An agent of social control is an individual or group that attempts to limit or regulate another person or group’s behavior, ensuring conformity to the dominant values and norms in that society.Agencies like the family can be informal and exercise control through customs and norms. Alternatively, agencies, such as the police, exercise formal control through laws or other official regulations.Each type of agent has its unique methods and goals for controlling behavior, such as negative sanctions, which punish those who transgress the rules of society, and positive policies, which seek to persuade or encourage voluntary compliance with society”s standards.Agents of social control justify why people conform to societal norms and expectations.
An agent of social control is an individual or group that attempts to limit or regulate another person or group’s behavior, ensuring conformity to the dominant values and norms in that society.
Agencies like the family can be informal and exercise control through customs and norms. Alternatively, agencies, such as the police, exercise formal control through laws or other official regulations.
Each type of agent has its unique methods and goals for controlling behavior, such as negative sanctions, which punish those who transgress the rules of society, and positive policies, which seek to persuade or encourage voluntary compliance with society”s standards.
Agents of social control justify why people conform to societal norms and expectations.
Social media acts as an agent of social control by promoting adherence to social norms. Features like public sharing and visibility of interactions provide increased accountability. The desire for validation through likes and comments incentivizes fitting in with mainstream values. Algorithms surface popular, advertiser-friendly content, marginalizing fringe ideas. This manufactures consensus, pressuring users to conform in order to gain and maintain status.
What is Social Control?
Social Control Agencies
We usually refer to the people responsible for social control as agents. By extension, we can also talk about agencies of social control (such as our family, the education system, the media, and so forth).
Numerous social control agencies exist, ranging from the police to family, religion, and schools.
Family
The family is an informal agent of social control.Primary socializationbegins at home, and parents are the first teachers. They instill in their children the values and beliefs of their culture, behaviors, conventions, and ways of living.
As children grow older, they internalize these values and influence practically any action they take. The family is also a source of support, which can help people resist negative peer pressure.
Parents, for instance, are agents of social control for their children. They use a mix of rewards and punishments to shape their child”s behavior. Positive sanctions include anything from verbal praise to material rewards, like a toy or allowance. Negative sanctions may include scolding, verbal criticism, or withholding privileges.
Parents can verbally influence individuals directly through suggestion, persuasion, praise, blame, ridicule, and criticism (Matsueda & Heimer, 1987).
Educational Institutions
In schools, children learn not only academic skills but also social skills and the values of their culture. Schools teach children how to behave in society and follow rules. They also instill in children a sense of loyalty to their country and its institutions.
In this way, schools prepare children to become productive citizens who contribute to the stability and prosperity of their society.
Schools use several methods to socialize students. For instance, they may have dress codes or rules about hair length that require students to conform to certain appearance standards. Schools also use rewards and punishments to shape student behavior.
Good grades, for instance, are often rewarded with praise from teachers and parents, while poor grades may result in criticism or even expulsion from school.
In this way, schools mold children into responsible, productive members of society as they learn the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior (Chriss, 2022; Innes, 2003).
Police
The police play an important role in enforcing social norms. For instance, they may patrol areas where there is a high rate of crime to deter people from committing crimes.
They may also respond to reports of crimes that have been committed. By doing this, the police send a message that crime will not be tolerated and that those who break the law will be punished. The police may even use force to stop people from breaking the law or causing harm to others.
There are different types of policing, including community policing, problem-oriented policing, and Broken Windows policing. Community policing involves working with members of the community to prevent crime.
Problem-oriented policing involves addressing the root causes of crime.Broken Windows policingis a strategy that focuses on cracking down on minor offenses to discourage more serious crimes from taking place (Chriss, 2022).
Religion
Religious leaders often serve as moral guides, teaching their followers the values and beliefs of their faith. This can influence the way people behave, both in private and in public.
The Ten Commandments are perhaps the most famous set of such moral guidelines to originate from the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Religion can also be used to justify other agents of social control. For example, many religions teach that it is important to obey the government or one’s parents.
This helps to legitimize government and family authority and maintain social order. In this way, religion can be used to support existing power structures and prevent social change (Stark & Bainbridge, 2013).
