Application of formal positive sanctions. social control
100 r first order bonus
Select the type of work Course work Abstract Master's thesis Report on practice Article Report Review Test Monograph Problem solving Business plan Answers to questions creative work Essay Drawing Compositions Translation Presentations Typing Other Increasing the uniqueness of the text Candidate's thesis Laboratory work Help online
Ask for a price
In order to quickly respond to the actions of people, expressing their attitude towards them, society has created a system of social sanctions.
Sanctions are the reactions of society to the actions of an individual. The emergence of a system of social sanctions, like norms, was not accidental. If norms are created to protect the values of society, then sanctions are designed to protect and strengthen the system of social norms. If a norm is not supported by a sanction, it ceases to be valid. Thus, the three elements - values, norms and sanctions - form a single chain of social control. In this chain, sanctions are assigned the role of a tool with which the individual first gets acquainted with the norm, and then realizes the values. For example, a teacher praises a student for a well-learned lesson, encouraging him for a conscientious attitude to learning. Praise acts as an incentive to consolidate in the mind of the child such behavior as normal. Over time, he realizes the value of knowledge and, acquiring it, will no longer need external control. This example shows how the consistent implementation of the entire chain of social control translates external control into self-control. There are sanctions different types. Among them are positive and negative, formal and informal.
Positive sanctions are the approval, praise, recognition, encouragement, glory, honor that others reward those who act within the framework of the norms accepted in society. Not only outstanding actions of people are encouraged, but also a conscientious attitude to professional duties, many years of impeccable work and initiative, as a result of which the organization has made a profit, providing assistance to those who need it. Every activity has its own incentives.
Negative sanctions - condemning or punishing the actions of society in relation to those individuals who violate the norms accepted in society. Negative sanctions include censure, dissatisfaction with others, condemnation, reprimand, criticism, a fine, as well as more severe actions - detention, imprisonment or confiscation of property. The threat of negative sanctions is more effective than the expectation of encouragement. At the same time, society strives to ensure that negative sanctions do not punish as much as prevent violations of norms, be proactive, not late.
Formal sanctions come from official organizations - the government or the administration of institutions, which in their actions are guided by officially adopted documents, instructions, laws and decrees.
Not formal sanctions come from those people who surround us: acquaintances, friends, parents, work colleagues, classmates, passers-by. Formal and informal sanctions may also be:
Material - a gift or a fine, a bonus or confiscation of property;
Moral - awarding a diploma or an honorary title, an unfriendly review or a cruel joke, a reprimand.
For sanctions to be effective and reinforce social norms, they must meet a number of requirements:
sanctions must be timely. Their effectiveness is significantly reduced if a person is encouraged, much less punished after a significant amount of time. In this case, the action and the sanction to it are divorced from each other;
sanctions must be proportionate to the action, justified. Undeserved encouragement generates dependency, and punishment destroys faith in justice and causes discontent in society;
Sanctions, like norms, must be binding on all. Exceptions to the rules give rise to the morality of the "double standard", which negatively affects the entire regulatory system.
Thus, norms and sanctions are combined into a single whole. If a norm does not have an accompanying sanction, then it ceases to operate and regulate real behavior. It can become a slogan, an appeal, an appeal, but it ceases to be an element of social control.
Formal positive sanctions (F+) - public approval by official organizations (governments, institutions, creative union): government awards, state awards and scholarships, bestowed titles, academic degrees and titles, erection of a monument, presentation of diplomas, admission to high positions and honorary functions (for example, election as chairman of the board).
Informal positive sanctions (H+) - public approval that does not come from official organizations: friendly praise, compliments, tacit recognition, benevolent disposition, applause, fame, honor, flattering reviews, recognition of leadership or expert qualities, a smile.
Formal negative sanctions (F-) - punishments provided for by legal laws, government decrees, administrative instructions, orders, orders: deprivation of civil rights, imprisonment, arrest, dismissal, fine, deprivation of bonuses, confiscation of property, demotion, demolition, deposition from throne, the death penalty excommunication from the church.
