How does society try to control behaviour and reduce crime?
Social control, including formal and informal control, the agencies of social control, and the role of the media in moral panics.
A focused answer to the Eduqas GCSE Sociology crime topic, covering formal and informal social control, the agencies of control, and the role of the media in creating moral panics.
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What this dot point is asking
Eduqas wants you to explain social control: the difference between formal and informal control, the agencies that carry it out, and the role of the media in creating moral panics. This dot point asks how society tries to keep behaviour in line and reduce crime, completing the crime topic on Component 2.
Formal and informal social control
Most of our behaviour is controlled informally, through socialisation and everyday social pressure, long before the law ever becomes involved. Formal control is the official backstop for serious rule-breaking. The two work together: informal control teaches the norms; formal control enforces the most important ones through the state.
The agencies of social control
This shows that controlling crime is not only the job of the police. The family and the wider process of socialisation do most of the work by teaching people to follow the rules in the first place, which is why functionalists stress the importance of effective socialisation.
The media and moral panics
The media play a special role in social control through moral panics. A moral panic is a wave of public concern, often exaggerated, about a group or issue seen as a threat to society's values. The process usually runs:
- The media exaggerate and sensationalise a problem (such as a youth subculture or a type of crime), making it seem more dangerous than it is.
- They label a group as folk devils, a threat to be feared and condemned.
- Public anxiety grows, leading to demands for a crackdown and a tougher response from the police and government.
This can amplify the very deviance it targets: heavier policing produces more arrests, which seem to confirm the panic (a self-fulfilling prophecy), and the labelled group may react by living up to its image. Moral panics connect the crime topic to labelling theory and the media, showing that social control is not always neutral and can sometimes make a problem worse.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas 20194 marksExplain the difference between formal and informal social control.Show worked answer →
A four-mark explain item: define both and bring out the contrast.
Formal social control is control through written rules and laws, enforced by official agencies such as the police, the courts and prisons, using official sanctions like fines and imprisonment. Informal social control is control through unwritten, everyday means, enforced by agencies such as the family, peers and the workplace, using informal sanctions like approval, telling-off or disapproving looks.
Develop the contrast: formal control is official and backed by the state, while informal control works through socialisation and everyday social pressure, which is why most of our behaviour is controlled informally rather than by the law. Markers reward clear definitions of both and an explicit statement of how they differ.
Eduqas 20218 marksExplain the role of the media in creating a moral panic.Show worked answer →
An eight-mark explain item: three developed points, no formal evaluation needed.
First, the media exaggerate and sensationalise a problem (for example a youth subculture or a type of crime), making it seem more widespread and dangerous than it is. Second, they label a group as "folk devils", a threat to society's values, focusing public anxiety on them. Third, this creates a moral panic: public concern grows, often leading to demands for a crackdown and a tougher response from the police and government.
A further point strengthens the answer: the increased policing can produce more arrests, which seem to confirm the panic (a self-fulfilling prophecy) and can amplify the deviance. Markers reward three or more developed points on how the media build a moral panic, ideally using the terms folk devils and amplification.
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Sources & how we know this
- Eduqas GCSE Sociology (C200) specification — WJEC Eduqas (2017)