SOCIAL CONTROL

By
Dr.Lakshman
KEY TERMS

Customs : Are the customary ways of doing things.

Fashion : Is the change in the style of people.

Folkways : Are the recognised and accepted ways of behaviour

people

Mores : The folkways that regulate the behaviour are called mores.

Social Control : Is the process where by the deviant behaviour is

prevented and the harmony will be established.
SOCIAL CONTROL

Social control is the process whereby the deviant behaviour is

prevented and the harmony will be established in the society. It
includes social mechanism which regulates the behaviour of
individuals and groups. Any society, in order to carry on
smoothly, there must be peace and harmony.
Definitions :
"Social control" is a process by which stimuli are brought to bear
effectively upon some person or group of persons, thus producing
responses that function in adjustment. Bernard
"Social control is the patterns of pressure which society exerts to
maintain order and establish rules".. Ogburn.
Types of Social Control
1.Formal and informal social control
2.Control by sanctions and suggestions
3.Unconscious and conscious social control
4.Positive and negative control
5.Self-control and group control
1.Formal and informal social control: Formal social control is
expressed through law, rules and regulations against deviant
behaviour. It is conducted by government and police forces.
The informal social control is expressed through customs,
sanctions, norms and mores.
2.Control by sanctions and control by suggestions: Control by
sanctions a system of reward and punishment, control by
suggestions is expressed through limitation.
3.Unconscious and conscious means of social control:
Unconscious social control consists of customs, traditions and
conventions. The conscious social control consists of the techniques
developed and employed by the leaders.
4.Positive and negative control: The positive control involves the
devices like utilizing promises and rewards. Negative control is
expressed through the techniques utilized by the police as means to
control the behaviour of people.
5. Self-control and group control: In the process of self-control,
the individual himself controls his own behaviour by following the
morals and behavioural codes.
AGENCIES AND ASPECTS OF SOCIAL CONTROL :
The devices and techniques of social control are operated through
the following different agencies and aspects of social control.
1. Political institutions: State is the political authority of human
society. The code of the state maintains the general frame of social
order, supplemented by other codes. The state exercises a monopoly
of force on its citizens. The state regulates the relationships among
all the members. The state protects its members from internal
conflicts and problems and also from external forces and from their
encroachments. It controls the behaviour of individuals and
institutions and establishes law and order in the society.
Legal code : The legal code or law has an ultimate sanction of
physical enforcement in the modern society. The law is enforced by
formal social control agencies like courts, police and so on. In
modern society the law plays a very important role as an agency of
social control. The laws are enacted by the state to control the
behaviour of individuals and groups.
Education: Education or an educational institution plays a vital
role in the process of social control. In every human society
education is one of the basic activities. Education is the process
whereby the society transmits culture to its members. Koenig
asserted that the education is the process whereby the child
becomes socialized, that is, learns the rules of behaviour of his
group into which he is born. The man learns different folkways,
mores, social values, social norms which control his behaviour
through education. Education imparts useful skills to the students
and trains them in various future roles.
Economic System : Economy relates to body of practices
connected with the process of satisfying material needs of
people. Production, distribution, consumption are the three
main activities of economic system. To satisfy the material
needs, man has to acquire goods and services. People may
follow the cunning and ruthless ways of acquiring the goods
and services. The economic system controls the behaviour of
people by explaining the proper methods of acquiring goods
and services. may Economic institutions develop a system of
exchange for the proper distribution and acquisition of goods
and services.
5. Religion: Religion is pervasive and permanent institution in all
human societies. Sumner maintained that the religion, like other
institutions, is a means whereby man seeks to adjust himself to his
environment. Religion plays the role of a means of preserving the
values of life. Religion offers explanation to different events that
cannot be understood by reason alone. It is the most powerful
agency of social control. Religion differentiates between sin
activities and pious activities. Sin activities are harmful and
criminal activities. Pious activities are good and moral activities.
Religion prohibits sin activities and encourage pious activities.
Industrial and technological systems: The modern complex
society is included in it, the different industrial and technological