Not formal negative sanctions (N-) - punishments not provided for by official authorities: censure, remark, ridicule, mockery, cruel joke, unflattering nickname, neglect, refusal to lend a hand or maintain relations, spreading rumors, slander, unfriendly feedback, complaint, writing a pamphlet or feuilleton , revealing article.
Sanctions are not only punishments, but also incentives that contribute to the observance of social norms.
Sanctions - norm guards. Along with values, they are responsible for why people strive to comply with norms. Norms are protected from two sides - from the side of values and from the side of sanctions.
Social sanctions - an extensive system of rewards for the fulfillment of norms, i.e. for conformity, for agreeing with them, and punishments for deviating from them, i.e. for deviance.
conformism represents external agreement with generally accepted norms, when an individual can internally maintain disagreement with them, but not tell anyone about it.
Conformism - goal of social control. However, conformism cannot be the goal of socialization, because it must end with internal agreement with the generally accepted.
There are four types of sanctions: positive and negative, formal and informal. They give four types of combinations that can be represented as a logical square:
positive negative
FORMAL
INFORMAL
Formal positive sanctions(F+)- public approval from official organizations (government, institutions, creative union): government awards, state awards and scholarships, awarded titles, academic degrees and titles, construction of a monument, presentation of diplomas, admission to high positions and honorary functions (for example, election chairman of the board).
Informal positive sanctions(H+) - public approval that does not come from official organizations: friendly praise, compliments, tacit recognition, benevolent disposition, applause, fame, honor, flattering reviews, recognition of leadership or expert qualities, smile.
Formal negative sanctions (F-)- punishments provided for by legal laws, government decrees, administrative instructions, prescriptions, orders: deprivation of civil rights, imprisonment, arrest, dismissal, fine, deprivation of bonuses, confiscation of property, demotion, demolition, dethronement, death penalty, excommunication from churches.
Informal negative sanctions (H-) - punishments not provided for by official authorities: censure, remark, ridicule, mockery, cruel joke, unflattering nickname, neglect, refusal to lend a hand or maintain relations, spreading rumors, slander, unfriendly feedback, complaint, writing a pamphlet or feuilleton, exposing article.
So, social sanctions play a key role in the system of social control. Sanctions, together with values and norms, constitute the mechanism of social control. Social sanctions are a system of rewards and punishments. They are divided into four types: positive and negative, formal and informal. Depending on the method of imposing sanctions - collective or individual - social control can be external and internal (self-control). According to the degree of intensity, sanctions are strict, or hard, and non-strict, or soft.
Regulations by themselves do not control anything. People's behavior is controlled by other people based on norms that are expected to be followed by everyone. Compliance with norms, like the implementation of sanctions, makes our behavior predictable. Each of us knows that for an outstanding scientific discovery an official award awaits, and for a serious crime - imprisonment. When we expect a certain act from another person, we hope that he knows not only the norm, but also the sanction following it.
In this way, norms and sanctions are combined into a single whole. If a norm lacks a sanction that accompanies it, then it ceases to regulate real behavior. It becomes a slogan, an appeal, an appeal, but it ceases to be an element of social control.
The application of social sanctions in some cases requires the presence of outsiders, while in others it does not. The dismissal is formalized by the personnel department of the institution and involves the preliminary issuance of an order or order. Imprisonment requires a complex procedure of judicial proceedings, on the basis of which a judgment is issued. Bringing to administrative responsibility, say, a fine for traveling without a ticket, requires the presence of an official transport controller, sometimes a policeman. The assignment of a scientific degree involves an equally complex procedure for defending a scientific dissertation and the decision of the Academic Council.
Sanctions for violators of group habits require the presence of a smaller number of persons. Sanctions are never applied to oneself. If the application of sanctions is committed by the person himself, directed at himself and occurs inside, then this form of control should be considered self-control.
Agents and institutions of socialization perform not one, but two functions:
- teach child's cultural norms;
- control how firmly, deeply and correctly assimilated social norms and roles.
social control is a mechanism for maintaining social order, based on a system of prescriptions, prohibitions, beliefs, coercive measures, which ensures the compliance of actions
the individual to accepted patterns and streamlines the interaction between individuals.
