Social Control

Social control is defined as the regulation of individual or group behavior as a method of enforcing conformity and compliance to established norms or expectations. Informal social control is the internalization of social norms and behavior standards that allows a person to get along in their own society. Formal social control consists of the imposition of rules and laws to regulate behavior. The former is something a person learns while they grow, the latter being the creation of governments, religions, organizations, etc.