Social Control

• Informal social control


  The way in which individuals are controlled by peers, family and friends through acceptance or rejection, such as criticism for their behaviour
• Formal social control


  The control of individuals' behaviour through formal organisations whose purpose it is to ensure that individuals abide by the laws, rules and regulations of the land, namely the criminal justice system (CJS)
• Rewards and sanctions for behaviour

  • Rewards are offered for behaviour that is desirable or admirable
  • Sanctions are punishments for behaviour that is seen as undesirable or breaches the rules, regulations or values of a social institution
• Agencies of socialisation


  Social institutions, such as the family and education, that act to ensure that individuals fit in with society and minimise deviant behaviour through the use of rewards and sanctions
• Formal agencies of control


  • Parliament
  • Police
  • Crown Prosecution Service
  • Courts (including youth courts, magistrates courts, crown courts)
  • Home Office
  • Ministry of Justice
• Parliament


  Elected officials in the House of Commons that draft, discuss and pass bills into law that impact on the population<|>House of Lords discusses these bills and approves them or rejects them before they pass into law
• Police


  Uphold and enforce the law, acting as a deterrent to those that consider breaking the law and addressing those that do
• Crown Prosecution Service


  Decide on whether or not individual acts will be prosecuted and taken to court
• Courts


  Youth courts focus on the sentencing of young offenders (usually between the ages of 10 and 17)<|>Magistrates Courts focus on lesser offences, such as vandalism, driving offences and petty theft<|>Crown Courts focus on serious offences, such as violent attacks, high value theft and murder
• Home Office


  Responsible for immigration, national security and law and order. This governmental department has responsibility for funding and deciding priorities of police and organisations such as the security services
• Ministry of Justice


  Controls the courts, prisons and constitutional law
• Functionalism


  Suggests that social control is necessary for society to function effectively
• Marxism


  Suggests that as society is fundamentally unequal, one group will use their power to control the other (the ruling class controlling the working class)
• Feminism


  Suggests that the patriarchal nature of society leads to men controlling women in different spheres of life