Social behavior. Social control Social behavior of a person in society

In a broad sense, social control is defined as the totality of all types of control existing in society (moral, state, industrial, legal control). In a narrow sense, social control is the assessment of people's activities by public opinion.
Forms of social control changed as society developed.
In a traditional society, social control existed in the form of customs, traditions, and unwritten rules of behavior. In modern society, individual mechanisms of social control are formalized; they are based on written norms: decrees, laws, instructions.
Examples of social control in modern society: exam grades at school, taxation system, product control authorities.

In sociology, there are different types and forms of social control.

Internal and external control.
A person who has mastered social norms is able to independently regulate his actions, coordinating them with the generally accepted system of values and approved patterns of behavior. This is internal control (self-control), the basis of which is a person’s moral principles.
External control is a set of social institutions that regulate people's behavior and ensure compliance with generally accepted norms and laws.

Informal and formal control.
Informal (intra-group) control is carried out by participants in any social process and is based on the approval or condemnation of an individual’s actions by the immediate environment (colleagues, acquaintances, friends, family members), and public opinion.
Formal (institutional) control is carried out by special public institutions, control bodies, government organizations and institutions (army, court, municipal institutions, media, political parties, etc.).

The mechanism of social control is formed by certain elements:
1) social norms - instructions indicating how one should behave in society;
2) positive and negative social sanctions - means of encouragement (reward) or censure (punishment) that regulate the behavior of people, stimulating them to comply with social norms and act for the benefit of society;
3) methods of social control (isolation, separation, rehabilitation);
4) specific measures (certain forms of physical, economic, emotional impact on the individual).

Social sanctions are different types of reactions from society to the behavior of a person or group and certain forms of influence on it.
Depending on the method of influencing an individual, formal and informal sanctions are distinguished.
Social sanctions can be negative (blaming) and positive (encouraging).
Formal negative sanctions are punishments and measures to suppress deviant behavior emanating from official organizations (for example, fine, reprimand, demotion, dismissal, deprivation of civil rights, imprisonment, confiscation of property).
Formal positive sanctions are various ways of encouraging the activities of an individual that come from official bodies and institutions (for example, an announcement of gratitude, the conferment of an honorary title, a government award, election to a high position).
Informal negative sanctions are an expression of dissatisfaction, condemnation of a person coming from unofficial persons and social groups (for example, ridicule, unkind feedback, remark, complaint, demonstrative ignoring).
Informal positive sanctions are approval of a person’s actions coming from informal individuals and social groups (for example, praise, gratitude, compliment, approving smile).

Self-control, or internal control, is the application by a person of positive and negative sanctions towards himself.

Evaluating his actions, a person compares them with the system of norms, customs, moral rules, value guidelines, and standards of proper behavior he accepts.
Self-control is an important mechanism for maintaining social stability, based on conscious volitional effort and restraining involuntary impulsive impulses. The higher the level of development of self-control among members of a society, the less society has to resort to external control and negative sanctions.
Conscience is a manifestation of internal control, the ability of an individual to independently formulate his own moral responsibilities. Conscience is an indicator of a person’s developed self-awareness, sense of duty, and responsibility.

The efforts of society aimed at preventing deviant behavior, punishing and correcting deviants are defined by the concept of “social control”.

Social control is a mechanism for regulating the relationship between an individual and society in order to strengthen order and stability in society.

In the broad sense of the word, social control can be defined as the totality of all types of control existing in society*, moral, state control, etc., in the narrow sense, social control is the control of public opinion, publicity of results and assessments of activities and people's behavior.

Social control includes two main elements: social norms and sanctions.

Sanctions are any reaction from others to the behavior of a person or group.

There is the following classification of sanctions.

Types of sanctions

Formal:

- negative - punishment for breaking the law or violating an administrative order: fines, imprisonment, etc.

— positive — encouragement of a person’s activity or behavior by official organizations: awards, certificates of professional, academic success, etc.

Informal:

- negative - condemnation of a person for an action by society: offensive tone, scolding or reprimand, demonstrative ignoring of a person, etc.

- positive - gratitude and approval of unofficial persons - friends, acquaintances, colleagues: praise, approving smile, etc., etc.

Sociologists distinguish two main forms of social control.

Social control

Internal (self-control)

A form of social control in which the individual independently regulates his behavior, coordinating it with generally accepted norms

A set of institutions and mechanisms that guarantee compliance with generally accepted norms of behavior and laws

Informal (intra-group) - based on 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 the process of socialization, norms are acquired so firmly that when people violate them, they experience a feeling of embarrassment or guilt, pangs of conscience. Conscience is a manifestation of internal control.

Generally accepted norms, being rational prescriptions, remain in the sphere of consciousness, below which is located the sphere of the subconscious, or unconscious, consisting of spontaneous impulses. Self-control means restraining the natural elements; it is based on volitional effort.

In traditional society, social control was based on unwritten rules; in modern society, it is based on written norms: instructions, decrees, regulations, laws. Social control gained institutional support. Formal control is exercised by such institutions of modern society as the court, education, army, production, media, political parties, and government. The school is controlled thanks to examination grades, the government - thanks to the system of taxation and social assistance to the population, the state - thanks to the police, the secret service, state channels of radio, television, and the press.

In the Russian Federation, special bodies have been created to exercise social control. These include the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service, various financial control bodies, etc.

Social behavior

Deputies at various levels are also vested with control functions. In addition to state control bodies, various public organizations are playing an increasingly important role in Russia, for example, in the field of protecting consumer rights, monitoring labor relations, monitoring the state of the environment, etc.

Detailed (minor) control, in which the manager intervenes in every action, corrects, pulls back, etc., is called supervision. Supervision is carried out not only at the micro, but also at the macro level of society. The state becomes its subject, and it turns into a specialized public institution.

The more self-control the members of a society develop, the less that society has to resort to external control. And vice versa, the less self-control is developed in people, the more often institutions of social control come into play, in particular the army, the court, and the state. The weaker the self-control, the stricter the external control should be. However, strict external control and petty supervision of citizens inhibit the development of self-awareness and expression of will, and muffle internal volitional efforts.

Methods of social control

Insulation

Establishing impenetrable barriers between the deviant and the rest of society without any attempts to correct or re-educate him

Separation

Limiting the deviant’s contacts with other people, but not completely isolating him from society; This approach allows for the correction of deviants and their return to society when they are ready to once again fulfill generally accepted norms

Rehabilitation

A process during which deviants can prepare to return to normal life and correctly fulfill their social roles in society

SIBERIAN ACADEMY OF PUBLIC SERVICE

INSTITUTE FOR RETRAINING SPECIALISTS

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT

Course work

in Sociology

Topic: social control (using the example of Russia)

Completed by: Vlasova T.N.

gr. 08611 GMU

Checked by: Shukshina Z.A.

