How Sociologists Define Social Control

How Sociologists Define Social Control Social control, within sociology, refers to the many ways in which our behavior, thoughts, and appearance are regulated by the norms, rules, laws, and social structures of society. Social control is a necessary component of social order, for society could not exist without it. Overview of the Concept Social control is achieved through a variety of means, including through social norms, rules, laws, and social, economic, and institutional structures. In fact, there would be no  society without social control, because society cannot function without an agreed upon and enforced social order that makes daily life and a complex division of labor possible. Without it, chaos and confusion would reign. The primary way through which social order is produced is through the ongoing, lifelong process of socialization that each person experiences. Through this process, we are taught from birth the norms, rules, and behavioral and interactional expectations that are common to our family, peer groups, community, and greater society. Socialization teaches us how to think and behave in accepted ways, and in doing so, effectively controls us our participation in society. The physical organization of society is also a part of social control. For example, paved streets and traffic signals control, at least in theory, the behavior of people when they drive vehicles. Sidewalks and crosswalks control foot traffic, for the most part, and aisles in grocery stores control how we move through the space. When we fail to conform to norms, rules, and social expectations, we suffer sanctions that remind us of their social importance, and that serve to control our behavior. These sanctions take many forms, from confused and disapproving looks to conversations with family, peers, and authority figures, to social ostracization, among others. The Two Types of Social Control Social control tends to take one of two different forms: informal or formal. Informal social control refers to our  conformity to the norms and values of the society, and adoption of a particular belief system, which we learn through the process of socialization. This form of social control is enforced by family, primary caregivers, peers, other authority figures like coaches and teachers, and by colleagues. EyesWideOpen/Getty Images Informal social control is enforced by rewards and sanctions. Reward often takes the form of praise or compliments, but also takes other common forms, like high marks on school work, promotions at work, and social popularity. Sanctions used to enforce informal social control, like those discussed above, tend to be social in form and consist mainly in communication or lack thereof, but can also take the form of the ending of a relationship, teasing or ridicule, poor marks in school, or being fired from work, among others. Formal social control is that which is produced and enforced by the state (government) and representatives of the state that enforce its laws like police, military, and other city, state, and federal agencies. In many cases, a simple police presence is enough to create formal social control. In others, police might intervene in a situation that involves unlawful or dangerous behavior in order to stop itto arrest literally means to stopin order to ensure that social control is maintained.   Alex Livesey/Getty Images Other government agencies enforce formal social control as well, like those that regulate which substances or foods can be legally sold, and those that enforce building codes, among others. It is up to formal bodies like the judiciary and the penal system to dole out sanctions when someone fails to comply with the laws that define formal social control. Updated  by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

The Odds of Winning the Lottery

The Odds of Winning the Lottery What are the chances that the lottery ticket that you’re holding in your hand is a winner? This sort of question is an applied probability problem. With millions of dollars on the line, it would be good to have a solid answer. What are the odds of winning the lottery? How Does The Lottery Work? To answer this sort of question we need to know how a lottery works. In lotteries, a person plays by buying a ticket with a choice of numbers from a certain range. At a specified time the organization running the lottery randomly generates numbers from this same range. The grand prize, sometimes worth several millions of dollars, is awarded for matching all of the numbers. In some lotteries, lesser amounts are paid for matching all but one or two of the numbers. Those are the generalities, but we need to know the specifics of the game that you purchased a ticket for. These specifics will calculate the exact probability that you have of winning. A Sample Game One game, known by various names such as Daily 4 or Pick 4, involves choosing four numbers from 0 to 9. The order of these digits is important, so 1234 is a different choice of digits than 1243 or 1324. The probability of winning this lottery is given by determining the total number of ​four-digit numbers possible. Since each of the numbers is chosen independently and there are ten choices for each, the total number of four digit numbers is 10410000. This means that the probability of winning is 1/10000 0.01%. Games of this sort typically do not pay that much and are not what people associate with winning the lottery. A typical payout for a $1 bet on a lottery such as this is $5,000. While this sounds good who wouldn‘t want to multiply their money by 5000 realize that on average you would have to play thousands of times to make winning likely. Another Lottery Game Another type of lottery game pays more if you win it, but it is much harder to win. An example is where six numbers are chosen from 1 to 48. Here the order of the numbers is not important, and so we need to calculate a combination. We can choose six number from 48 in a total of C(48, 6). By the combination formula this number is 48!/(6!42!) 12,271,512. As matching all of these numbers perfectly accounts for one of these combinations, the probability of matching and winning millions is 1/12,271,512. How Likely Is It? So those are the numbers, is there any good way to interpret them? Let’s look at the millionaire game and its probability of winning at 1/12,271,512. Winning this is very unlikely. To be assured of a 50% chance of winning you would need to buy over eight million different tickets. The number 12,271,512 is roughly that of the population of the entire metro area of Los Angeles, California. So the probability of winning the lottery is the same as running into a particular person, chosen in advance while walking the streets of LA. Another way of looking at this is to look at other probabilities. Numbers are somewhat hard to come by, but it’s been estimated that 100 people a year in the U.S. are struck by lightning. With the current population at 307 million, the probability that you will be struck by lightning this year is 100/307,000,000 1/3,070,000. So you’re four times more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the lottery. Sure, some people win millions in the lottery. It’s just very likely that it’s not going to be you.