In sociology, there are two main processes social control: the application of positive or negative sanctions for the social behavior of the individual; interiorization (from the French interiorisation - transition from outside to inside) by an individual of social norms of behavior. In this regard, external social control and internal social control, or self-control, are distinguished.
External social control is a set of forms, methods and actions that guarantee compliance with social norms of behavior. There are two types of external control - formal and informal.
Formal social control based on official approval or condemnation, carried out by the authorities state power, political and social organizations, the education system, the means mass media and operates throughout the country, based on written norms - laws, decrees, resolutions, orders and instructions. Formal social control may also include the dominant ideology in society. Speaking of formal social control, they mean, first of all, actions aimed at making people respect laws and order with the help of government representatives. Such control is especially effective in large social groups.
Informal social control based on the approval or condemnation of relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, public opinion, expressed through traditions, customs or the media. The agents of informal social control are such social institutions as family, school, religion. This type of control is especially effective in small social groups.
In the process of social control, violation of some social norms is followed by a very weak punishment, for example, disapproval, an unfriendly look, a smirk. Violation of other social norms is followed by severe punishments - the death penalty, imprisonment, exile from the country. Violation of taboos and legal laws is most severely punished, and certain types of group habits, in particular family habits, are most mildly punished.
Internal social control- independent regulation by the individual of his social behavior in society. In the process of self-control, a person independently regulates his social behavior, coordinating it with generally accepted norms. This type control is manifested, on the one hand, in a sense of guilt, emotional experiences, "remorse" for social actions, on the other hand, in the form of an individual's reflection on his social behavior.
An individual's self-control over his own social behavior is formed in the process of his socialization and the formation of socio-psychological mechanisms of his internal self-regulation. The main elements of self-control are consciousness, conscience and will.
human consciousness- This individual shape mental representation of reality in the form of a generalized and subjective model of the surrounding world in the form of verbal concepts and sensory images. Consciousness allows the individual to rationalize his social behavior.
Conscience- the ability of a person to independently formulate his own moral duties and demand from himself their fulfillment, as well as to make a self-assessment of the actions and deeds performed. Conscience does not allow an individual to violate his established attitudes, principles, beliefs, in accordance with which he builds his social behavior.
Will- conscious regulation by a person of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome external and internal difficulties in the performance of purposeful actions and deeds. The will helps the individual to overcome his inner subconscious desires and needs, to act and behave in society in accordance with his convictions.
In the process of social behavior, the individual has to constantly fight with his subconscious, which gives his behavior a spontaneous character, therefore self-control is the most important condition for the social behavior of people. Typically, individuals' self-control over their social behavior increases with age. But it also depends on social circumstances and the nature of external social control: the tighter the external control, the weaker the self-control. Moreover, social experience shows that the weaker the individual's self-control, the tougher external control should be in relation to him. However, this is fraught with great social costs, since strict external control is accompanied by social degradation of the individual.
In addition to external and internal social control of the social behavior of an individual, there are also: 1) indirect social control based on identification with a reference law-abiding group; 2) social control based on the wide availability of a variety of ways to achieve goals and satisfy needs, alternative to illegal or immoral.
Lawful Conduct from a legal point of view, it is such behavior that is consistent with the requirements of legal regulations. From a social point of view, this is behavior that brings good, socially useful behavior. Lawful behavior is the main type of legally significant behavior. Illegal behavior is not as widespread as lawful. Because most people do not even notice that they are doing the right things during the day. When everything goes without conflict, people do not notice it. Lawful Conduct is an act that is included in the subject legal regulation and corresponds either to the principles of law, or based on these principles of legal norms and dispositions of protective norms. It is the result of the implementation of legal norms. Lawful behavior is the only socially useful type of legal behavior. Righteous behavior is the goal of the legislator, law enforcement. The whole system is subordinated to ensuring lawful summing up state apparatus.
Signs of a legitimate behavior:
1. Lawful behavior always appears in the form of an act (action or inaction).
2. Lawful behavior is socially useful behavior, i.e. contributes to the progressive progressive development of society and individuals.
3. Lawful conduct is the most massive view legal behavior.
4. Lawful behavior is sometimes incorrectly assessed in terms of mass character. For example, in the case of mass misconduct, the legislator revises certain norms.
Lawful behavior can classify on various grounds.
According to the objective side of lawful behavior (according to the external form of manifestation of lawful behavior):
1. Actions - active lawful behavior.
2. inaction - passive lawful behavior.
On the subjective side of lawful behavior (mental side):
1. Active-conscious lawful behavior - based on the inner conviction of the subject to act lawfully.
2. Positive (habitual) behavior - is carried out within the framework of the formed habitual activity of the individual to comply with and enforce legal norms, i.e. a person does this by force of habit, by force of upbringing.
3. Conformist lawful behavior - such lawful behavior, which is not based on a deep inner conviction of the subject, but on the fact that everyone around him does this.
4. Marginal lawful behavior - when the subject acts lawfully because of fear of adverse consequences for misbehavior.
In areas of public life in which lawful behavior is implemented:
1. Lawful behavior in the economic sphere.
2. Lawful behavior in the political sphere.
3. Lawful behavior in the cultural sphere, etc.
According to the subject carrying out lawful behavior:
1. Lawful behavior of a person (individual, citizens and officials).
2. Legal Behavior of Organizations legal entities.
3. Lawful behavior of the state, its bodies, officials.
By industry affiliation legal rules governing lawful conduct:
1. Constitutional lawful behavior.
2. Criminal lawful conduct.
3. Civil lawful conduct, etc.
Another classification:
1. socially necessary(socially necessary) lawful behavior. For example, paying taxes.
2. socially acceptable lawful behaviour. Go hunting. There is no need for everyone to go there, but they allow the opportunity to hunt, they allow it.