Novosibirsk 2010

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………3

Chapter I. The essence of social control…………………………………….5

1.1. The concept of social control, its functions………………………..…….5

1.2. Social norms as a regulator of behavior……………………………7

1.3. Sanctions as an element of social control……………………….………9

1.4. Self-control……………………………………………………………………………………..12

Chapter II. Social control in modern Russia……………………….14

2.1. Organized crime in modern Russia…………..……….14

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….19

List of references………………………………………………………21

Introduction

Society is a self-regulating complex social system. The most important role in the social regulation of public life is played by social culture, social values, norms, social institutions and organizations. At the same time, in the social structure of society there is and plays an important role in a special structural formation - the institution of social control. It acts as part of the general system of social regulation and is designed to ensure the normal orderly functioning and development of society by various means, as well as to prevent and correct such social deviations that can disorganize public life and social order.

This topic is relevant because... society is a dynamic system and as this system develops, various traditions, norms, and values emerge and develop. In addition, a person is interested in a calm and prosperous life, in social order, in the successful development and functioning of society. All this is ensured by the institution of social control, and the more it develops and improves, the more organized and prosperous society will be. Therefore, the system of social control needs to be studied more deeply, to find different ways to resolve social conflicts and to improve the current social culture.

The purpose of the course work is to determine the role of social control in society, to identify the dependence of the direction and content of social control on the economic, political, ideological and other characteristics of a given social system, historically determined by the level of its development.

The set goal determined the following tasks:

Consider the essence of social control.

Become familiar with the various functions of social control.

Explore forms of social control.

Object this course work is directly the institution of social control, public relations, and subject– its close relationship with society, the forms in which it is carried out, as well as the effectiveness of the influence of social control on society.

ChapterI. The essence of social control

1.1 The concept of social control, its functions

Term "social control" was introduced into scientific vocabulary by the famous French sociologist, one of the founders of social psychology, G. Tarde, who proposed considering it as one of the most important factors of socialization. Later, in the works of a number of scientists - such as E. Ross, R. Park, A. Lapierre - the theory of social control was developed.

So, social control – This is a method of self-regulation of a social system (society as a whole, a social group, etc.), ensuring, through normative regulation, the targeted influence of people and other structural elements of this system, their orderly interaction in the interests of strengthening order and stability 1.

The main purpose of social control is to maintain order and stability in society, as well as to ensure social reproduction (continuity) in the direction corresponding to the development strategy chosen by a particular society. Thanks to the mechanisms of socialization, prescription, reward, selection and control, the social system maintains equilibrium.

The following distinctive features of social control can be pointed out:

1) orderliness, categoricalness and formalization: social norms are often applied to an individual without taking into account his personal characteristics; in other words, a person must accept a norm only because he is a member of a given society;

2) connection with sanctions - punishments for violating norms and rewards for their compliance;

3) collective exercise of social control: social action is often a reaction to a particular human behavior, and therefore can be both a negative and a positive stimulus when choosing goals and means of achieving them 2.

The mechanism of social control plays a vital role in strengthening the institutions of society. Figuratively speaking, this mechanism is the “central nervous system” of a social institution. Social institution and social control consist of the same elements, i.e.

e. identical rules and norms of behavior that reinforce and standardize people’s behavior, making it predictable.

Social control in relation to society performs two main functions:

Protective function. This function sometimes prevents social control from acting as a supporter of progress, but the list of its functions does not precisely include the renewal of society - this is the task of other public institutions. Thus, social control protects morality, law, values, requires respect for traditions, and opposes what is new, which has not been properly tested.

Stabilizing function. Social control acts as the foundation of stability in society. Its absence or weakening leads to disorder, confusion and social discord.

Conclusion: social control is an integral part of a more general and diverse system of social regulation of people’s behavior and social life. Its specificity lies in the fact that such regulation here is orderly, normative and quite categorical in nature and is ensured by social sanctions or the threat of their application.

1.2. Social norms as a regulator of behavior

Every person understands that no one could successfully build their relationships with other people and social organizations without the mutual correlation of actions with the rules approved by society.

Element of social control reaction to the behavior of a person or group

These rules, which act as a standard for our actions, are called social norms.

Social norms- these are instructions, instructions and wishes of varying degrees of severity, forcing individuals to act as is customary to do in a given society, in a specific situation 3. Social norms act as regulators of people’s behavior. They establish boundaries, conditions, forms of action, determine the nature of relationships, stipulate acceptable goals and ways to achieve them. The assimilation of social norms of society and the development of an individual attitude towards them occur in the process of socialization.

Norms impose obligations and mutual responsibility on participants in social interaction. They concern both individuals and society. On their basis, the entire system of social relations is formed. At the same time, norms are also expectations: society expects predictable behavior from an individual performing a certain role. The individual also assumes that society will justify his trust and fulfill its obligations.

Social norms perform an important function - they support and preserve social values, what is recognized in society as the most important, significant, indisputable, worthy of attention: human life and personal dignity, attitude towards the elderly and children, collective symbols (coat of arms, anthem, flag) and state laws, human qualities (loyalty, honesty, discipline, hard work), religion. Values are the basis of norms.

Social norms in a generalized form reflect the will of society. In contrast to the values that are recommended for choice (which predetermines differences in the value orientations of many individuals), norms are more stringent and binding 4.

There are several types of social norms:

1)customs and traditions, which are habitual patterns of behavior;

2) moral norms based on collective authority and usually having a rational basis;

3) legal norms enshrined in laws and regulations issued by the state. They more clearly than all other types of social norms regulate the rights and obligations of members of society and prescribe punishments for violations. Compliance with legal norms is ensured by the power of the state;

4) political norms that relate to the relationship between the individual and the government. Between social groups and between states are reflected in international legal acts, conventions, etc.;

5) religious norms, which are supported primarily by the belief of religious supporters in punishment for sins. Religious norms are distinguished based on the scope of their functioning; in reality, these norms combine elements characteristic of legal and moral norms, as well as traditions and customs;

6) aesthetic norms that reinforce ideas about the beautiful and the ugly 5.

Social norms are determined by the diversity of social life; any direction of human activity is regulated by them. Different types of social norms can be classified according to the following criteria:

by scale of distribution - universal, national, social group, organizational;

by function - guiding, regulating, controlling, encouraging, prohibiting and punishing;

according to the degree of increasing severity - habits, customs, manners, traditions, laws, taboos. Violating customs or traditions in modern society is not considered a crime and is not strictly condemned. A person bears strict liability for violating laws 6.