systems. The rapid industrialization held responsible for
urbanization. Behind the technological systems and industrial
systems there would be an institutional order. The rapid
development in technology and industries affect these institutions.
In the technologically and industrially well developed societies, the
social relationships are secondary relations. In these societies, the
secondary groups and great associations have a significant and
dominant role. The social control mechanisms are held in the hands
of secondary
Norms: Norms are the standards of a society, that regulate the
behaviour of its members. They affect all aspects of human life.
Norms are specific rules that define how people should behave in
different situations. Norms became a part of human mode of
existence. Human behaviour is guided by norms. mores include
lying, cheating, causing harm, alcohol use, drug use, marriage
beliefs, gossip, slander, jealousy.
Values : Social values are the comprehensive standards of a group
or society. Values are ideas and things considered important by the
people. According to Davis "A value is that which is considered,
which is thought worthy of being pursued regardless of whether or
not it is actually being pursued". Value helps in choosing goals in
different situations. Value is the process through which people
compare things and select the best. Value also help in constructing
the hierarchy of priorities. Johnson told us that all kinds of things
may be evaluated: feelings, ideas, actions, objects, persons, groups,
goals, means.
Folkways: W.G. Sumner is credited to coin the terms Folkways
and mores. means the ways of people. Folkways consist of the
patterns applied to everyday behaviour of the people. They are the
recognized and accepted ways of behaviour of people. Sumner
observed that "the folkways they are like the instinctive ways of
animals, which are developed out of are like products of natural
forces which men unconsciously set in operation, or experience,
which reach final form of adaptation to an interest". Folkways are
handed down by traditions to the people. Standing of students
when teacher comes to the class; conveying regards to elders,
wearing a necktie, shaking hands, eating three meals a day,
driving on the left are some of the examples of folkways.
10. Mores : As already pointed out that the word mores was
also first used by Sumner. The folkways that regulate the
behaviour are called mores. Sumner asserted that "The mores
are the popular habits and traditions, when they include a
judgement that they are conducive to social welfare, and when
they exert a coercion on the individual, to conform to them,
although they are not considered by any authority".
11. Customs: Customs are the customary ways of doing things.
They are the traditional ways of behaving of the people. MacIver
maintained that "The socially accredited ways of acting are the
customs of society". Custom is a broad term which includes all
the norms classified into folkways and mores. Customs are
practices followed by the people on the different occasions.
Customs are the accepted procedures. All the people conform to
the customs of the society unconsciously.
 Law: In the complex societies many of the mores are
formalised into laws. Sumner maintained that laws are the
codified mores. Laws are written codes of conduct. In order to
control the behaviour of the people laws are enacted and
enforced by the state. Violation of law is considered illegal and
criminal activity. These illegal activities are punished by the
courts. Law maintains fundamental order in the society. The law
also settles conflicts of interests between individuals and groups.
Law prohibits certain practices that are harmful to the society.
Courts are established as special formal organizations for the
enforcement of laws.
ROLE OF NURSE IN SOCIAL CONTROL:
Nurse has to control the behaviour of the patient and his kinsmen in
different situations as follows.
1.Nurse should control the eating behaviour of the patient. Nurse
should explain the patient about what to eat and what not to eat.
Nurse should explain the importance of nutritional values.
2.Nurse should control the behaviour of patients who are
accustomed to drinking and smoking. Their behaviour will be
controlled by explaining them the evil effects of drinking and
smoking.
3.Some patients behave rudely towards other patients and doctors.
Nurse should control such rude behaviour.
4.Nurse should show full care for dependent patient and partial
care for partially dependent patient.
5.Some patients suffer from emotions and depression. The nurse
carefully manage the situation and cleverly control the behaviour
of such patients and their relatives.
6.Some patients may oppose the change of medicine or change of
treatment. The nurse should know the cause of their opposition and
clarify their doubts and has to provide accurate information.
7.Nurse has to develop new attitudes and feelings and also develop in
the patients a sense of control.
8.Self control is also inevitable for nurses. They should regard the
patient as a case. If a nurse becomes emotionally involved with a
patient, she/he will suffer too much in sympathy with patients
suffering. The nurse should maintain the norm of emotional neutrality.
Thank you