Social control

One of the concepts I'm attempting to include in the literature review is a discussion of social control. My first attempt at this was pretty sketchy (based on virtually no reading) so I've been trying to do a bit more reading without immersing myself too much in 1970s theoretical sociology.

Anyway, as a start I've been reading the introduction to Social Control in Nineteenth Century Britain, edited by Tony Donajgrodzki. He quotes Talcott Parsons definition of three types of social control in tackling deviancy:

"nip in the bud" actions

insulating the bearers of such motivation from influencing others

"secondary defences" which are able to varying degrees to reverse the viscious cycle process once it's begun.

Donajgrodzki also talks about the debate over whether deviancy leads to the development of social control or whether, as 1970s radicals would argue, social control mechanisms "actually create, shape and sustain it" (quote from J Young, The Role of Police as Amplifiers of Deviancy).

Another issue he raises is the role of "outsiders" (such as religious or racial minorities) in having "a social control function for the community at large, diverting and channelling conflicts inherent in capitalist society away from the consideration of its actual source".

Social control is also not necessarily conscious (for instance in charity) and can be seen in "subtler means" in the nineteenth century from the middle class elites in terms of soup kitchens, price controls and "gestures to assert psychological solidarity" like reducing consumption in times of dearth" (which would surely have helped exacerbate any recession). These seem to me to be similar to the ideas about "soft power" in international relations (ie funding the BBC as more effective in promoting British interests compared to direct military action).

Donajgrodzki's main point about the nineteenth century seems to be the change from the early 1800s when social control was more informal, even through personal relationships when it was in terms of institutions, compared to the later 1800s when it was much more mediated through institutions. He also says that the breakdown of personal social control mechanisms was very alarming for Victorians as they had a lack of experience of non-personal social control.