Importance Of Informal Social Control

Discussing Informal Social Control : Its Importance and Complexity
Informal Social Control is one of the most discussed and critically argued topics of Social Science and more particularly, of Social Control. It has been severely discussed, criticized and has gone through several post-mortems for ages. Numerous arguments and theories have been presented by scholars, criminologists, and sociologists on whether the informal social control is a better option than its formal counterpart or not, what level of complexity it has and what sort of problems it faces. So, the discussion on the importance and the complex nature of informal social control is very much contextually valid while keeping in mind the social system and its problems, that can

Many of them have argued that mobility, poverty, and heterogeneity undermine neighborhood connections and social links, which majorly contributes to the breakdown of informal social control resulting in the increase of crime rates inside society. The presence of informal social control can help to contain crime to some extent, but the absence of it results in the negative. Criminologists suggest that factors related to economic backgrounds have a key role to play in this matter. Studies have been conducted on several families in accordance with economic standards. The results shows very clearly that people belonging to poor economic backgrounds often lose their faith in the structure of the social system, and then they tend to involve in criminal activities for either having a good life in future days (only in the sense of good economic status) or to express their anger on the system by being an outlaw. Studies also show that, in contrast to people living in white communities, people belonging to black communities are often found to be the offenders in cases of homicide or robberies. Thus, race factor also plays a vital role. It has often been suggested that people commit a crime either for family failure or for the failure of the society. Informal social control cannot effectively influence such factors. This is why most criminologists find formal control as the more

It is the time to think how we can utilize the social values. Informal control helps to stabilize the society by enforcing norms related to ethic and morality. Formal control tends to enforce laws to deal with the problems socially. Formal control tends to have more effect and power over people than its informal alternative. But as discussed above, both functions have some flaws in them that have to be corrected and rectified without any delay. We have to understand that it is misleading to make artificial distinctions between sociological and deterrent models of crime. We have to address and evaluate it collectively. Both types of controls are equally significant and important in the society. The fact is just that the degrees of these two functionaries occasionally fluctuate according to social dynamics, but then mainly do so for the betterment and progress of the society on a collective and total perspective. We have to keep a close eye on that and all of us should contribute equally to our society's development. Society demands for rivalry neither theoretically nor practically, it demands higher social values and flexible regulations that can make our lives worth