Main types of social control. Methods of social control

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Social control, its types. Norms and sanctions. Deviant behavior

Social control – a set of institutions and mechanisms that guarantee compliance with generally accepted norms of behavior and laws.

Social control includes two main elements: social norms and sanctions.

Social norms

Social norms- these are socially approved or legally enshrined rules, standards, patterns that regulate the social behavior of people. Therefore, social norms are divided into legal norms, moral norms and social norms themselves.

Legal norms - These are norms formally enshrined in various types 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 people”);

social customs (eg hospitality);

social traditions (for example, the subordination of children to parents),

social mores (manners, morals, etiquette);

social taboos (absolute prohibitions on cannibalism, infanticide, etc.). Customs, traditions, mores, taboos are sometimes called general rules social behavior.

Social sanction

Social sanctions - they are means of reward and punishment that encourage people to comply with social norms. In this regard, social sanctions can be called a guardian of social norms.

Social norms and social sanctions are an inseparable whole, and if a social norm does not have an accompanying social sanction, then it loses its social regulatory function.

The following are distinguished: mechanisms of social control:

isolation - isolation of the deviant from society (for example, imprisonment);

isolation - limiting the deviant’s contacts with others (for example, placement in a psychiatric clinic);

rehabilitation is a set of measures aimed at returning the deviant to normal life.

Types of sanctions (types of social control)

Formal(official):

Negative (punishments) - punishment for breaking the law or violating an administrative order: fines, imprisonment, etc.

Positive (incentives) - encouragement of a person’s activity or behavior by official organizations: awards, certificates of professional, academic success, etc.

Informal(unofficial):

Negative - condemnation of a person for an action by society: an offensive tone, scolding or reprimand, demonstrative ignoring of a person, etc.

Positive - gratitude and approval of unofficial persons - friends, acquaintances, colleagues: praise, approving smile, etc., etc.

Types of Social Control

External social control is a set of forms, methods and actions that guarantee compliance social norms behavior. There are two types of external control - formal and informal.

Formal social control, based on official approval or condemnation, is carried out by government bodies, political and social organizations, the education system, the media and operates throughout the country, based on written norms - laws, decrees, regulations, orders and instructions. Formal social control may also include the dominant ideology in society. When we talk about formal social control, we primarily mean actions aimed at making people respect laws and order with the help of government officials. 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. Agents of informal social control are social institutions such as family, school, and 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 very weak punishment, for example, disapproval, an unfriendly look, a grin. Violation of other social norms is followed by severe punishments - death penalty, imprisonment, expulsion from the country. Violation of taboos and legal laws is punished most severely, and most mildly - individual species group habits, in particular family ones.

Internal social control - self-regulation an individual's 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 of control manifests itself, on the one hand, in feelings of guilt, emotional experiences, “remorse” for social actions, and 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.

Human consciousness- this 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 an individual to rationalize his social behavior.

Conscience- the ability of an individual to independently formulate his own moral duties and demand that he fulfill them, as well as to make a self-assessment of his actions and deeds. Conscience does not allow an individual to violate his established attitudes, principles, beliefs, in accordance with which he builds his social behavior.

Will- a person’s conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome external and internal difficulties when performing purposeful actions and deeds. Will helps an individual overcome his internal subconscious desires and needs, act and behave in society in accordance with his beliefs.

In the process of social behavior, an individual has to constantly struggle with his subconscious, which gives his behavior a spontaneous character, therefore self-control is the most important condition for people’s social behavior. 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 stricter the external control, the weaker the self-control. Moreover, social experience shows that the weaker an individual’s self-control, the stricter external control should be in relation to him. However, this is fraught with great social costs, since strict external control is accompanied by social degradation of the individual.

In addition to external and internal social control of an individual’s social behavior, there are also: 1) indirect social control, based on identification with a law-abiding reference 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 ones.

Deviant behavior

Under deviant(from Latin deviatio - deviation) behavior in modern sociology it is meant, on the one hand, an act, a person’s actions that do not correspond to officially established or actually established norms or standards in a given society, and on the other hand, a social phenomenon expressed in mass forms of human activity that do not correspond to officially established or actually established norms or standards in a given society.

One of the typologies of deviant behavior recognized in modern sociology, developed by R. Merton.

Typology of deviant behavior Merton is based on the idea of deviance as a gap between cultural goals and socially approved ways of achieving them. Accordingly, he identifies four possible types deviations:

innovation, which presupposes agreement with the goals of society and the rejection of generally accepted methods of achieving them (“innovators” include prostitutes, blackmailers, creators of “financial pyramids”, great scientists);

ritualism associated with the denial of the goals of a given society and an absurd exaggeration of the importance of ways to achieve them, for example, a bureaucrat demands that each document be carefully filled out, double-checked, filed in four copies, but the main thing is forgotten - the goal;

retreatism(or escape from reality), expressed in the rejection of both socially approved goals and methods of achieving them (drunks, drug addicts, homeless people, etc.);

riot, denying both goals and methods, but striving to replace them with new ones (revolutionaries striving for a radical breakdown of all social relations).

Some reasons for deviant behavior are not social in nature, but biopsychic. For example, a tendency towards alcoholism, drug addiction, and mental disorders can be transmitted from parents to children.

