How Power Is Applied In Social Control By Focusing On Class

Power in Social Control
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Power in Social Control
This short paper focuses on illustrating how power is applied in social control by focusing on class, gender and racial identities as the mechanisms of social control. Based on the various texts that have been analyzed in classes, social power can be defined as the ability of an individual or group to induce or influence a certain behavior in others. On the same basis, social control can be defined as the process through which members of a social entity can be influenced to conform to the principles that are deemed to be appropriate for that social entity. Generally, this is the definition that has been adopted by majority of sociologists. In a societal setting, governments exercise control over its citizens through various approaches, parents have control over their children, schools exercise control over the students and instructors, and religious institutions control their followers. The need for social control in the society was well explained by Hobbes after observing that in a natural state with each individual trying to satisfy his/her needs at all costs, the humankind will be at war making life “nasty, brutish and short” (Black, 2014). From Hobbes perspective, power and social control appear to be interrelated because social control process involves exercising power. Therefore, power, despite of its downfalls have played a significant role in social control and protecting the society. In this regard, I have to examine how power have utilized certain mechanisms such as class and gender and explore how the society has resisted such exercises.
Before I start I have to admit some of my inadequacies in this analysis. Therefore, I cannot claim to be an expert on power control r do I have the capabilities of developing such expertise at the moment. Secondly, I have to admit that I am restricted to power segment, but I think understanding the mechanisms of social control through the bases of power will be of help in understanding how they are used.
To start with I consider the six bases of power that those who are in power can utilize to change the behaviors of their targets. These are: expertise, coercion, reference, reward, legitimacy and information. First I combine both coercive and reward powers and consider them to be in terms of rewards and threats such as threats of punishments and ...