An Examination and Application of Three Sociological Concepts to Deviance and Social Control

There are a number of factors that are included within any facet of Sociology. Most of these factors are deeply intertwined with one another, as many are deeply psychological in nature, and it is for this reason that determining the underlying concepts behind many of these sociological issues can be difficult. Two of the most prominent of these issues include social control, which simply dictates the manner that people should behave, and deviance, or the violation of the rules of this social control. Although these two concepts, deviance and social control, might appear to be polar opposites at first glance, they are, in reality, deeply intertwined with one another, as, in a way, one cannot exist without another. That is to say, this utilizes the concept of "rules were meant to be broken," and, by extension, the concept of the sociology of deviance represents the breaking of this social control. In order to understand these two concepts and the interplay between them, it is necessary to apply three Sociological concepts to them and analyze them from the perspective of these broad concepts.

The first Sociological concept to be applied to these two issues is the concept of the society. Society is a crucial part of Sociology as it encompasses the "world" upon which almost all concepts behind Sociology are based and interact with one another. Thus, the concept of the society is of utmost importance in the field of deviance and social control. At its most basic level, society is a human-created organization of people and relationships that are all interconnected and form an ecosystem of sorts, whether that ecosystem be within a city, country, or even a mere household (Bendtx, 1973). The source here utilizes a great deal of empirical evidence dealing with concepts and generalizations within the world of Sociology. As such, this particular study, while dated, is perfect for analyzing the concept of society within Sociology. Society is an extremely broad concept within Sociology, and examining every facet within it would take hundreds of pages. However, for the purposes of this paper, the most important aspects of society are the degree of cohesion required to be considered a part of the society, along with other factors that might influence the underlying definitions of society.

Society is a crucial part of the concept of social control, and, by extension, deviance, because society is, in and of itself, a form of social control (Bendtx, 1973). Society, many would argue, is what separates men from beasts, and lacking an adherence to this society reduces a man to no more than an exiled hermit. However, this adherence to order within society could also be its greatest downfall. This brings up the first major point concerning society that society itself is a form of social control, and that deviance from this society comes about as a need to rebel against this control. Humans are a species that has evolved to despise authority. In fact, one of these psychological concepts, known as psychological reactance, is an instilled desire within humans to rebel against the "system," and nowhere is this more apparent than within the realm of society and social control (Bendtx, 1973).

The numerous rules and regulations that a society places within a human can be enormous, and these rules might finally prompt a human to simply rise against them. For example, a society that has banned the use of football, for whatever reason, would undoubtedly see a rise in people deviating from society by playing football, even if those humans do not like football, simply because they need to rebel against this form of social control by being deviant. Essentially, this concept can be described as a need to rebel for the sake of rebelling. Another example cited in one of these sources is the foundation of Indian society on religion (Bendtx, 1973). Many Indians, unaccustomed to life within a concrete "society," often formed loosely within villages, rebelled against it in the form of religious rebellion or simple refusal to integrate into the society. Such deviant behavior is typical of too much social control, and is a telling sign that a particular society is too overbearing in at least one respect (Bendtx, 1973).

Another aspect of social control and the deviance that arises from it is the concept of identity. Identity is another crucial aspect of Sociology because it is the method that humans use to determine who they are within a particular society, and, more importantly, what sets them apart from others (Stets & Biga, 2003). This concept is also referred to as social identity theory, and is the basic concept of an individual "fitting in" within a society and its social norms, or, more appropriately, social control (Stets & Biga, 2003). However, the concept of using the society to entirely determine one's identity can bring about a number of problems. For example, one study maintains that the concept of social identity determining one's personality and identity entirely means that, in a way, the entire society is responsible when that individual deviates from the society, or, in other words, engages in deviant behavior such as drug dealing, robbery, or even self-destructive tendencies such as addiction to gambling or drugs (Stets & Biga, 2003). This study examines these aspects thoroughly, although the study does examine them through the lens of environmental Sociology, meaning that it focuses a bit more on the "big picture" than comparable studies. However, this is beneficial, as examining the macro-aspects of any issue is a core component of Sociology.