Marginalization is one of the causes of deviations. The main sign of marginalization is the breakdown of social ties, and in the “classical” version, economic and social ties are broken first, and then spiritual ones. A characteristic feature of the social behavior of marginalized people is a decrease in the level of social expectations and social needs.

Vagrancy and begging, representing a special way of life, received in Lately widespread among various types of social deviations. The social danger of social deviations of this kind is that tramps and beggars often act as intermediaries in the distribution of drugs, commit thefts and other crimes.

Positive and negative deviations

Deviations (deviations), as a rule, are negative. For example, crime, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, prostitution, terrorism, etc. However, in some cases it is possible positive deviations, for example, sharply individualized behavior characteristic of original creative thinking, which can be assessed by society as “eccentricity”, a deviation from the norm, but at the same time be socially useful. Asceticism, holiness, genius, innovation are signs of positive deviations.

Negative deviations are divided into two types:

deviations that are aimed at causing harm to others (a variety of aggressive, illegal, criminal actions);

deviations that cause harm to the individual (alcoholism, suicide, drug addiction, etc.).

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, is carried out by government bodies, political and social organizations, the education system, means mass media and operates throughout the country, based on written norms - laws, decrees, regulations, orders and instructions. Formal social control may also include the dominant ideology in society. When we talk about formal social control, we primarily mean actions aimed at making people respect laws and order with the help of government officials. Such control is especially effective in large social groups.

In the process of social control, violation of some social norms is followed by very weak punishment, for example, disapproval, an unfriendly look, a grin. Violation of other social norms is followed by severe punishments - death penalty, imprisonment, expulsion from the country. Violation of taboos and legal laws is punished most severely; certain types of group habits, in particular family ones, are punished most mildly.

Internal social control- independent regulation by an 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 of control manifests itself, on the one hand, in feelings of guilt, emotional experiences, “remorse” for social actions, and on the other hand, in the form of an individual’s reflection on his social behavior.

Human consciousness - this 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 an individual to rationalize his social behavior.

Social control, in essence, is the process by which society, its individual spheres, management systems, subsystems, and social units determine whether their actions or decisions are correct or whether they need adjustment.

Forms of social control[edit | edit wiki text]

Social control can be exercised in institutional and non-institutional forms.

1. Institutional form social control is implemented through a special apparatus specializing in control activities, which is a combination of state and public organizations (bodies, institutions and associations).

2. Non-institutional form social control is a special type of self-regulation inherent in various social systems, control over people’s behavior by mass consciousness.
Its functioning is based primarily on the action of moral and psychological mechanisms, consisting of continuous monitoring of the behavior of other people and assessments of compliance with social prescriptions and expectations. A person becomes aware of himself by observing other members of society (organization, group, community), constantly comparing himself with them, learning certain norms of behavior in the process of socialization. Society cannot exist without mental reactions and mutual assessments. It is thanks to mutual contacts that people become aware of social values, acquire social experience and skills of social behavior.

A type of institutional social control is state control.Among the types of state control there are: political, administrative and judicial.

· Political control carried out by those bodies and persons who exercise the powers of the supreme power. Depending on the political and state structure, this is parliament, regional and local elected bodies. Political control can, to a certain extent, be exercised by political parties that have received the support of the majority of the people, especially those represented in government bodies.

· Administrative control carried out by executive bodies of all branches of government. Here, as a rule, control by superior officials over the actions of subordinates is implemented, inspection and supervisory bodies are created that analyze the implementation of laws, regulations, management decisions, and study the efficiency and quality of administrative activities.

· Judicial control are carried out by all the courts at the disposal of society: general (civil), military, arbitration and constitutional courts.

However, it is difficult for one state to respond to many social requests and demands, which leads to the aggravation of social conflicts that have a destructive effect on the character public life. This requires an effective feedback ensuring citizen participation in public administration, important element which is public control. Therefore, along with state control, public control represents a special form of control - public control on the part of society represented by the public, individual citizens, social organizations and movements, public opinion. In a modern democratic society, public control is the activity, first of all, of the established institutions of civil society, the formal and informal participation of individual citizens and their associations in them.

Social control can be exercised in institutional and non-institutional forms.

A type of institutional social control is state control.Among the types of state control there are: political, administrative and judicial.

· Judicial control are carried out by all the courts at the disposal of society: general (civil), military, arbitration and constitutional courts.

However, it is difficult for one state to respond to many social requests and demands, which leads to the aggravation of social conflicts that have a destructive effect on the nature of public life. This requires the presence of effective feedback that ensures the participation of citizens in public administration, an important element of which is public control. Therefore, along with state control, public control represents a special form of social control - public control on the part of society represented by the public, individual citizens, social organizations, associations and movements, as well as public opinion. In a modern democratic society, public control is the activity, first of all, of established institutions of civil society and individual citizens - their formal and informal participation in it.

