5.5 Responses to Deviance and Crime

LO 5.5: Describe different forms of social control.

Social control is the process of enforcing people’s conformity to social norms, thereby keeping social order. Individuals and groups conform to norms for many reasons, including avoiding sanctions. Informal social sanctions are responses that show others disapprove of one’s actions or attitudes. For example, a parent might raise their voice to discourage a child from doing something that violates social norms. People usually reserve informal social sanctions for minor transgressions.

Photo 5.9

Parents and a Child Using Informal Sanctions With Each Other

Suppose the violated norm is considered more serious. In that case, formal social sanctions are imposed by those with legal-rational authority (see Chapter 3). Formal social sanctions show that the broader group disapproves of their behavior. Formal social sanctions can include arrest by the police, excommunication from a religious group, or expulsion from a school. Typically, there are rules and procedures associated with giving formal sanctions.

Sociologists use the term agents of social control to refer to those positions that have the power to define behavior as deviant and issue formal social sanctions. Agents of social control include teachers, social workers, police, and healthcare providers. They have the power to report, and punish people who violate norms or break the law.

Photo 5.10

A Police Officer Arresting Someone, Which is a Formal Social Sanction