Chapter 5 Social Control Flashcards
(12 cards)
Social control
The enforcement of conformity and order by society upon its members either by laws or social pressure.
Ideological social control
The attempt to manipulate the consciousness of citizens so that they accept the ruling ideology and refuse to be moved by competing ideologies.
Goals are to pursue the members f=of society willingly within the law and to accept without question the existing distribution of societal power and rewards
Direct social control
The attempt to punish or neutralize (render powerless) organizations or individuals who deviate from society’s norms.
Eugenics
The improvement of the human population through control of hereditary factors.
Human genetic engineering
The sceince of manipulating an individual’s genetic makeup to alter his or her observable traits.
Gene therapy
Genetic engineering to correct genetic deficiencies.
Gene doping
Genetic modification to increase athletic performance.
Warrantless wiretapping
Government surveillance of citizens’ phone calls, internet activity, text messaging, and other communications without a search warrant.
Agents of social control
Family, education, religion, sport, government, and media.
Peter Berger 8 tactics of social control. All agents use the tactics
- Force
- Economic rewards or punishment
- Ridicule and gossip
- Ostracism
- Fraud and deception
- Belief system
- Intimidation and pressures
- Contracts
Agents of direct social control
- Social welfare: Public assistance programs serve a social control function in times of mass unemployment by defusing social unrest
- Science and Medicine: They were used in controlling behavor of non-conformists. Ex: mental illness and eugenics
- Government: directly involved with the control of its citizens. Ex. Law enforcement, prisons, surveillance.
Social control Order theory
Social order is maintained as citizens accept the legal order and the state, which are believed to serve the common good.