[edit]Types of social control

There are two types of social control processes:

· processes that encourage individuals to internalize existing social norms, processes of socialization of family and school education, during which the internal requirements of society - social prescriptions - occur;

· processes that organize the social experience of individuals, the lack of publicity in society, publicity is a form of social control over the behavior of the ruling strata and groups;

Subject social control is inextricably linked with deviance, deviant behavior, although it has a broader, sociological significance.
It is possible that the desire for order is innate to humans. In any case, all scientific, philosophical, religious constructions are aimed at revealing the laws (order!) of the World or introducing Order into the Chaos of Existence. In a broad, general scientific sense, order is a certainty, a pattern of arrangement of system elements and their interaction with each other. In relation to society, order is understood as the certainty, regularity of the structuring of society and the interaction of its elements (communities, classes, groups, institutions).
Social control– a mechanism of self-organization (self-regulation) and self-preservation of society by establishing and maintaining a normative order in a given society and eliminating, neutralizing, minimizing norm-violating - deviant behavior.
But it's too much general definition, requiring comments.
One of the main questions of sociology is how and why is the existence and preservation of society possible? Why does it not disintegrate under the influence of the struggle of various, including antagonistic, interests of classes and groups?* The problem of order and social control was discussed by all theorists of sociology from O. Comte, G. Spencer, K. Marx, E. Durkheim to P. Sorokin, T. Parsons, R. Merton, N. Luhmann and others.
* Turner J. The structure of sociological theory. pp. 27, 70.
Thus, O. Comte believed that society is bound by “universal consent” (consensus omnium). One of the two main branches of sociology - social static (other - social dynamics) - is, according to Comte, a theory of social order and harmony. And basic social institutions (family, state, religion) were considered by scientists from the point of view of their role in the integration of society. In other words, how institutions social control. Thus, the family teaches one to overcome innate egoism, and the state is called upon to prevent the “radical divergence” of people in ideas, feelings and interests*.
* Comte O. Course of positive philosophy // Founders of positivism. St. Petersburg, 1912. Issue. 4.
G. Spencer, who also stood at the origins of sociology and adhered to organismic ideas about society, believed that the social organism is characterized by three systems of organs: supporting (production), distribution and regulatory. The latter precisely ensures the subordination of the components (elements) of society to the whole, i.e., it essentially performs the functions social control. Being an evolutionist, G. Spencer condemned the revolution as an unnatural violation of order*.
* Spencer G. Basic principles. St. Petersburg, 1887.
The starting point for the sociology of E. Durkheim is concept of social solidarity. Classification related to solidarity concepts dual (“dual”). There are two types sociality: simple, based on consanguinity, and complex, based on the specialization of functions that arose in the process of division of social labor. For simple sociality A homogeneous group is characterized by mechanical solidarity, while a complex group is characterized by organic solidarity. To maintain mechanical solidarity, repressive law is sufficient, providing for severe punishment of violators. Organic solidarity should be characterized by restitutive (“restorative”) law, the function of which is reduced to “simple restoration of the order of things”*. Looking ahead, we note that this idea of “restorative justice”, “restorative justice” as an alternative to criminal, “retributive” justice (retributive justice) has become widespread in modern foreign criminology. The more united the society, the higher the degree social integration of individuals, the less deviations (deviations). And inevitable conflicts in society must be resolved peacefully.
* Durkheim E. On the division of social labor. Method of sociology. M., 1990. P. 109.
The scientist’s views evolved from the primacy of duty and coercion social norms towards voluntariness, personal interest of individuals in their acceptance and adherence to them. The true basis of solidarity, according to the “late” Durkheim, is not in coercion, but in an internalized (learned by the individual) moral duty, in a sense of respect for general requirements(group pressure).
Start special research social control, its functions, institutions, methods are associated with several names. Different authors solve the question of priority in this area of sociological knowledge in different ways.
Undoubtedly a major contribution to the study of problems social control contributed by W. Sumner. Already in their early works he looked at the processes control society over the environment and coercive pressure (“collective pressure”) on members of society, ensuring its cohesion*. Sumner proposed a typology of sources (means) of collective pressure: folk customs, including traditions and mores; institutions; laws. These three social mechanisms provide conformity, but are not sufficient for solidarity, which itself is a by-product of conformity.
* Sumner W. Folkways. Boston, 1906.
As we already know, the key in the theory of G. Tarde, a representative of the psychological trend in sociology and criminology, is “imitation,” with the help of which the scientist explained the main social processes, character social facts, the structure of society and the mechanism of its cohesion*. It's not surprising that typical social The relationship is the teacher-student relationship. G. Tarde paid great attention to research various forms deviance, identifying their statistical patterns. He believed that the results of such studies make it possible to put under control spontaneous social processes. An important factor social control is the socialization of the individual.
* Tard G. Laws of imitation St. Petersburg, 1892 (last edition - 1999).
For E. Ross, solidarity and cohesion are secondary to social control. It is he who binds individuals and groups into an organized whole. Key concept concept of E. Ross – “obedience”*. It can appear in two forms: personal-unofficial and impersonal-official. The first is based on consent. The second is provided through control. Perhaps E. Ross proposed the first classification of mechanisms social control: interior control– ethical and external – political. For the first, group goals are important, for the second - an institutionalized apparatus of means (legal, educational, etc.). Read more E. Ross considers family as a factor social control, forming and implementing models of behavior. Internalization (assimilation) by the individual of these models as personal ideals the best way ensures obedience.
* Ross E. Social Control. NY, 1901.
R. Park identified three forms social control: elementary sanctions, public opinion, social institutes. In one form or another, these forms control reviewed by various authors.