Social control includes two main elements - norms and sanctions.
Norms- Instructions on how to behave properly in society.
Sanctions- means of encouragement and punishment, stimulating people to comply with social norms.
Social control is carried out in the following forms:
1) coercion;
2) the influence of public opinion;
3) regulation in social institutions;
4) group pressure.
Even the simplest norms embody what is valued by a group or society. The difference between norms and values is expressed as follows: norms are rules of behavior, and values are abstract concepts of what is good and evil, right and wrong, proper and improper.
sanctions not only punishments are called, but also incentives that contribute to the observance of social norms. Social sanctions - an extensive system of rewards for the implementation of norms, i.e. for conformity, for agreeing with them, and punishment
for deviation from them, i.e. for deviance.
conformism represents an external agreement with the generally accepted, despite the fact that internally an individual can maintain disagreement in himself, but not tell anyone about it.
Conformism is the goal of social control. However, it cannot be the goal of socialization, because it must end with internal agreement with the generally accepted.
There are four types of sanctions: positive and negative, formal and informal.
Formal positive sanctions - public approval from governmental organizations (government, institutions, creative union): government awards, state awards
and scholarships, awarded titles, academic degrees and titles, construction of a monument, presentation of certificates of honor, admission to high positions
and honorary functions (for example, election as chairman of the board).
Informal positive sanctions- public approval that does not come from official organizations: friendly praise, compliments, tacit recognition, benevolent disposition, applause, fame, honor, flattering reviews, recognition of leaders or experts
qualities, smile.
Formal negative sanctions- punishments provided for by legal laws, government decrees, administrative instructions, prescriptions, orders: deprivation of civil rights, imprisonment, arrest, dismissal, fine, deprivation of bonuses, confiscation of property, demotion, demolition, dethronement, death penalty, excommunication from churches.
Informal negative sanctions- punishments not provided for by official authorities: censure, remark, ridicule, mockery, a cruel joke, an unflattering nickname, neglect, refusal to give a hand or maintain relations, spreading rumors, slander, an unfriendly review, writing a pamphlet or feuilleton, exposing article.
The assimilation of social norms is the basis of socialization. Social
behavior that is not in accordance with the norm, considered by the majority of members of society as reprehensible or unacceptable, is called deviant(deviant) behavior, and a serious violation of the law leading to criminal punishment is called delinquent(asocial) behavior.
The well-known social anthropologist R. Linton, who worked extensively in microsociology and is one of the founders of role theories, introduced the concept of modal and normative personality.
Normative personality- it's like an ideal personality of a given culture.
Modal personality- a more common type of deviant personality options. The more unstable the society, the more people social type which do not coincide with the normative personality. Conversely, in stable societies, cultural pressure on the individual is such that a person in his views on behavior is less and less detached from the "ideal" stereotype.
Feature deviant behavior - cultural relativism (relativity). In the primitive period, and among some primitive tribes even today, cannibalism, gerontocide (killing the elderly), incest and infanticide (murder of children) were considered normal phenomena caused by economic reasons (lack of food) or social structure (permission of marriage between relatives). Cultural relativism can be comparative characteristic not only two different societies and eras, but also two or more large social groups within one society. In this case, it is necessary to talk not about culture, but about subculture. An example of such groups is political parties, government, social class or stratum, believers, youth, women, pensioners, national minorities. Yes, non-attendance church service- deviation from the position of a believer, but the norm from the position of a non-believer. The etiquette of the nobility required addressing by name and patronymic, and the diminutive name (Kolka or Nikitka) - the norm of communication in the lower strata - was considered a deviation by the nobles.
Thus, we can conclude: the deviation is relative: a) to the historical era; b) the culture of society.
Sociologists have established a trend: the more a person learns patterns of deviant behavior, the more often he encounters them and the younger his age. Violations of social norms by young people can be serious or frivolous, conscious or unconscious. All serious violations, whether conscious or not, that fall under the category of unlawful act are delinquent behavior.
Alcoholism- a typical type of deviant behavior. An alcoholic is not only a sick person, but also a deviant, he is not able to
fulfill social roles.
junkie- a criminal, since the use of drugs is qualified by law as a criminal act.
