Social control is a process that sociologists think occur through two major ways.

The first is the informal

control which are norms and values that are internalized by an individual through the processes of
socialization. These are internal sanctions placed by the individual themselves. It is also defined as a
process where an individual born with numerous behaviourial capabilities is led to develop actual
behaviour, one confined to the narrower range of what is acceptable according to the groups standard.
The other way of social control is through the formal means, also known as external sanctions that are
placed by the government through its institutions. This is done to prevent the establishment from being
disrupted from anomie or chaos. However it is thought that the belief system places a greater control on
humans than any external sanction ever can.

The belief system is a product of the informal social control that is exercised by society through various
means which include customs, traditions, norms etc. traditional societies rely heavily on methods of
informal social control to socialize its members. Informal social control is more effective because it is
internalized by the individual thus becoming part of their personality. Informal sanctions are placed in
order to check deviant behaviour. These sanctions may include ridicule, shame, sarcasm, disapproval
etc. in extreme forms it even may include exclusion or even outright discrimination. For example Pink
Floyd the wall.

Informal control rewards or punishes individuals on acceptable or unacceptable behaviour. Reward

systems may include form appraisal and encouragement to a bonus or even a promotion. Punishments
can be minute in nature such as being grounded, to severe such as being imprisoned. The formal and
informal social control methods are used in unison to each other to obtain the maximum effect. Schools
and corporate offices are a prime example of this. They are set by the government and other powerful
agencies where informal social control methods are deployed to incorporate into individual the desired
behaviours and qualities. Law is another major form of formal social control that is used to oversee and
handle disruptions in the collective behavioural patterns. For example there are numerous laws
regarding appropriate sexual behaviour that are primarily based on societal values that were
propagated through informal social control.