From the vast scientific heritage of M. Weber, his constructions of three ideal types of domination: rational, traditional, charismatic* are directly related to the problem under consideration. They can also be considered as types social control. M. Weber himself believed that “the legitimacy of the order can only be guaranteed internally,” namely: effectively and emotionally - by devotion; value-rational - belief in the absolute significance of order as an expression of immutable values; religiously - the belief in the dependence of good and salvation on the preservation of order. The legitimacy of the order can also be guaranteed by the expectation of external consequences, including law and coercion. The first type of legitimacy - legal or formally rational - is based on interest. In a rational state they obey not individuals, but established laws. Their implementation is carried out by the bureaucracy (classic examples are contemporary bourgeois England, France, and the USA). The second type - traditional - is based on morals, traditions, habits, which are attributed not only legality, but also sacredness. This type is inherent in a patriarchal society, and the main relationship is master-servant ( classic example– feudal states Western Europe). The third type - charismatic (Greek charisma - divine gift), is based on the extraordinary abilities of a person - a leader, a prophet (be it Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha or Caesar, Napoleon, and finally - A. Hitler, I. Stalin, Mao ...). If the traditional type of dominance is supported by the familiar - morals, traditions, habits, then the charismatic type is based on the unusual, extraordinary, amazing, supernatural. Weber saw charisma as a “great revolutionary force” that interrupts the gradualism of traditional development. He was lucky not to live home country to the charisma of Hitler, as well as other “leaders” with an extraordinary “gift”...
* Weber M. Staatssoziologie. Berlin, 1966.
The work of our compatriot P. Sorokin, who was forced to live and work in exile since 1922, thanks to the coming to power of charismatic leaders in Russia, is largely devoted to the topic social regulation of people's behavior. The title and content of his first major scientific work of the St. Petersburg period, “Crime and Punishment, Feat and Reward,” are devoted to the mechanism social control*. There are stable forms social behavior – “proper”, “recommended”, “prohibited” and forms social reactions to them are negative (punishment) and positive (reward) sanctions. In general, these forms constitute the regulatory substructure. In “System of Sociology”** P. Sorokin, paying tribute to the problem social order, considers the mechanism of “organized” forms of behavior. Social reactions to biopsychic stimuli, repeated many times, develop into a habit, and when realized, into a law. The totality of conscious forms of behavior in various areas of social life forms institutions, the totality of which constitutes social order or organization.
* Sorokin P. Crime and punishment, feat and reward. St. Petersburg, 1913.
** Sorokin P. System of Sociology. Pg., 1920. T. 1.
P. Sorokin gave great importance social stratification and social mobility (in fact, he introduced these concepts into scientific circulation). Hence the role concepts“status” (“rank”) as a set of rights and obligations, privileges and responsibilities, power and influence. Obstructed vertical mobility ultimately leads to a revolution - a “shake-up” social strat. Unnatural and violent character social revolutions makes them undesirable. A The best way prevention of revolutions - improving channels of vertical mobility and social control.
In his main work “Social and Cultural Dynamics”* P. Sorokin summarizes his understanding social. Its specificity is the “intangible” component: “norms – values – meanings”. It is the presence of values and norms, as well as meanings (without which it is often impossible to distinguish between a fight and boxing, rape and a voluntary sexual act, etc.) that characterizes social being in contrast to the inorganic and organic levels of being.
* For excerpts from this fundamental four-volume work, see: Sorokin P. Man. Civilization. Society. M., 1992. S. 425-504.
Problem social control is essential for functionalism and forms a significant part of the theory social actions. According to its largest representative, T. Parsons, the functions of reproduction social structures are provided by a system of beliefs, morality, and organs of socialization (family, education, etc.), and normative orientation in the theory of action plays the same role as space in classical mechanics. In "Structure social actions" Parsons raises the most significant question for him: how do they survive? social systems? He sees the answer in two main mechanisms that integrate personality into social system: mechanisms of socialization and social control*(note that from our point of view, socialization is one of the mechanisms social control).
* For more details, see: Turner J. Decree. op. pp. 70-72.
Mechanisms of socialization, according to Parsons, are the means by which an individual assimilates (interiorizes) cultural patterns - values, views, language. Socialization mechanisms also provide stable and reliable interpersonal connections that help relieve tension, anxiety, and fatigue.
Mechanisms social control include ways to organize the role of individuals' status in order to reduce tension and deviation. To the mechanisms control include: institutionalization (ensuring certainty of role expectations); interpersonal sanctions and gestures (applied by actors social actions for the purpose of mutual consistency of sanctions); ritual actions (releasing tension through symbolic means, strengthening dominant cultural patterns); structures that ensure the preservation of values and the distinction between “normal” and “deviant”; structures of re-integration (bringing tendencies towards “deviation” back to normal); institutionalization of a system capable of using violence and coercion. In a broad sense, to mechanisms social control(more precisely, maintaining the integration of the social system) also includes socialization, which ensures the internalization (assimilation) of values, ideas, symbols. Parsons also analyzed three methods social control in relation to deviants: isolation from others (for example, in prison); isolation with partial restriction of contacts (for example, in a psychiatric hospital); rehabilitation – preparation for a return to a “normal” life (for example, with the help of psychotherapy, the activities of public organizations such as “AA” - the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous).
The Age of Enlightenment and the 19th century. were imbued with faith and hope about the possibility of successful social control and "order". You just need to listen to the advice of educators, the opinions of scientists and work a little to bring reality into line with Reason...
However, several questions still remain not entirely clear:
What's happened social“order”, are there objective criteria for assessing it? For natural sciences, this is probably the level of entropy of the system - whether it (entropy) decreases or not increases. And for social systems? Perhaps synergetics can help us answer this question?
“Order” for whom? In whose interests? From whose point of view?
Is it possible to have a society without “disorder”? Obviously not. Organization and disorganization, “order” and “disorder” (chaos), “norm” and “deviation” are complementary (in Bohr’s sense). Let us recall that deviations are a necessary mechanism of change and development.
How, by what means, at what cost is “order” maintained (“ new order“A. Hitler, the Gulag “order” of I. Stalin, the establishment of “order” by America in Vietnam and Iraq, the USSR in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, Russia in Chechnya)?
In general, “the order held together by our cultural learning appears extremely vulnerable and fragile. This is only one of the possible orders, and we cannot be sure that it is the most correct one.”*
* Bauman Z. Thinking sociologically. M., 1996. P. 166.
Social practice of the 20th century. with two world wars, the Cold War, hundreds of local wars, Hitler and Lenin-Stalin concentration camps, genocide, right-wing and left-wing extremism, terrorism, fundamentalism, etc. - destroyed all illusions and myths regarding “order” and possibilities social control(one of his contemporaries noted: human history was divided into “before” Auschwitz and “after”). The amount of crimes committed by states – the “pillars of order” – was a hundred times greater than the crimes committed by individuals. At the same time, states - “sponsors of murders” (N. Kressel) - do not “repent” (maybe with the exception of Germany), but deny and renounce what they did. S. Cohen in the article “Human Rights and State Crimes: The Culture of Denial”* names three forms of such denial:
