📖 POWER, CONTROL, CONFORMITY & RESISTANCE – MASTER LESSON

⚖️Why Do People Obey Society... and Why Do Some Resist It?

🤔 The Big Question

Imagine a world with...

❌ No laws

❌ No police

❌ No schools

❌ No parents

❌ No religion

❌ No rules

Would society survive?

Probably not.

Sociologists therefore ask:

How does society get millions of people to behave in an orderly way?

Everything in this chapter answers that one question.

Step 1 – Structure vs Agency

Before we can understand power or conformity, we need to answer another question.

Who controls behaviour?

There are two answers.

Structure

🎯 Definition

Social Structure

The organised framework of society, including institutions such as the family, education,
religion, the economy, media and government.

Structuralists argue:

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Society shapes people.

🟦 Functionalists

Society shapes behaviour through:

🏠 Family

🏫 Education

⛪ Religion

These institutions teach:

✔️Values

✔️Norms

✔️Social roles

Creating:

⭐ Value Consensus

⭐ Collective Consciousness

⭐ Social Solidarity

🟥 Marxists

Society also shapes behaviour...

But to benefit the bourgeoisie.

Institutions spread:

💰 Bourgeois Ideology

🧠 False Consciousness

Workers accept inequality.

🟪 Feminists

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Society shapes behaviour through:

👨 Patriarchy

Traditional gender roles.

🧍 Agency

🎯 Definition

Agency

The ability of individuals to make choices and act independently (free will).

Interactionists argue:

People aren't puppets.

They actively interpret situations and make choices.

🔄 Diagram

STRUCTURE

Society
↓
Individual

────────────────────

🧍 AGENCY

Individual
↓
Society

🌍 Step 2 – Social Control

Now imagine society wants people to behave.

How does it do that?

Answer:

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👮 Social Control

🎯 Definition

The processes through which society regulates behaviour to encourage conformity and
maintain social order.

Agencies of Social Control

🏠 Family

🏫 Education

⛪ Religion

👥 Peer Groups

📺 Media

⚖️Law

👮 Police

Courts

Each teaches people how they should behave.

🚔 Consensual Policing

🎯 Definition

The idea that policing works because most people voluntarily accept police authority and
cooperate with it.

People usually obey...

Not because they're forced...

But because they accept authority.

✔️Conformity

🎯 Definition

Behaviour that follows society's norms, values and expectations.

Examples:

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✔️Wearing school uniform

✔️Paying taxes

✔️Queueing

✔️Following laws

⚖️Social Order

🎯 Definition

A stable society where most people obey accepted rules.

🔄 Flow Diagram

Society

👮 Social Control

✔️Conformity

⚖️Social Order

🌍 Step 3 – Why Do People Conform?

Your teacher gives three main reasons.

👥 Social Pressure

🎯 Definition

Influence exerted by individuals or groups through persuasion, encouragement or coercion.

Examples:

👨‍👩‍👧 Family expectations

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👥 Peer pressure

📱 Social media

😊😠 Sanctions

Society rewards good behaviour...

And punishes bad behaviour.

Positive Sanctions

🏆 Praise

❤️Approval

💼 Promotion

Negative Sanctions

🚓 Arrest

📚 Detention

💸 Fines

😒 Disapproval

🤝 Social Exchange Theory

This is where the chapter becomes interactionist.

👨‍🏫 George Homans

People continue relationships that provide more rewards than costs.

👨‍🏫 Peter Blau

Power influences exchanges.

Some people control more rewards than others.

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👨‍🏫 Linda Molm

Cooperation usually works better than coercion because force creates resentment.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

🎯 Definition

People compare the benefits of conformity with the costs of breaking rules.

Example

Steal?

Benefit:

💰 Money

Cost:

🚓 Prison

😞 Shame

Most people conform because the costs outweigh the rewards.

💎 Social Capital

Relationships provide benefits.

🤝 Bonding Social Capital

People with similar interests helping one another.

Example:

📚 Sociology revision group.

🌉 Bridging Social Capital

Different groups cooperate.

Example:

Environmental groups working with anti-poverty campaigns.

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👨‍🏫 Edward Shils & Steven Grosby

They argue:

⭐ Civility promotes the common good.

Simple politeness and cooperation help society function.

🚨 Step 4 – Deviance & Resistance

Now the chapter asks the opposite question.

If society encourages conformity...

Why do some people refuse?

🚨 Deviance

🎯 Definition

Behaviour that violates social or cultural norms.

Crime ≠ Deviance

Sleeping in class?

Deviant.

Not criminal.

