Unit 11 social control

sociology for Bsc Nursing students

1. SOCIOLOGY UNIT : 11 SOCIAL CONTROL DIVYAGNI SONI

2. Introduction: Social control : Nature and process of social control Political, Legal, Religious, Educational, Economic, Industrial and Technological system, Norms & Values – Folkways & Mores Customs, Laws and fashion Role of Nurse

3. Social control Social control refers to the control of society over the individual. Some social control implies a system of device through which society controls the activities of individual members. Mannheim – “Social control as the sum of those methods by which a society tries to influence human behaviour to maintain a given order”. Ogburn and Nimkoff – “The patterns of pressure which a society exerts to maintain order and established rules”.

4. Nature of Social Control Social control denotes some kind of influence. It is essentially use by the society or community. It is implement for promoting the welfare of all the individuals or of the group as a whole. The social control is an old as human society. It is universal.

5. Nature of Social Control Social control denotes some kind of influence: The influence may be exercised in various ways by means of public opinion, coercion, religion, morality, ideology, leadership, law, customs, values, folkways, etc. It is essentially use by the society or community: It may reflect in some cases the influence of a few extraordinary individuals over other ordinary individual.

6. Nature of Social Control   It is implement for promoting the welfare of all the individuals or of the group as a whole. It is there to serve the general interests of all and to control the dangerous selfish interests of those who try to satisfy them. The social control is an old as of the society. In the absence of social control no society can ever hold together its members for any length of time. It is universal. Where there is society there is social control.

7. Process of Social Control: Customs create habits. Habits create customs.

8. Types of social control:

9. 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.

10. 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.

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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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.

20.  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 .

21. 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.

22. Fashion Fashion may be defined as ‘permitted range of variation around a norm ’. People want to be like their associates and friends and also want to be different from them. They help us to express our individuality without going against norms. Thus no woman want to attend a dinner party in a night dress . People want to eat fashionable foods, wear fashionable dresses, read fashionable books, enjoy fashionable amusements, etc.

23. Role of Nurse These social control are to be followed by the individuals. But no society completely succeeds in making all its members follow the social control. Some of them fail to conform to these social control. Failure of conform to the social control of society is called deviant behaviour or deviance. Social deviance disturbs life pattern of people and leads to many diseases. As a nurse should understand the patient’s deviance behaviour and treat the patient .