May be desired lawful behaviour. For example, participation in elections is a socially desirable legitimate behavior. Or receiving higher education, the state is very interested in this. And not desirable.
Lawful behavior can be individual and collective they differ significantly from each other. It is basically impossible to exercise the right to strike individually. It is always a collective lawful behavior.
By subjects: lawful behavior; lawful behaviour. It is possible to speak about the lawful behavior of the states.
In the scientific literature, there are several concepts of lawful behavior:
1. Lawful behavior is considered to be that which corresponds to the prescriptions of legal norms.
2. Lawful is any behavior that is not prohibited by legal norms.
Both of these concepts are not true for the following reasons:
First:
· Given the existence of gaps in the legislation, we can say that this definition is not correct.
· Not every legal norm is an expression of law, there are norms that are not related to law enforcement, i.e. and behavior arising from such norms is not lawful either.
· Behavior should not correspond to the entire structure of legal norms, but only to a hypothesis (in regulatory norms) or disposition (in protective norms).
Second: law is not the only and universal regulator of social relations - it does not cover all spheres of life and there is such behavior that is legally neutral, but at the same time negative for public life.
In every society, people appear - outstanding and "simple" - who violate the existing norms in it - moral, legal, aesthetic. society, social stratum, group of norms, values, ideals, i.e. normative standards. In other words, deviant behavior has deviant motivation. Examples of such behavior are the lack of a greeting at a meeting, hooliganism, innovative or revolutionary actions, etc. Deviant subjects are young ascetics, hedonists, revolutionaries, the mentally ill, saints, geniuses, etc.
Human actions are included in social relationships and systems (family, street, team, work, etc.) with general normative regulation. That's why deviant is the behavior that violates the stability of the processes of social interaction. Equilibrium(stability) of social interaction involves the integration of the actions of many, which is violated by the deviant behavior of one or more people. In a situation of deviant behavior, a person, as a rule, focuses on a situation that includes (1) other people and (2) general norms and expectations. Deviant behavior is caused both by dissatisfaction with others and by norms of relationships.
For example, consider the social connection of a student with parents while studying at a university. Parents expect from him a good study, which is difficult to combine with the roles of an athlete, lover, worker, etc. The student begins to study unsatisfactorily, that is. deviant. To overcome this deviance, there are several possibilities. First of all, you can change your needs, which will affect the assessment of other people and regulations. So, a student can give up the motivation for excellent studies and limit himself to satisfactory. Further, you can change the object of your need and thereby alleviate the tension in the social connection. For example, he can convince his parents that his work alleviates the burden of the family's expenses for his studies at the university. And finally, the student can leave home, stop being oriented towards his parents and start being oriented towards his friends and girlfriends.
Deviation And conformism- two opposite types of behavior, one of which is focused only on the actor, and the other - also on the society in which he lives. Between conformal and deviant motivation of people's actions is indifferent. It is distinguished by the absence of both conformal and alienated orientation to objects and situations, which in this case turn into neutral ones.
Deviation includes three elements: 1) a person with values (orientation to others) and norms (moral, political, legal); 2) evaluating a person, group or organization; 3) human behavior. The criterion for deviant behavior is moral and legal norms. They are different in different types of societies, so behavior that is deviant in one society will not be so in another.
For example, in a bourgeois society focused on personal success, actions such as the exploits of Pavka Korchagin or Alexander Matrosov are considered deviant. And in Soviet society, focused on the interests of the state, they were officially considered heroic. The contradiction between the orientation towards the individual and the orientation towards society is characteristic of the entire history of mankind; it has found its expression in two opposite types of personalities: collectivist and individualist.
Depending on the relationship with people T. Parsons identifies two types of deviant behavior:
1. Personality cares about establishing and maintaining relationships with others. She may seek to dominate the other, to put him in a subordinate position. This is often due to deviant motivation and behavior. This is often done by members of criminal groups.
2. Personality inferior others, subject to them. In these cases, it can take the path of deviant motivation and behavior, especially in relation to an active and strong personality. Thus, in the Bolshevik leadership, passive adaptation to Stalin and the Stalinist hierarchy became the reason for the deviance of many people.
Classification of deviant behavior depending on attitude to standards(needs, values, norms) in society was developed by Merton (in 1910), who identified the following types of deviant behavior:
Total conformism(normality) of behavior, acceptance of cultural norms. This is the behavior of a person who has received a good education, who has prestigious job moving up the career ladder, etc. Such behavior fulfills both one's own needs and is focused on others (standards are observed). This, strictly speaking, is just the only type of non-deviant behavior, in relation to which different types of deviation are distinguished.
Innovative behavior, on the one hand, means agreement with the goals of one's life activity, approved in a given society (culture), but, on the other hand, does not follow the socially approved means of achieving them. Innovators use new, non-standard, deviant means to achieve socially useful goals. IN post-Soviet Russia many innovators engaged in privatization state property, the construction of financial "pyramids", extortion ("racketeering"), etc.
ritualism brings the principles and norms of this society to the point of absurdity. Ritualists - a bureaucrat who requires compliance with all formalities from the petitioner, and strikers who work "by the rules", which leads to a halt in the work itself.
Retreatism(escape from reality) is a type of deviant behavior in which a person rejects both goals approved by society and ways (means, time, costs) to achieve them. Such deviant behavior is inherent in homeless people, drunkards, drug addicts, monks, etc.
Revolution(rebellion) is a form of deviant behavior that not only denies outdated goals and behaviors, but also replaces them with new ones. The Russian Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, rejected the goals and means of the bourgeois-democratic society that was taking shape in Russia in 1917 after the overthrow of the autocracy, and restored the latter on a new ideological, political, economic and social basis.