Stealing?

Deviant.

AND criminal.

✊ Non-Conformity

🎯 Definition

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Refusing to follow accepted norms and expectations.

Examples:

✊ Protest

🚶 Civil disobedience

🧬 Biological Explanation

👨‍🏫 Cesare Lombroso

Claimed criminals are born with distinctive physical characteristics.

🚨 Modern sociologists largely reject this idea.

🧠 Psychological Explanation

Crime may result from:

Poor self-control

Weak personality

Poor parenting

Inadequate socialisation.

Sociological Explanations

🟦 Functionalists

Durkheim:

⭐ Anomie

When norms become unclear...

People are more likely to become deviant.

🟥 Marxists

Crime often reflects:

⚖️Inequality

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💰 Capitalism

Class conflict.

🟨 Interactionists

Labelling Theory.

A person repeatedly labelled:

"Troublemaker."

Accepts the label.

Behaviour changes.

Self-fulfilling prophecy.

✊ Resistance

Not all deviance is harmful.

Sometimes people resist society to achieve:

⚖️Equality

Democracy

👩 Women's rights

🌍 Social justice

Resistance can become the driving force behind social change.

🔗 THE ENTIRE CHAPTER IN ONE DIAGRAM

Social Structure
│
▼
👮 Social Control
│
▼

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👨‍👩‍👧 Family
🏫 Education
⛪ Religion
👮 Police
⚖️Law
│
▼
👥 Social Pressure
│
▼
😊 / 😠 Sanctions
│
▼
🤝 Social Exchange
│
▼
✔️Conformity
│
▼
⚖️Social Order

BUT...

Sometimes...

🚨 Deviance

✊ Resistance

🌍 Social Change

🧩 Theory Comparison

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Theory Main Idea

🟦 Functionalism Social control creates order through value consensus and solidarity.

🟥 Marxism Social control protects capitalism and ruling-class interests.

🟪 Feminism Social control reinforces patriarchy and traditional gender roles.

People actively negotiate, interpret and sometimes resist social control

📚 Vocabulary Box

Social Structure – The organised framework of society.

🧍 Agency – The ability to make independent choices.

👮 Social Control – Regulating behaviour to encourage conformity.

✔️Conformity – Following society's norms and expectations.

⚖️Social Order – A stable society where rules are generally followed.

👥 Social Pressure – Influence exerted by others through persuasion or coercion.

😊 Positive Sanction – Reward for conformity.

😠 Negative Sanction – Punishment for non-conformity.

🤝 Social Exchange – Relationships based on rewards and costs.

⚖️Cost-Benefit Analysis – Comparing the rewards and costs of an action.

💎 Social Capital – Benefits gained from social relationships.

🤝 Bonding Social Capital – Connections among similar people.

🌉 Bridging Social Capital – Connections between different groups.

🚔 Consensual Policing – Public cooperation with police because they accept their authority.

🚨 Deviance – Behaviour violating social or cultural norms.

⚖️Crime – Behaviour that breaks the law.

✊ Non-Conformity – Refusal to follow accepted norms.

🌀 Anomie (Durkheim) – A state of normlessness or weakened social regulation.

🌟 AO1 Thinkers to Memorise

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👨‍🏫 Julian Salisbury (2018) → Structural theories can be divided into consensus
(Functionalism) and conflict (Marxism & Feminism).

👨‍🏫 George Homans → Social Exchange Theory; people seek rewards and minimise costs.

👨‍🏫 Peter Blau → Power shapes social exchanges.

👨‍🏫 Linda Molm → Cooperation is usually more effective than coercion.

👨‍🏫 Edward Shils & Steven Grosby → Civility promotes the common good.

👨‍🏫 Émile Durkheim → Anomie explains why deviance may increase.

👨‍🏫 Cesare Lombroso → Biological explanation of crime (now largely rejected).

⭐ The One Paragraph I'd Memorise

Sociologists argue that society maintains order through social control, which encourages
conformity and discourages deviance. Structuralist theories such as Functionalism,
Marxism and Feminism emphasise the influence of social structure, while interactionists
stress individual agency and everyday interaction. Social control is exercised through
agencies including the family, education, religion, the media, the law and the police.
People conform because of social pressure, sanctions and the mutual benefits explained
by Social Exchange Theory. George Homans argued that people seek rewards and minimise
costs, Peter Blau emphasised the importance of power, and Linda Molm argued that
cooperation is more effective than coercion. However, some individuals resist social
control through deviance and non-conformity. Durkheim explained this through anomie,
while interactionists focus on labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy

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