Much of the research concerning the concept of this social identity theory concerns what is known as "attitude theory," or the theory that attitudes are either the sole component of an individual's behavior, or a very large determinant of it (Stets & Biga, 2003). These attitudes, the theory states, are formed largely by an individual's intention to engage in the behavior, and, of course, this intention can be molded and changed by a number of factors, both internal and external (Stets & Biga, 2003). In fact, one interesting aspect of this theory that is discussed at length is the role of this social control on attitudes and underlying factors that lead to deviance (Stets & Biga, 2003). Essentially, this means that the very same social control that is used to keep individuals within a society adhered to a common standard and beliefs could also be a direct cause of this deviant behavior, making the concept of social control something of a self-fulfilling prophecy (Stets & Biga, 2003).

The final Sociological concept to be applied to social control and deviance is another broad concept: inequality. Inequality is a crucial component of Sociology because it is the largest, and perhaps only, reason that an individual does not fit into any given society, which, therefore, pushes them to engage in deviant behavior. In that sense, the concept of inequality is central to social control and deviance. While inequality might ultimately be a problem of society itself, there are a number of factors within a society that contribute to feelings of inequality within groups or individuals. The most prominent of these by far are race and gender, two of the most common and, consequently, immediately observable, traits that lead to inequality (Kenworthy, 2007). This study, by Lane Kenworthy, examines the implications of societal inequalities and examines a number of factors that might lead to such. However, the article does appear to have something of a bias in the sense that it only really considers race and gender to be the primary causes of inequality, and concerns itself perhaps too much so with those two issues, although they are indeed large indicators. The study examines a number of factors concerning race, gender, and equality, such as the disparity in income between people of different races or genders within a society, and draws the conclusion that there is indeed a great disparity between different races and genders, although the specific race or gender varies depending on the society, of course (Kenworthy, 2007).

The most prominent implication of this study is that these factors that lead to inequality, and, thus deviance, is that this inequality necessitates the formation of social classes and, perhaps, the concept of social identity itself (Kenworthy, 2007). Much of this arises from studies that show an increasing gap between virtually all types of groups within a society, not just people of different race or gender. For example, the study shows a growing dichotomy between people of different income classes, social levels, and professions, meaning that inequality appears to be an underlying problem with the concept of social control theory itself (Kenworthy, 2007). At the very least, it is an extremely deep-seated problem that is a certain cause of a large amount of deviance within a society. Perhaps even worse is the fact that many of these groups will band together against one another, creating a warfare-like splitting of groups within a society; a Sociological invention that is responsible for preventing things just like that (Kenworthy, 2007). The study cites numerous examples of this, such as favoritism on the basis of race, gender, income level, or even simply geography, helping to illustrate the diverse ways that this social deviance is taking place (Kenworthy, 2007).

Social control is perhaps a step in the wrong direction in terms of what is best for society in general. The concept of attempting to control too much within a society is the primary contributor to social deviance, which is enough reason to consider not utilizing social control anymore. However, it is simply too deeply ingrained in the minds of virtually everyone to stop, so it is simply dealt with, for better or worse. Perhaps the ideal solution is to exercise a small degree of social control, but temper it with a great deal of freedom. To an extent, this concept can be observed in many modern societies, which enforce a large number of rules, to allow for a marginal degree of social control, but also allow for a great deal of freedom, which helps to reduce psychological reactance as well as the risk of deviant behavior. It is important to note that there is no sure-fire way to completely remove either social control or deviance, since all societies require rules, and there will always be rule-breakers, but practicing temperance is the key to a successful and thriving society.

References

Bendtx, R. (1973). Concepts and Generalizations in Comparative Sociological Studies. Research Studies in Comparative Sociology, 28(4), 90, 532-540

Kenworthy, L. (2007). Inequality and Sociology. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(5), 584-602.

Stets, J. E., & Biga, C. F. (2003). Bringing Identity Theory Into Environmental Sociology. Sociological Theory, 21(4), 398-423.