Suicide, i.e. the free and deliberate termination of one's life is a deviation. But killing another person is a crime. Conclusion: deviance and delinquency are two forms of deviation from normal behavior. The first form is relative and insignificant, the second is absolute and significant.
The social consequences of deviant behavior at first glance must seem absolutely negative. Indeed, although a society can assimilate a considerable number of deviations from the norm without serious consequences for the functioning of its social organism, still constant and widespread deviations can disrupt or even undermine organized social life. If a significant number of individuals simultaneously fail to meet social expectations, the entire system of society, all its institutions, may suffer. For example, in modern Russian society, more and more parents refuse to raise their children, and, accordingly, more and more children are left without parental care. The direct connection of this phenomenon with social destabilization and the growth of crime is obvious. The deviant behavior of the masses of military personnel in military units is manifested in hazing and desertion, and this means a serious threat to stability in the army. Finally, the deviant behavior of some part of the members of society demoralizes the rest and discredits them in their eyes. existing system values. Thus, corruption of officials, unpunished on a massive scale, police arbitrariness and other negative phenomena in the life of society deprive people of the hope that honest work and “playing by the rules” will be socially rewarded, and push them also to deviations.
Thus, deviations are contagious. And society, treating them carefully, has the opportunity to draw some positive experience from the existence of deviations.
First, the identification of deviations and their public declaration as such contributes to the strengthening of social conformity - the willingness to obey the norms - of the majority of the rest of the population. Sociologist E. Sagarin notes: “One of the most effective methods The key to ensuring that most people follow the norm is to label some as norm breakers. This allows you to keep the rest in submission and at the same time in fear of being in the place of the violators ... Expressing hostility not good enough and the right people, the majority or the dominant group can reinforce ideas of what is good and right, and thereby create a society of individuals more loyal to the accepted ideology and norms of behavior.
Secondly, the condemnation of deviation allows society to see more clearly what it accepts as the norm. In addition, according to
K. Erickson, sanctions that suppress deviant behavior show people that it will continue to be punished. Once the perpetrators of crimes were subjected to public punishment. Today, the same result is achieved with the help of the media, which widely covers trials and verdicts.
Third, by collectively judging norm-breakers, the group strengthens its own cohesion and unity. Facilitates group identification. So, the search for the "enemy of the people" served a good remedy to rally society around the ruling group, which allegedly "can protect everyone."
Fourthly, the emergence and even more so wide use
in a society of deviations indicates that the social system is functioning incorrectly. The increase in crime indicates that there are many dissatisfied people in society, low level life of the majority of the population, the distribution of material wealth is too uneven. Availability a large number deviations speaks of the urgent need for social change.
Sociology / Yu. G. Volkov, V. I. Dobrenkov, N. G. Nechipurenko [and others]. M., 2000. S. 169.
All procedures by which the behavior of an individual is brought to the norm of a social group are called sanctions.
social sanction - impact measure, essential tool social control.
There are the following types of sanctions:
- negative and positive ,
- formal and informal .
Negative sanctions directed against a person who has deviated from social norms.
Positive sanctions aimed at the support and approval of a person who follows these standards.
Formal sanctions imposed by an official, public or state body or their representative.
informal usually involve the reaction of group members, friends, colleagues, relatives, acquaintances, etc.
Thus, it is possible to distinguish four types of sanctions:
1. formal negative,
2. formal positive,
3. informal negative,
4. informal positive.
For example , five for the student's answer in class - formal positive sanction. An example negative informal sanction may be condemnation of a person at the level of public opinion.
Positive sanctions are usually more powerful than negative sanctions..
For example For a student, reinforcing academic success with positive grades is more stimulating than a negative grade for a poorly completed assignment.
Sanctions are effective only when there is agreement on the correctness of their application and the authority of those who apply them.
For example, the nurse can take the penalty for granted if she considers it fair, and if the penalty does not correspond to the misconduct, the nurse will consider that she was treated unfairly, and not only will not correct her behavior, but, on the contrary, may show a negative reaction.
