Ch. 9 The Law and Social Control

Social control is "any action, either deliberate or unconscious, that influences conduct toward conformity, whether or not the persons being influenced are aware of the process." Law's primary purpose is to establish and maintain social control. There are two different dimensions of social control: direct v. indirect and formal v. informal. Direct social control is when it is happening to you. Indirect is when you see it happening to someone else. Informal is when the community punishes the transgressor. Formal is when the the punishment is handed out by the government in legal terms. These types of social control are combined together to create four distinct social control mechanisms. Direct/Informal social control involves the stigma that is applied to the transgressor. One such example is a homeowner's association. Direct/Formal social control is when the direct formalities of the law are legally applied to the transgressor. An example of this is when you get arrested for doing something wrong. Indirect/Informal social control is when a person sees the reinforcement of social norms. An example is when someone sees someone being ridiculed. Indirect/Formal social control involves the threat of legal sanctions perceived by individuals who have not transgressed the law. One example of this is when you witness a friend being pulled over by a cop.

I see enough people speeding and those that have been pulled over by the police to know not to speed. My parents were real sticklers for not speeding. Most of the time they were in the car with me and would watch the speedometer. They would tell me to slow down and tell me the consequences of speeding: the fines if a cop pulled me over, the increase in insurance rates, the chance that I might kill myself or another, and the chance of crashing my car. Because of my parents constant nagging I gained the habit of going the speed limit. I have never gotten a ticket or been pulled over by the police. I have also never crashed my car. For my age group that is pretty good. I would guess that this might be classified as general deterrence. General deterrence is the supposed preventative effect of punishment on those who have witnessed it but not experienced it. My aunt is also a court clerk for the Puget Sound islands. She tells my uncle and nephew the fine amount whenever they do something illegal. "That's a four hundred dollars for speeding." "That's six hundred dollars for parking in the fire lane." I think that has a good deterrent effect.
speeding fines you have to read a little to find the fine amounts in Idaho

The USA PATRIOT Act was signed October 26, 2001, by President George W. Bush. This act was passed in reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It allows the government more leeway in searching for potential terrorists within the United States. They can tap more phones, emails, medical, financial, and other records. The act passed by large majorities of both houses and was supported by by democrats and republicans. I think that Congress was still in shock and were afraid when they created and passed the act. They gave up some liberty or privacy to gain a little security. In my opinion the act takes away too much freedom and restricts our privacy. Ben Franklin once said, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." I am in agreement with him. We are losing our freedoms to fear and security.
USA PATRIOT Act