Conclusion: thus, social norms fulfill very important Features:

Regulate the general course of socialization;

Integrate individuals into groups, and groups into society;

Control deviant behavior;

They serve as models and standards of behavior.

Deviation from the norms is punished with sanctions.

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Social control - a mechanism for regulating relations between the individual and society in order to strengthen order and stability in society.

Social control includes two main elements: social norms and sanctions.

Sanction (from lat. sanctio- unbreakable decree) - any reaction to the behavior of a person or group by others.

Types of sanctions
Formal	Informal
Negative
Punishment for breaking the law or violating administrative order; fines, imprisonment, correctional labor, etc.	Condemnation of a person for an action by society: offensive tone, scolding or reprimand, demonstrative ignoring of a person, etc.
Positive
Encouragement of a person’s activity or behavior by official organizations: awards, certificates of professional, academic success, etc.	Gratitude and approval of unofficial persons (friends, acquaintances, colleagues): praise, approving smile, etc.

Forms of social control

In the process of socialization, norms are internalized so firmly that when people violate them, they experience a feeling of awkwardness → a feeling of guilt → pangs of conscience. Conscience - manifestation of internal control.

In the Russian Federation, special bodies have been created to implement social control: Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, Federal Security Service, various financial control bodies etc. Control functions are also provided deputies of various levels. In addition to state control bodies, various public organizations, for example, in the field of consumer protection, in monitoring labor relations, environmental conditions, etc.

Detailed (minor) control, in which the manager intervenes in every action, corrects, pulls back, etc., is called supervision.

The more self-control the members of a society develop, the less that society has to resort to external control. Conversely, the less self-control people have, the more often institutions of social control come into play. The weaker the self-control, the stricter the external control should be.

Methods of social control

1) Insulation- establishing impassable barriers between a deviant (i.e. a person who violates social norms) and the rest of society without any attempts to correct or re-educate him.

2) Separation- limiting the deviant’s contacts with other people, but not completely isolating him from society; This approach allows for the correction of deviants and their return to society when they are ready not to violate generally accepted norms.

3) Rehabilitation- a process during which deviants can prepare to return to normal life and correctly fulfill their social roles in society.

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QUESTIONS:

1. Establish a correspondence between positive sanctions and examples illustrating them: for each position given in the first column, select the corresponding position in the second column.

The concept of “behavior” came to sociology from psychology. The meaning of the term “behavior” is different, different from the meaning of such traditional philosophical concepts as action and activity. If action is understood as a rationally justified act that has a clear goal, strategy, and is carried out using specific conscious methods and means, then behavior is just the reaction of a living being to external and internal changes. Such a reaction can be both conscious and unconscious. Thus, purely emotional reactions - laughter, crying - are also behavior.

Social behavior - is a set of human behavioral processes associated with the satisfaction of physical and social needs and arising as a reaction to the surrounding social environment. The subject of social behavior can be an individual or a group.

If we abstract from purely psychological factors and think at the social level, then the behavior of an individual is determined primarily by socialization. The minimum of innate instincts that a person possesses as a biological being is the same for all people. Behavioral differences depend on qualities acquired during the process of socialization and, to some extent, on congenital and acquired psychological individual characteristics.

In addition, the social behavior of individuals is regulated by the social structure, in particular the role structure of society.

Social norm of behavior- this is behavior that fully corresponds to status expectations. Thanks to the existence of status expectations, society can predict the actions of an individual in advance with sufficient probability, and the individual himself can coordinate his behavior with the ideal model or model accepted by society. Social behavior that corresponds to status expectations is defined by the American sociologist R. Linton as social role. This interpretation of social behavior is closest to functionalism, since it explains behavior as a phenomenon determined by social structure. R. Merton introduced the category of “role complex” - a system of role expectations determined by a given status, as well as the concept of role conflict that arises when the role expectations of the statuses occupied by a subject are incompatible and cannot be realized in any single socially acceptable behavior.

The functionalist understanding of social behavior was subjected to fierce criticism from, first of all, representatives of social behaviorism, who believed that it was necessary to build the study of behavioral processes on the basis of the achievements of modern psychology. The extent to which the psychological aspects were really overlooked by the role interpretation of the command follows from the fact that N. Cameron tried to substantiate the idea of the role determination of mental disorders, believing that mental illness is the incorrect execution of one’s social roles and the result of the patient’s inability to perform them in the way society needs. Behaviorists argued that in the time of E. Durkheim, the successes of psychology were insignificant and therefore the functionality of the expiring paradigm met the requirements of the time, but in the 20th century, when psychology reached a high level of development, its data cannot be ignored when considering human behavior.

Forms of human social behavior

People behave differently in one or another social situation, in one or another social environment. For example, some demonstrators peacefully march along the declared route, others seek to organize unrest, and others provoke mass clashes. These various actions of social interaction actors can be defined as social behavior. Hence, social behavior is the form and method of manifestation by social actors of their preferences and attitudes, capabilities and abilities in social action or interaction. Therefore, social behavior can be considered as a qualitative characteristic of social action and interaction.

In sociology, social behavior is interpreted as: o behavior expressed in the totality of actions and actions of an individual or group in society and depending on socio-economic factors and prevailing norms; o external manifestation of activity, a form of transformation of activity into real actions in relation to socially significant objects; o a person’s adaptation to the social conditions of his existence.

To achieve life goals and in the implementation of individual tasks, a person can use two types of social behavior - natural and ritual, the differences between which are fundamental.

"Natural" behavior, individually significant and egocentric, is always aimed at achieving individual goals and is adequate to these goals. Therefore, the individual does not face the question of the correspondence between the goals and means of social behavior: the goal can and should be achieved by any means. The “natural” behavior of an individual is not socially regulated, therefore it is, as a rule, immoral or “unceremonious.” Such social behavior is “natural”, natural in nature, since it is aimed at ensuring organic needs. In society, “natural” egocentric behavior is “forbidden”, therefore it is always based on social conventions and mutual concessions on the part of all individuals.

Ritual behavior(“ceremonious”) - individually unnatural behavior; It is thanks to this behavior that society exists and reproduces. Ritual in all its diversity of forms - from etiquette to ceremony - permeates all social life so deeply that people do not notice that they live in a field of ritual interactions. Ritual social behavior is a means of ensuring the stability of the social system, and an individual who implements various forms of such behavior participates in ensuring the social stability of social structures and interactions. Thanks to ritual behavior, a person achieves social well-being, constantly being convinced of the inviolability of his social status and the preservation of the usual set of social roles.

