Social Control, Conformity And Resistance: The Role Of Structure And Agency In Shaping The Relationship Between The Individual And Society, Including An Awareness Of The Differences Between Structuralist And Interactionist Views. (Copy)

Meaning of Social Control

Definition

• Social control = processes through which society ensures individuals follow norms, values, laws and expectations
• Maintains social order and predictability
• Operates through formal (law, police, courts, schools) and informal (family, peers, religion, communities, media) mechanisms

Types of Social Control

• Formal social control
  • Carried out by institutions backed by legal authority
  • Police, courts, government, school rules, workplace regulations
  • Uses formal sanctions such as fines, arrest, punishment, expulsion, dismissal
• Informal social control
  • Carried out through everyday interactions
  • Family expectations, community pressure, religion, peer pressure, shame, gossip, social approval
  • Uses informal sanctions such as ridicule, praise, gossip, exclusion, reputation

Purpose of Social Control

• Creates conformity
• Reduces deviance
• Maintains stability and cooperation
• Reinforces dominant values and ideologies
• Ensures smooth functioning of institutions

Conformity

Definition

• Conformity = following norms, rules and expectations of society or a group
• Most behaviour in society is conformist, because people internalise norms through socialisation

Reasons Why Individuals Conform

• Desire for acceptance and belonging
• Fear of sanctions
• Internalisation of values
• Respect for authority
• Habit and routine
• Perceived legitimacy of rules

Types of Conformity (Kelman)

• Compliance: following rules to avoid punishment
• Identification: adopting behaviour to be part of a group
• Internalisation: deeply accepting norms as personal values

How Institutions Promote Conformity

• Family: discipline, expectations, reward/punishment
• School: rules, uniforms, hidden curriculum
• Religion: moral codes, rituals, fear of divine punishment
• Workplace: hierarchy, codes of conduct
• Media: representation of “normal” behaviour

Resistance

Meaning of Resistance

• Resistance = behaviour that rejects or challenges dominant norms, expectations or authority
• Can be individual or collective
• May be passive (ignoring norms) or active (protest, deviance, rebellion)

Forms of Resistance

• Everyday resistance: being late, ignoring rules, mild rule-breaking
• Youth subcultures: punks, emos, hip-hop cultures resisting mainstream values
• Political resistance: protests, activism, civil disobedience
• Cultural resistance: creating alternative lifestyles or identities
• Symbolic resistance: fashion, language, music

Why People Resist

• Inequality or oppression
• Desire for autonomy or self-expression
• Peer influence
• Feeling alienated from mainstream culture
• Personal identity conflicts

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia, World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Sociology Full Scale Course

Structure vs Agency

Definitions

• Structure
  • Large-scale social forces that shape behaviour
  • Includes social institutions (family, education, religion, economy, law), norms, values, roles, class, gender, ethnicity
  • Viewed as external and constraining
• Agency
  • The ability of individuals to make choices, interpret norms, resist control, and act independently
  • Agency emphasises creativity, meaning-making, negotiation and personal power

Structure–Agency Relationship

• Central debate in sociology:
  • Are people shaped by society (structure)?
  • Or do they actively shape society (agency)?
• Most sociologists see both forces interacting
• The balance between structure and agency varies across perspectives

Structuralist Views of Behaviour

What Structuralism Argues

• Society shapes individuals more than individuals shape society
• Behaviour determined by social structures and social forces
• Norms, values, roles and institutions guide behaviour strongly
• Individuals have limited freedom because they internalise society’s expectations

Functionalism as a Structuralist Theory

• Society is a system of interrelated parts
• Socialisation teaches shared norms → conformity
• Individuals behave based on social needs rather than personal desires
• Durkheim:
  • Social facts constrain behaviour (e.g., suicide patterns explained by social forces)
• Parsons:
  • Roles, norms and institutions direct behaviour
  • Individuals internalise role expectations (student, parent, citizen)
• Conformity is necessary for stability

Marxism as a Structuralist Theory

• Behaviour shaped by class relations and economic structure
• Ruling class controls ideology through institutions (education, media, religion)
• Individuals internalise ruling-class norms (false consciousness)
• Capitalist system shapes identity, choices and lifestyle
• Conformity reproduces inequality
• Resistance occurs when individuals become aware of exploitation

