SOCIOLOGY

Ms. Dilawaiz
UVAS, Lahore
 Today’s Agenda

 What is Social control?

 What are Social norms ( Formal, Informal)
 What is Social conformity?
 What is Social deviance?
 What are Social sanctions (formal, Informal)
 Social Control
Social control is the study of the mechanisms, through which society
provides the guidelines and control the thoughts and behaviors of its
individuals. From this process society maintains social order and cohesion.

Society makes the guidelines and provides the pattern of social pressure to
promote the social control. These guidelines generally called social norms.

And the patterns of the pressures are often called social sanctions.

These whole mechanism of social control works in both forms: Informal and
formal.
 Social Control
In this way we can divide the social guidelines of social control into formal
and informal ways. Through informal ways society built generally two
mechanisms of informal social guidelines that promotes the social control.

 Folkways
 Mores

And through formal ways society introduces the formal social guidelines
that promotes the social control in the form of law.
.
 Folkways

Folkways: very ordinary and customary social guidelines of social

behavior. Examples of folkways include covering your mouth when you
cough or wearing covered shoes to a restaurant.

Folkways are culturally defined norms of etiquette that are not very serious
if broken.
 Mores

Mores: Social guidelines that are widely observed and have great moral
significance.

Mores include gossiping, stealing, lying, bullying, and breaking a promise.

 Law

Law: Social guidelines in the form of formal rules or standards enacted

by a political entity and enforced by agents with recognized authority such
as the police and the courts.
 Social conformity
Social conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in
belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. Humans have a common
tendency to adopt the opinions and follow the behaviors of the majority.

Examples of conformity include wearing a uniform to work or school,

following fashion trends and following a typical career path because it feels
like the safe thing to do.
 Social Deviance
Social Deviance is the study of the violation of cultural norms in either formal
(criminal) or informal (deviant) contexts.

Informal deviant behavior: Informal deviance refers to violations of

informal social norms, (folkways, mores) which are norms that have not been
codified into law. Examples of informal deviance include picking one's nose,
belching loudly, or standing unnecessarily close to another person. Deviance can
vary dramatically across cultures.

Formal deviant behavior: Formal deviance includes criminal violation of

formally-enacted laws. Examples of formal deviance include robbery, theft, rape,
murder, and assault
 Social sanctions
Social sanctions: System of social punishment and social reward
to makes the implementation and obedience to social norms, which
provides the structure of social control. It could be both as formal
social sanctions and informal social sanctions.

It could be divided further as Informal positive social sanctions

(rewards) and Informal negative social sanctions (punishments).
Informal positive/ negative social sanctions

Informal positive social sanctions: When individuals follow or

confirm the informal ways of life or informal social norms, (folkways,
mores) society regarded them with rewards as praising, acceptance and
encouraging.

Informal negative social sanctions: When individuals violate

the informal ways of life or informal social norms, (folkways, mores)
society treated them with some punishment such as, criticism, shaming,
ignoring and mocking.
 Social Control
Formal positive social sanctions: When individuals follow or confirm
the formal ways of life or formal social norms, (laws, rules) society regarded
them with rewards as certification, prizes, medals.

Formal negative social sanctions: When individuals violate the

formal ways of life or formal social norms, (laws, rules) society treated them
with punishment as jailed, fine,

In this way society compels its individuals to obey the social norms through
the social sanctions. Through this mechanism society controls and guides the
attitudes and actions of the individuals. This is the whole process of general
social control.
 Social Control
A process through which society controls the behaviors and thoughts of its
individuals.
Informal Formal

• Folkways
Laws
• Mores
Follow these ways is called Conformity and do not follow them is called Deviance.

Follow Not Follow

• Conformity Deviance(formal/
• Group Think Informal)
 To promote the conformity and avoid the deviance , society introduces
the system of Social Sanctions.
Social Sanctions

System of punishment and reward

Formal Social Sanctions Informal Social

Sanctions

• Positive • Positive

• Negative • Negative
THANK YOU