– denial of the past. Thus, in the West, publications have appeared declaring the Holocaust a “myth”; domestic Stalinists call the horror of Stalin’s repressions a “myth” (however, the recent Duma events on the anniversary of the Holocaust, when many of our elected representatives refused to honor the memory of the victims, indicate that in on this issue we are “catching up” with the West...);
– literal denial – according to the formula “we know nothing”;
– participle denial (implicatory denial) – according to the formula “yes, but...”. Thus, most war criminals, under pressure from facts, admit: “yes, it happened.” And then a “but” follows: there was an order, military necessity, etc.
* Cohen S. Human Rights and Crimes of the State: the Cultural of Denial. In: Criminological Perspectives. A Reader. SAGE, 1996, pp. 489-507.
It is not surprising that postmodernism in sociology of the late 20th century, starting with J.-F. Lyotard and M. Foucault, comes to deny the possibility social control over deviant manifestations, expressed categorically and succinctly by N. Luhmann in the words chosen as the epigraph to this chapter. And although it is likely that realistic-skeptical postmodernism - as a reaction to the illusions of the beautiful Enlightenment - is as one-sided as the Enlightenment itself, some considerations of a general scientific nature (in particular, the law of increasing entropy in a system) incline us to the side of postmodernism. “The victory of order over chaos is never complete or final... Attempts to construct an artificial order in accordance with an ideal goal are doomed to failure.”*
* Bauman Z. Thinking sociologically. M., 1996. S. 192, 193.
This does not exclude, of course, the possibility and necessity of systems, primarily biological and social, resist disorganizing entropic processes. As the father of cybernetics N. Wiener wrote, “we are floating upstream, fighting a huge stream of disorganization, which, in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics, tends to reduce everything to heat death... In this world, our first duty is to create arbitrary islands of order and system... We must run as fast as we can in order to remain in the place where we once stopped.”*
* Wiener N. I am a mathematician. M., 1967. P. 311.
Most of us fight for life to the end, knowing its inevitability and maintaining courage (or not so much...) “despite” the inevitable (A. Malraux), and “beyond despair” (J.-P. Sartre). But this does not change the final result. Every society also sooner or later ceases to exist (how often today do we remember Lydia and Chaldea, Babylon and Assyria, the Sumerian Empire and the Inca civilization?). This should not serve as an obstacle to efforts to self-preserve by organizing and maintaining “order” and reducing chaotic processes, including negative deviant behavior. We must not just forget that organization and disorganization are inextricably linked, one cannot exist without the other, and deviations are not only “harmful”, but also “useful” from the point of view of the survival and development of the system.
So the problem social control there's pretty much a problem social order, safety of society as a whole.
There are different understandings social control. At the beginning of the chapter we gave its most general definition. In a narrower sense social control is a set of means and methods of society influencing undesirable forms of deviant behavior with the aim of eliminating (eliminating) or reducing, minimizing them.
Social regulators of human behavior are values developed by society (as an expression of a person’s attitude towards certain objects and the properties of these objects that are significant for people) and the norms corresponding to them (legal, moral, customs, traditions, fashion, etc.), i.e. rules , samples, standards, standards of behavior established by the state (law) or formed in the process of joint life activity. The easiest way to convey rules (and values) is through personal example and imitation (“do as I do”). However, for complex, “post-primitive” societies it is insufficient. Humanity has developed a specific way of forming, preserving and transmitting (transmitting) values and norms - through signs. J. Piaget argued: “The basic realities created social by... the essence is the following: 1) rules (moral, legal, logical, etc.), 2) values that correspond or do not correspond to these rules, and 3) signs”*. Let me note that, from my point of view, values are primary in this series, and rules are developed in accordance with values, and not vice versa. However, like everything in science, this is a debatable issue. Finally, the accumulation, storage, and transmission of information through sign systems is possible only insofar as the signs are given meaning, understandable to those who perceive them.
* Piaget J. Selected psychological works. M., 1969. P. 210.
Social control is not limited to the normative regulation of people's behavior, but also includes the implementation of normative dictates and non-normative influence on the behavior of members of society. In other words, to social control include actions to implement regulations (norms), measures of responsibility for persons violating accepted standards, and in some states – of a totalitarian type – and persons who do not share the values proclaimed on behalf of society.
Main methods social control are positive sanctions - encouragement and negative sanctions - punishment (“carrot and stick”, “bait and switch”).
To the main mechanisms social control include external, carried out from the outside, various social institutions, organizations (family, school, public organization, police) and their representatives with the help of sanctions - positive (reward) and negative (punishment), and internal, based on internalized (learned, perceived as their own) values and norms and expressed concepts honor, conscience, dignity, decency, shame (impossible, because it’s shameful, conscience doesn’t allow it). Towards the outside control also indirect, associated with public opinion, the opinion of the reference group with which the individual identifies himself (parents, friends, colleagues). The classic formula of indirect control we find in “Woe from Wit” by A. Griboyedov: “What will Princess Marya Aleksevna say?!” (if, of course, the princess represents your reference group).
There are formal control, carried out by special bodies, organizations, institutions and their representatives within official powers and in strict in the prescribed manner, and informal (for example, indirect), punitive (repressive) and deterrent (precautionary, preventive).
It is well known that positive sanctions (reward) are much more effective than negative ones (punishment), and internal control much more effective than the external one. Unfortunately, humanity, knowing this, more often resorts to external control and repressive methods. It is believed that this is “simpler” and “more reliable”. Negative consequences“simple solutions” are not long in coming...
There are different models (shapes) social control and their classifications*. One of them, proposed by D. Black (modified by F. McClintock)**, is reproduced in table. 16.1. Each of the forms given in the table social control has its own logic, its own methods and language, its own way of defining an event and responding to it. In reality, a combination of several forms is possible.
* Black D. The Behavior of Law. NY: Academic Press, 1976; Daws N.. Anderson B. Social Control: The Production of Deviance in the Modern State. Irvington Publishers!:,c, 1983.
** For more information, see the articles by L. Hulsman and F. McClintock in the book: Planning for Crime Control Measures. M., 1982. S. 16-31, 99-105.
Table 16.1
Mechanisms social control(according to Black)

