Back to the full dot-point answer
NSWSociety and CultureQuick questions
Depth Study: Social Conformity and Nonconformity
Quick questions on Socialisation and agencies of social control in the HSC Society and Culture options
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is agencies of socialisation?Show answer
Socialisation is the lifelong process by which people learn the norms, values and behaviours of their society. It works through agencies. The family is the primary agency, instilling foundational norms and identity in early childhood. Schools transmit not only knowledge but also discipline, punctuality and shared civic values.
What is informal social control?Show answer
Social control is how a society maintains conformity to its norms. Informal control operates through everyday social interaction: approval and praise reward conformity, while disapproval, gossip, ridicule, shaming and exclusion sanction nonconformity. Informal control is pervasive and powerful precisely because it is constant and emotional, drawing on the human need for acceptance. Much conformity is secured informally, before any formal mechanism is involved.
What is formal social control?Show answer
Formal control is exercised by institutions with explicit authority: law, police, courts, prisons and the regulatory rules of organisations and schools. It carries official sanctions, from fines to imprisonment. Formal control becomes prominent when informal control fails or when behaviour breaches significant norms. In Australia, the legal system, regulators and institutional codes of conduct are the main agents of formal control.
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.