Society is interested in ensuring that the social behavior of individuals is of a ritual nature, but society cannot abolish “natural” egocentric social behavior, which, being adequate in goals and unscrupulous in means, always turns out to be more beneficial for the individual than “ritual” behavior. Therefore, society strives to transform forms of “natural” social behavior into various forms of ritual social behavior, including through socialization mechanisms using social support, control and punishment.

Such forms of social behavior as:

cooperative behavior, which includes all forms of altruistic behavior - helping each other during natural disasters and technological disasters, helping young children and the elderly, helping subsequent generations through the transfer of knowledge and experience;
parental behavior - the behavior of parents towards their offspring.

Aggressive behavior is presented in all its manifestations, both group and individual - ranging from verbal insults of another person to mass extermination during wars.

Human Behavior Concepts

Human behavior is studied in many areas of psychology - in behaviorism, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, etc. The term “behavior” is one of the key ones in existential philosophy and is used in the study of a person’s relationship to the world. The methodological capabilities of this concept are due to the fact that it allows us to identify unconscious stable structures of personality or human existence in the world. Among the psychological concepts of human behavior that have had a great influence on sociology and social psychology, we should mention, first of all, the psychoanalytic directions developed by Z. Freud, C. G. Jung, A. Adler.

Freud's ideas are based on the fact that an individual’s behavior is formed as a result of a complex interaction between the levels of his personality. Freud identifies three such levels: the lowest level is formed by unconscious impulses and drives determined by innate biological needs and complexes formed under the influence of the individual history of the subject. Freud calls this level the Id (Id) to show its separation from the individual’s conscious self, which forms the second level of his psyche. The conscious self includes rational goal setting and responsibility for one's actions. The highest level is the super-ego - what we would call the result of socialization. This is a set of social norms and values internalized by the individual, exerting internal pressure on him in order to displace from the consciousness unwanted (forbidden) impulses and drives for society and prevent them from being realized. According to Freud, the personality of any person is an ongoing struggle between the id and the super-ego, which undermines the psyche and leads to neuroses. Individual behavior is entirely conditioned by this struggle and is completely explained by it, since it is merely a symbolic reflection of it. Such symbols can be dream images, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, obsessive states and fears.

Concept of C. G. Jung expands and modifies Freud's teachings, including in the sphere of the unconscious not only individual complexes and drives, but also the collective unconscious - the level of key images - archetypes - common to all people and nations. Archetypes record archaic fears and value concepts, the interaction of which determines the behavior and attitude of an individual. Archetypal images appear in the basic narratives - folk tales and legends, mythology, epic - of historically specific societies. The social regulatory role of such narratives in traditional societies is very great. They contain ideal models of behavior that form role expectations. For example, a male warrior should behave like Achilles or Hector, a wife like Penelope, etc. Regular recitations (ritual reenactments) of archetytic narratives constantly remind members of society of these ideal models of behavior.

Adler's psychoanalytic concept is based on an unconscious will to power, which, in his opinion, is an innate personality structure and determines behavior. It is especially strong among those who, for one reason or another, suffer from an inferiority complex. In an effort to compensate for their inferiority, they are able to achieve great success.

Further splitting of the psychoanalytic direction led to the emergence of many schools, disciplinary terms occupying a borderline position between psychology, social philosophy, and sociology. Let us dwell in detail on the work of E. Fromm.

Fromm's positions - a representative of neo-Freudianism in and - more precisely, can be defined as Freilo-Marxism, since, along with the influence of Freud, he was no less strongly influenced by the social philosophy of Marx. The uniqueness of neo-Freudianism in comparison with orthodox Freudianism is due to the fact that, strictly speaking, neo-Freudianism is rather sociology, while Freud, of course, is a pure psychologist. If Freud explains the behavior of an individual by complexes and impulses hidden in the individual unconscious, in short, by internal biopsychic factors, then for Fromm and Freilo-Marxism in general, the behavior of an individual is determined by the surrounding social environment. This is his similarity with Marx, who explained the social behavior of individuals ultimately by their class origin. Nevertheless, Fromm strives to find a place for the psychological in social processes. According to the Freudian tradition, turning to the unconscious, he introduces the term “social unconscious,” meaning mental experience that is common to all members of a given society, but for most of them does not reach the level of consciousness, because it is repressed by a special mechanism that is social in nature, belonging not to the individual, but to society. Thanks to this mechanism of repression, society maintains a stable existence. The mechanism of social repression includes language, the logic of everyday thinking, a system of social prohibitions and taboos. The structures of language and thinking are formed under the influence of society and act as a weapon of social pressure on the individual’s psyche. For example, coarse, anti-aesthetic, ridiculous abbreviations and abbreviations of “Newspeak” from Orwell’s dystopia actively distort the consciousness of the people who use them. To one degree or another, the monstrous logic of formulas like: “The dictatorship of the proletariat is the most democratic form of power” became the property of everyone in Soviet society.

The main component of the mechanism of social repression is social taboos, which act like Freudian censorship. That in the social experience of individuals that threatens the preservation of the existing society, if realized, is not allowed into consciousness with the help of a “social filter.” Society manipulates the consciousness of its members by introducing ideological clichés, which, due to frequent use, become inaccessible to critical analysis, withholding certain information, exerting direct pressure and causing fear of social isolation. Therefore, everything that contradicts socially approved ideological clichés is excluded from consciousness.

These kinds of taboos, ideologemes, logical and linguistic experiments form, according to Fromm, the “social character” of a person. People belonging to the same society, against their will, are, as it were, marked with the seal of a “common incubator”. For example, we unmistakably recognize foreigners on the street, even if we do not hear their speech, by their behavior, appearance, attitude towards each other; These are people from another society, and when they find themselves in a mass environment that is alien to them, they stand out sharply from it due to their similarities with each other. Social character - This is a style of behavior brought up by society and unconscious by the individual - from social to everyday. For example, Soviet and former Soviet people are distinguished by collectivism and responsiveness, social passivity and undemandingness, submission to power, personified in the person of the “leader,” a developed fear of being different from everyone else, and gullibility.

Fromm directed his criticism against modern capitalist society, although he also paid a lot of attention to describing the social character generated by totalitarian societies. Like Freud, he developed a program for restoring individuals' undistorted social behavior through awareness of what had been repressed. “By transforming the unconscious into consciousness, we thereby transform the simple concept of the universality of man into the vital reality of such universality. This is nothing more than the practical implementation of humanism.” The process of derepression—the liberation of socially oppressed consciousness—consists of eliminating the fear of awareness of the forbidden, developing the ability for critical thinking, and humanizing social life as a whole.

