Sociology- Marxism
‘Social Order exists because people are afraid to disobey the rules of society.’ Explain and assess this claim. [25]
Social order is the rules and regulations that are in place to steer human behaviour. It is the tool that prevents continuous conflict, violence and instability. A society that has succeeded in creating social order is one in which each member of society has the ability to live, to a degree, a stable life. There are two ways in which the States enforce social order: informal and formal social control.
Informal control is the process of socialization from a young age. It is based on learning what is acceptable and what isn’t from those around you. Functionalists say that informal social order is produced through the form of a value consensus that is shared in society. Value consensus refers to the idea of society having a moral agreement. In order to reinforce socialization there are mechanisms in place that are based on rewards and punishments. On a basic level rewards are praise, encouragement and acceptance while punishments are ridicule, rejection and gossip. On a slightly deeper level, for those who are religious, there is the promise of heaven as a reward and on the opposing side there are threats of punishment in the afterlife. However there has been a huge decline in the influence of religion in modern industrial societies since the end of the nineteenth century. Mass media has increased and so been used to create social order. Media discourage people from behaving ‘abnormally’ by presenting these behaviours as unacceptable. Schools are also used to create order as students are taught the core values of society and punished when they fail to meet the rules and regulations.
Formal controls are the public and legal forms used to control society’s members. Forms of control that are used to do this are the police, the courts and the prisons as well as the armed forces. There are certain behaviours that are thought of as dangerous by
Social order is the rules and regulations that are in place to steer human behaviour. It is the tool that prevents continuous conflict, violence and instability. A society that has succeeded in creating social order is one in which each member of society has the ability to live, to a degree, a stable life. There are two ways in which the States enforce social order: informal and formal social control.
Informal control is the process of socialization from a young age. It is based on learning what is acceptable and what isn’t from those around you. Functionalists say that informal social order is produced through the form of a value consensus that is shared in society. Value consensus refers to the idea of society having a moral agreement. In order to reinforce socialization there are mechanisms in place that are based on rewards and punishments. On a basic level rewards are praise, encouragement and acceptance while punishments are ridicule, rejection and gossip. On a slightly deeper level, for those who are religious, there is the promise of heaven as a reward and on the opposing side there are threats of punishment in the afterlife. However there has been a huge decline in the influence of religion in modern industrial societies since the end of the nineteenth century. Mass media has increased and so been used to create social order. Media discourage people from behaving ‘abnormally’ by presenting these behaviours as unacceptable. Schools are also used to create order as students are taught the core values of society and punished when they fail to meet the rules and regulations.
Formal controls are the public and legal forms used to control society’s members. Forms of control that are used to do this are the police, the courts and the prisons as well as the armed forces. There are certain behaviours that are thought of as dangerous by