Social control is the process by which bad behavior is eliminated in a society. Although the term social control sounds bad, having social control is necessary in order for a society to function. For example, the legal system is a form of social control. The legal system ensures society can function by seeking out criminals and punishing them for their bad behavior.





Every kind of social control has its own way of defining and eliminating bad behavior. Religion, the legal system and psychiatry are all systems of social control that define bad behavior differently and eliminate it in different ways. Religion sees bad behavior as a sin and eliminates it through moral means. The legal system sees bad behavior as a crime and eliminates it through legal means. Forms of medical social control, like psychiatry, see bad behavior as illness and eliminates it through medical treatments.







It is well known that religion is declining in Western Society. People today are less religious than they were in previous centuries. In the past, religion was a major component of people’s lives. God was seen as a real thing. To speak otherwise was heresy. Religion controlled how people ate, dressed, how they spent their time, who they married and most importantly what to do about people who misbehave. Today being religious is no longer a matter of critical importance in our society. Being religious is more a lifestyle choice than a necessity for living in society.









This decline in religiosity has left a void in our society. Religion no longer rules our everyday activities. People are no longer instructed how to act by religion. Consequently, there has been an increase of non-conformity in Western Society. Today people are more likely to not follow society’s rules and question what powers that govern them than in previous centuries.







In my opinion, religion is gradually being replaced by medical social control in Western Society. Forms of medical control for bad behavior, such as psychiatry, are gradually increasing in prominence in our social world. Today people are more likely to be given a mental health diagnosis than previous years. Also, the number of mental health diagnoses is increasing. This means that over time more bad behaviors are being seen as illness in society instead of moral or spiritual problems. Instead of controlling bad behavior through religious rules and values our society is increasing controlling bad behavior through medical norms and values. Instead of people being seen as sinners they are given a psychiatric diagnosis.



In my view both religion and psychiatry are forms of social control that are concerned with eliminating behaviors that violate not laws but social norms, social rules that govern the behavior of individuals in a society. Going on wild spending sprees, being in bed all day, believing in things that aren’t real and seeing things that other people don’t see are all examples of violations of social norms in our society. In previous centuries people that acted this way would have been viewed as having religious or spiritual problems when today they are viewed as having mental health problems.





Like religion medical social control is a kind of morality for people who violate social norms. However, medical social control is in reality a form of medical morality under the veneer of science. Consider this, in American society we don’t confine people because they are mentally ill we confine them because they are a “harm to themselves or others.” This is a moral standard. We confine people with mental health problems because we believe it’s the moral thing to do.





We assume that diagnosing and treating people with mental health problems is unbiased and objective when in reality it isn’t. The process of defining certain behaviors as illness and certain behaviors as health is inherently morally biased. We tend to view behavior we see as undesirable as illness and behaviors we see desirable as healthy.





Medical social control and religion even have some similarities. Both religion and medical social control provide a social environment designed to change behavior. In previous times, people went to church to change their behavior. Today, instead of church, people go to self help groups or therapists. Also, both religion and medical social control impel compliance to their dogma. Christianity requires a person to believe that god is real. Similarly, if a person is given a psychiatric diagnosis it's not enough that a person accept that they have a diagnosis they must believe their diagnosis is real.





What's wrong with medical social control? If social control is necessary for a society to function then why are forms of medical social control like psychiatry a bad thing? Medical social control views the person who engages in bad behavior as sick rather than simply not following the rules. Because of this, medical social control has frightening implications for how society treats people who engage in bad behavior.





If a person who engages in bad behavior is seen as sick they are seen as in need of medical treatment rather than punishment. This means that a person is no longer afforded the moral and legal rights we normally afford rule breakers. A person may be given medical treatments without any legal or moral process to determine if it is justified. Medical treatment may have harmful or irreversible effects on the person. For example, one time the prefrontal lobotomy was at one time used on a wide spread scale as a treatment for people with mental illness.





By viewing bad behavior as illness we prevent it from being seen as evil. That means that people who commit particularly heinous behaviors are not seen as evil but sick. Their behavior is seen as illness, and they are viewed as not fully responsible for their crimes.





When a person who engages in bad behavior is seen as sick their behavior is no longer seen as a consequence of their social environment. Instead, the individual is to blame for what may be a dysfunctional social environment. This means that instead of the social circumstances changing the individual is changed through medical treatments to accommodate their circumstances.





These are just some of the frightening effects that medical social control has on society. In my opinion, as time goes on medical social control will become more and more a part of our everyday lives similarly to the way religion was a part of people’s live in past centuries. The question we must ask ourselves is, “Do we want to live in such a society?” I think that most would not.



I think eventually medicine will become the dominate mode of social control. If this happens people will have the same passion for mental health as they do for religion. A mental health diagnosis will be worshiped. Instead of having exorcisms we will have ceremonies where individuals are compelled to accept and identify with their mental health diagnosis.



Sources Used





Deviance And Medicalization. St. Louis: Mosby, 1980. Print. Conrad, Peter, and Joseph W Schneider.. St. Louis: Mosby, 1980. Print.

Madness And Civilization. New York: Pantheon Books, 1965. Print. Foucault, Michel.. New York: Pantheon Books, 1965. Print.