A different interpretation is offered by behaviorism (B. Skinner, J. Homans), which considers behavior as a system of reactions to various stimuli.

Skinner's concept is essentially biologizing, since it completely eliminates the differences between the behavior of humans and animals. Skinner distinguishes three types of behavior: unconditioned reflex, conditioned reflex and operant. The first two types of reactions are caused by exposure to appropriate stimuli, and operant reactions are a form of adaptation of the organism to the environment. They are active and voluntary. The body, as if by trial and error, finds the most acceptable method of adaptation, and if successful, the find is consolidated in the form of a stable reaction. Thus, the main factor in the formation of behavior is reinforcement, and learning turns into “guidance to the desired reaction.”

In Skinner's concept, a person appears as a creature whose entire inner life comes down to reactions to external circumstances. Changes in reinforcement mechanically cause changes in behavior. Thinking, the highest mental functions of a person, all culture, morality, art turn into a complex system of reinforcements designed to evoke certain behavioral reactions. This leads to the conclusion that it is possible to manipulate people’s behavior through a carefully developed “technology of behavior.” With this term, Skinner refers to the purposeful manipulative control of some groups of people over others, associated with the establishment of an optimal reinforcement regime for certain social goals.

The ideas of behaviorism in sociology were developed by J. and J. Baldwin, J. Homans.

Concept by J. andJ. Baldwin is based on the concept of reinforcement, borrowed from psychological behaviorism. Reinforcement in the social sense is a reward whose value is determined by subjective needs. For example, for a hungry person, food acts as a reinforcer, but if the person is full, it is not a reinforcer.

The effectiveness of reward depends on the degree of deprivation in a given individual. Subdeprivation is understood as the deprivation of something for which an individual feels a constant need. To the extent that a subject is deprived in any respect, his behavior depends on this reinforcement. So-called generalized reinforcers (for example, money), which act on all individuals without exception, do not depend on deprivation due to the fact that they concentrate access to many types of reinforcers at once.

Reinforcers are divided into positive and negative. Positive reinforcers are anything that is perceived by the subject as a reward. For example, if a particular encounter with the environment brings a reward, it is likely that the subject will strive to repeat this experience. Negative reinforcers are factors that determine behavior through the refusal of some experience. For example, if a subject denies himself some pleasure and saves money on it, and subsequently benefits from this saving, then this experience can serve as a negative reinforcer and the subject will always act that way.

The effect of punishment is the opposite of reinforcement. Punishment is an experience that causes a desire not to repeat it again. Punishment can also be positive or negative, but here everything is reversed compared to reinforcement. Positive punishment is punishment using a suppressive stimulus, such as hitting. Negative punishment influences behavior through the deprivation of something valuable. For example, depriving a child of sweets at lunch is a typical negative punishment.

The formation of operant reactions is probabilistic in nature. Unambiguousness is characteristic of reactions at the simplest level, for example, a child cries, demanding the attention of his parents, because parents always come to him in such cases. Adult reactions are much more complex. For example, a person selling newspapers in train cars does not find a buyer in every car, but he knows from experience that a buyer will eventually be found, and this makes him persistently walk from car to car. In the last decade, the receipt of wages at some Russian enterprises has assumed the same probabilistic nature, but nevertheless, people continue to go to work, hoping to receive it.

Homans' behaviorist concept of exchange appeared in the middle of the 20th century. Arguing with representatives of many areas of sociology, Homans argued that a sociological explanation of behavior must necessarily be based on a psychological approach. The interpretation of historical facts should also be based on a psychological approach. Homans motivates this by the fact that behavior is always individual, while sociology operates with categories applicable to groups and societies, therefore the study of behavior is the prerogative of psychology, and sociology in this matter should follow it.

According to Homans, when studying behavioral reactions, one should abstract from the nature of the factors that caused these reactions: they are caused by the influence of the surrounding physical environment or other people. Social behavior is simply the exchange of activities of some social value between people. Homans believes that social behavior can be interpreted using Skinner's behavioral paradigm, if supplemented with the idea of the mutual nature of stimulation in relationships between people. The relationships between individuals always represent a mutually beneficial exchange of activities, services, in short, this is the mutual use of reinforcements.

Homans briefly formulated the exchange theory in several postulates:

postulate of success - those actions that most often meet social approval are most likely to be reproduced;
incentive postulate - similar incentives associated with reward are likely to cause similar behavior;
postulate of value - the probability of reproducing an action depends on how valuable the result of this action seems to a person;
postulate of deprivation - the more regularly a person’s action is rewarded, the less he values subsequent rewards;
the double postulate of aggression-approval - the absence of an expected reward or unexpected punishment makes aggressive behavior probable, and an unexpected reward or the absence of an expected punishment leads to an increase in the value of the rewarded act and makes it more likely to be reproduced.

The most important concepts of exchange theory are:

the cost of behavior is what this or that action costs an individual - the negative consequences caused by past actions. In everyday terms, this is retribution for the past;
benefit - occurs when the quality and size of the reward exceed the price that the action costs.

Thus, exchange theory portrays human social behavior as a rational search for gain. This concept seems simplistic, and it is not surprising that it has attracted criticism from a variety of sociological directions. For example, Parsons, who defended the fundamental difference between the mechanisms of behavior of humans and animals, criticized Homans for the inability of his theory to provide an explanation of social facts on the basis of psychological mechanisms.

In his exchange theory I. Blau attempted a unique synthesis of social behaviorism and sociologism. Realizing the limitations of a purely behaviorist interpretation of social behavior, he set the goal of moving from the level of psychology to explaining on this basis the existence of social structures as a special reality, irreducible to psychology. Blau's concept is an enriched theory of exchange, which identifies four successive stages of transition from individual exchange to social structures: 1) the stage of interpersonal exchange; 2) level of power-status differentiation; 3) stage of legitimation and organization; 4) stage of opposition and change.

Blau shows that starting from the level of interpersonal exchange, exchange may not always be equal. In cases where individuals cannot offer each other sufficient rewards, the social ties formed between them tend to disintegrate. In such situations, attempts arise to strengthen disintegrating ties in other ways - through coercion, through the search for another source of reward, through subordinating oneself to the exchange partner in the order of generalized credit. The last path means a transition to the stage of status differentiation, when a group of people capable of providing the required reward becomes more privileged in terms of status than other groups. Subsequently, the situation is legitimized and consolidated and opposition groups are identified. By analyzing complex social structures, Blau goes far beyond the behavioral paradigm. He argues that the complex structures of society are organized around social values and norms, which serve as a kind of mediating link between individuals in the process of social exchange. Thanks to this link, it is possible to exchange rewards not only between individuals, but also between an individual and a group. For example, considering the phenomenon of organized charity, Blau determines what distinguishes charity as a social institution from simple help from a rich individual to a poorer one. The difference is that organized charity is socially oriented behavior, which is based on the desire of a wealthy individual to conform to the norms of the wealthy class and share social values; through norms and values, an exchange relationship is established between the sacrificing individual and the social group to which he belongs.

