Socialisation, social control and theories of social…

Core facts

Socialisation: the lifelong process by which a person learns the culture, norms and roles of society.
Types:
- Primary: in early childhood, mainly in the family.
- Secondary: later, through school, peers, workplace and media.
- Anticipatory: learning the values of a group one hopes to join, before joining it (Merton).
- Re-socialisation: unlearning old ways and learning new ones, e.g. in the army, prison or a monastery.
C.H. Cooley: looking-glass self (1902): we see ourselves as we imagine others see us.
G.H. Mead: self has two parts, the "I" and the "me"; the child learns the generalised other.
Social control: the term was introduced through E.A. Ross's book Social Control (1901).
Formal control: law, police, courts. Informal control: customs, gossip, ridicule, religion, family.
Merton's modes of adaptation (1938): conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion.
Cyclical theories of change:
- Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West: civilisations are born, mature and die.
- Arnold Toynbee: civilisations grow by "challenge and response".
- Pitirim Sorokin, Social and Cultural Dynamics: swing between ideational and sensate cultures.

Explained

Agencies of socialisation

Family: language, basic values, gender roles, caste and religious identity.
Peer group: equality, cooperation, youth subculture.
School: discipline, achievement, citizenship.
Mass and social media: role models, consumer values.
Religion and community: rituals, moral codes.
State and law: rights, duties, civic rules.

Theories of the self

Thinker	Key idea
C.H. Cooley	Looking-glass self: imagine how we appear, imagine the judgement, feel pride or shame
G.H. Mead	"Me" = organised attitudes of others taken over; "I" = spontaneous, creative response
Sigmund Freud	Id, ego, superego
Jean Piaget	Stages of cognitive development

Mead's stages: imitation (preparatory) → play (taking the role of one other, e.g. playing "mother") → game (taking the roles of many at once, as in team sport). From the game the child forms the generalised other.

Social control and deviance

Positive sanctions (praise, awards) and negative sanctions (fines, exclusion).
Merton's typology (goals vs means):

Mode	Accepts goals?	Accepts means?
Conformity	Yes	Yes
Innovation	Yes	No
Ritualism	No	Yes
Retreatism	No	No
Rebellion	Replaces	Replaces

Example of innovation: a student who wants high marks (a valued goal) but copies in the exam (illegitimate means).
Example of ritualism: an official who follows rules mechanically, having given up the goal.
Labelling theory: deviance is a label applied by others. Howard Becker, Outsiders (1963). Edwin Lemert separated primary deviance (the first act) from secondary deviance (behaviour after a person accepts the label).

Theories of social change

Type	Idea	Thinkers
Evolutionary (linear)	Simple to complex, in stages	Comte, Spencer, Morgan
Cyclical	Rise, decline, recurrence	Spengler, Toynbee, Sorokin, Pareto
Conflict	Change through class struggle	Marx
Functional	Change as adjustment to restore equilibrium	Parsons

Technological view: technology drives change; culture lags behind (Ogburn).
Pareto: change through the circulation of elites (see SOC-WT-05).

Common traps

✗ "The looking-glass self was given by G.H. Mead." ✓ It was C.H. Cooley (1902). Mead gave the "I" and "me" and the generalised other.
✗ "The term 'social control' came from Sumner's Folkways." ✓ It came through E.A. Ross's Social Control (1901).
✗ "Copying in an exam to get high marks is ritualism." ✓ It is innovation: the goal is accepted, the means are not.
✗ "Challenge and response is Spengler's theory." ✓ It is Toynbee's. Spengler wrote The Decline of the West.
✗ "Sorokin's two main types are mechanical and organic." ✓ They are ideational and sensate (mechanical/organic is Durkheim).
✗ "Anticipatory socialisation is learning after joining a group." ✓ It is learning a group's norms before joining it.

Quick revision

Socialisation: primary (family), secondary (school, peers), anticipatory, re-socialisation.
Cooley: looking-glass self; Mead: I, me, generalised other.
Mead's stages: imitation → play → game.
E.A. Ross, 1901: Social Control.
Merton: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, rebellion.
Becker: labelling; Lemert: primary vs secondary deviance.
Goffman: total institutions, Asylums 1961.
Spengler: decline; Toynbee: challenge and response; Sorokin: ideational vs sensate.
Ogburn: technology and cultural lag.
BNS section 4(f): community service as a punishment.

Go deeper: Deeper, Mains writing (beyond what APPSC Group 2 usually asks)

Deeper Advanced

Sorokin's three types. Ideational culture treats truth as supernatural, known by faith. Sensate culture treats truth as what the senses show, known by science. Idealistic culture mixes the two. Sorokin saw the modern West as a late sensate culture in crisis.
Toynbee's model. A creative minority meets a challenge (harsh climate, invasion). When it stops responding creatively it becomes a dominant minority, and the civilisation breaks down.
Goffman's total institutions (Asylums, 1961): prisons, mental hospitals and barracks strip old identities ("mortification of the self") and re-socialise inmates.
Durkheim on control. Punishment expresses and strengthens the collective conscience; crime is "normal" in every society (see SOC-WT-01).
Law as formal control in India. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (in force 1 July 2024) replaced the IPC. Section 4 lists punishments, and adds community service (clause (f)) for some petty offences, such as a first theft of property worth under ₹5,000 when the property is returned (section 303(2)). This shifts part of formal control towards reform.
Socialisation and policy. The National Education Policy 2020 stresses mother-tongue instruction up to at least Grade 5 and early childhood care, both tied to primary socialisation. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 (section 115) presumes that a person who attempts suicide is under severe stress and shall not be punished; this reflects a move from punitive to supportive control.

Mains writing Mains writing

Frame: socialisation, control and change are three sides of social order: how norms are learned, how they are enforced and how they shift.
Analysis points:
- Family and caste remain the strongest agents of socialisation in India, which is why gender and caste norms persist even after legal change.
- Informal control (caste panchayats, khap diktats) can conflict with constitutional rights; the Supreme Court in Shakti Vahini (2018) issued guidelines against honour killings.
- Social media is a new agent of socialisation and of control, through trolling and public shaming.
Way forward: use schools and media for constitutional values; restorative justice (community service, probation); support families with counselling.
Example: the change from punishing attempted suicide (IPC 309) to treating it as distress (MHCA 2017; no general offence in the BNS) shows formal control adapting to new values.

Medha AI writes its own notes and checks them against the sources listed. Medha AI is an independent preparation service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to APPSC, TSPSC, MPSC, UPSC or any other commission or government body.

6.1.4 Socialisation, social control and theories of social change

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