How does society control us?

What the syllabus asks of you

• Social control: Difference between formal and informal types of social control
• Social control: Positive and negative sanctions
• Social control: Effectiveness of these in producing social conformity
• The debate between consensus and conflict views of social control: Functionalism
• The debate between consensus and conflict views of social control: Marxism
• The debate between consensus and conflict views of social control: Feminism
• The effectiveness of agencies of formal social control: Government
• The effectiveness of agencies of formal social control: Police
• The effectiveness of agencies of formal social control: Courts
• The effectiveness of agencies of formal social control: Penal system
• The effectiveness of agencies of formal social control: Armed forces
• Methods of control used by formal agencies in achieving social conformity, e.g.: Law-making
• Methods of control used by formal agencies in achieving social conformity, e.g.: Coercion
• Methods of control used by formal agencies in achieving social conformity, e.g.: Digital surveillance
• Methods of control used by formal agencies in achieving social conformity, e.g.: Arrest
• Methods of control used by formal agencies in achieving social conformity, e.g.: Sentencing
• Methods of control used by formal agencies in achieving social conformity, e.g.: Imprisonment
• The effectiveness of agencies of informal social control: Family
• The effectiveness of agencies of informal social control: Education
• The effectiveness of agencies of informal social control: Peer group
• The effectiveness of agencies of informal social control: Media
• The effectiveness of agencies of informal social control: Religion
• The effectiveness of agencies of informal social control: Workplace
• Methods of control used by informal agencies in achieving social conformity: Positive and negative sanctions, e.g.: ostracism; parental rewards; social media ‘likes’; religious rewards/sanctions; school punishments; dismissal from a job
• Resistance to social control through protest groups and sub-cultures: Reasons why some people join them
• Resistance to social control through protest groups and sub-cultures: Deviant and non-conformist behaviour
• Resistance to social control through protest groups and sub-cultures: Examples of: protest groups; online sub-cultures; youth sub-cultures; religious sub-cultures