Generally social control comes down to the fact that society, through its institutions, sets values and norms; ensures their translation (transmission) and socialization (assimilation, internalization) by individuals; encourages compliance with norms (conformism) or reform that is acceptable from the point of view of society; reproaches (punishes) for violating norms; takes measures to prevent (prophylaxis, prevention) unwanted forms of behavior.
In the hypothetically ideal (and therefore unrealistic) case, society ensures the complete socialization of its members, and then neither punishment nor rewards are required. However, even in an ideal society, fellow citizens will find something to complain about! “Imagine a society of saints, a model monastery of exemplary individuals. Crimes in the proper sense of the word are unknown here; however, offenses that seem insignificant to a layman will cause here exactly the same scandal that ordinary crimes cause in normal conditions»*.
* Durkheim E. Norm and pathology // Sociology of crime. M., 1966. P. 41.
Real implementation social control over deviance significantly depends on the government, form of government, and political regime in the country*. It is no coincidence that G. W. F. Hegel believed that forms control over crime “characterize a given society even to a greater extent than crime itself”**. Theoretical, based on huge historical material, study of the role of power and political structures in social control over deviant behavior was carried out by M. Foucault***. Modern measures social control and above all, the prison is the result of the all-encompassing disciplinary power of capitalist society, which strives to create the “disciplinary individual.” This power is manifested not only in prison, but also in the barracks, psychiatric hospital, behind factory walls, in a school building. Disciplinary power is characterized by hierarchical supervision (systemic surveillance, constant control), positive and negative sanctions, tests (exams, reviews, training, inspections, etc.). Purpose of disciplinary control– the formation of “malleable bodies”, and its symbol is a prison. But then the whole society “begins to take on a strong resemblance to a prison, where we are all both guards and prisoners”****.
* For more details, see: Gilinsky Ya. Deviance, social control and political regime. In: Political regime and crime. St. Petersburg, 2001, pp. 39-65.
** Hegel. Philosophy of law. M., 1986. P. 256.
*** Foucault M. Supervise and punish: The birth of the prison. M., 1999; It's him. A history of madness in the classical era. St. Petersburg, 1997; It's him. The will to truth: Beyond knowledge, power and sexuality. M., 1996.
**** Monson P. Boat on the alleys of the park: Introduction to sociology. M., 1995. P. 63.
This echoes the work of our contemporary and compatriot A. N. Oleynik “Prison subculture in Russia: from everyday life to state power”*, in which the author, as a result of empirical research and painstaking analysis, compares Russia as a “small society” (in difference from the “big society” - civilized) with a prison. I can’t resist an extensive quote: “The tendency towards the reproduction of a “small society” and the incomplete nature of modernization are the main factors determining the post-Soviet institutional context... The state consciously suppresses any attempts to formalize a collective subject, thus contributing to the formation of a desert between everyday life groups of “insiders” and the authorities... And here it does not matter what specific form the group of “insiders” takes: the nomenklatura, the family of the president or people from the KGB... Privatization of public space by groups of “insiders”, no matter those at the helm of power or no, it means death even before the birth of civil society... The "insider" group seeks to privatize the material resources to which its members have access... Post-Soviet people hate the state because it reproduces the logic of the "insider" group and therefore views citizens as “strangers.” But at the same time, post-Soviet people are unable to get rid of such a state in which their own way of life, their own views and behavior"**.

