AC2.1- explain forms of social control

Internal social control

Controls over our behaviour that come from within ourselves – from our personalities and our values. Also known as self-control.

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External social control

Control over people exacted by society and societal agents of social control

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Internal- super ego

According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, we conform to society’s expectations and obey its rules because our superego tells us to. Along with the id and the ego, the superego forms part of our personality. Our superego tells us what is right and wrong

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internal- Tradition and culture

· The culture to which we belong also becomes a part of us through socialisation

· We come to accept its norms, values and traditions as part of our identity

· For example, believers follow the religious traditions that they have been raised in, such as

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Internal- internalisation of social rules and morality

Our superego and the traditions we follow become part of our inner-self or personality

Yet, both of them start as things outside of us, either our parents’ rules and values in the case of the superego, or as those of our culture or social group in the c

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socialisation

In both cases, we internalise these

rules through the process of

socialisation

· This can be from parents or wider

social groups and institutions such

as school, religion and peer groups

· Society’s rules and moral codes

become our own personal rul

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rational ideology

This is a term that has been used to describe the fact that we internalise social rules and use them to tell us what is right and wrong ·

This enables us to keep within the law

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External- Coercion

Coercion involves the use of threat of force in order to make someone do (or stop doing) something

· Force may involve physical or psychological violence, or other forms of pressure

· The negative sanctions in the table above are examples of coercion

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external- fear of punishment

This is one way of trying to achieve social control and make people conform to laws

· In effect, fear of punishment is a form of coercion, because it involves the threat of force being used against you if you do not obey the law

· For example, if you co

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the control theory

Most criminological theories ask why people commit crime, control theorists start from the opposite question: why do people obey the law?

· Hirschi, a control theorist, suggests that people conform because they are controlled by their bonds to society, w

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4 elements of individuals bond

attachment, commitment, involvement, beliefs

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Gotfredson and Hirshi

They argued that low self-

control is a major cause of

delinquency

They said that this results

from poor socialisation and

inconsistent or absent

parental discipline

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Riley and Shaw

Found that lack of parental supervision was an important factor in delinquency. They argue that parents should: · Involve themselves in their teenagers’ lives and spend time with them · Take an interest in what they do in school and how they spend time wi

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Walter Reckless

Suggests that we have psychological tendencies that can lead to criminality Effective socialisation can provide “internal containment” by building self-control to resist the temptation to offend External controls like parental discipline can provide “exte

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Frances Heidensohn

Patriarchal (male dominated) society

controls females more closely, making it

harder for them to offend

For example, women spend more time on

domestic duties, leaving less opportunity to

engage in criminal activity outside the

home

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Pat Carlen

Found that females who offend had often not been able to form an attachment to parents because they had suffered abuse in the family or been brought up in care

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AC2.1- explain forms of social control

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