Ac 2.1 Flashcards
(23 cards)
What is social control?
Influences behaviour
Societal rules and values
Persuading, compelling people to conform to society’s norms, laws and expectations
For society to function smoothly people need to behave how others expect them too
What’s internal social control?
Controls over our behaviour from within ourselves - factors within an individual
Personalities, values, conscious, guilt etc
Knowing something is wrong
Link to Freud and superego
What is external social control?
Control over our behaviour through social agencies
Education, family etc
Outside influences that make us follow the rules and not commit crime
What are three internal forms of social control?
Moral conscience or superego
Tradition and culture
Internalisation of social rules and morality
Who suggested the idea of superego?
Freud
What is the role of the superego?
Moral conscience
Helps with right and wrong
wants to do the right thing
Moral compass
Guilt
The superego is a part of our what?
Personality
When and how does the superego develop?
Around age 5
Parental influence- internalise same values
School helps
If ego and superego didn’t exist what would our behaviour be like?
Selfish aggressive impulsive
Tradition and culture:
What is socialisation?
Learning from environment around you
Norms and what’s socially acceptable
The lifelong process though which individuals learn and internalise the norms, values, behaviours and roles of society
The culture to which we belong becomes part of us through socialisation
What rules do we internalise?
Family rules:
Curfew, politeness, manners
Cultural
Parents values:
Respect, honesty
Traditions:
Diwali, praying, holidays
Because of this society’s rules and moral code become our own personal rules and moral code, therefore we come to conform willingly to social norms
What is rational ideology?
Conscience guides us to follow laws and rules, feelings of guilt and anxiety lead them to follow rules
What are agencies of social control and what do they do?
Peers, family, school
Reward those who conform
Punish those who don’t conform
These agencies can give both positive and negative reinforcement to help impose social control, what learning theory does this echo?
Skinners operant conditioning
The CJS contains several agencies of social control, what are these?
The police- have powers of arrest and enforce law, PACE 1984
The CPS- charge people, full code test
Judges and magistrates- sentencing
The prison service- make sure inmates abide by the rules, control every move
What are the positive sanctions that the CJS has?
Assisting the prosecution can earn you a reduced sentence
Good behaviour in prison can earn you early release or more freedom
How is sending someone to prison a form of coercion?
Loss of freedom
Deter
Rehabilitation
How does fear of punishment link to deterrence and the theory of right realism?
Threat that force will be used against you if you do not obey the law
Cost benefit analysis- if severity of punishment is increased it will deter people
Less likely to commit crime if they fear consequences
What is the control theory?
Travis hirschi
‘People conform because they are controlled by their bonds to society, which keep them from deviating’
‘Delinquent acts occur when an individuals bond to society is weak or broken’
What are the different bonds to society that may cause people to deviate?
Commitment- what have they got to lose?, good job, status
Involvement- how involved are they within society?, work, hobbies, volunteering
Attachment- how much do they care what others think? Spouse, children, friends
Beliefs- how far do they believe obeying the law is right? Personal moral code
How does parenting relate to social control and the control theory?
Many control theorists emphasise the role of parenting in creating bonds that prevent young people from offending.
Riley and shaw argue that parents should:
Involve themselves in teenagers lives and spend more time with them
Take interest in what they do at school and how they spend time with friends
Show strong disapproval of criminal behaviour and explain the consequences of offending
What is Walter recklesses theory on parenting and social control?
Parenting and socialisation = important
We have psychological criminal tendencies that can lead to criminality but upbringing can provide internal containment by building self control to resist the temptation to reoffend
Internal forces can stem from religious beliefs or a personal sense of right an wrong
Also external controls can provide external containment
External forces can come from family members, teachers or others who influence the individual to some degree
How does the control theory explain womens low rate of offending?
Heidensohn= argues society is patriarchal and controls females more closely which then makes it harder for them to offend, women spend more time engaging in domestic duties giving them less opportunity to engage in crime outside the home.
Carlen= females who offend had often failed to form an attachment to parents because they had suffered abuse in the family or had been brought up in care