From what has been said, it is clear that conformity and deviation are two opposite types of behavior that mutually presuppose and exclude one another. From the description of the types of deviation it follows that it is not an exclusively negative type of human behavior, as it might seem at first glance. Yuri Detochki, in the film "Beware of the Car" for the sake of noble goals - the fight against speculators and "shadow companies" - stole cars from them, and transferred the proceeds from the sale to orphanages.
The formation of deviant behavior goes through several stages: 1) the emergence of a cultural norm (for example, orientation towards enrichment in post-Soviet Russia); 2) the emergence of a social stratum that follows this norm (for example, entrepreneurs); 3) the transformation into deviant forms of activity that do not lead to enrichment (for example, in our case, the miserable life of many workers and employees); 4) recognition of a person (and social stratum) as deviant by others; 5) reassessment of this cultural norm, recognition of its relativity.
Social control is a system of social regulation of people's behavior and maintenance public order.
There are two main forms of social control: interior And external control.Internal control involves the regulation of the individual's own behavior. Conscience acts as a factor of internal control. External control is a set of institutions that guarantee compliance with generally accepted norms and rules of conduct.
The system of social control includes two main elements: norms and sanctions. Social norms - these are prescriptions, requirements, rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior of people in society.
Social norms perform in society following features:
? govern general course of socialization;
? integrate personality in the social environment;
? serve as models standards of appropriate behavior;
? control deviant behavior.
Norms perform their functions depending on the quality in which they manifest themselves - as standards of conduct(duties, rules) or how behavior expectations(reaction of other people). For example, protecting the honor and dignity of family members is the duty of every man. Here we are talking about the norm as a standard of proper behavior. This standard corresponds to a very specific expectation of family members, the hope that their honor and dignity will be protected.
Social sanctions - These are measures of encouragement or punishment that encourage people to comply with the norms and rules of behavior. There are four types of sanctions:
? formal positive sanctions - public approval from the authorities, official institutions and organizations (government awards, state awards, promotion, awarding academic degrees and titles, etc.);
? informal positive sanctions public approval coming from an informal environment, i.e. from relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, etc. (friendly praise, compliments, benevolent disposition, recognition leadership qualities, positive feedback and so on.);
? formal negative sanctions - these are punishments prescribed by legal laws, official decrees, administrative instructions and orders (fine, demotion, dismissal, arrest, imprisonment, deprivation civil rights and etc.);
? informal negative sanctions - punishments not provided for by the legal system of society (remark, censure, expression of displeasure, rupture of friendly relations, unfriendly feedback, etc.).
The application of legal sanctions is ensured by state coercion, moral ones - by the force of moral influence on the part of society, church or social group. Various types of social sanctions are interconnected and complement each other. This is one of the sources of increasing the effectiveness of their action. So, if legal sanctions are based on the moral foundations and requirements of society, then their effectiveness is greatly increased.
Thus, the significance of social control lies primarily in the fact that it regulates people's behavior and maintains public order, thereby contributing to the integration and stabilization of society. Functioning on the basis of the generally accepted values and norms of the culture of a given society, social control is designed to ensure that human behavior conforms to these values and norms. This role of social control is especially evident in the prevention of deviant (deviant) behavior (5.7).
Social control can be exercised in institutional and non-institutional forms.
1. institutional form social control is implemented through a special apparatus specializing in control activities, which is a set of state and public organizations (bodies, institutions and associations).
2. Non-institutional form
social control is a special kind of self-regulation inherent in various social systems, control over people's behavior by the mass consciousness.
Its functioning is based mainly on the action of moral and psychological mechanisms, consisting of continuous monitoring of the behavior of other people and assessments of the conformity of its social prescriptions and expectations. A person becomes aware of himself by observing other members of society (organizations, groups, communities), constantly comparing himself with them, assimilating certain norms of behavior in the process of socialization. Society cannot exist without mental reactions, mutual evaluations. It is thanks to mutual contacts that people realize social values, acquire social experience and skills of social behavior.
A variety of institutional social control is state control.Among the types of state control are: political, administrative and judicial.
· Political control carried out by those bodies and persons who exercise the powers of the supreme power. Depending on the political and state structure, these are the parliament, regional and local elected bodies. Political control can be exercised to a certain extent by political parties that have received the support of the majority of the people, especially those represented in government.
· Administrative control carried out executive bodies all branches of government. Here, as a rule, control of higher officials over the actions of subordinates is implemented, inspection and supervisory bodies are created that analyze the implementation of laws, regulations, management decisions study the efficiency and quality of administrative activities.
· Judicial control all the courts at the disposal of the society are carried out: general (civil), military, arbitration and constitutional courts.
However, it is difficult for one state to respond to many social demands and demands, which leads to an aggravation of social conflicts that have a destructive effect on the nature of public life. This requires an effective feedback ensuring the participation of citizens in public administration, an important element of which is public control. Therefore, along with state control, special form social control represents public control - public control on the part of society represented by the public, individual citizens, social organizations, associations and movements, as well as public opinion. In a modern democratic society, public control is the activity, first of all, of the established institutions of civil society and individual citizens - their formal and informal participation in it.
[edit] Types of social control
There are two types of social control processes:
processes that encourage individuals to internalize existing social norms, the processes of socialization of family and school education, during which the internal requirements of society - social prescriptions - take place;
· the processes that organize the social experience of individuals, the lack of publicity in society, publicity - a form of social control over the behavior of the ruling strata and groups;
Subject social control is inextricably linked with deviance, deviant behavior, although it has a broader, sociological significance.
It is possible that the desire for order is innate in man. In any case, all scientific, philosophical, religious constructions are aimed at revealing the patterns (order!) of the World or bringing Order into the Chaos of Being. In a broad, general scientific sense, order is certainty, a regularity in the arrangement of system elements and their interaction with each other. In relation to society, order is understood as certainty, regularity in the structuring of society and the interaction of its elements (communities, classes, groups, institutions).