Blau identifies four categories of social values on the basis of which exchange is possible:

particularistic values that unite individuals on the basis of interpersonal relationships;
universalist values, which act as a yardstick for assessing individual merits;
legitimate authority is a value system that provides power and privileges to a certain category of people compared to all others:
oppositional values are ideas about the need for social change that allow the opposition to exist at the level of social facts, and not just at the level of interpersonal relations of individual oppositionists.

It can be said that Blau's exchange theory is a compromise option that combines elements of Homans' theory and sociology in the interpretation of reward exchange.

J. Mead's role concept is a symbolic interactionist approach to the study of social behavior. Its name is reminiscent of the functionalist approach: it is also called role-playing. Mead views role behavior as the activity of individuals interacting with each other in freely accepted and played roles. According to Mead, the role interaction of individuals requires them to be able to put themselves in the place of another, to evaluate themselves from the position of another.

Synthesis of exchange theory with symbolic interactionism P. Zingelman also tried to implement it. Symbolic interactionism has a number of intersections with social behaviorism and exchange theories. Both of these concepts emphasize the active interaction of individuals and view their subject matter from a microsociological perspective. According to Singelman, interpersonal exchange relationships require the ability to put oneself in the position of another in order to better understand his needs and desires. Therefore, he believes that there are grounds for merging both directions into one. However, social behaviorists were critical of the emergence of the new theory.

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municipal autonomous educational institution

Perevozsky municipal district of Nizhny Novgorod region

"Ichalkovo Secondary School"

social studies presentation

Social control

(questions from the Unified State Examination codifier)

Ganyushin M.E.,

a history teacher

highest qualification category

With. Ichalki

Social relations

Social science. Codifier of Unified State Exam questions.

3.9. Social control

Social control is a system of ways of influencing society on the activities, behavior of a person and social groups.

In a broad sense, social control can be defined as the totality of all types of control that exist in society: moral, state control, etc.

In a narrow sense, this is control of public opinion, publicity of results and assessments of people’s activities and behavior.

Functions of social control: protective; stabilizing (consists in the reproduction of the dominant type of social relations, social structures); regulatory

Social norms are rules generally accepted in society that regulate people’s behavior

Sanctions are rewards or punishments aimed at maintaining social norms.

formal and informal

positive

negative

legal

customs, traditions

religious

moral

political

aesthetic

ethical

Social control is a mechanism of relations between the individual and society

Encouragement of a person’s activity or behavior by official organizations (awarding, bonuses, etc.)

Formal positive

Gratitude and approval from unofficial persons: friends, acquaintances, colleagues (praise, applause, etc.)

Informal positive

Punishment for violation of legal norms (fine, imprisonment, etc.)

Formal negative

Public condemnation of a person for an offense (swearing, refusal to shake hands, etc.)

Informal negative

Social sanctions

Forms of social control

Internal (self-control)

A form of social control in which an individual independently regulates his behavior, coordinating it with generally accepted norms

A set of institutions and mechanisms that guarantee compliance with generally accepted norms of behavior and laws

In the process of socialization, norms are internalized so firmly that when people violate them, they experience a feeling of awkwardness, a feeling of guilt, and, as a result, pangs of conscience. Conscience is a manifestation of internal control.

Ways to implement social control in a group and society:

– through socialization (socialization, shaping our desires, preferences, habits and customs, is one of the main factors of social control and establishing order in society);

– through group pressure (each individual, being a member of many primary groups, must share a certain minimum of cultural norms accepted in these groups and behave appropriately, otherwise condemnation and sanctions from the group may follow, ranging from simple comments to expulsion from of this primary group);

– through coercion (in a situation where an individual does not want to comply with laws, regulatory regulators, formalized procedures, a group or society resorts to coercion to force him to act like everyone else).

Depending on the sanctions applied, control methods:

a) direct: hard (the instrument is political repression) and soft (the instrument is the action of the constitution and the criminal code);

b) indirect: hard (instrument - economic sanctions of the international community) and soft (instrument - the media);

c) control is exercised in organizations: general (if the manager gives a subordinate a task and does not control the progress of its implementation); detailed (such control is called supervision).

Anomie –

1) a state of society in which the significance of social norms and regulations has been lost for its members, and therefore the frequency of deviant and self-destructive behavior (including suicide) is relatively high;

2) the lack of standards, standards of comparison with other people, allowing one to assess one’s social position and choose patterns of behavior, which leaves the individual in a “declassed” state, without a sense of solidarity with a specific group

2. Find a concept that generalizes the rest of the concepts presented below.

1) law; 2) traditions; 3) morality; 4) social control; 5) social sanctions.

1. Write down the missing word in the diagram.

3. Below is a list of terms. All of them, with the exception of two, relate to the concept of “social control”.

1) encouragement; 2) punishment; 3) social mobility; 4) social norm; 5) social sanction; 6) social stratification.

4. Fill in the blank in the “Social control forms” table

Interior

5. Find formal positive sanctions in the list below.

1) government awards

2) friendly praise

3) state bonuses

4) presentation of certificates of honor

5) applause

6) friendly location

6. Find a concept that is generalizing for all other concepts in the series presented below, and write down the number under which it is indicated.

1) social control; 2) etiquette; 3) legal norms; 4) encouragement; 5) punishment.

7. Select the correct judgments about social control and write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) Social control is based on moral and legal norms.

2) Social control is a set of sanctions applied to violators of social norms.

3) Support and encouragement from the immediate environment is an important mechanism of social control.

4) Social control is only formal; it does not operate in an informal environment.

5) Social sanctions ensure compliance with social norms in society.

8. Below is a list of terms. All of them, with the exception of two, are formal negative sanctions.

1) fine; 2) warning; 3) refusal to shake hands when meeting; 4) reprimand; 5) boycott; 6) arrest.

9. Select the correct statements about social control and write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) An element of social control are social norms.

2) Social control is exercised only by government agencies.

3) Social control serves as an important means of preventing deviant behavior.

4) Rewarding by a government agency is an example of informal positive sanction.

5) Internal self-control helps the individual build relationships with other people.

10. Select the correct statements about social control and write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) Informal social control is carried out by applying only positive sanctions.

2) Social control is necessary to maintain the stability of social life.

