Durkheim And The Boundaries Of Social Control

Durkheim stated that society must have some form of boundaries that decide whether particular behaviours are acceptable. Social control allows society to police its boundaries and is the way that society deals with the deviant and criminal behaviours of the individuals belonging to that minority. There are two types of social control. Formal, whereby laws and rules are enforced by agencies that have been created specifically for control, such as police, this helps maintain order in society. Informal is where the individuals who are deviant are encouraged or coerced by people they mix with into conforming with what are perceived as appropriate norms and values. Most societies have a mixture of informal and formal control; the balance depends