When people behave according to the certain standards set by the group or society is called social control. Social control is necessary for the prevention of deviance in a society. Crimes like murder, rape, robbery, terrorism etc. are some cotemporary examples of deviance which are common in the world. Such crimes can be eliminated from society via social control. Minor crimes also comes under the category of deviance. Sociologist have classified social control into two types, formal social control and informal social control.
Formal Social Control
Commonly social control in a state is maintained through the legislature, judiciary and law enforcement agencies of state, such type of social control is categorized as formal social control. Individual who violate formal social control is supposed to be punished. Punishment is dependent on the severity of the deviance. For example, in some countries punishment for murder is life imprisonment, whereas, in others murder is punishable by death. Each and every social organization and institute has its own norms, which helps them to control the behavior of individual in a group or society.
Informal Social Control
Social control which is maintained through the norms of culture and religion is called informal social control. Deviant behavior of an individual might be controlled via resentment of friends and family. However, deviant behavior of an individual is not punishable in informal social control. Moreover, informal social control is more effective than formal social control in some societies, where cultural and religious norms are more regarded than state laws. Informal control is more effective in the rural areas and in the societies where homogeneity of culture is very high. Formal social control is effective in the societies which comprises of heterogeneous cultures.