How social control prevents crime Cambridge IGCSE Sociology revision
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In plain words
Why did you not steal anything today? "I might get caught" is the answer the law hopes for. "It would be wrong, and my family would be ashamed" is the answer that does most of the work.
8 things to know
- Formal agencies of social control have official power. The government makes the laws. The police patrol, investigate and arrest. The courts try and sentence. The penal system punishes and tries to reform. The armed forces keep order in an emergency.
- These agencies prevent crime mainly by deterrence. People obey because they fear being caught and punished.
- Informal agencies of social control work through everyday relationships. The family teaches right from wrong and supervises children. Education teaches rules, and punishes those who break them.
- The workplace controls through rules and the threat of dismissal. Religion gives moral rules. The peer group controls through approval and ostracism.
- Traditional and digital media report crimes and punishments, which reminds everyone where the limits are. Social media can shame people publicly.
- Informal agencies prevent crime by making people want to conform. The norms become part of a person's own conscience.
- Effectiveness. Most people obey most laws most of the time, which suggests that informal control works. Formal control deals with those it fails to reach.
- Limitations. Not everyone is successfully socialised. A peer group can encourage crime. Many crimes are never detected, many prisoners offend again, and the crimes of the powerful are often left unpunished.
Worked example
A teenager is offered stolen trainers by a friend and refuses. Identify the forms of social control that might explain the refusal.
- Family: he has been taught that handling stolen goods is wrong, and would be ashamed if his parents found out.
- Formal control: he knows he could get a criminal record.
- Conscience: the norm has been internalised, so he would feel guilty.
- The friend who offered the trainers is a reminder that the peer group can pull the other way.
Tips and tricks
- Formal control works by fear of punishment. Informal control works by conscience and by the wish for approval. Use both in an effectiveness answer.
- The peer group and the media appear on both sides. They can prevent deviance, or encourage it.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
How social control prevents crime: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
Which agency tries and sentences offenders?
The courts decide guilt and punishment.
How do informal agencies mainly prevent crime?
Norms become part of the person.
How can the peer group encourage deviance?
A group can reward what society punishes.
What do the media do as an agency of control?
Publicity shows where the limits are.
Most people obey most laws even when no police are present. What does this suggest?Stretch
People police themselves.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
How social control prevents crime
Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
What is meant by the term "deterrence"?[2]
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Discouraging people from committing crime through fear of the punishment.
Describe how two informal agencies of social control prevent crime and deviance.[4]
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Any two, each described: the family teaches children right from wrong and supervises them; education teaches rules and punishes rule-breaking; religion provides moral rules; the workplace sets rules, with dismissal as a sanction; the peer group disapproves of those who go too far; the media report punishments and shame offenders.
Explain two reasons why agencies of social control do not prevent all crime.[4]
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Any two, each explained: some people are not adequately socialised into society's norms; peer groups may reward deviant behaviour; many crimes are not detected, so punishment is not certain; prison does not stop many offenders from reoffending; crimes by powerful people are rarely punished.
Answers: How social control prevents crime
- 1. Discouraging people from committing crime through fear of the punishment.
- 2. Any two, each described: the family teaches children right from wrong and supervises them; education teaches rules and punishes rule-breaking; religion provides moral rules; the workplace sets rules, with dismissal as a sanction; the peer group disapproves of those who go too far; the media report punishments and shame offenders.
- 3. Any two, each explained: some people are not adequately socialised into society's norms; peer groups may reward deviant behaviour; many crimes are not detected, so punishment is not certain; prison does not stop many offenders from reoffending; crimes by powerful people are rarely punished.