NCJ Number
85215
Date Published
1981
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This analysis of means of social control identifies and discusses seven means that have been used separately and in combination in various historic periods.
Abstract
Societies have always had to deal with troublesome behavior through whatever means seemed appropriate or were popular at the time. As Western society has evolved, different institutions have become strong and have sponsored their own methods of disapproval. The oldest institutions of disapproval are tort and sin. The first relies on civil law or rules governing the settlement of private disputes. Sin refers to disapproval within the perceptions and control mechanisms of organized religion. With the rise of the medical profession, particularly mental health professionals, problem behavior is often diagnosed as disease that requires the control methods of the medical profession. The expansion of the state in the 20th century has permitted a proliferation of new systems of treatment, regulation, surveillance, and control. These include the welfare bureaucracies and their systems of eligibility and the regulatory agencies that license business, commerce, and the practice of trades and finally, the civil rights and liberation movements have given troublesome people a base from which to fight for toleration and defend themselves against those who have oppressed them. Given the broad range of social control institutions, it is apparent that there is an imbalance in the primary attention given to the criminal justice system as but one means of controlling troublesome behavior. Twenty-nine references are listed.