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Social Control
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Introduction
The system or the organisation by which social relations or behaviour is controlled is called
Social control.
The concept of Social Control was originally given by E A Ross who defines it as the system
of devices whereby society brings its members into conformity with the accepted standards of
behaviour.
Basic Premise
 Some of man’s tendencies are beneficial to the society while others are detrimental to
its interest. Social Control is the control of society over the individual.
 Concept – Conformity and Deviance
Two levels of Control
1. Self Control
2. Social Control
Definitions
1. Horton and Hunt – the term social control describes all the means and processes
whereby a group or a society secures its members conformity to its expectations.
2. Roberts – the techniques and strategies for regulating human behaviour in society.
3. MacIver – Social control is the way in which the entire social order coheres and
maintains itself how it operates as a whole, as a changing equilibrium.
4. Roucek – Social control is a collective term for those processes, planned or
unplanned, by which individuals are taught, persuaded or compelled to conform to the
usages and life values of groups.
Characteristics of Social Control
1. It is as old as human society.
2. It is Universal
3. It is an influence.
4. The influence is exercised by the society. [It means that the group is able to exercise
influence over the individual better than a single individual].
5. The influence is exercised for promoting the welfare of the group as a whole.
Three Objectives of Social Control [Kingsley Davis]
Social control aims to bring about
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Conformity
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Social Solidarity and
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Continuity of a particular group or society.
Forms of Social Control
1. E A Ross – Formal and Informal
2. C H Cooley – Conscious and Unconscious
3. Karl Manheim – Direct and Indirect
4. Kimball Young – Positive and Negative [rewards and punishment]
5. R T Lapiere – Authoritarian and Democratic
6. Horton and Hunt – Planned and Unplanned
Difference between Informal Control and Formal Control
Informal Control
Formal Control
Operates mainly in Primary Groups and Operates mainly in secondary groups and
simple societies
mass society
Spontaneous growth
Consciously created
Mostly Unwritten
Written and codified
More powerful
Less powerful
Punishment by the society or the group Punishment by the state or the institution
concerned
concerned
Important means – folkways, customs, Important means – law and state
mores, morality, religions, public opinion,
leadership, etc
Administration is impersonal
Administration is personal
Agencies of Social Control
1. Law – Law is the ‘body of rules made by the government by the society, interpreted
by courts and backed by the power of the state’.
Law is the most specialised and highly furnished engine of social control employed
by the society.
2. Customs – They are social habits and through repetition become the basis of an order
to social behaviour.
Variations of Customs:
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 Folkways – certain minor customs among primitives.
 Etiquette – certain customs in the ‘polite society’
 Manners – customs that are supposed to be based on the consideration of
others in the smaller affairs of social life.
 Conventions – it emphasise a common agreement about a custom.
 Morals – customs, the departure from which is of great concern to the group.
 Traditions – they are customs of very long standing.

Honesty is a generalized value but it is still found socially necessary to have
specific rules for concrete situations such as student’s behaviour in examinations.

Many acts which may not be proved on rational principles may be sufficiently
justified on psychological or social grounds – acts like a man saluting the flag of
his country or a child touching the feet of his parents.
3. Religion
4. Family
5. Ceremonies – impress the importance of an occasion and makes one realise the
importance of social duties and responsibilities.
6. Beliefs – Statement of what a person regards as true / factual.
Three stages – 1. Cognitive stage [Knowledge] 2. Affective Stage [Capable of arousing
affects in some situation] and 3. Behavioural Stage.
7. Social suggestions
8. Education
9. Social Ideals [US – liberty; France – Equality; India- Dharma?]
10. Public Opinion
It is a very powerful weapon in democracies when even the most powerful
governments are checked from the temptation of doing anything wrong in order to
keep public opinion in their favour.
11. Leadership
12. Art – Painting, sculpture, architecture, music and dance
Importance of Cinema
13. Literature – poetry, drama and fiction
14. Propaganda – mass media
For ex. Health Dept reg. Pulse Polio
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In a democratic country, propaganda is used to influence public and enforce code of
conduct. But totalitarian states used it to manipulate public opinion and suppress public
movements.
15. Coercion
Two types –
Negative –Bodily harm, imprisonment and death penalty
Positive – strike, boycott and non-cooperation.
State as an Agency of Social Control
State acts as an agency of Social Control through the following functions:
1. Protection
2. Restrain – If someone goes illegal, the State leaves its function of protection and
switches over to restrain.
3. Accommodation [Society of peace and justice] and
4. Amelioration [Doing good to the people]
Theories of Social Control by State
1. Utilitarian Theory – Maximum happiness of maximum number of people
2. Individualistic Theory – State is responsible for the development of the individual
members in the society.
3. Idealistic Theory – least interference by the state
4. Socialistic Theory – State should control almost all the aspects of human life but in
the interest of the people.
Things to ponder
 Too much of social control can be counter-productive. Ex. Emergency.
 Retributive Justice, Restitutive Justice and Distributive Justice.
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