3) Depending on the nature of the sanctions, it is customary to distinguish between progressive and regressive social control.

4) Social control includes a set of methods and techniques that guarantee the fulfillment of role requirements for an individual.

5) Social control ensures compliance with certain conditions, the violation of which harms the functioning of the social system.

11. Establish a correspondence between positive sanctions and examples illustrating them.

12. Establish a correspondence between manifestations of social control and its forms.

13. Read the text below, each position of which is indicated by a specific letter.

(A) Social control is a mechanism by which society ensures compliance with certain restrictions (conditions), the violation of which is detrimental to the functioning of the social system. (B) The elements of social control are social norms and social sanctions. (B) Data from a sociological survey indicate that almost 50% of respondents do not violate norms due to fear of punishment. (D) It is puzzling that almost a quarter of respondents expect rewards for following the norms. (D) It seems that social control is effective only when citizens consciously follow accepted norms.

Determine which text provisions have

1) factual nature

2) the nature of value judgments

3) the nature of theoretical statements

14. Read the text below, in which a number of words are missing. Select from the list provided the words that need to be inserted in place of the gaps.

Social norms constitute one of the elements of the mechanism for regulating relations between the individual and society, which is called ______ (A). Another element is _________ (B), which refers to the reaction of society to the behavior of an individual or group. They mean either approval and encouragement - ______ (B), or disapproval and punishment _______ (D).

Along with external control on the part of society, a group, the state, and other people, internal control, or _______ (D), is of utmost importance, in the process of which ________ (E) plays a major role, i.e. feeling and knowledge of what is good and what is bad, subjective consciousness of compliance or non-compliance of one’s own behavior with moral standards.

1) positive sanctions 6) social norms

2) self-control 7) social control

3) honor 8) conscience

4) social sanctions 9) negative sanctions

5) informal sanctions

15. “Sociologists emphasize that social control can be ________ (A) only if it adheres to the “golden mean” between freedom of choice and ________ (B) for it. The effectiveness of social control is ensured due to the presence of common values established among people and the stability of ________(B).

One should also distinguish between internal and external social control. In science, external control is understood as a set of social ________(G) that regulate people's activities. Excessively strong, petty social control usually leads to negative results. A person may completely lose initiative and ________ (D) when making decisions. Therefore, it is important to develop people’s internal control, or ________(E).”

1) independence 6) society

2) self-control 7) civil

3) efficient 8) mechanism

4) authority 9) status

5) responsibility

16. What meaning do social scientists give to the concept of “social control”? Drawing on knowledge from your social science course, write two sentences: one sentence containing information about the structure of social control, and one sentence revealing any function of social control.

1) the meaning of the concept, for example: social control is a system of ways of regulating the influence of society and social groups on the individual;

2) one sentence with information about the structure of social control, e.g.: “Social control includes social norms and social sanctions”;

3) one sentence revealing, based on knowledge of the course, any function of social control, for example: “Social control serves to maintain the stability of the social system.”

17. What meaning do social scientists give to the concept of “social control”? Drawing on the knowledge of the social science course, compose two sentences: one sentence with information about the types of social control based on the knowledge of the course, and one sentence revealing the features of one of the types of control.

1) the meaning of the concept, for example: “a mechanism for maintaining public order through the use of social sanctions”;

2) one sentence with information about the types of social control la: “The types of social control include self-control, exercised by the person himself, directed at himself, and external control, exercised by social institutions, groups and individuals”;

3) one sentence revealing the features of one of the types of social control, for example: “External control can be formal, based on the approval or condemnation of official authorities and administration, and informal, based on the approval or condemnation of relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, as well as on public opinion, which is expressed through customs, traditions, and the media. "

18. Several schoolchildren entered the tram and took all the available seats. An elderly woman with a heavy bag came down next. None of the guys gave her a seat. One of the tram passengers made a remark to the schoolchildren. What type of social norms in this case became the basis of social control? Determine the type (type) of social sanction applied. Give another example of a sanction of this type (type).

The correct answer must contain the following elements:

1) The first question has been answered: moral standards;

2) The type of social sanction is indicated: informal negative;

3) An example of another similar sanction is given: refusal to communicate.

19. Colleagues accused Nikifor of dishonesty and refused to communicate with him. What type of social norms in this case became the basis of social control? Explain your opinion. Determine the type (type) of the social sanction applied (name two of its characteristics). Give another example of a sanction of this type (type).

The correct answer must contain the following elements:

1) type of social norms: moral (moral);

2) explanation, for example: decency is a category of morality; we are talking about an informal assessment of human behavior from the standpoint of good and evil;

3) two characteristics of sanctions:

Informal

Negative;

4) an additional example of a sanction, for example: refusal to shake hands.

20. Society cannot exist and develop without social control. Indicate any two functions of social control, illustrating each of them with an example.

The correct answer must contain the following elements:

Two functions of social control are indicated, as well as examples illustrating them, for example:

1) regulation of social relations (for example, moral control regulates people’s behavior in terms of ideas about good and evil)

2) opposition to asocial, destructive behavior of members of society (for example, control through the application of legal liability measures to offenders)

3) coordination of the lives of people, their groups, associations (for example, according to the norms of constitutional law, elections to government bodies are held in the state)

4) encouraging socially approved behavior (for example, applying incentives and public recognition to people who provided volunteer assistance to flood victims)

21. You have been instructed to prepare a detailed answer on the topic “Social control”. Make a plan according to which you will cover this topic. The plan must contain at least three points, of which two or more are detailed in sub-points.

1) The concept of social control / Social control is a set of ways society influences the behavior of individuals and groups.

2) Signs of social control:

b) connection with sanctions - punishments for violating norms and rewards for their compliance;

c) collective exercise of control.

3) Functions of social control:

a) regulatory (regulating people’s lives);

b) protective (preservation of existing values and ideals in society);

c) stabilizing (ensuring people’s behavior in standard situations).

4) Elements of social control:

a) social norms;

b) social sanctions.

5) Types (circles) of social control:

a) formal control through legal norms;

b) informal control through moral norms, customs, mores;

c) social control in professional activities;

d) social control in the family and private life;

6) The inextricable connection between external control and self-control exercised by the individual.

22. You have been instructed to prepare a detailed answer on the topic “The role of social control in the development of society.”