Basic forms of social control
Forms of social control - these are ways of regulating human life in society, which are due to various social (group) processes and are associated with the psychological characteristics of large and small social groups.
Forms of social control predetermine the transition of external social regulation into intrapersonal.
The most common forms of social control are:
traditions,
Morality and manners
Etiquette, manners, habits.
Ø Law - a set of normative acts that have legal force and regulate the formal relations of people across the state.
Laws are directly related to and determined by a particular power in society, which, in turn, leads to the establishment of a certain way of life. Many important events in life (marriage, childbirth, university graduation, etc.) are directly related to laws. Neglect of legal norms can lead to negative socio-psychological consequences.
For example, people living in a civil marriage, with legally unregistered marital relations, may face negative sanctions of an informal nature.
The law acts as an active and effective form of social control.
Ø Taboo – a system of prohibitions on the commission of any actions or thoughts of a person.
One of the most ancient forms of social control, preceding the emergence of laws, is taboo. In primitive society, taboos regulated important aspects of life. It was believed that when prohibitions were violated, supernatural forces should punish the violator. At the level of modern individual consciousness, taboos are most often associated with superstitions - such prejudices, due to which much of what is happening seems to be a manifestation of supernatural forces or an omen.
For example , a student going to take an exam can change the path if a black cat crosses the road; the young mother is afraid that someone else's gaze will harm the baby, and so on. A person is afraid that if the ritual is not performed by him, then unfavorable consequences for him will certainly arise. Internal taboos are (often at the subconscious level) social prohibitions in the past.
Ø Customs -repetitive, habitual for the majority ways of human behavior, common in a given society.
Customs are assimilated from childhood and have the character of a social habit. The main sign of custom is prevalence. Custom is determined by the conditions of society in this moment time and in that it differs from tradition.
Ø Traditions -are timeless in nature and exist for a long time, being passed down from generation to generation.
Traditions are practices that:
First, they have developed historically in connection with the culture of a given ethnic group;
Secondly, they are passed down from generation to generation;
Thirdly, they are determined by the mentality (spiritual warehouse) of the people.
We can say that traditions are one of the most conservative forms of social control. But traditions can also gradually change and be transformed in accordance with socio-economic and cultural changes that affect social patterns of behavior.
For example , the tradition of the existence of a patriarchal family is gradually changing in many countries of the world. The composition of a modern family living under one roof increasingly includes only two generations: parents - children.
Customs and traditions cover mass forms of behavior and play a huge role in society. The psychological meaning of a custom or tradition – solidarity of people. Solidarity unites people of one society, makes them more united and, therefore, stronger. Punishment (negative sanctions) following the violation of tradition only contributes to maintaining the unity of the group. It is impossible to understand the essence of tradition outside the culture of the people. Many customs are eliminated with the change of life in society.
Ø Moral -special customs that have moral significance and are associated with the understanding of good and evil in a given social group or society.
Morality defines what people traditionally allow or forbid themselves in connection with their ideas about good and bad. Despite the diversity of such representations, moral norms are very similar in most human cultures, regardless of the forms in which they are embodied.
Ø Conscience – a special, unique quality of a person that determines his essence.
According to V. Dahl, conscience - this is moral consciousness, moral instinct or feeling in a person; inner consciousness of good and evil; the secret of the soul, in which the approval or condemnation of each act is recalled; the ability to recognize the quality of an act; a feeling prompting to truth and goodness, averting from lies and evil; involuntary love for the good and for the truth; innate truth in varying degrees of development ( Dictionary living Great Russian language. - St. Petersburg, 1997. - T. 4).
In philosophy and psychology conscience is interpreted as the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, independently formulate moral duties for himself, demand from himself their fulfillment and evaluate the actions performed (Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M., 1983; Psychology: Dictionary. - M., 1990).
Conscience carries internal special controlling functions, it is the absolute guarantor of the realization moral principles. At the same time, it is impossible not to notice that, unfortunately, in modern life they do not always contribute to the development of this unique human property.
Ø Morals -the designation of customs that have moral significance and characterize all those forms of behavior of people in a particular social stratum that can be subjected to moral assessment.
