1. Chapter 8
Social Control

2. Chapter Outline Informal Control Formal Control Prevention Deterrence
The Wheels of Justice
Reform and Resocialization

3. Social Control Collective efforts to ensure conformity to the norms.
Most of us conform most of the time to avoid offending those around us.
Others just don’t seem to care about others or what they think.
70% of societies with more than 100 members have formal means of social control, including specialists in enforcement.

4. Hechter and Kanazawa: Degrees of Social Control
Three principles determine the social control groups exert over members:
principle of dependence: The more dependent members are on a group, the more they conform to group norms.
principle of visibility: The more the behavior of group members is observed by other members, the more they conform.
principle of extensiveness: The greater the scope of norms upheld by the group, the greater their contribution to overall social order.

5. Three Methods of Formal Social Control
Remove opportunities for deviant acts to occur or eliminate their causes.
Deter deviance with the threat of punishment.
Reform or resocialize people so they no longer want to deviate.

6. Gibbs:Theory of Deterrence
The more rapid, certain, and severe the punishment for a crime, the lower the rate at which such crimes will occur.
Severe sentences will not deter crimes if people think there is little risk of being caught or their punishment will be delayed.
Not even quick and certain punishment will deter crime if the punishment is very mild.

7. Facts About Crime
It’s far from certain that you will be punished for committing a crime.
If you are punished, it will likely be long after the crime.
It is likely that the punishment will not be severe, at least not the first few times you are caught.

8. The Police
Only 6 out of every 10 crimes are unreported, because many people lack confidence in the police.
The majority of people in most Western European nations as well as Canada and the U.S. have a lot of confidence in their police.
There is less confidence in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
In Russia and Mexico, only 1/3 have confidence in the police.

9. The Police
Even when a crime is reported, the police are often unable to find the criminal.
The Canadian police have the best record for solving burglaries and they succeed in only 1 of 5 cases.
The American police solve slightly more than 1 burglary out of 10.
Police in Poland succeed in about 1 case out of 20.

10. Percent of Crimes Reported to the Police
Offense
Percent reported
Motor vehicle theft 91
Robbery 62
Rape 58
Assault 57
Burglary 53
Purse snatching/pocket picking 35
Theft 29
All crimes 39

11. “How Much Confidence Do You Have in the Policed?”
Nation
“A lot of
Confidence”
Denmark 89
Belgium 51
Canada 84
Portugal 48
United States 75
Nigeria 44
South Africa 70
Mexico 32
France 67
Argentina 26
Japan 59
Latvia 20
Spain 56
Estonia 19

12. Reported Crimes Cleared by Arrest
Nation
Homicide
Rape
Assault
Burglary
Auto Theft
United States
67.2
52.8
57.3
13.8
14.6
Canada
86.8 —
79.9
21.0
22.2
Sweden
67.0
39.0
53.0
9.0
12.0
Netherlands
78.0
64.0
65.0
Russia
79.1
79.5
64.4
28.6
France
77.2
85.3
72.7
14.4
10.9
Spain
89.3
66.1
61.7
9.9
17.3
Poland
69.5
86.6
89.9
6.7

13. Zeisel’s Summary of the American Criminal Justice System
Of every 1,000 felonies committed in the U.S., 540 are reported to the police.
Of these, 65 result in an arrest.
Of all those arrested, 36 are prosecuted and convicted.
Of those convicted, 17 are sentenced to serve time in jail or prison.
Of these, 3 are sentenced to serve more than one year.

14. Prisons
It costs more than $50,000 a year to keep a person in prison in the United States.
The recidivism rate is as high among the new therapeutic prisons as the older punitive prisons: 60%.