One of the options for covering this topic:

1) The concept of “social control”

2) Elements of social control:

a) social norms

b) formal and informal, positive and negative sanctions

3) Social control as a condition for social stability:

a) socialization of individuals is the main goal and function of social control;

b) social control as a way to ensure interaction between people

4) Flexibility of social control is a necessary condition for changes in the social system

5) Deviant and delinquent behavior

Internet resources

http://85.142.162.119/os11/xmodules/qprint/index.php?proj=756DF168F63F9A6341711C61AA5EC578- FIPI. Open Unified State Exam task bank. Social science
http://soc.reshuege.ru/- I’ll solve the Unified State Exam
https://elhow.ru/images/articles/4/44/4408/inner.jpg- image “conscience”
http://cs622424.vk.me/v622424569/42a2b/lIPRXgyAvRU.jpg- image of “the struggle between good and evil”
https://im0-tub-ru.yandex.net/i?id=cffa0e8d12665406fd5e584551705f8b&n=33&h=190&w=272– image “social control”

Literature

1) Unified State Exam 2016. Social studies. Typical test tasks / A.Yu. Lazebnikova, E.L. Rutkovskaya. – M.: Publishing House “Exam”, 2016.

2) Social studies: Unified State Exam textbook / P.A. Baranov, S.V. Shevchenko / Ed. P.A. Baranova. – M.: AST: Astrel, 2014.

3) Social studies. Grade 10. Modular triactive course / O.A. Kotova, T.E. Liskova. – M.: Publishing House “National Education”, 2014.

Social norms constitute one of the elements of the mechanism for regulating relations between the individual and society, which is called social control .

Social control- a mechanism for regulating relations between the individual and society in order to strengthen order and stability in society.

Social control includes two main elements: social norms and sanctions.

Social sanction- any reaction to the behavior of a person or group on the part of others.

Types of social sanctions:

Formal negative - punishment for breaking the law or violating administrative order: fines, imprisonment, correctional labor, etc.
Informal negative - Condemnation of a person for an action by society: offensive tone, scolding or reprimand, demonstrative ignoring of a person, etc.
Formal positive - encouragement of a person’s activity or behavior by official organizations: awards, certificates of professional, academic success, etc.
Informal positive - gratitude and approval of informal persons (friends, acquaintances, colleagues): praise, approving smile, etc.

The purposeful influence of this system on people's behavior in order to strengthen order and stability is ensured by social control. How does the social control mechanism work? Any activity is diverse, each person performs many actions, interacting with the social environment (with society, social communities, public institutions and organizations, the state and other individuals). These actions, individual actions, and behavior of a person are under the control of the people, groups, and society around him.

As long as they do not violate public order or existing social norms, this control is invisible. However, as soon as you violate established customs and rules, or deviate from patterns of behavior that are accepted in society, social control manifests itself. Expressing dissatisfaction, reprimanding, imposing a fine, punishment imposed by the court - all this sank tions ; Along with social norms, they are an essential element of the mechanism of social control. Sanctions can be either positive, aimed at encouraging, or negative, aimed at stopping undesirable behavior.

In both cases, they are classified as formal sanctions if they are applied in accordance with certain rules (for example, awarding an order or punishment by a court verdict), or informal sanctions if they manifest themselves in an emotionally charged reaction from the immediate environment (friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers). Society (large and small groups, the state) evaluates the individual, but the individual also evaluates society, the state, and himself. Perceiving assessments addressed to him from surrounding people, groups, government institutions, a person accepts them not mechanically, but selectively, rethinks them through his own experience, habits, and previously acquired social norms. And a person’s attitude towards other people’s assessments turns out to be purely individual: it can be positive and sharply negative. A person correlates his actions with the social patterns of behavior that he approves when performing those social roles with which he identifies himself.

Forms of social control: external control and internal control.

Thus, along with the highest control on the part of society, group, state, other people, the most important thing is internal control, or self-control , which is based on norms, customs, and role expectations learned by the individual. Plays an important role in the process of self-control conscience , that is, the feeling and knowledge of what is good and what is bad, what is fair and what is unfair; subjective consciousness of compliance or non-compliance of one’s own behavior with moral standards. In a person who, in a state of excitement, by mistake or succumbing to temptation, commits a bad act, conscience causes a feeling of guilt, moral worries, a desire to correct the mistake or atone for the guilt.

So, the most important elements of the mechanism of social control are social norms, public opinion, sanctions, individual consciousness, and self-control. By interacting, they ensure the maintenance of socially acceptable patterns of behavior and the functioning of the social system as a whole.

Process of social control

In the process of socialization, norms are internalized so firmly that when people violate them, they experience a feeling of embarrassment, guilt, and pangs of conscience. Conscience is a manifestation of internal control.

In the Russian Federation, special bodies have been created to carry out social control: the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service, various financial control bodies, etc. Deputies of various levels are also vested with control functions. In addition to state control bodies, various public organizations are playing an increasingly important role in Russia, for example, in the field of protecting consumer rights, monitoring labor relations, monitoring the state of the environment, etc.

Detailed (minor) control, in which the manager intervenes in every action, corrects, pulls back, etc., is called supervision. The more self-control the members of a society develop, the less that society has to resort to external control. Conversely, the less self-control people have, the more often institutions of social control come into play. The weaker the self-control, the stricter the external control should be.

Methods of social control:

Insulation- establishing impenetrable barriers between the deviant and the rest of society without any attempts to correct or re-educate him.
Separation- limiting the deviant’s contacts with other people, but not completely isolating him from society; This approach allows for the correction of deviants and their return to society when they are ready not to violate generally accepted norms
Rehabilitation- a process during which deviants can prepare to return to normal life and correctly fulfill their social roles in society.

Interests as factors influencing social action

Interests play a very important role in social interaction. These include: social institutions, institutions, norms of relationships in society, on which the distribution of objects, values and benefits depends (power, votes, territory, privileges, etc.). The sociality of interests is due to the fact that they always contain an element of comparison between person and person, one social group with another. A set of specific social interests, along with a set of certain rights and responsibilities, is an indispensable attribute of each social status. First of all, these social interests are aimed at preserving or transforming those institutions, orders, social norms on which the distribution of goods necessary for a given social group depends. Therefore, the difference in interests, as well as the difference in the level of income, working and rest conditions, the level of prestige and the opening prospects for advancement in the social space, refers to manifestations of social differentiation.

Social interest underlies all forms of competition, struggle and cooperation between people. Habitual, established interests, recognized by public opinion, are not subject to discussion, thus acquiring the status of legitimate interests. For example, in multinational states, representatives of various ethnic groups are interested in preserving their language and their culture. Therefore, schools and classes are created in which the national language and literature are studied, and cultural-national societies are opened. Any attempt to infringe upon such interests is perceived as an attack on the livelihoods of the corresponding social groups, communities, and states. The modern world is a complex system of interaction of real social interests. The interdependence of all peoples and states has increased. The interests of preserving life on Earth, culture and civilization come to the fore.