Component 1 Section A: the concept of social control, the distinction between formal and informal agencies of social control, and the role of positive and negative sanctions in securing conformity.

What this dot point is asking

Once a society has shared norms, it needs ways to enforce them. OCR Section A wants you to define social control, separate formal from informal agencies, and explain how sanctions (positive and negative) secure conformity. The same concepts are the foundation of the Crime and deviance option, so getting them precise here pays off twice.

The answer

What social control is

Sociologists divide it into two broad types according to whether the agency is official and codified or everyday and unofficial.

Formal and informal social control

Formal social control is carried out by official agencies that operate through written rules and codified sanctions. These include the police, the courts, the legal system, the government and the military. Breaking a formal rule (a law) brings an official punishment such as a fine or imprisonment.

Informal social control is carried out by everyday agencies through unofficial, unwritten pressure. These include the family, the peer group, the media, religion, education and the workplace. Breaking an informal norm brings reactions such as disapproval, ridicule, gossip or exclusion. Much of our daily conformity is secured informally, often without us noticing.

Sanctions

Both types work through sanctions, the consequences attached to behaviour:

• Positive sanctions reward conformity and encourage it: praise, prizes, medals, promotion, social approval. A school awarding merits or a workplace offering a bonus uses positive sanctions.
• Negative sanctions punish deviance and discourage it: fines, detention, imprisonment, disapproval, ridicule, exclusion. A court fine is a formal negative sanction; being "frozen out" by friends is an informal one.

Why does social control exist?

Functionalists see social control as essential: without it, Durkheim's anomie (normlessness) would threaten social order, so control reinforces the shared value consensus. Marxists argue control serves the ruling class, with laws protecting property and the police bearing down on the working class. Feminists argue informal control of women (in the home, in public, through reputation) reproduces patriarchy. Weighing these views is the AO3 the longer Section A questions reward.

Examples in context

A top answer distinguishes the type of agency, names the type of sanction it uses, applies an example, and ideally adds a perspective on whose interests control serves.

Try this

Q1. Outline two positive sanctions used to enforce conformity. [4 marks]

• What the marker wants. Two rewards (AO1, two marks each): praise or approval, and a formal reward such as a prize or promotion, each with a brief example.

Q2. Outline and explain two reasons why sociologists from different perspectives disagree about the purpose of social control. [12 marks]

• Cue. Two developed points: functionalists see control as maintaining the value consensus and order (Durkheim, anomie), while Marxists and feminists see it as serving the powerful or reproducing patriarchy, each applied to an example such as policing or the informal control of women.