Informal and Formal Social Control

This article focuses on the existence of social control, or the various methods that society employs in order to ensure faithful adherence toward order and restraint. The article launches into two theories that provide clarity toward social control: Labeling theory, which asserts that society creates criminals by branding them with an iniquitous label that subsequently limits their prospective opportunities, and Minority-threat hypothesis, which claims that mainstream America increases punitive admonition toward minorities in order to prevent them from flourishing. Examples of formal demonstrations of social control, or laws and policies that serve as the starting point on which behaviors and attitudes follow, are provided. The refusal to follow such legislation results in legal and illegal punishment (i.e., warnings, fines, threats, persecution, and imprisonment). Outside the dictates of the law, formal social control strategies exist in both educational and workplace institutions. Finally, informal social control influences include nonverbal communication at the micro-level, and on a larger scale, a community's willingness to contest the spread of crime.

Keywords Formal Social Control; Informal Social Control; Labeling Theory; Minority-Threat Hypothesis; Recidivism; Retribution; Theoretical Considerations Surrounding Social Control

Overview

Labeling Theory

Labeling theory is a framework that most frequently functions as a mechanism for conceptualizing the derivation of deviance and amoral behavior, and was spearheaded by a sociologist named Frank Tannenbaum (Maier, 1974; Davis, 1972; Goode, 1994; Meade, 1974). Understanding Tannenbaum's life story is pertinent to the comprehension of his subsequent theory; his formative years were tumultuous and relationships with parental figures were strained due to his willful opposition toward authority. Also, early in his development, Tannenbaum demonstrated a desire to fight on behalf of the "underdog," and in 1912 at age 19, he organized a rally that encouraged the homeless men of New York City to rally together in contempt of their lifelong plights that had disabled them from meeting basic financial, nutritional, and residential needs. His insurgent methods were highly opposed, and he received a one-year prison sentence. During his detention, he befriended a prison warden who believed in his intellectual abilities and recommended his eventual admission into college, thus spurring his eventual academic route (Maier, 1974).

The basic principles of Labeling theory, as outlined by Tannenbaum, can be captured in the following scenario: Bob and Jon are 15 years of age and neighborhood companions who, as an expression of boredom and adolescent angst, often engage in minor infractions such as throwing bricks through the windows of vacant buildings on forsaken lots or spray-painting profane extractions against the side of bridges and other communal property. Bob has been able to "fly under the radar," and executes such acts of desecration anonymously. Jon, on the other hand, is significantly less circumspect in his exploits and consistently receives verbal reproach from police officials for his unlawful behavior.

Over the course of a year, Bob and Jon continue their illegitimate activities, for which only Jon gets caught, and at the compilation of several warnings he is labeled a criminal and hauled off to jail and sentenced a severe penalty. The future outlook for Jon, according to Labeling Theory, is that he will endure a tattered self-image and will identify with the criminal label with which he had been bequeathed, thus leading him toward lifelong pursuits that are unsavory and illegal in nature. Bob never received any reprimand for his actions, and thus never received a criminal label. Hence, he was able to effortlessly forfeit his immature deeds for that which was more responsible and socially revered, and forged a successful and productive existence. As such, Labeling Theory does not focus on the preemptive, adverse behavior that eventually transpires into hardened criminality, for both Bob and Jon participated in identical mishaps. Nor does Labeling Theory discount the fact that criminals are, in many cases, guilty and should be punished accordingly. While such theorists do not disregard faulty actions, they do pinpoint a maladaptive screening process. Goode (1994) describes such shortcomings metaphorically by using the familiar movie line, "round up the usual suspects :"

Individuals, or categories of individuals, were being "rounded up" not because they did anything wrong or caused any harm, but simply because they were convenient or acceptable targets of social control. The individuals who were "rounded up": didn't do it; or did it, but so did other individuals; or they did it a little—while others got away—but having gotten caught, they end up doing a lot more; or didn't cause any harm; or they caused some harm, but others caused more. In short, targets of social control didn't deserve to become so targeted (p. 92).