Social control- a mechanism of self-organization (self-regulation) and self-preservation of society by establishing and maintaining a normative order in a given society and eliminating, neutralizing, minimizing norm-violating - deviant behavior.
But it's too much general definition in need of comments.
One of the main questions of sociology is how and why is the existence and preservation of society possible? Why does it not disintegrate under the influence of the struggle of various, including antagonistic, interests of classes and groups? * The problem of order and social control was discussed by all sociological theorists from O. Comte, H. Spencer, K. Marx, E. Durkheim to P. Sorokin, T. Parsons, R. Merton, N. Luhmann and others.
* Turner J. The structure of sociological theory. S. 27, 70.
So, O. Comte believed that society is bound by “general consent” (consensus omnium). One of the two main branches of sociology social static (other - social dynamics) - is, according to Comte, the theory of social order, harmony. And basic social institutions (family, state, religion) were considered by scientists in terms of their role in the integration of society. In other words, how institutions social control. Thus, the family teaches to overcome innate egoism, and the state is called upon to prevent the “radical divergence” of people in ideas, feelings and interests*.
* Comte O. The course of positive philosophy // Ancestors of positivism. SPb., 1912. Issue. 4.
G. Spencer, who also stood at the origins of sociology and adhered to organismic ideas about society, believed that three organ systems are inherent in a social organism: supporting (production), distributive and regulatory. The latter just ensures the subordination of the constituent parts (elements) of society to the whole, i.e., it essentially performs the functions social control. Being an evolutionist, H. Spencer condemned revolution as an unnatural violation of order*.
* Spencer G. Basic principles. SPb., 1887.
The starting point for the sociology of E. Durkheim is concept of social solidarity. Classification related to solidarity concepts dual ("dual"). There are two types sociality: simple, based on consanguinity, and complex, based on the specialization of functions that arose in the process of division social labor. For simple sociality mechanical solidarity of a homogeneous group is characteristic, for a complex one - organic solidarity. To maintain mechanical solidarity, repressive law is sufficient, providing for severe punishment of violators. Organic solidarity should be characterized by restitutive (“restorative”) law, the function of which is reduced to “simple restoration of the order of things”*. Looking ahead, we note that this idea of “restorative law”, “restorative justice” as an alternative to criminal, “compensatory” justice (retributive justice) has become widespread in modern foreign criminology. The more cohesive the society, the higher the degree social integration of individuals, the less deviations (deviations). And the inevitable conflicts in society should be resolved peacefully.
* Durkheim E. On the division of social labor. Method of sociology. M., 1990. S. 109.
The views of the scientist evolved from the primacy of duty and coercion social norms to voluntariness, personal interest of individuals in their acceptance and following them. The true basis of solidarity, according to the "late" Durkheim, is not in coercion, but in an internalized (learned by the individual) moral duty, in a sense of respect for general requirements(group pressure).
Start of special studies social control its functions, institutions, methods are associated with several names. Different authors solve the question of priority in this area of sociological knowledge in different ways.
Undoubtedly a major contribution to the study of problems social control introduced by W. Sumner. Already in his early works he considered the processes control society over the environment and coercive pressure (“collective pressure”) on the members of society, ensuring its cohesion*. Sumner proposed a typology of sources (means) of collective pressure: folk customs, including traditions and mores; institutions; laws. These three social mechanisms provide conformity, but are not sufficient for solidarity, which is itself a by-product of conformity.
* Sumner W. Folkways. Boston, 1906.
As we already know, the key in the theory of G. Tarde - a representative of the psychological direction in sociology and criminology - is "imitation", with the help of which the scientist explained the main social processes, character social facts, the structure of society and the mechanism of its cohesion*. Not surprisingly, typical social The relationship is the teacher-student relationship. G. Tarde gave great attention the study of various forms of deviance, revealing their statistical patterns. He believed that the results of such studies make it possible to put under control spontaneous social processes. An important factor social control is the socialization of the individual.
* Tard G. Laws of imitation of St. Petersburg, 1892 (last edition - 1999).
For E. Ross, solidarity and cohesion are secondary to social control. It is he who binds individuals and groups into an organized whole. key concept concept of E. Ross - "obedience" *. It can act in two forms: personal-informal and impersonal-official. The first is based on consent. The second is provided through control. Perhaps E. Ross proposed the first classification of mechanisms social control: interior control- ethical and external - political. For the first, group goals are important, for the second, the institutionalized apparatus of means (legal, educational, etc.). More E. Ross considers the family as a factor social control shaping and implementing behavior patterns. The internalization (assimilation) by the individual of these models as personal ideals best ensures obedience.
* Ross E. Social Control. NY, 1901.
R. Park identified three forms social control: elementary sanctions, public opinion, social institutions. In one form or another, these forms control considered by various authors.
From the vast scientific heritage of M. Weber, his constructions of three ideal types of domination are directly related to the problem under consideration: rational, traditional, charismatic *. They can also be considered as types social control. M. Weber himself believed that "the legitimacy of the order can only be guaranteed internally", namely: effectively-emotionally - by devotion; value-rationally - by faith in the absolute significance of order as an expression of immutable values; religiously - the belief in the dependence of good and salvation on the preservation of order. The legitimacy of the order can also be guaranteed by the expectation of external consequences, including law, coercion. The first type of legitimacy, legal or formal-rational, is based on interest. In a rational state, they obey not individuals, but established laws. Their implementation is carried out by the bureaucracy (classic examples are modern bourgeois England, France, the USA). The second type - traditional is based on mores, traditions, habits, which are attributed not only legality, but also sacredness. This type is inherent in a patriarchal society, and the main relationship is master-servant (a classic example is feudal states Western Europe). The third type - charismatic (Greek charisma - a divine gift) - is based on the extraordinary abilities of a person - a leader, a prophet (be it Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha or Caesar, Napoleon, finally - A. Hitler, I. Stalin, Mao ...). If the traditional type of domination is supported by the usual - mores, traditions, habits, then the charismatic one rests on the unusual, extraordinary, amazing, supernatural. Weber viewed charisma as a "great revolutionary force" that interrupted the gradualism of traditional development. He was lucky not to live in his native country to the charisma of Hitler, as well as other "leaders" with an extraordinary "gift" ...
