Toward A General Theory Of Social Control Selected Problems

Studies on Law and Social Control: Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 1: Fundamentals focuses on the dynamics, practices, and mechanisms involved in social control. The selection first underscores social control as a dependent variable and division of labor in social control. Discussions focus on the explanation of division of social control labor; concept of division of social control labor; conceptions of the relationship between law and social control; quantity of normative behavior; and concept of social control. The text then takes a look at the stage of disputing to complaining, liability and social structure, and social organization of vengeance. Topics include revenge among inmates, contingency of vengeance, design of vengeance, liability and conflict management, idiom of liability in stateless societies, and complaining and the direction of law. The publication ponders on the variability of punishment, compensation in cross-cultural perspective, therapy and social solidarity, logic of mediation, and gossips and scandals. Concerns include role of gossip in small-scale societies, therapeutic social control in individualistic groups and tribal societies, social organization of compensation, and existing theories of punishment. The selection is a vital source of data for sociologists and researchers interested in the fundamentals of social control.

This title was first publishde in 2001. Occupational crime is found in the whole range of occupations and at all levels. Despite the fact that activities are widespread and well known, the area is blurred by contradictory perceptions, denials and arguments over definition. This volume presents influential essays on the topic.

The Social Structure of Right and Wrong focuses on formulations that predict and explain the nature of social control throughout the world and across history. The publication first offers information on social control as a dependent variable, crime as a social control, and compensation and the social structure of misfortune. Discussions focus on the theory of compensation, traditional self-help, concept of social control, varieties of normative behavior, models of social control, and quantity of normative variation. The text then elaborates on social control of the self and elementary forms of conflict management. The manuscript takes a look at the theory of third party and on taking sides, including legal, latent, and slow partisanship, social gravitation, models of partisanship, settlement roles, partisanship in tribal societies, and typology of third parties. The text then examines the factors involved in making enemies, as well as social repulsion, moral evolution, and third-party and unilateral moralism. The publication is a dependable source of data for sociologists and researchers interested in the social structure of right and wrong.

A major contribution to the field of crime/deviance, this volume by noted criminologist Charles R. Tittle puts forth an integrated theory of deviance—control balance. Its central premise is that the total amount of control people are subjected to, relative to the control they can exercise, will affect the probability and type of their deviant behavior. In developing control balance, Tittle critically reviews other general theories such as anomie, Marxian conflict, social control, differential association/social learning, labelling, and routine activities and offers reasons why those theories are insufficient. Using real-world examples to illustrate his argument, he contends that deviance results from the convergence of four variables, each of which represents an interactive nexus of several inputs, including most prominently a control imbalance. The variables are predisposition, motivation, opportunity, and constraint. Control balance theory also explains six basic types of deviance, ranging from predation, defiance, and submissiveness on one end of a control ratio continuum to exploitation, plunder, and decadence on the other. Tittle conceives of control balance as a continuation, or temporary culmination, of the collective efforts of crime/deviance scholars who have gone before, presenting it as a vehicle for trying to achieve a fully adequate general theory of deviance.

This collection of scholarly essays examines reality television. The first show, Survivor, inspired a national craze when it aired in the summer of 2000. Ever since, successors and copycats have been on each of the four largest networks. The basics stay the same: put a group of people into situations bound to cause conflict, and watch them squirm. Rather than criticize the series' voyeuristic appeal, this work evaluates what goes on within the text of such shows and how they reflect or affect our larger culture. Contributors include researchers from communications, sociology, political science, and psychology. The contributions cover such topics as reality television's relationships with cultural identity, publicity rights, historical perspectives, trust, decision-making strategies, political rationality, office politics, and primitivism. Each chapter includes a bibliography. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.