization: The Family in the Context of a Cultural Theory," sociologist Jeffrey J.
    • First, socialization teaches impulse control and helps individuals develop a conscience.

  • Sources of Social Change

    • Social movement theories seek to explain how social movements form and develop.
    • A variety of theories have attempted to explain how social movements develop.
    • This particular section will thus pay attention to structural-strain theory and culture theory, while mass-society theory and political process theory will be discussed in greater detail later in "International Sources of Social Change" and "External Sources of Social Change," respectively.
    • Lack of social control: the entity to be changed must be at least somewhat open to the change; if the social movement is quickly and powerfully repressed, it may never materialize
    • This theory is subject to circular reasoning since it claims that social/structural strain is the underlying motivation of social movement activism, even though social movement activism is often the only indication that there was strain or deprivation.

  • Informal Social Control

    • An example of affect control theory in practice is how people behave at funerals.
    • Sociologists identify two basic forms of social control - informal control and formal control.
    • Formal social control typically involves the state.
    • Informal social control has the potential to have a greater impact on an individual than formal control.
    • This is example of a social situation controlling an individual's emotions.

  • Social Movement Theories

    • A variety of theories have attempted to explain how social movements develop.
    • Mass-Society Theory argues that social movements are made up of individuals in large societies who feel insignificant or socially detached.
    • lack of social control - the entity that is to be changed must be at least somewhat open to the change; if the social movement is quickly and powerfully repressed, it may never materialize
    • This theory is also subject to circular reasoning as it incorporates, at least in part, deprivation theory and relies upon it, and social/structural strain for the underlying motivation of social movement activism.
    • Resource-Mobilization Theory emphasizes the importance of resources in social movement development and success.

  • Weber's View of Stratification

    • Max Weber formed a three-component theory of stratification in which social difference is determined by class, status, and power.
    • According to Weberian theory, a member of the United States Congress is an example of someone who is high in the social hierarchy due to status and power, although they have relatively low economic status.
    • Classic sociologist Max Weber was strongly influenced by Marx's ideas, but rejected the possibility of effective communism, arguing that it would require an even greater level of detrimental social control and bureaucratization than capitalist society.
    • Working half a century later than Marx, Weber derived many of his key concepts on social stratification by examining the social structure of Germany.
    • Weber noted that managers of corporations or industries control firms they do not own; Marx would have placed such a person in the proletariat.