The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Most importantly, Labeling Theory professes that it is the system that creates criminals. In the process of vilifying individuals for their transgressions, immoral traits akin to the "criminal" classification become enmeshed with one's sense of self, and the reinforcement of stereotypes surrounding such a label abound, all of which help the individuals enact their newly developed criminal persona via the self-fulfilling prophecy. Thus, society is at the helm of a corrupt manufacturing system that provides a rigorous training ground for which the "criminal" may cultivate his cunning proclivity for amoralities, and which consequently increases society's overall patterns of delinquency. This process exists when trivial legalities are maximized under the harshest of legal sanctions.

An illustration of this can be seen in the 1997 arrest of four German tourists who were caught defacing the corridors of New York's subway system. These vandals were prosecuted and sentenced to serve a one-week term at the notorious Riker's Island Correctional Institution ("Invasion," 1997) which has a reputation of housing unruly acts of violence between inmates (Lorch, 1996), gang involvement (Purdy, 1994), access to drugs and contraband, and the mistreatment of prisoners by dishonorable guards (Fahim, 2008). Surely the intention for imprisoning the vandals at such an infamous site was to curb their propensity for future acts of property destruction. However, a frightful alternative surrounds the prospect that the aggression and mayhem to which the vandals were exposed desensitized their sense of moral standards, so that their ultimate threshold for wrongdoings actually increased.

Minority-Threat Hypothesis

One might rightfully question society's incentives for proactively sculpting a system that contributes toward the creation of criminals, as the logical assumption would surround a social order that reigns in acts of fraudulence and misconduct. The answer to such a query can be found in the Minority-threat hypothesis (Jacobs & Tope, 2007; Ruddell & Urbina, 2004; Stults & Baumer, 2007), a theory surrounding the inequitable treatment that is administered to minority groups by the dominant majority presiding within each culture. In particular, the Minority-threat hypothesis claims that society is not only oppressive and discriminatory in its treatment of various ethnic or religious groups, but that the mere presence of non-majority members is daunting and jeopardizes the status quo. As the growth of such minority populations expand, the threat they pose to the larger society increases due to the viable competition they bring to the job market, the fact that they add more entrants who vie for limited resources, as well as that they contend for sacred positions of financial and political power. Thus, as group membership among minorities broadens, intolerance and prejudicial behavior concurrently grows in magnitude.

According to the Minority-threat hypothesis, society utilizes nefarious social-control techniques that diminish the likelihood that promising, up-and-coming minority groups will prevail, including the perpetuation of fear and blame, as well as the dispensation of harsher punitive consequences. The coalition between racial profiling and crime has been extensively documented (Vito & Walsh, 2008; Welch, 2007) and substantiates preexisting stereotypes that people hold. It is difficult for people to shed their biased assumptions that African American and Latin communities are more violent and geared toward dereliction, when every time they open the morning newspaper or turn on the evening news they are infiltrated with images that point to the contrary. Golub, Johnson, & Dunlap (2007) present statistical evidence that compared the penalties Blacks and Hispanics received for smoking marijuana in public with their White counterparts. Cases that were dismissed include the following: 77.8% for both Blacks and Hispanics, whereas 88.9% for White conspirators. Also, 4% of African Americans were incarcerated for such a violation, whereas 3% of Latinos and .9% of Caucasians were detained.

More appalling data is demonstrated through research by Moore & Elkavich (2008) who indicate that while White and Black drug usage is relatively similar (7.2% and 7.4% respectively), 60% of American jails are crowded with African Americans, 62.6% of whom are imprisoned on drug charges. Stuntz (2006) asserts that such biased disproportion is headed by underhanded politicians who operate with prescribed agendas, which causes and results in a corroded system filled with "overcriminalization, excessive punishment, racially skewed drug enforcement, overfunding of prisons and underfunding of everything else" (Stuntz, 2006, pp. 781-782).

Applications

Formal Demonstrations of Social Control

Legislation

The foundation of formal social control lies within the legislative forces that establish societal guidelines, such as laws and policies, which therefore possess the most significant form of power and behavioral manipulation. Lawfully endorsed injunctions shape many aspects of social conventions such as to whom one may marry, i.e., heterosexual marital unions (Eleveld, 2007), and who has the ability to exercise their right to vote, a political responsibility that women were banned from voicing until 1920 (Wetter, 2008). In examining alcohol consumption, Pittman, Staudenmeier & Kaplan (1991) highlight the fact that governmental decrees determine the following criteria, all of which may vary between regions:

1. Who may purchase and drink alcohol;
2. What may be purchased and consumed;
3. Where it may be purchased and consumed;
4. When it may be purchased and consumed;
5. The cost and form of payment;
6. The unacceptable consequences of drinking (p. 970).