Unlike morality, mores are associated with certain social groups. That is, the generally accepted morality in society can be one, but the mores are different.
For example , the mores of the elite and the mores of the working part of society have significant differences.
On the individual level morals are shown in manners of a person, the peculiarities of his behavior.
Ø Manners – a set of behavioral habits this person or a particular social group.
These are external forms of behavior, ways of doing something that characterize a certain social type. By manners, we can determine to which social group a person belongs, what is his profession or main activity.
Ø Habit -an unconscious action that has been repeated so many times in a person's life that it has become automated.
Habits are formed under the influence of the immediate environment and, above all, family education. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that habits acquirenature of need if they are formed and fixed.
At the first stage of habit formation, due to its novelty, the individual experiences certain difficulties in assimilation. But when action is perfectly learned, it becomes necessary. We do not pay attention to our habits, because it is, as it were, a part of ourselves, it is something natural and necessary. Other people's habits that are not like ours can be quite annoying.
For example , newlyweds may experience some everyday difficulties due to the difference in habits. And in families that exist long enough and safely, one can observe the unity of habits or agreement about their manifestations.
famous proverb reads:
“Sow a deed, reap a habit,
- a mechanism for maintaining public order through regulation, implying the actions of society aimed at preventing deviant behavior, punishing deviants or correcting them.
The concept of social control
The most important condition for the effective functioning social system is the predictability of social actions and social behavior of people, in the absence of which the social system is waiting for disorganization and disintegration. Society has certain means by which it ensures the reproduction of existing social relations and interactions. One of these means is social control, the main function of which is to create conditions for the stability of the social system, maintaining social stability and at the same time for positive social changes. This requires flexibility from social control, including the ability to recognize positive-constructive deviations from social norms, which should be encouraged, and negative-dysfunctional deviations, to which certain sanctions should be applied (from the Latin sanctio - the strictest decree) negative character, including legal ones.
- this, on the one hand, is a mechanism of social regulation, a set of means and methods of social influence, and on the other, the social practice of their use.
In general, the social behavior of the individual proceeds under the control of society and the surrounding people. They not only teach the individual the rules of social behavior in the process of socialization, but also act as agents of social control, monitoring the correct assimilation of social behavior patterns and their implementation in practice. In this regard, social control acts as a special form and method of social regulation of people's behavior in society. Social control is manifested in the subordination of the individual to the social group in which he is integrated, which is expressed in the meaningful or spontaneous adherence to the social norms prescribed by this group.
Social control consists of two elements— social norms and social sanctions.
Social norms are socially approved or legislatively fixed rules, standards, patterns that regulate the social behavior of people.
Social sanctions are rewards and punishments that encourage people to comply with social norms.
social norms
social norms- these are socially approved or legislatively fixed rules, standards, patterns that regulate the social behavior of people. Therefore, social norms are divided into legal norms, moral norms and proper social norms.
Legal regulations - These are norms formally enshrined in various kinds of legislative acts. Violation of legal norms involves legal, administrative and other types of punishment.
moral standards- informal norms functioning in the form of public opinion. The main tool in the system of moral norms is public censure or public approval.
To social norms usually include:
- group social habits (for example, "don't turn up your nose in front of your own");
- social customs (for example, hospitality);
- social traditions (for example, subordination of children to parents),
- public mores (manners, morality, etiquette);
- social taboos (absolute prohibitions on cannibalism, infanticide, etc.). Customs, traditions, mores, taboos are sometimes called general rules social behavior.
social sanction
Sanction is recognized as the main instrument of social control and represents an incentive for compliance, expressed in the form of encouragement (positive sanction) or punishment (negative sanction). Sanctions are formal, imposed by the state or specially authorized organizations and persons, and informal, expressed by unofficial persons.
Social sanctions - they are rewards and punishments that encourage people to comply with social norms. In this regard, social sanctions can be called the guardian of social norms.
