Response Paper 5

Chelsea Billek

October 6, 2011

SOC 1000 (15)

Response Paper 5

            In today’s world, there are many different forms of formal and informal social control. These types of controls can vary by state, town, community, etc. Formal social control is widespread and effects more people than most informal control. Although, at Kean University, I feel that formal social control is not as evident. Being a renowned university with students attending there to better themselves, it is not very common to see formal laws being imposed. Not because no one administers them, but because there is seldom a need for enforcement to step in. Most students and faculty attending Kean University see it as a privilege, and would not do something as unheard of as to disobey a law on campus. Though there are times where this does occur, they are luckily few and far between. At my place of business, the same ideology applies. I would never do something to risk losing my place there. I earn a good amount of money and again, see it as a privilege to be working there. If someone was to break the law while employed here, I strongly believe it would be grounds for automatic termination. Likewise at Kean, doing so would probably result in expulsion or another drastic form of punishment.

            Informal laws on the other hand, are much more prevalent. This is especially true in the two settings mentioned. Although informal social control can vary by person, there are many common ones shared by society. I believe both formal and informal social controls are somewhat effective, but formal control would have to be the most powerful. I feel this way because formal laws do not discriminate against race or religion. Everyone is expected to oblige to the same code, despite their personal beliefs or feelings. This is not true in informal control. That being said, society takes much bigger measures to ensure that formal laws are obeyed.

            Someone who goes against this formal social control would be considered a “deviant”. Most people see deviance as a characteristic of the person. But in reality, a deviant is someone deemed that by society. In one’s own mind, they might see nothing wrong with their reasoning or logic for breaking the formal code. They might have even had a somewhat excusable reason for doing so. Yet society, who might not know their story behind it, automatically views them as a menace to society. Also, there are groups of people that think certain laws are unjust and should be repealed. One such example that can be heard or seen today is the legalization of marijuana. A large number of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized. Therefore, someone charged with a marijuana related crime may be viewed as a deviant to some, but just the opposite to others.