*Weber M. Staatssoziologie. Berlin, 1966.
The work of our compatriot P. Sorokin, forced to live and work in exile since 1922, thanks to the coming to power in Russia of charismatic leaders, is largely devoted to the topic social regulation of human behavior. The title and content of his first major scientific work of the Petersburg period, Crime and Punishment, Feat and Reward, is devoted to the mechanism social control*. There are stable forms social behavior - "due", "recommended", "prohibited" and forms social reactions to them are negative (punishment) and positive (reward) sanctions. In general, these forms constitute the regulatory substructure. In "The System of Sociology"** P. Sorokin, paying tribute to the problem social order, examines the mechanism of "organized" forms of behavior. Social reactions to biopsychic stimuli, repeated many times, develop into a habit, and when realized, into a law. The totality of conscious forms of behavior in various fields social life forms institutions, the totality of the latter is social order or organization.
* Sorokin P. Crime and punishment, feat and reward. SPb., 1913.
** Sorokin P. The system of sociology. Pg., 1920. T. 1.
P. Sorokin attached great importance social stratification and social mobility (in fact, he introduced these concepts into scientific circulation). Hence the role concepts"status" ("rank") as a set of rights and obligations, privileges and responsibilities, power and influence. Difficult vertical mobility eventually leads to a revolution - "shaking up" social strat. Unnatural and violent nature social revolutions makes them undesirable. A The best way prevention of revolutions – improvement of vertical mobility channels and social control.
In his main work "Social and Cultural Dynamics" * P. Sorokin summarizes his understanding social. Its specificity is the "non-material" component: "norms - values - meanings". It is the presence of values and norms, as well as meanings (without taking into account which it is often impossible to distinguish between a fight and boxing, rape and a voluntary sexual act, etc.) that characterizes social being, in contrast to the inorganic and organic levels of being.
* Excerpts from this fundamental four-volume work, see: Sorokin P. Man. Civilization. Society. M., 1992. S. 425-504.
Problem social control is essential for functionalism and constitutes a significant part of the theory social actions. According to its largest representative, T. Parsons, the functions of reproduction social structures are provided by a system of beliefs, morality, socialization organs (family, education, etc.), and normative orientation in the theory of action plays the same role as space in classical mechanics. In "Structure social actions” Parsons raises the most important question for him: how do the social systems? He sees the answer in two main mechanisms that integrate personality into social system: mechanisms of socialization and social control*(note that from our point of view, socialization is one of the mechanisms social control).
* For details see: Turner J. Decree. op. pp. 70-72.
The mechanisms of socialization, according to Parsons, are the means by which the assimilation (internalization) of cultural patterns - values, attitudes, language - takes place by the individual. The mechanisms of socialization also provide stable and reliable interpersonal relationships that help relieve tension, anxiety, and fatigue.
Mechanisms social control include ways of organizing the role of the status of individuals in order to reduce tension and deviations. To mechanisms control include: institutionalization (ensuring the certainty of role expectations); interpersonal sanctions and gestures (used by actors social actions for the mutual consistency of sanctions); ritual actions (removal of tension in a symbolic way, strengthening of the dominant cultural patterns); structures that ensure the preservation of values and the distinction between “normal” and “deviant”; structures of re-integration (normalization of tendencies towards "deviation"); institutionalization of a system capable of using violence, coercion. In a broad sense, to the mechanisms social control(more precisely, preserving the integration public system) also applies to socialization, which ensures the internalization (assimilation) of values, ideas, symbols. Parsons also analyzed three methods social control in relation to deviants: isolation from others (for example, in prison); isolation with partial restriction of contacts (for example, in a psychiatric hospital); rehabilitation - preparation for returning to a "normal" life (for example, with the help of psychotherapy, the activities of public organizations such as "AA" - Alcoholics Anonymous).
The Age of Enlightenment and the 19th century were imbued with faith and hope about the possibility of a successful social control and "order". It is only necessary to listen to the advice of educators, the opinion of scientists and work a little to bring reality in line with Reason...
However, a few questions still remain unclear:
What's happened social“order”, are there objective criteria for its evaluation? For the natural sciences, this is probably the level of entropy of the system - its (entropy) decrease or not increase. And for social systems? Maybe synergetics can help us in answering this question?
"Order" for whom? In whose interests? From whose point of view?
Is a society possible without "disorder"? Obviously not. Organization and disorganization, "order" and "disorder" (chaos), "norm" and "deviation" are complementary (in Bohr's sense). Recall that deviations are a necessary mechanism for change and development.
How, by what means, at what cost is “order” maintained (“ new order A. Hitler, the Gulag “order” of I. Stalin, the establishment of “order” by America in Vietnam and Iraq, the USSR - in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, Russia - in Chechnya)?
In general, “the order that is held together by our cultural learning appears to be extremely vulnerable and fragile. This is only one of the possible orders, and we cannot be sure that it is the most correct.
* Bauman Z. Think sociologically. M., 1996. S. 166.