Another way of appreciating the amount of control that is dictated through legislation is by examining international drug and alcohol regulations. For example, the overall manner alcohol is perceived varies significantly between France and Saudi Arabia; likewise, cocaine usage in some countries can be deemed recreational and of no particular concern, whereas it is classified as a "hard" drug among Americans.

If legal doctrines serve as the basis on which people preemptively structure their behavior, there are several provisions targeting those who negligently evade such legal responsibilities. Social control reprisals can be found in the following examples: cautionary warnings, which tend to serve as a deterrent reminder that people have gone astray, and monetary fines, which have undergone scrutiny regarding their level of effectiveness and ability to ignite change ("Doubled fines," 1998). Authority figures venture into immoral territory when their acts of domination and command revolve around unwarranted threats and intimidation ("Shake up," 2006). Illegal ways that people in positions of power demonstrate their clout can be dispensed through acts of insufferable persecution, such as the torture that U.S. military officials imparted onto Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib (Tucker & Triantafyllos, 2008), or the absolute sovereignty that White Americans held over Black slaves until ratification of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 (Ewan, 2005).

Imprisonment

Imprisonment is a type of formal social control that serves to retroactively amend problematic behavior. There are several schools of thought circulating around the functionality of prison (Gromet & Darley, 2006; Shoham, Beck, & Kett, 2008; Tewksbury & Mustaine, 2008). Some assert that a jail term is constructive for both the victim and society as a whole, and that the act of sequestering the perpetrator in a secured cell ensures the victim's long awaited sense of safety, while instilling a sense of restoration that will encourage their advancement past the criminal activity. Other theories focus primarily on the convict, by holding the perspective that he or she needs to suffer for his or her wrongdoings retributively; words that encompass this position include "payback" and "vengeance." Yet another angle centering primarily on the criminal is that the prison sentence will serve to rehabilitate his or her reprehensible atrocities. There are several in-house programs that cater to such treatment and moral growth including art therapy (Merriam, 1998), counseling, education, and mentoring (Kupchik, 2007), as well as hands-on job skills such as welding (Conlon, Harris, Nagel, et al., 2008).

Education

Outside of the realm of legal sanctions, additional acts of formal social control are bestowed upon the general public. From a smaller-scale perspective, education operates as a platform for which social control mechanisms are in full function. Lifelong lessons such as self-restraint, punctuality, and adherence to rules (Macionis, 2001) are fundamentally inculcated into the pupil's code of ethics through the structured and meticulous sets of standards, schedules, protocol, and expectations found within public school systems. Moreover, a plethora of data suggests that increased involvement eliminates the likelihood that children and adolescents will entangle themselves within the trenches of indolence or delinquency (Landers & Landers, 1978; Roberts, 2005). Many experts advise involvement in extracurricular activities such as sports, clubs, and other social establishments, although school enrollment itself acts as a barrier against criminal activity (Dalun, Katsiyannis, Barrett, et. al, 2007).

Economic Regulation

School also serves as a preliminary step that prepares for eventual succession into the career force, which demands an equal level of discipline, timeliness, and productivity. Similarly, there is an abundance of literature indicating that unemployment rates correspond significantly with lifestyles rife with crime and other improprieties (Anderson, 2006; Baron & Hartnagel, 1997). Hence, national economic burdens that are placed on residents, including taxation and inflated housing markets, serve as social controls, as they mandate the necessity of employment, thereby diminishing crime rates. A direct social control mechanism that many organizations utilize is regulating the recreational, off-the-clock behavior in which employees engage during their personal time. Such behavior is supervised through the enforcement of workplace drug testing policies (Zimmer & Jacobs, 1992) that measure both the type and amount of chemical agents that employees may have recently ingested.

