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Social Control

In: Social Issues

Submitted By andmoreno
Words 464
Pages 2
Social control is defined as the means and processes used by a society to ensure conformity to the group norms. This is very straightforward. How does a particular group keep one acting or be in unison with that group. The first group that I deal with is my work environment. At work I have a group of coworkers; we are part of a department within the company. How does this group keep me in conformity with what that group defines as normal? Well at my job just like any job I have responsibilities and duties that I have to follow and complete. I know that I have to follow this and complete my duties otherwise I am not conforming. To work is the normal thing to do at my work. My boss could take action such as a write up or a warning. These would be formal sanctions. Also, even if my supervisor did not give me any formal sanctions, my coworkers could start to treat me different if I stopped pulling my weight and not complete my share of work. I am part of a group in a department that serves a purpose for the whole. If I would go on a lot of breaks and take a longer lunch then I risk my coworkers’ stop talking to me. They would treat me different and make me feel as if I am no longer part of the group. I would not be a conformist now but classified as an innovator. This is because I do accept the goals the department is given. I feel that the department is responsible to carry out tasks and responsibilities for the whole. However, I am not participating. Meaning that I reject the means to reach the goal of the department. There are ways that my coworkers could take charge in how I work other than reporting any formal sanctions or me. I think that feeling part of the group is important and that it self is how they can control my behavior. The camaraderie of the department can make me feel as if I’m at fault for the whole department and therefore make me work. Personally I consider myself a hard worker but not everybody can be considered hard workers. There is a particular coworker in mind that does not pull her weight. There’s no real reason to notify our supervisor because she is not doing anything wrong. She is simply moving to slow. Because of her ways in work we tend to give her our backs. I wonder if we would make her feel part of the group maybe she could change her ways. Making her part of the group could help control her behavior to what we as a department feel is the norm.

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