Social practice 20th century with two world wars, the Cold War, hundreds of local wars, Hitler and Lenin-Stalin concentration camps, genocide, right-wing and left-wing extremism, terrorism, fundamentalism, etc. - destroyed all illusions and myths about "order" and opportunities social control(one of his contemporaries noted: human history was divided into “before” Auschwitz and “after”). The amount of crimes committed by the states - "pillars of order", exceeded the crimes of singles by a hundred times. At the same time, the states - "sponsors of the murders" (N. Kressel) - do not "repent" (perhaps with the exception of Germany), but deny, renounce their deeds. S. Cohen in the article “Human Rights and Crimes of States: A Culture of Denial”* names three forms of such refusal (denial):
- denial of the past (denial of the past). Thus, publications appeared in the West declaring the Holocaust a “myth”, domestic Stalinists call the horror of Stalinist repressions a “myth” (however, the recent Duma events on the anniversary of the Holocaust, when many of our elected representatives refused to honor the memory of the victims, indicate that in on this issue we are "catching up" with the West...);
- literal denial - according to the formula "we don't know anything";
- sacramental refusal (implicatory denial) - according to the formula "yes, but ...". Thus, the majority of war criminals, under the pressure of facts, admit: "Yes, it was." And then a “but” follows: there was an order, military necessity, etc.
* Cohen S. Human Rights and Crimes of the State: the Cultural of Denial. In: Criminological Perspectives. A Reader. SAGE, 1996. P. 489-507.
It is not surprising that postmodernism in the sociology of the late 20th century, starting with J.-F. Lyotard and M. Foucault, comes to the denial of the possibility social control over deviant manifestations, expressed categorically and succinctly by N. Luhmann in the words chosen as an epigraph to this chapter. And although it is likely that realistic-skeptical postmodernism - as a reaction to the illusions of the beautiful-souled Enlightenment - is as one-sided as the Enlightenment itself, however, some considerations of a general scientific nature (in particular, the law of increasing entropy in a system) incline us to the side of postmodernism. “The victory of order over chaos is never complete or final... Attempts to construct an artificial order in accordance with an ideal goal are doomed to failure”*.
* Bauman Z. Think sociologically. M., 1996. S. 192, 193.
This does not exclude, of course, the possibility and necessity of systems, primarily biological and social, resist disorganizing entropy processes. As the father of cybernetics N. Wiener wrote, “we are swimming upstream, struggling with a huge stream of disorganization, which, in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics, tends to reduce everything to heat death ... In this world, our first duty is to arrange arbitrary islands of order and system ... We must run as fast as we can in order to stay where we once left off ”*.
* Viner N. I am a mathematician. M., 1967. S. 311.
Most of us fight for life to the end, knowing its inevitability and maintaining courage (or not so much ...) “in spite of” the inevitable (A. Malraux), and “beyond despair” (J.-P. Sartre). But that doesn't change the end result. Each society also ceases to exist sooner or later (how often do we remember Lydia and Chaldea, Babylon and Assyria, the Sumerian empire and the Inca civilization today?). This should not be an obstacle to efforts to self-preserve by organizing and maintaining "order" and reducing chaotic processes, including negative deviant behavior. We must not only forget that organization and disorganization are inextricably linked, one cannot be without the other, and deviations are not only “harmful”, but also “useful” from the point of view of the survival and development of the system.
So the problem social control there is pretty much a problem social order, the preservation of society as a whole.
There is a different understanding social control. At the beginning of the chapter, we gave its most general definition. In a narrower sense social control is a set of means and methods of influencing society on undesirable forms of deviant behavior with the aim of their elimination (elimination) or reduction, minimization.
The social regulators of human behavior are the values developed by society (as an expression of a person’s attitude to certain objects and the properties of these objects that are significant for people) and the norms corresponding to them (legal, moral, customs, traditions, fashion, etc.), i.e. rules , samples, standards, standards of behavior established by the state (law) or formed in the process of joint life. The easiest way to transfer rules (and values) is by personal example and imitation (“do as I do”). However, for complex, "post-primitive" societies, it is not enough. Mankind has developed a specific way of forming, preserving and transmitting (broadcasting) values and norms - through signs. J. Piaget argued: “The main realities created social way ... are the following: 1) rules (moral, legal, logical, etc.), 2) values that correspond or do not correspond to these rules, and 3) signs "*. I note that from my point of view, values are primary in this series, and rules are developed in accordance with values, and not vice versa. However, like everything in science, this is a debatable issue. Finally, the accumulation, storage, transmission of information through sign systems possible only insofar as the signs are given meaning, understandable those who perceive them.
* Piaget J. Selected psychological works. M., 1969. S. 210.
Social control is not limited to the normative regulation of people's behavior, but also includes the implementation of normative decrees and non-normative influence on the behavior of members of society. In other words, to social control include actions to implement prescriptions (norms), measures of responsibility for persons who violate accepted norms, and in some states - of a totalitarian type - and persons who do not share the values proclaimed on behalf of society.
The main methods social control are positive sanctions - encouragement and negative sanctions - punishment ("carrot and stick", "bait and switch").
To the main mechanisms social control include external, carried out from the outside, various social institutions, organizations (family, school, public organization, police) and their representatives with the help of sanctions - positive (encouragement) and negative (punishment), and internal, based on internalized (learned, perceived as one's own) values and norms and expressed concepts honor, conscience, dignity, decency, shame (it is impossible, because it is shameful, conscience does not allow). To the outside control also applies indirectly, associated with public opinion, the opinion of the reference group with which the individual identifies himself (parents, friends, colleagues). The classic formula for indirect control we find in “Woe from Wit” by A. Griboyedov: “What will Princess Marya Aleksevna say ?!” (unless, of course, the princess represents your reference group).
Distinguish formal control, carried out by special bodies, organizations, institutions and their representatives within their official powers and in a strictly established manner, and informal (for example, indirect), punitive (repressive) and deterrent (preventive, preventive).
