Social Sanctions

Social sanctions are the means of maintaining social control. It is an act of enforcing rules and regulations. It is controlled through either i.e way or negative devices or through rewards and punishment. They are the rewards or punishment used to establish peace, harmony, order, and integrity in society.

Sanctions are applied to bring conformity. It can be applied from the use of physical force to symbolic means. Giving corporal punishment is physical ones and smiles, gestures, positive eyebrow signals, and key metaphors are some illustrations of positive signals.

Informal sanctions are illustrated by customs, mores, and public opinions. It operates in a simple society smoothly as they have social embeddedness and primary social relationships with each other.

Formal sanctions are developed and applied in complex and heterogeneous societies as they have secondary types of relationships. The sanctions through which power is exercised either physically or psychologically mediated through formal and informal techniques.

Types of Sanctions

Social Sanctions are classified into different sections according to the needs and situations. Broadly they are:

• Positive Sanctions
• Negative Sanctions

Positive sanctions:

• Positive sanctions elicit and facilitate response by rewards, praises, suggestions, persuasions, propaganda, medals, badges, titles, motivation, and inspiration. By discouraging deviance and by encouraging conformity sanctions can foster solidarity and integration. Sociological literature suggests using positive sanctions produce better result rather than negative sanctions.

Negative Sanctions:

• In order to control and create conformity, various means like gossiping, satire, laughing at others, threats, name-calling, fines, imprisonment, torture, mutilation, and even death sentences are used according to the degree of offenses. It is the last stage of controlling society.

Hence, they are the rewards or punishments used in order to create peace, harmony, and order in society.

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