Social Control Examples

Societies usually all have norms, rules, and punishments for social control of its members. Social control can happen formally and informally. Mostly, we see social control within laws, court systems, and forms of law enforcement, but it can manifest in other ways, like emotions. Depending on the society, the control will vary and may also change over time. Examples of formal control are: going to jail for breaking the laws that are in place, getting a referral at school for bullying, or being fired for not following a companies set policies. Examples of informally control are: criticism for a differing belief, disapproval from a parent when the child’s grades are low, or, more severely, discrimination for sex, age, or skin color.
Moral codes are generally a stronger for of social control. From a very young age, children are taught right from wrong, to be nice to others, and to
On a smaller scale, we can see social control in a group of friends, using peer pressure. If one friend is not into playing video games, and the rest of the group loves playing video games, the one friend may conform and start playing just so that they fit in with the group and follow the groups norms. We can also see this control in history. In the 1600’s, the Inquisition, who were powered by the Catholic church, forced Jewish and Muslim people to conform to their beliefs, religion, and ways of life, or face punishment.
Members of societies go up against many obstacles just to fit into society like a puzzle piece, but, in today’s day in age, the norms are rapidly changing with more acceptance of people being unique, but still following formal social control. On the other hand, there are places in the world that hold a firm grasp over its people and continue to enforce morals and beliefs. Society has many ways in which it exerts social control over its