Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Chapter 6 Social Control In Conflict and Order: Understanding Society, 11 th edition This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Social Control All social groups have mechanisms to ensure conformity—mechanisms of social control. The socialization process is one of the ways by which individuals internalize the norms and values of the group.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Ideological Social Control All groups have mechanisms to ensure conformity—mechanisms of social control. –Force –Economic rewards or punishments –Ridicule and gossip

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Ideological Social Control Mechanisms of social control (continued) –Ostracism –Fraud and deception –Belief systems –The sphere of intimates –The contract

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Ideological Social Control Ideological social control refers to the attempt to manipulate the consciousness of citizens so they accept the ruling ideology and refuse to be moved by competing ideologies.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Ideological Social Control Agents FamilyEducationReligionSportMediaGovernment

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Direct Social Control Direct Social Control refers to attempts to punish or neutralize organizations or individuals who deviate from society’s norms.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Direct Social Control The deviant targets here are essentially four: the poor, the mentally ill, criminals, and political dissidents. The agents of social control whose efforts are directed at these targets: Welfare, Science and Medicine and the Government.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Direct Social Control Welfare –According to Piven and Cloward, public assistance programs serve a direct social control function in times of mass unemployment by defusing social unrest.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Direct Social Control Science and Medicine –Science and Medicine provide the techniques for shaping and controlling the behavior of nonconformists. –Drugs and psychosurgery, and genetic engineering are three such techniques.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Direct Social Control Government –The government is directly involved in the control of its citizens. –It apprehends and punishes criminals.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Agents of Direct Social Control Government (continued) –It is also involved in the suppression of dissent, which, which important for preserving order, runs counter to the U.S. democratic heritage. –Following the terrorist attacks in 2001, the government instituted a number of new rules restricting freedoms.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Social Control in the Private Sector Privacy is threatened by the private sector as personal information on purchases, websites visited, and demographics is stored in huge databases. Employers can invade the personal space of employees through surveillance, intercepting messages, and psychological testing.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Social Control from the Order and Conflict Perspectives Order theorists argue that social order is maintained as citizens accept the legal order and the state, which are believed to serve the common good.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Social Control from the Order and Conflict Perspectives Conflict theorists argue that social order is the result of government force or the threat of force, economic dominants using the law, the media, or other institutions to hold power over the relatively powerless.