Table of Contents
How does society affect the way we think?
Our culture shapes the way we work and play, and it makes a difference in how we view ourselves and others. It affects our values—what we consider right and wrong. This is how the society we live in influences our choices.
Social control is the study of the mechanisms, in the form of patterns of pressure, through which society maintains social order and cohesion. Social control is typically employed by group members in response to anyone it considers deviant, problematic, threatening, or undesirable, with the goal of ensuring conformity.
Social control is necessary for an orderly social life. The society has to regulate and pattern individual behaviour to maintain normative social order. Without social control the organisation of the society is about to get disturbed.
How does society affect your thoughts and action?
There are a number of reasons why people allow social influences to affect their thoughts and behavior. One reason is that we often conform to the norms of a group to gain acceptance of its members. However, cooperation can lead to a conformity of views, resulting in a phenomenon known as groupthink.
How does society shape an individual character or personality?
Society shapes our values by the roles in which we play. It has positioned itself to determine what is moral or ethical. Because our culture has a dominant belief, it forces the majority or the mainstream to accept what is or is not moral or ethical.
Social control theory describes internal means of social control. It argues that relationships, commitments, values, and beliefs encourage conformity—if moral codes are internalized and individuals are tied into broader communities, individuals will voluntarily limit deviant acts.
Social control is achieved through social, economic, and institutional structures. Common examples of informal social control methods include criticism, disapproval, ridicule, sarcasm and shame.
Schools can further goals of social control by socializing students into behaving in socially acceptable ways. Education may maintain social control through various mechanisms, such as indoctrination, informal sanctions and formal sanctions.
How does community influence you as a person?
Our community can help shape who we are as a person. “When you visit a place you used to live, these cues can cause you to revert back to the person you were when you lived there.” Our homes and cities help identify who we are as a person. By moving to a different community, a person identity might also change.