Government
Laws are enacted to influence or regulate behavior, and law enforcement officials work to ensure that these laws are followed.
The government both encourages and discourages specific behaviors through its actions and policies.
Indirectly, it uses speeches to communicate social values. It also can directly rehabilitate criminals or administer punishment. In addition, the government regulates welfare programs as a way to prevent crime and ensure that people obey society’s rules.
By issuing punishments for breaking these rules, the government is better able to keep people in line with what is considered socially acceptable behavior.
The government may also use more coercive methods of social control, such as surveillance, censorship, and punishments like imprisonment or execution.
By using these extreme measures, the government sends a message that such behavior will not be tolerated and serves as a deterrent to potential criminals (Innes, 2003; Chriss, 2022).
Peer Group
A peer group is a social group consisting of people who are of approximately the same age, have similar status, and share similar interests.
For example, a peer group may pressure its members to drink alcohol or use drugs. Those who refuse to go along with the group’s activities may be ridiculed or excluded from the group. In this way, peer groups can influence their members to engage in behaviors that they would not otherwise consider.
While peer groups can have a negative impact on behavior, they can also promote positive socialization. For instance, peer groups can teach cooperation and respect for others. They can also provide support during difficult times, such as when a member is experiencing grief or bullying (Grizard et al., 2006).
Neighborhood / Community
In this way, they help to make their neighborhoods safer and more orderly places to live. This can reduce criminality because people who feel connected to their community are less likely to want to engage in activities that would harm it.
Additionally, the local neighborhood can reinforce or strengthen the individual family as an agency of social control. The neighborhood, in many tight-knit communities, comes only after the family in social importance.
The older members of the neighborhood or locality, when they are of high enough status and have close enough interpersonal relationships, keep group customs and norms alive and enforce them in the neighborhood (Innes, 2003).
Mass Media
Through television, movies, radio, and the internet, the media communicates messages about what is considered socially acceptable behavior.
The media can also be used to discourage certain behaviors. For example, anti-drug campaigns may use the media to educate people about the dangers of drug use. These campaigns often feature negative consequences, such as addiction or death, in order to dissuade people from using drugs.
Workplace
Employers expect their employees to behave in a certain way and conform to certain standards. For instance, employers typically expect employees to show up on time, dress appropriately, and refrain from using offensive language.
Those who do not receive negative sanctions: they may be disciplined or even suspended or fired.
Additionally, the workplace can serve as a place of positive socialization.
For instance, workplaces can provide training on how to handle difficult customer service situations. They can also teach teamwork and communication skills. By teaching these things, workplaces can help to prepare employees for success in their careers.
Other methods of encouraging positive behavior can include bonuses and verbal phrases (Van Maanen & Barley, 1982).
Abercrombie and Warde et al. (2000) identified four types of ways in which the workforce is controlled: Besides direct control, these include:
References
Chriss, J. J. (2022).Social control: An introduction.John Wiley & Sons.
Durkheim, E. (1951).Sociologie et philosophie.
Grizard, A., Vercouter, L., Stratulat, T., & Muller, G. (2006, August).A peer-to-peer normative system to achieve social order.In International Workshop on Coordination, Organizations, Institutions, and Norms in Agent Systems(pp. 274-289). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Innes, M. (2003).Understanding social control. McGraw-Hill Education.
Matsueda, R. L., & Heimer, K. (1987).Race, family structure, and delinquency: A test of differential association and social control theories.American Sociological Review, 826-840.
Stark, R., & Bainbridge, W. S. (2013).Religion, deviance, and social control. Routledge.
Van Maanen, J., & Barley, S. R. (1982).Occupational communities: Culture and control in organizations.ALFRED P SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT CAMBRIDGE MA.
Saul McLeod, PhD
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
Charlotte NickersonResearch Assistant at Harvard UniversityUndergraduate at Harvard UniversityCharlotte Nickerson is a student at Harvard University obsessed with the intersection of mental health, productivity, and design.
Charlotte NickersonResearch Assistant at Harvard UniversityUndergraduate at Harvard University
Charlotte Nickerson
Research Assistant at Harvard University
Undergraduate at Harvard University
Charlotte Nickerson is a student at Harvard University obsessed with the intersection of mental health, productivity, and design.