Feminism as a Structuralist Theory

• Gender structures influence behaviour
• Patriarchal norms taught through family, education, religion and media
• Women socialised to be submissive; men socialised to be dominant
• Gender roles constrain agency
• Feminist resistance challenges structural patriarchy

Key Structuralist Features

• Socialisation = powerful, shaping force
• Behaviour mostly predictable
• Roles and expectations are more influential than personal choices
• Conformity encouraged; resistance must be explained through structural inequalities

Interactionist Views of Behaviour

What Interactionism Argues

• Micro-sociology focusing on small-scale interactions
• Society is created and recreated through human interaction
• Behaviour is not fixed; individuals interpret rules and negotiate meanings
• Agency is central — individuals actively create identity

Symbolic Interactionism

• Behaviour depends on meanings, not structures
• Interaction determines identity
• Key theorists:
  • Mead: individuals learn through taking the role of the other
  • Cooley: “Looking Glass Self” → behaviour shaped by imagined judgments of others
  • Goffman: dramaturgy → people perform roles and engage in impression management

Labelling Theory (Becker)

• Deviance produced through social reactions
• Labels (e.g., “troublemaker”, “criminal”, “intelligent”) shape identity
• Self-fulfilling prophecy:
  • Individuals internalise labels → act accordingly
• Shows how individuals resist or negotiate labels

Ethnomethodology (Garfinkel)

• Individuals construct order through everyday routines
• Breaking social norms (breaching experiments) shows how meaning is created

Interactionist Understanding of Conformity and Resistance

• Conformity:
  • Occurs when individuals accept meanings provided by others
• Resistance:
  • Happens when people reinterpret situations or reject labels
• Behaviour is flexible, negotiated and dependent on social context

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia, World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Sociology Full Scale Course

Comparing Structuralist and Interactionist Views

Structuralists

• Behaviour shaped by:
  • Class
  • Gender
  • Education system
  • Religion
  • Media
  • Family roles
• Conformity is produced by powerful institutions
• Resistance comes from structural inequalities
• Individuals = largely passive
• Social order maintained through shared norms and values (functionalism), ideology (Marxism), or patriarchy (feminism)

Interactionists

• Behaviour shaped by:
  • Meaning
  • Interpretation
  • Identity
  • Interaction with others
• Focus on micro-level behaviour
• Individuals choose actions and perform roles
• Social control = negotiated, not imposed
• Resistance occurs through redefinition of situations

How Structure and Agency Shape the Individual–Society Relationship

Structure Influences Behaviour

• Determines available opportunities
• Imposes expectations and sanctions
• Controls access to power, wealth, status
• Shapes identity (e.g., “working class”, “Muslim”, “woman”, “student”)

Agency Influences Behaviour

• Individuals make choices even within constraints
• People interpret norms creatively (e.g., youth subcultures)
• Can resist, negotiate or reject structural expectations
• Can redefine situations through identity work and performance

Structure Shapes Agency but Agency Also Shapes Structure

• People reproduce structures by conforming
• People challenge structures by resisting
• Structures exist because people collectively accept them
• When resistance grows, structures change (e.g., feminism, civil rights movements)

Examples Showing Structure–Agency Interaction

Education

• Structure:
  • School rules, exam systems, curriculum
  • Teacher expectations
• Agency:
  • Students choose to conform, rebel, skip classes, or excel
• Example:
  • Anti-school subcultures (Willis – “the lads”) show resistance inside a structural system

Gender

• Structure:
  • Patriarchal norms
  • Gender roles and expectations
• Agency:
  • Individuals resisting gender roles (e.g., women in STEM, men in caregiving roles)

Class

• Structure:
  • Economic inequality
  • Access to opportunities
• Agency:
  • Working-class students rejecting or embracing education despite structural disadvantages

Religion

• Structure:
  • Moral rules, rituals, authority
• Agency:
  • Individuals interpreting or resisting religious norms based on personal beliefs

Media

• Structure:
  • Dominant ideologies, advertisements, stereotypes
• Agency:
  • People creating alternative content, rejecting stereotypes, participating in fandoms

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia, World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Sociology Full Scale Course