ac2.1

Question 1

what is social control?

Answer 1

• way of getting people to behave and have a smooth functioning society: behaviour links to how we expect people to behave.
• involves getting people to conform to norma, laws and expectations of society.
• 2 main forms of social control internal and external.

Question 2

what are internal forms of social control?

Answer 2

• these controls come from within ourselves.
• forms our personalities or values.
• all add up to help us conform to society and groups we belong to: we feel inwardly its the right thing to do.

Question 3

what is ego, ID and superego?

Answer 3

• ego: mediator between id and reality.
• ID: primitive, instincts and desires.
• superego: tells us what’s right and wrong inflicts guilt if we do the moral thing.
• we conform and obey to society and expectations because our superego tells us to.
• develops through early socialisation.

Question 4

what is Tradition and culture?

Answer 4

• culture= a part of us through socialisation and we inherit these: passed down from generations.
• accept the values, norms and traditions that come with the culture and it forms a part of our identity.
• Example: christianity- exchange gifts at Christmas and attend the church service.
• conforming in these ways is important, affirming your identity and being accepted in a particular group or community.

Question 5

what is internalisation of social rules and morality?

Answer 5

• superego + traditions = our inner self or personality.
• However both start off as something outside of us- parents rules and values or social/cultural group.
• socialisation: we internalise both of these through socialising (parents, friends, social groups, institutions etc)- societies way of making sure that the rules and moral codes of society become our own and then we conform willingly to social norms.
• Rational ideology: describes the process of us internalising social rules and then how we use them to tell us what’s right and wrong- makes sure we follow the law.

Question 6

what are external forms of social control?

Answer 6

• society also has other forms of social control to make sure that we conform to expectations- done through agencies.
• agencies: organisations or institutions that impose rules on to us to make sure we behave e.g. family, friends, education.
• there can be negative sanctions (punishments) and positive sanctions (rewards) depending on level of conformity.
• example: hard working student might get praise from their teacher for hard work= positive sanctions.
• example: naughty child or a badly behaved child might get sent to bed early by their parents= negative sanctions.

Question 7

the criminal justice system in relation to social control

Answer 7

• has several agencies that are used for social control- each have their own level of power to use legal sanctions and elements of force to make people conform to society.
• agencies include: the police, the cps, judges and magistrates and prisons.

Question 8

what is coercion?

Answer 8

• use or threaten to use force to either make someone do something or stop doing something to abide by social norms.
• it can be physical, psychological or emotional.
• negative sanctions of the CJS ( police, CPS, judges and magistrates, prisons) are all examples of coercion.
• example: sending someone to prison for stealing- aimed at preventing further offending.

Question 9

what is fear of punishment?

Answer 9

• setting punishment to the max it can be= one way to achieve social control and make people conform.
• can act as a form of coercion also- involves threats of force against people if you don’t obey the law.
• deterrence:
• right realists- the fear of being caught and punished is what makes people continue to obey the law.
• fear acts as a deterrence.

Question 10

what is control theory?

Answer 10

• Travis Hirchi + control theory.
• people conform because they’re controlled by their bonds to society and these stop them from deviating away from social norms.
• people who commit crime or deviate only do so because their bonds with society are weak of broken.

Question 11

what is attachment?

Answer 11

• the more we’re attached to other people, the more we care about their opinions.
• the more we respect their norms the less we will break them.
• links to teachers and parents.

Question 12

what is commitment?

Answer 12

• looks at how committed we are to conventional things e.g. education, getting a job, married etc.
• more commitment= less likely to get involved in crime.
• more likely to conform.

Question 13

what is involvement?

Answer 13

• more involvement in conventional activities ( studies, sports, hobbies etc) the less likely we will become involved in criminal ones.
• justification for youth clubs.

Question 14

what are beliefs?

Answer 14

• more socialised we are in different groups, cultures etc especially with obeying laws- less likely we are to break the law.

Question 15

what is Hirschis social control theory?

Answer 15

• that attachment, commitment, belief and involvement will lead to people conforming to societies behaviour rather than criminal behaviour.