What is Social Control?

Social control is a really interesting concept that is the fundamental principle for explaining why most people like us will tend to follow orders in society and avoid committing crime and deviant or abnormal acts by a method known as rewards and sanctions. There are two forms of social control; formal and informal. Informal social control is how our behaviour is regulated by those closest to us such as our family, friends and even teachers. If we behave against the norms and values in society, such as swearing or fighting, we are sanctioned (punished) by either scolding from our parents, isolation or break up with our friends, or detention in school. Formal control is how we are taught not to be criminal and follow legal norms, as the police regulate our behaviour with sanctions such as prison time or a criminal record when we commit a crime, which will affect our life chances.As mentioned, it's not always about sanctions; we are rewarded for good behaviour, informally by teachers through gold stars when we listen well in class or praise by parents for doing chores.