It is well known that positive sanctions (reward) are much more effective than negative ones (punishment), and internal control much more effective than external. Unfortunately, humanity, knowing this, more often resorts to external control and repressive methods. It is believed that this is "simpler" and "more reliable". The negative consequences of "simple decisions" are not long in coming...
There are various models (shapes) social control and their classification*. One of them, proposed by D. Black (modified by F. McClintock) **, is reproduced in Table. 16.1. Each of the forms shown in the table social control has its own logic, its own methods and language, its own way of defining an event and responding to it. In reality, a combination of several forms is possible.
*Black D. The Behavior of Law. NY: Academic Press, 1976; Daws N. Anderson B. Social Control: The Production of Deviance in the Modern State. Irvington Publishers!:, c, 1983.
** For more details, see the articles by L. Hulsman and F. McClintock in the book: Crime Control Planning. M., 1982. S. 16-31, 99-105.
Table 16.1
Mechanisms social control(according to Black)
Generally social control comes down to the fact that society, through its institutions, sets values and norms; ensures their transmission (transmission) and socialization (assimilation, internalization) by individuals; encourages compliance with norms (conformity) or acceptable from the point of view of society, reform; reproaches (punishes) for violation of norms; takes measures to prevent (prevention, prevention) of undesirable forms of behavior.
In a hypothetically ideal (and therefore unrealistic) case, a society ensures the complete socialization of its members, and then neither punishments nor rewards are required. However, even in an ideal society, fellow citizens will find something to complain about! “Imagine a society of saints, an exemplary monastery of exemplary individuals. Crimes in the proper sense of the word are unknown here; however, offenses that seem insignificant to a layman will cause here exactly the same scandal as ordinary crimes cause under ordinary conditions.
* Durkheim E. Norma and pathology // Sociology of crime. M., 1966. S. 41.
Real implementation social control over deviance significantly depends on the power, form of government, political regime in the country*. It is no coincidence that G. W. F. Hegel believed that the forms control over crime "even more characterize a given society than crime itself"**. Theoretical, based on a huge historical material, the study of the role of power and political structures in social control over deviant behavior was carried out by M. Foucault ***. Modern measures social control and above all, the prison is the result of the all-encompassing disciplinary power of capitalist society, striving to create a "disciplinary individual." This power is manifested not only in the prison, but also in the barracks, the psychiatric hospital, outside the factory walls, in the school building. The disciplinary power is characterized by hierarchical supervision (systemic observation, constant control), positive and negative sanctions, tests (exams, reviews, training, inspections, etc.). The purpose of the disciplinary control- the formation of "pliable bodies", and its symbol is a prison. But then the whole society “begins to take on a strong resemblance to a prison, where we are all guards and prisoners at the same time”****.
* For more details, see: Gilinsky Ya. Deviance, social control and the political regime. In: Political Regime and Crime. SPb., 2001. S. 39-65.
** Hegel. Philosophy of law. M., 1986. S. 256.
*** Foucault M. Supervise and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. M., 1999; He is. A History of Madness in the Classical Age. SPb., 1997; He is. Will to Truth: Beyond Knowledge, Power and Sexuality. M., 1996.
**** Monson P. A boat in the alleys of the park: An introduction to sociology. M., 1995. S. 63.
This is echoed by the work of our contemporary and compatriot A. N. Oleinik “Prison subculture in Russia: from everyday life to state power”*, in which the author, as a result of empirical research and painstaking analysis, compares Russia as a “small society” (in difference from the "big society" - civilized) with a prison. I can’t resist a long quote: “The tendency towards the reproduction of a “small society” and the incomplete nature of modernization are the main factors that determine the post-Soviet institutional context... The state deliberately suppresses any attempts to form a collective subject, thus contributing to the formation of a desert between everyday life groups of "insiders" and the authorities... And here it doesn't matter what specific form the group of "insiders" takes: the nomenklatura, the families of the president or people from the KGB... no, it means death even before the birth of civil society ... A group of "insiders" seeks to privatize and material resources to which its members have access... Post-Soviet people hate the state because it reproduces the logic of a group of "us" and therefore regards citizens as "strangers." But at the same time, post-Soviet people are incapable of getting rid of such a state in which their own way of life, their own views and behavior materialize”**.
social control is an activity aimed at maintaining the normal behavior of an individual, group or society by various means social impact. At the same time, it is important to ensure that labor behavior complies with generally accepted social norms.
TO hallmarks social control include orderliness, formality, categorical requirements for the individual, their normativity, security with both formal and informal sanctions.
Social control is complex structure, which consists of three interrelated processes:
Behavior observation;
Assessment of behavior in terms of social norms;
Reaction to behavior in the form of sanctions.
Most often, the basis for dividing social control into different kinds is the subjectivity of its implementation.
Depending on the subject, the following are usually distinguished: types of social control:
1. Administrative control. Carried out by representatives of the administration of the enterprise, managers various levels in accordance with normative documents. This type of control is also called external, since its subject is not included in the directly controlled system of relations and activities, it is outside this system.
The disadvantages of administrative control are manifested in the fact that it cannot always be comprehensive and operational; it is quite probable that he is biased.
2. Public control. Implemented public organizations within the limits provided for by the statutes or provisions of their status. The effectiveness of public control is due to the organization, structure and cohesion of the relevant public organizations.
3.Group control. This is the mutual control of the members of the team. Distinguish between formal group control (working meetings and conferences, production meetings) and informal (common opinion in the team, collective moods).
Among the advantages of mutual control, first of all, the simplicity of the supervisory mechanism is noted, since normal or deviant behavior is observed directly. However, mutual control also has disadvantages. First of all, it is subjectivism: if relations between people are characterized by competition, rivalry, then they are naturally predisposed to unfairly attribute some violations of discipline to each other, to prejudice each other's organizational and labor behavior.
