Theories Of Social Control Theory

Psychology is crazy and complex. The study of the mind and behavior amongst humans could impact everything we can think of. Through the self-disciplines that different interpreters have offered, one that sticks out is Freud’s psychoanalysis. Freud mentions the conscious mind which is being aware and having control thoughts, and pre-conscious mind which is having the ability to recall thoughts and feeling without the sense of repression. He also mentions how the mind is like an iceberg. His theory of consciousness suggested an iceberg diagram– the tip of the iceberg that we see is the conscious mind, with the massive chunk of ice underwater that we couldn’t see from above, the unconscious mind. The tip of the iceberg consists of the Ego and

the super-ego. Below the iceberg we see the unconscious mind consist of the Id and with a little bit of both the ego and the super-ego. All of this is part of psychoanalysis. Feuds psychoanalysis could be compare to respectful school climates and the social control theory. Social control theory disciplines the idea of Freud’s iceberg and psychoanalysis and helps students achieve greatness.
For starters, what is social control theory?

Social control theory is Developed by Travis Hirschi; Social control theory is an individual’s basic beliefs, values, morals, commitment and relationship fosters a lawful environment. It goes by four elements which are Attachment- The internalization of norms, conscience, and super ego is determined by an individual’s attachment to others. Hirschi says this is the sociological counterpart to the superego (Hirschi 1969). Commitment- People obey rules for fear the consequences of breaking them. This is the counterpart to the ego (Hirschi 1969). Involvement- a person’s personal involvement in conventional or orthodox activity. Hirschi states that an individual involved heavily in conventional activity simply does not have time to engage in deviant behavior (Hirschi 1969). And lastly belief- a common value system within a culture. Belief plays a role in deviance in 2 ways. The criminal either a) disregards the beliefs he/she has been taught entirely, or b) rationalizes their deviant behavior so that they can engage in criminal activity and still believe that it is wrong. This subset of the social control theory involves the strain theory in that it demonstrates an individual’s belief in common goals and morals of society, and it shows a lack of means for achieving those goals which in turn encourages deviant behavior as a means of achieving those goals (Hirschi 1969). This system is being used in all school and has decriminalized many

people using this theory. If one person ends up breaking one of the four commitments, then he or she can participate to be in criminal activities (Hirschi 1969). The four elements which are Attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. One of the positives that social control theory (Hirschi 1969) suggests that schools with positive climates increase students’ attachment to healthy norms of behavior that are promoted and modeled by teachers and other adults in that environment. You can also compare Hirschi social control theory to Foucault’s idea of the Modern soul. The main ideas from Discipline and Punish comes from Foucault's way in pursuing the different forms of punishment and how it affects the public. Foucault talks about the word Discipline in hid theory. He mentions that discipline is a form of structure for human growth. Discipline means the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, and/or using punishment to correct disobedience. He goes by explain the 4 General Rules of the modern soul. The first rule is to regard punishment as a complex social function, or to make punishment public to society. Second, to regard punishment as a political tactic- make punishment as relating to politics and using that as an advantage (Foucault, M. 1977 pp. 176-195).
To see whether the history of penal law and of the human sciences are linked, and lastly to try to find in changes in penal techniques a political technology of the body and a general history of changing power relations.

These could compare to the four rules of Social construct theory because both emphasize on discipline and punishment throughout the public eye of society, and work on controlling a certain population, in this case it will be in a high school. Depending on the environment you’re put in, the mind works in different ways. One place where the mind tends to wonder around is during high school. The way different people interact with one another especially during developing years like in high school, has given a different alternative to the way your conscious and unconscious mind works. Using social control theory in high school will help you define your personality through the Ego, Super ego and the id. Positive school climates have been found to have favorable effects on adolescent health risk behaviors and mental health outcome (LaRusso, Maria D., Romer, Daniel, & Selman, Robert L. page 10-15). Based on social control theory and school climates, it was predicted that by respecting students’ points of view and decision making capabilities, teachers can help build respectful school climates that encourage healthy norms of behavior. It will help also developed their mind. By Respecting the student’s ability to wanting something for example; a career in

engineering. With teachers respecting that decision using social control theory it will motivate them to approach the career they want. Because social control theory uses Freud’s theory of the id, ego, and super ego. The “want” is a primal desire that falls under the Id. A student will naturally crave for success. However, through self-ethics and discipline, through respect by both faculty and student only will the ego have a reason in the student’s mind. However, each student is unique in different ways and finds its own personality and builds its own character that could philosophical and could go on the quest of perfection by questioning and over reacting. That’s when the super Ego comes to play in your head. One of the key points of social control theory that bring is high school students is that it brings a much more acceptable environment. A recent study done by the department of psychology, shows that about 70% of high school in the United States suffer from different mental problems. Because of the Respectful climates in school, it serves as a protective factor for mental health outcomes. The likes of depression and suicidal ideation, which are experienced by a large proportion of high school students but nearly 30% of the problem decreased because of school climates according to national studies (LaRusso, Maria D., Romer, Daniel, & Selman, Robert et al pg, 386-398). One of the positives that social control theory (Hirschi 1969) suggests that schools with positive climates increase students’ attachment to healthy norms of behavior that are promoted and modeled by teachers and other adults in that environment. But this theory also brings more individualist. High schools with norms that condone risk behaviors such as drug use have more individual risk taking behavior (Kumar et al. 2002). Nevertheless, although social control theory is helpful in designing school interventions, it is less clear in specifying how faculty and other responsible adults can improve the attachment of students to healthy norms of behavior in high schools. In a study, Kumar examine the role that teachers and other adults can play to promote healthy norms of behavior in high schools, the students. This cause the students to engage and speak out within their surroundings. This caused both respect and intimate relationship to the importance and relate to their peer’s perceptions and feelings toward the school environment. Although some may have different relations with drug use behavior, students may feel happy in school and close to other students whether they conform to healthy norms or not. This is why social control theory and Climate is likely to reduce depressive symptoms. It’s important to attack the depressive symptoms because its link to the majority of negative effects someone in High school might commit, like use of drugs, alcohol, and suicide. ( LaRusso, Maria D., Romer, Daniel, & Selman, et al page 386-398) The only problem with Social construct theory is when one breaks one of the four guidelines, the students are automatically criminalize and looked as a “immoral” student. Teachers will condone those students and it will be much harder for them to get out of that list of being immoral students. For example, if one student has a problem with homework and he/she doesn’t hand it in, automatically Teachers will label them as being an irresponsible student because of those actions. Instead of asking and encouraging the students, they will expect less form them as time goes by. This is one of the problem of social control theory and school systems because the system itself is to simple and easy to break out from the 4 rules. At the end of the day social control theory is too confusing and complex. It uses Freud’s psychoanalysis but twists it and turns it to the point where you have one big mess. It does stabilize depression and mental problems however it makes students more individualist and creates chaos.