Social norms and social sanctions are an inseparable whole, and if some social norm does not have an accompanying social sanction, then it loses its social-regulatory function. For example, in the 19th century in countries Western Europe the birth of children only in a legal marriage was considered a social norm. Therefore, illegitimate children were excluded from the inheritance of their parents' property, they were neglected in everyday communication, they could not enter into worthy marriages. However, society, as it modernized and softened public opinion regarding illegitimate children, gradually began to exclude informal and formal sanctions for violating this norm. As a result, this social norm ceased to exist altogether.
There are the following mechanisms of social control:
- isolation - isolating the deviant from society (for example, imprisonment);
- isolation - limiting the deviant's contacts with others (for example, placement in a psychiatric clinic);
- rehabilitation - a set of measures aimed at returning the deviant to normal life.
Types of social sanctions
Although formal sanctions appear to be more effective, informal sanctions are actually more important to the individual. The need for friendship, love, recognition, or the fear of ridicule and shame are often more effective than orders or fines.
In the process of socialization, forms of external control are internalized so that they become part of his own beliefs. An internal control system is being formed, called self-control. A typical example of self-control is the pangs of conscience of a person who has committed an unworthy act. In a developed society, the mechanisms of self-control prevail over the mechanisms of external control.
Types of social control
In sociology, two main processes of social control are distinguished: the application of positive or negative sanctions for the social behavior of an individual; interiorization (from the French interiorisation - transition from outside to inside) by an individual of social norms of behavior. In this regard, external social control and internal social control, or self-control, are distinguished.
External social control is a set of forms, methods and actions that guarantee compliance with social norms of behavior. There are two types of external control - formal and informal.
Formal social control based on official approval or condemnation, carried out by the authorities state power, political and social organizations, the education system, the media and operates throughout the country, based on written norms - laws, decrees, resolutions, orders and instructions. Formal social control may also include the dominant ideology in society. Speaking of formal social control, they mean, first of all, actions aimed at making people respect laws and order with the help of government representatives. Such control is especially effective in large social groups.
Informal social control based on the approval or condemnation of relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, public opinion, expressed through traditions, customs or the media. The agents of informal social control are such social institutions as family, school, religion. This type of control is especially effective in small social groups.
In the process of social control, violation of some social norms is followed by a very weak punishment, for example, disapproval, an unfriendly look, a smirk. Violation of other social norms is followed by severe punishments - the death penalty, imprisonment, exile from the country. Violation of taboos and legal laws is punished most severely; certain types group habits, especially family habits.
Internal social control- independent regulation by the individual of his social behavior in society. In the process of self-control, a person independently regulates his social behavior, coordinating it with generally accepted norms. This type control is manifested, on the one hand, in a sense of guilt, emotional experiences, "remorse" for social action, on the other hand, in the form of an individual's reflection on his social behavior.
An individual's self-control over his own social behavior is formed in the process of his socialization and the formation of socio-psychological mechanisms of his internal self-regulation. The main elements of self-control are consciousness, conscience and will.
- it is an individual form of mental representation of reality in the form of a generalized and subjective model of the surrounding world in the form of verbal concepts and sensory images. Consciousness allows the individual to rationalize his social behavior.
Conscience- the ability of a person to independently formulate his own moral duties and demand from himself their fulfillment, as well as to make a self-assessment of the actions and deeds performed. Conscience does not allow an individual to violate his established attitudes, principles, beliefs, in accordance with which he builds his social behavior.
Will- conscious regulation by a person of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome external and internal difficulties in the performance of purposeful actions and deeds. The will helps the individual to overcome his inner subconscious desires and needs, to act and behave in society in accordance with his convictions.
In the process of social behavior, an individual has to constantly fight with his subconscious, which gives his behavior a spontaneous character, so self-control is essential condition social behavior of people. Typically, individuals' self-control over their social behavior increases with age. But it also depends on social circumstances and the nature of external social control: the tighter the external control, the weaker the self-control. Moreover, social experience shows that the weaker the individual's self-control, the tougher external control should be in relation to him. However, this is fraught with large social costs, since hard outer control is accompanied by social degradation of the individual.
In addition to external and internal social control of the social behavior of an individual, there are also: 1) indirect social control based on identification with a reference law-abiding group; 2) social control based on the wide availability of a variety of ways to achieve goals and satisfy needs, alternative to illegal or immoral.