Social control is a system of social regulation of people's behavior and maintaining social order.

There are two main forms of social control: interior And external control. Internal control involves regulation by the individual of his behavior. The factor of internal control is conscience. External control is a set of institutions that guarantee compliance with generally accepted norms and rules of behavior.

The system of social control includes two main elements: norms and sanctions. Social norms – these are instructions, requirements, rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior of people in society.

Social norms perform the following functions in society:

? regulate general course of socialization;

? integrate personality into the social environment;

? serve as models standards of appropriate behavior;

? control deviant behavior.

Norms perform their functions depending on the quality in which they manifest themselves - as standards of behavior(responsibilities, rules) or how behavior expectations(other people's reaction). For example, protecting the honor and dignity of family members is the responsibility of every man. Here we are talking about a norm as a standard of proper behavior. This standard corresponds to a very specific expectation of family members, the hope that their honor and dignity will be protected.

Social sanctions – These are incentives or punishments that encourage people to comply with norms and rules of behavior. There are four types of sanctions:

? formal positive sanctions – public approval from authorities, official institutions and organizations (government awards, state bonuses, promotions, assignment academic degrees and titles, etc.);

? informal positive sanctions – public approval coming from an informal environment, i.e. from relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, etc. (friendly praise, compliments, goodwill, recognition of leadership qualities, positive feedback, etc.);

? formal negative sanctions – These are punishments provided for by legal laws, official decrees, administrative instructions and regulations (fine, demotion, dismissal, arrest, imprisonment, deprivation civil rights and etc.);

? informal negative sanctions – punishments not provided for by the legal system of society (remark, censure, expression of displeasure, severance of friendly relations, unkind feedback, etc.).

The application of legal sanctions is ensured by state coercion, moral sanctions - by the force of moral influence from society, the church or social group. Different kinds social sanctions are interrelated and complement each other. This is one of the sources of increasing the effectiveness of their action. Thus, if legal sanctions are based on the moral principles and requirements of society, then their effectiveness is greatly increased.

Thus, the importance of social control lies primarily in the fact that it regulates the behavior of people and maintains social order, thereby promoting the integration and stabilization of society. Functioning on the basis of generally accepted values and cultural norms of a given society, social control is designed to ensure that human behavior conforms to these values and norms. This role of social control is especially evident in the prevention of deviant (deviant) behavior (5.7).

Behind long years Throughout its existence, humanity has developed a number of different forms of social control. They can be both tangible and completely invisible. The most effective and traditional form can be called self-control. It appears immediately after a person is born and accompanies him throughout his adult life. Moreover, each individual himself, without coercion, controls his behavior in accordance with the norms of the society to which he belongs. Norms in the process of socialization are very firmly established in a person’s consciousness, so firmly that having violated them, a person begins to experience the so-called pangs of conscience. Approximately 70% of social control is achieved through self-control. The more self-control the members of a society develop, the less that society has to resort to external control. And vice versa. The less self-control people have, the more often institutions of social control, in particular the army, courts, and the state, have to come into action. However, strict external control and petty supervision of citizens inhibit the development of self-awareness and expression of will, and muffle internal volitional efforts. This creates a vicious circle into which more than one society has fallen throughout world history. The name of this circle is dictatorship.

Often a dictatorship is established for a time, for the benefit of citizens and in order to restore order. But it lingers for a long time, to the detriment of people and leads to even greater arbitrariness. Citizens accustomed to submitting to coercive control do not develop internal control. Gradually they degrade as social beings, capable of taking responsibility and doing without external coercion (i.e. dictatorship). In other words, under a dictatorship, no one teaches them to behave in accordance with rational norms. Thus, self-control is a purely sociological problem, because the degree of its development characterizes the prevailing social type of people in society and the emerging form of the state. Group pressure is another common form of social control. Of course, no matter how strong a person’s self-control, belonging to any group or community has a huge impact on the personality. When an individual is included in one of the primary groups, he begins to comply with basic norms, follow a formal and informal code of conduct. The slightest deviation usually results in disapproval from group members and the risk of expulsion. “Variations in group behavior resulting from group pressure can be seen in the example of a production team. Each team member must adhere to certain standards of behavior not only at work, but also after work. And if, say, disobedience to the foreman can lead to harsh remarks from the workers for the violator, then absenteeism and drunkenness often end in his boycott and rejection from the brigade.” However, depending on the group, the strength of group pressure may vary. If the group is very cohesive, then, accordingly, the strength of group pressure increases. For example, in a group where a person spends his free time, it is more difficult to exercise social control than in a place where joint activities are regularly carried out, for example in the family or at work. Group control can be formal or informal. Official meetings include all sorts of work meetings, deliberative meetings, shareholder councils, etc. Informal control refers to the influence on group members by participants in the form of approval, ridicule, condemnation, isolation and refusal to communicate.

