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Social institutions and the control of deviance: A cross‐national opinion survey
Author(s) -
Newman Graeme R.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2420070105
Subject(s) - deviance (statistics) , bureaucracy , social control , social institution , control (management) , politics , government (linguistics) , political science , social psychology , psychology , sociology , social science , law , economics , linguistics , statistics , philosophy , mathematics , management
Representative samples were drawn from particular areas of five countries: New York, U.S.A.; Orani, Italy; Teheran, Iran; Djakarta, Indonesia; and Belgrade, Jugoslavia. Descriptions of behavior ranging from criminal through deviant to nondeviant acts were presented to the respondents who were asked to indicate to which agencies of social control they would refer the act. The social institutions of religion, party politics or education were rarely chosen. All country samples invoked the police and family, but the more industrialized countries also reported to government bureaucracy and the medical system. Less developed countries favored the family and village level of social control. Results were interpreted to suggest that the current view of labelling theory, that all social institutions are agencies of social control, needs to be reassessed. A distinction between socializing institutions and controlling institutions is suggested.