Informal Social Control

At the micro-level, informal social control can be defined as disapproving communication that is transmitted from person to person, which ultimately influences conformity to standards (Nugier, Niedenthal, Brauer, et al., 2007). For example, Joan and her mother, Mrs. Smith, are shopping for back-to-school clothes. Joan tries on a revealing blouse and examines her mother's facial expression in order to obtain feedback on the risqué garment. Mrs. Smith wrinkles her nose, and says in a forced tone, "Well…it's o.k., I suppose." Based on Mrs. Smith's hesitancy, Joan returns the clothing item to its display shelf for fear of wearing a shameful style that will refute her mother's approval. Professionals and laypersons alike use subtle or apparent forms of nonverbal communication to express their standpoints and exchange directives, which in turn may modify behavior toward a more desirable route. For example, students learn quickly how to discern whether their teacher's tone of voice, physical posturing, and facial expressions function as a form of encouragement or condemnation, and adapt accordingly.

Community Monitoring

Extending outside of the individual self, an example of informal control at the community level can be examined through a study conducted by Silver & Miller (2004), in which they analyzed data on disadvantaged Chicago neighborhoods. In particular, they sought to explain why low-income vicinities tend to impart lower levels of informal social control, manifested by neighbors who were proactive and accountable to their environments. Examples they use to illustrate this notion included, "neighbors taking note and questioning strangers, watching over each other's property, assuming responsibility for the supervision of youth and intervening in local disturbances" (Sampson, 1987, as cited in Silver & Miller, 2004, p. 553). The perplexity held by the researchers was intensified by the fact that underprivileged neighborhoods tend to have strong social networks and a sense of kinship and camaraderie.

Interestingly, the study conducted by Silver & Miller revealed that solidarity and social ties do not necessarily equate with informal social control. Rather, a sense of longevity and investment, as opposed to mobility and fleeting transience practiced within neighborhoods played a pivotal role in imposing social control. Common sense aligns with this premise, in that the more imbedded a person is within his surroundings, the more likely he is to uphold its sense of safety and morale. Another finding that emerged from the Silver & Miller study surrounds the alliance that community members had forged with the police department. Positive affiliation with local police officers yielded citizens who were more apt to implement social control mechanisms, demonstrated by increased reports on suspicious activity, and their overall commitment and attentiveness toward community endeavors.

Viewpoints

Social Control or Censorship?

In contemplating one's values, attitudes, and preferential leanings, it is difficult to discern the separation between that which an individual finds redeemable based on his own psychological underpinnings and belief system, and what he is regurgitating from the influential programming that constantly permeates his everyday life. For example, most television broadcast stations that claim to relay information in unbiased and objective terms tend to lean slightly to the "right" or "left" based on their philosophical predilections, political agendas, and receipt of corporate sponsorship. Hence, the channel that people tune into on a regular basis influences the manner in which they conceptualize the world at large. Or, probably more commonly, people are attuned to such biased reports and pursue the stations that reflect their own convictions, a lackluster process that solely acts to validate their subjective perspectives. Another example of the debilitating effects of social control surrounds a phenomenon that artists have contended with for centuries, in which their retaliation against the norm renders a strict sentence: censorship. Hence, the powers that be, or those who are in charge of disseminating social control mechanisms, have the ability to prompt behavior and attitudes, which elicit robotic and mechanized adherence to prearranged ideologies.

Conversely, social control can be a positive technique used to uphold safety and manage the masses. Seat belt usage, for example, steadily increased between the years 2000 and 2005 from 71% to 82% (Arms, 2005). Initiatives to encourage such a movement, such as stricter laws and scare tactics dispersed throughout the media during that period, which focused on the deadly repercussions of remaining unbuckled, are the likely catalysts that promoted safer lifestyles.

Terms & Concepts

Formal Social Control: Revolves around laws or policies and serves as the starting point from which widespread norms, behaviors, and attitudes follow.

Informal Social Control: Subtle forms of control that include non-verbal communication or community involvement.

Labeling Theory: Posits that society creates criminals by branding them with the criminal label that subsequently limits their prospective opportunities.

Minority-Threat Hypothesis: The theory that mainstream America increases punitive admonition toward minorities in order to prevent them from flourishing.

Recidivism: The rate at which people return to prison after they had been released.

Retribution: The perspective that criminals need to suffer for their wrongdoings; words that encompass this position include "payback" and "vengeance."

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Suggested Reading

Chriss, J. (2007). Social control: An introduction. UK, USA: Polity Publishers.

Garland, D. (2002). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. USA: University of Chicago Press.

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Pfohl, S. J. (1994). Images of deviance and Social Control. USA: McGraw-Hill.

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