Another form of social control is propaganda, which is considered very a powerful tool influencing human consciousness. Propaganda is a way of influencing people, in some way preventing the rational education of a person, in which the individual makes own conclusions. The main task of propaganda is to influence groups of people in such a way as to shape the behavior of society in the desired direction. Propaganda should influence those forms of social behavior that are closely related to the system of moral values in society. Everything is subject to propaganda processing, from people’s actions in typical situations to beliefs and orientations. Propaganda is used as a kind of technical means suitable for achieving their goals. There are 3 main types of propaganda. The first type includes the so-called revolutionary propaganda, which is needed in order to force people to accept a value system, as well as a situation that is in conflict with the generally accepted one. An example of such propaganda is the propaganda of communism and socialism in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The second type is destructive propaganda. Its main goal is to destroy the existing value system. The clearest example of such propaganda was Hitler’s, which did not try to force people to accept the ideals of Nazism, but did their best to undermine trust in traditional values. And finally, the third type of propaganda is reinforcing. It is designed to consolidate people's attachments to certain values and orientations. This type of propaganda is typical for the United States, where the existing value system is reinforced in a similar way. According to sociologists, this type of propaganda is the most effective; it serves very well to maintain established value orientations. In addition, it reflects established, traditional stereotypes. This type of propaganda is mainly aimed at instilling conformism in people, which presupposes agreement with the dominant ideological and theoretical organizations.

Currently, the concept of propaganda in the public consciousness is associated mainly with the military sphere or politics. Slogans are considered one of the ways to implement propaganda in society. A slogan is a short saying, usually expressing a main goal or guiding idea. The correctness of such a statement is usually not in doubt, since it is only of a general nature.

During a period of crisis or conflict in a country, demagogues may throw out, for example, slogans such as “My country is always right,” “Motherland, faith, family,” or “Freedom or death.” But do most people analyze real reasons of this crisis or conflict? Or do they just go along with what they are told?

In his work on the First World War, Winston Churchill wrote: “Just one draft is enough - and crowds of peaceful peasants and workers turn into mighty armies, ready to tear the enemy to pieces.” He also noted that most people, without hesitation, carry out the order given to them.

The propagandist also has at his disposal many symbols and signs that carry the ideological charge he needs. For example, a flag can serve as a similar symbol, and ceremonies such as the firing of twenty-one guns and saluting are also symbolic. Love for parents can also be used as leverage. It is obvious that such concepts - symbols as fatherland, motherland or the faith of ancestors, can become a powerful weapon in the hands of clever manipulators of other people's opinions.

Of course, propaganda and all its derivatives are not necessarily evil. The question is who is doing it and for what purpose. And also about who this propaganda is being directed at. And if we talk about propaganda in a negative sense, then it is possible to resist it. And it's not that difficult. It is enough for a person to understand what propaganda is and learn to identify it in the general flow of information. And having learned, it is much easier for a person to decide for himself how compatible the ideas instilled in him are with his own ideas about what is good and what is bad.

Social control through coercion is also another common form of it. It is usually practiced in the most primitive as well as traditional societies, although it may be present in smaller quantities even in the most developed states. In the presence of a high population of a complex culture, so-called secondary group control begins to be used - laws, various violent regulators, formalized procedures. When an individual does not want to follow these regulations, the group or society resorts to coercion to force him to do the same as everyone else. IN modern societies there are strictly developed rules, or a system of control through coercion, which is a set of effective sanctions applied in accordance with various types deviations from the norms.

Social control through coercion is characteristic of any government, but its place, role, and character in different systems are not the same. In a developed society, coercion is imposed mainly for crimes committed against society. The decisive role in the fight against crime belongs to the state. It has a special coercive apparatus. Legal norms determine why government agencies can use coercion. The means of coercion are physical and mental violence, i.e. threat. There is also no reason to believe that a threat can only be a means of coercion when it is punishable in itself. The state must also protect its citizens from coercion by threats, which in themselves are not punishable if the content of the threat is an illegal act, otherwise many cases of serious mental violence would go unpunished. The element of coercion, joining the threat, gives it something different and higher value. It goes without saying that the threat must contain an indication of a significant, in the eyes of the threatened, illegal evil, otherwise it will be unable to influence the will of the threatened person.

In addition to the above, there are many other forms of social control, such as encouragement, pressure from authority, and punishment. A person begins to feel each of them from birth, even if he does not understand that he is being influenced.

All forms of social control are covered by its two main types: formal and informal.

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