Social control refers to the ways in which societies influence individuals to conform to social norms and maintain social order. There are formal and informal mechanisms of social control. Formal mechanisms include laws, the state, education, administration and religion which use coercion. Informal mechanisms are folkways, mores, the family, neighborhood and public opinion which influence individuals through social norms. Social control is necessary for orderly social life and the preservation of social structures and individual identities within society.

2. Presented by
Saira Randhawa

3. Definition
 Social control is the pattern, suggestions, persuasion, restraint
and coercion by whatever means including physical force by
which a society brings into conformity to the approved pattern
of behavior.
 Social control is the way in which entire social order coheres
and maintains itself.

4. Other Definitions
 H.C. Bearly says, "Social control is collective term for those
processes, planned and unplanned, by which individuals are
taught persuaded or compelled to conform to the usages and
life values of group."
 E.A. Ross defines "Social control as the system of devices
whereby society brings its members into conformity with the
accepted standards of behavior."
 Ogbum and Nimkoff are of the opinion that "Social control is
the pattern of pressure which society exerts to maintain order
and establish rules."

5. Nature of Social Control
Following are the main characteristics of social control.
 Social control is the control of society over individuals.
 Social control denotes some kind of influence. This influence
may be exercised in various ways by means of public opinion,
coercion, religion, leadership etc.
 The influence of social control is essentially exerted by the
society or community.

6. Nature of Social Control
 The influence of social control is exercised for promoting the
welfare of all the individuals or the group as a whole.
 Social control is as old as human society. It is an essential
condition of the human society.
 The influence of social control is universal. Where there is
society, there is social control.
 Social control is exercised through both formal and informal
agencies

7. Need of Social Control
 Social control is necessary for an orderly social life. . Without
social control the organization of the society is about to get
disturbed.
 According to Kimball Young, it is necessary “to bring about
conformity, solidarity and continuity of a particular group or
society”.
 It is possible only through social control. Society has to make
use of its mechanism to accomplish the necessary order and
discipline.

8. Need of Social Control
 Herbert Spencer has put forwarded the view that society is a
collection of group of individuals. Man lives in society
because it has a utility. Through society he is able to preserve
his identity and views.
 In order to preserve his identity and characteristics, he has to
exercise some control for which certain rules and institutions
are created. These agencies of social control are helpful for
preserving the identity of the individuals and society.

9. Mechanisms of Social Control
 Social control is the control exercised by the society over its
members. There are many people in society who always
conform to the social norms and values and they are known as
conformists. But few people who always deviate from the
existing norms and values. They are known as nonconformists
or deviants.
 Social control mechanisms are means by which society can
influence people’s behavior to conform to expectations.

10. Social Control Theory
 Social control theory was developed by Travis Hirschi in
1969. It is also known as the Social Bond Theory.
 Hirschi refers to four elements which constitute the societal
bond. These bonds include:
• Attachment -- to other individuals
• Commitment -- to following rules
• Involvement -- by typical social behaviors
• Belief -- a basic value system
 When one of these four items break down, Hirschi
hypothesizes that an individual may then participate in
criminal activities

11. Social Control Theory
 Social control theory describes internal means of
social control.
 Social control theory has become one of the more widely
accepted explanations in the field of criminology in its attempt
to account for rates in crime and deviant behavior.
 Unlike theories that seek to explain why people engage in
deviant behavior, social control theories approach deviancy
from a different direction.
 The theory seeks to explain how the normative systems of rules
and obligations in a given society serve to maintain a strong
sense of social cohesion, order and conformity to widely
accepted and established norms.

12. Techniques of Social Control
 Analyses of the forms of social control differ. A common
distinction is between repressive or coercive forms of control
so called hard techniques, including direct physical constraint
and the softer ideological forms that operate through the
shaping of ideas, values and attitudes.

13. Types or Forms of Social Control

14. Formal social control
 The formal means of social control come from institutions.
 Man is forced to accept these forms of social control
 Generally these forms are exercised by secondary groups.
 The state, law, education and those which have legitimate
power. They apply coercive measures in the case of deviance.

15. Informal social control
 These agencies of Social Control have grown according to the
needs of the society.
 Folk ways, mores, customs, social norms etc. fall under this
category of social control.
 Generally primary institutions exercise this type of social
control.

16. Agencies of Social Control
 There are following agencies of social control
Law
State
Education
Folkways
Mores
Administration
Religions
Family
Neighborhood
Public Opinion

17. Law
 Law is a powerful method of control. The state runs its
administration through the government.
 In primitive societies, the groups followed similar occupations
and individuals shared a direct and personal relation among
themselves. These folkways, mores and customs sufficed in
controlling the individual behavior. There was almost
unquestioned compliance with the formal mechanism of social
control.
 In short, law is an important formal means of Control to
regulate the individual behaviour in society

18. State
 State has a vital role in administering social control.
 State functions through the government. Modern nation-states
strive to be welfare states, i.e. they seek to provide to the
citizens a wide range of social services like education and
medical care.
 In modern societies, State has become increasingly important
as an agent of social control.

19. Education
 Education in modern times is a very powerful means of social
control. It prepares the child for social living and teaches him
the values of discipline, cooperation, tolerance and
integration.
 Educational institutions at all levels(i.e. school, college,
university, etc.) impart knowledge as well as ethics through
formal structured courses and behavioral inputs. The child
learns many things from the Education institutions, which he
cannot learn from other sources.
 It is education, which makes all efforts to discipline the mind
of the student in the school so that he can realize the
importance of social control.

20. Folkways
 Folkways are norms to which individuals conform. It is
customary to do so. Conformity to folkways is not enforced by
law or any other agency of the society.
 It is the informal acceptance of established practices in each
group or society.
 Folkways are manifested in matters of dress, food habits,
observance of rituals, forms of worship and methods of
greeting etc.

21. Mores
 ‘Mores’ represent another category of norms. Mores are
considered to be essential for group welfare.
 Mores seek to regulate the relationship between individuals in
defined situations, viz. between wife and husband, parents and
children, student and teacher, etc.
 They may also refer to general social relationships in terms of
honesty, truthfulness, hard work and discipline, etc
 The positive mores prescribe behavior patterns while the
negative mores or taboos prescribe or prohibit behavior
patterns.

22. Religion
 Religion serves as an important agency of social control.
 It is religion, which supports the folkways and modes of a
society by playing super natural sanctions behind them. It
adopts negative as well as positive means to regulate the
behavior of the individuals in society.

23. Administration
 Administration is very powerful and the most effective
instrument of social control. It forces the individual to obey
social control. The administrations punish the violators with
the help of the police, the army etc

24. Family
 Family is a very important instrument agency of social
control. Family prescribes rules and regulations that the
members have to follow. These rules and regulations form a
part of social control.
 The family socializes the child into the norms, values,
traditions and customs of the group. Thus, family has
predominant role in the shaping of the personality of the child.
Family teaches the child to conform to the norms of the
society. It exercises control over its members to bring about
the desired action.

25. Neighborhood
 Neighbourhood is a simple and specific part of a community.
It has a feeling or sentiment of local unit. There may be more
than one Neighbourhood in a community. The neighbourhood
is the first community with which the individual comes into
contact with. It exists, a deep influence on its members as an
agency of social control.

26. Public Opinion
 Public Opinion of the people is the most important method of
social control in a democratic set up. Every man tries to
escape from the criticism and condemnation by the society. He
therefore, tries to act according to public opinion and public
sentiments. In a democratic set up, public opinion is more
effective and important than any other agency.
 Newspapers, radio, television, motion pictures, legislations,
pamphlets, etc. mould public opinion.