Control theory in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

is the idea that two control systems—inner controls and outer controls—work against our tendencies to deviate. Control theory can either be classified as

centralized Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...

decentralized Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

. Decentralized control is considered

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

control. Centralized control is considered

bureaucratic The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...

control. Some types of control such as

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

control are considered to be a mixture of both decentralized and centralized control. Decentralized control or market control is typically maintained through factors such as

price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

, or

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...

. Centralized control such as bureaucratic control is typically maintained through

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

hierarchical A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

techniques such as creating standards or policies. An example of mixed control is clan control which has characteristics of both centralized and decentralized control. Mixed control or clan control is typically maintained by keeping a set of

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...

s and beliefs or norms and traditions. Containment theory, as developed by

Walter Reckless Walter Reckless (January 19, 1899, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – September 20, 1988 Dublin, Ohio) was an American criminologist known for his containment theory (see social control theory). Biography Reckless earned his PhD in sociology (1925) fr ...

in 1973, states that behavior is caused not by outside stimuli, but by what a person wants most at any given time. According to the control theory, weaker containing social systems result in more deviant behavior. Control theory stresses how weak bonds between the

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...

s and

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

free people to deviate or go against the norms, or the people who have weak ties would engage in

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

s so they could benefit, or gain something that is to their own interest. This is where strong bonds make deviance more costly. Deviant acts appear attractive to individuals but social bonds stop most people from committing the acts. Deviance is a result of extensive exposure to certain social situations where individuals develop behaviors that attract them to avoid conforming to social norms. Social bonds are used in control theory to help individuals from pursuing these attractive deviations. According to

Travis Hirschi Travis Warner Hirschi (April 15, 1935 – January 2, 2017) was an American sociologist and an emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Arizona. He helped to develop the modern version of the social control theory of crime and later ...

, humans are selfish beings, who make decisions based on which choice will give the greatest benefit. A good example of control theory would be that people go to

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

. Most people do not want to go to work, but they do, because they get paid, to obtain food, water, shelter, and clothing. Hirschi (1969) identifies four elements of social bonds: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

Notes

References

*Giddens, Anthony,

Mitchell Duneier Mitchell Duneier is an American sociologist and ethnographer. He is currently Maurice P. During Professor and department chair of Sociology at Princeton University and has also served as a regular Visiting Distinguished Professor of Sociology at ...

, Richard Appelbaum, and Deborah Carr. Introduction To Sociology. Seventh . New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009. 182. Print. *Hamlin, John. "A Non-Causal Explanation: Containment Theory Walter C. Reckless." 2001. University of Minnesota, Web. 5 Mar 2010. . *O'Grady, William. ''Crime in a Canadian Context''. 2011. Toronto: Oxford University press. Print. *Henslin, James M. Sociology: A Down-To-Earth Approach. Nine ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2008. Print.

External links

Control Theory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Control Theory (Sociology) Criminology Sociological theories

See also

Notes

References

External links