4. Self control. It is a conscious regulation of one's own labor behavior based on self-assessments and assessments for compliance existing requirements and norms. The main advantage of self-control is the limitation of the need for special control activities on the part of the administration. Self-control has two main drawbacks: each subject in assessing his own behavior is inclined to underestimate social and normative requirements, is more liberal towards himself than towards others; Depending on the nature of the sanctions or incentives used, social control is of two types: economic (encouragement, penalties) and moral (contempt, respect).
The efforts of society aimed at preventing deviant behavior, punishing and correcting deviants, are defined by the concept of "social control".
social control- a mechanism for regulating relations between the individual and society in order to strengthen order and stability in society. IN narrow sense of social control - is the control of public opinion, the publicity of the results and assessments of people's activities and behavior.
Social control includes two main element: social norms and sanctions. Sanctions- any reaction on the part of others to the behavior of a person or group.
Kinds:Informal(intragroup) - is based on the approval or condemnation from a group of relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, as well as from public opinion, which is expressed through traditions and customs or through the media.
Formal(institutional) - based on the support of existing social institutions(army, court, education, etc.)
In sociology, it is known 4 principal forms of social control:
External control (A set of institutions and mechanisms that guarantee compliance with generally accepted norms of behavior and laws)
Internal control (self-control);
Control through identification with a reference group;
Control through the creation of opportunities to achieve socially significant goals by means that are most suitable for a given person and approved by society (the so-called "multiple possibilities").
In the process of socialization, norms are assimilated so firmly that people, violating them, experience a feeling of awkwardness or guilt, pangs of conscience.
Generally accepted norms, being rational prescriptions, remain in the sphere of consciousness, below which is the sphere of the subconscious, or unconscious, consisting of elemental impulses. Self-control means containment of the natural elements, it is based on volitional effort. There are the following mechanisms of social control:
isolation - isolating the deviant from society (for example, imprisonment);
isolation - limiting the deviant's contacts with others (for example, placement in a psychiatric clinic);
rehabilitation - a set of measures aimed at returning the deviant to normal life.
B.46 Civil society and the state.
Civil society is a set of social relations, formal and informal structures that provide conditions political activity person, satisfaction and realization of various needs and interests of the individual and social groups and associations. A developed civil society is the most important prerequisite for building a state of law and its equal partner. Signs of civil society: the presence in society of free owners of the means of production; developed democracy; legal protection of citizens; a certain level of civic culture, a high educational level of the population; the most complete provision of human rights and freedoms;
self management; the competition of its constituent structures and various groups of people; free-forming public opinion and pluralism; strong social politics states; mixed economy; big specific gravity in a middle class society. The state of civil society his needs and goals define the main features And social purpose of the state. Qualitative changes in the structure of civil society, the content of its main areas of activity, inevitably lead to a change in the nature and forms of state power. At the same time, the state, having relative independence in relation to civil society, can significantly influence its condition. This influence, as a rule, is positive, aimed at maintaining stability and the progressive development of civil society. Although history knows the opposite examples. The state as a special phenomenon social power has quality features. It is organized in the form of a state apparatus; manages society through a system of functions and certain methods. Externally, the state is represented in various forms. State signs- its qualitative features, expressing the features of the state in comparison with other organizations that carry out power-management functions in society. The main features of the state include: sovereignty, the territorial principle of the exercise of power, special public power, inextricable connection with law
B. 47 Mass consciousness and mass action. Forms of mass behavior.
mass consciousness- base of mass actions, behavior. Mass actions can be poorly organized (panic, pogroms) or sufficiently prepared (demonstration, revolution, war). Much depends on whether the situation is realized or not, whether there are leaders who are able to lead the rest.
Bulk Behavior(including spontaneous) is a term of political psychology, which refers to various forms of behavior of large groups of people, crowds, circulation of rumors, panic and other mass phenomena.
The forms of mass behavior include: mass hysteria, rumors, gossip, panic, mayhem, riot.
mass hysteria- a state of general nervousness, increased excitability and fear caused by unfounded rumors (medieval "witch hunt", post-war "cold war", trials of "enemies of the people" in the era of Stalinism, forcing the threat of a "third world war" by the media in the 60s 70 years, mass intolerance towards representatives of other nationalities.)
gossip- a set of information that arises from anonymous sources and is distributed through informal channels.
panic- this form of mass behavior, when people who are faced with danger show uncoordinated reactions. They act independently, usually interfering and injuring each other.
pogrom- a collective act of violence undertaken by an uncontrolled and emotionally agitated mob against property or a person.
rebellion- a collective concept denoting a number of spontaneous forms of collective protest: rebellion, unrest, confusion, uprising.
B. 48. Culture as a system of values
culture is a system of values accumulated by mankind over the long history of its development. including all forms and ways of human self-expression and self-knowledge. Culture also appears as a manifestation of human subjectivity and objectivity (character, competencies, skills, abilities and knowledge). Basic elements of culture: language, customs, traditions, mores, laws, values.
Values- these are socially approved and shared by most people ideas about what kindness, justice, love, friendship are. No society can do without values. Values are the defining element of culture, its core. They act like a) desirable, preferable for a given social subject (individual, social community, society) state of social ties, content of ideas, artistic form, etc.; b) criterion for evaluating real phenomena; c) they determine the meaning of purposeful activity; d) regulate social interactions; e) internally motivate to activity. IN value system social subject may include various values:
1 ) meaningful life (ideas about good and evil, happiness, purpose and meaning of life);
2 ) universal: a) vital (life, health, personal security, welfare, family, education, qualifications, law and order, etc.); b) public recognition (hard work, social status etc.); c) interpersonal communication (honesty, disinterestedness, goodwill);
d) democratic (freedom of speech, conscience, parties, national sovereignty, etc.);
3 ) particular: a) attachment to a small homeland, family; b) fetishisms (belief in God, striving for the absolute).
