Analysis of the Social Contract - Assignment Example

Analysis of the Social Contract Jean Jacques Rousseau had once said “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains” (1920, p.xvi). Social controls are some of the plausible reasons why indeed man is not as free as he should have been. Society in general sets limits to the freedom of man, not necessarily to imprison him but to ensure that his unchecked freedom does not lead to chaos. Through social agents like the family, neighborhood, school, church, laws and the state, formal and informal mechanisms of social control are imposed with the intention of bringing about certain outcomes (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990). These outcomes are mostly described as peace and order, conformity or a sense of belongingness. Indeed, there are many approaches to controlling individual behavior “in a manner acceptable to other members [of] society” (National Institute of Open Schooling, n.d.). Among the most potent forms of social control, however, are gender roles and religion. They have a significant impact on the behavior of individuals and the collective mentality of society. In this essay, we shall see which mechanisms of various gender roles and religious doctrines can effectively prevent deviance and encourage conformity. Customs and traditions strongly inhibit the flexibility of certain gender roles, giving way to the male and female stereotypes. There are different roles for husband and wife, different roles a father and mother, and other such roles that male and females must adhere to in different ways (i.e. traditional views and practices in courtship, where the man should woo the woman rather than the reverse). For highly modern societies in America and Europe, such traditions are almost extinct. However, in Asia, where customs and traditions are still very much respected, women are generally less aggressive, “docile and subservient” (Gillem & Thompson, 2004, p.241). Studies have shown that culturally defined docility and subservience among women and other “generationally transmitted gender roles” are derived from the “earliest experiences” of social control. Women usually endure the brunt of informal social controls (i.e. folkways, mores, customs, and religion) by being “increasingly confined to the private realm of the home, from which men are increasingly absent” (Feeley cited in Downes & Rock, 2007, p.268). Women’s exclusion from the male-dominated “rat race” of society has made them less susceptible to committing crimes or offending the formal social controls (i.e. laws and the state) to which men have often brushed shoulders with. Their responsibilities at home, such as performing household chores or caring for the children, prevent them from developing any deviant behavior. The informal social controls which confined women to the home and to what we call “maternal” roles ensure greater compliance to rules and serve as effective deterrents to criminal behavior—which is reverse in the case of men. The lack of informal social controls imposed on men has fostered risk-taking, delinquent and aggressive behaviors in them, making them more prone to deviance and more subject to the regulation of formal social controls (Downes & Rock, 2007, p.268-69). The docility and subservience of women are also interpreted to be encouraged by religion, where Christian women are often asked to “submit to their husbands in everything” or Islam men to take “charge of women, because God has made some of them excel the others” (Eph 5:24 New International Version; Qur’an 4:34). Although these verses do not expressly state that women should be lesser than men, they are generally misinterpreted to mean such. Because it houses the foundations of our values, especially basic principles of good and evil or right and wrong actions, religion has a powerful influence not just on the social behavior and conformity of women but on basically anyone affiliated to a certain faith. Let us take for example the teachings of the Ten Commandments and the Five Pillars of Islam. Through enforcing a system of reward and punishment on many different areas of existence, Christianity and Islam have imposed limitations on particular human behavior to keep their followers from “sinning” or veering into the wrong path. Christians would try hard to avoid dishonoring their mother and father, worshipping false gods, or killing an enemy out of rage. Muslims on one hand would be encouraged to pray regularly or give alms to the poor. Both religions believe that their good deeds will be rewarded in heaven and the opposite in hell (Ferrante, 2007, p.405). The effects of religion on individual behavior within groups or communities are mostly positive. It is associated with low suicide rates, decreases in drug use and alcohol abuse, and conservative attitudes towards sex. Renowned sociologist Emile Durkheim established in his work showed how Protestants had higher suicide rates than either Catholic or Jews because they are more liberal and less expected to participate in religious activities than the two other faiths (Durkheim, 1951, pp.154-157). Similarly, in a 2005-2006 poll by Gallup University, results show that religious countries have lower suicide rates than less religious ones. This has been exemplified by Kuwait, Mauritania and the Philippines, whose high religiosity correspond to low suicide incidence (Pelham & Nyiri, 2008). Besides social control mechanisms, religion promotes “environmental and psychological assets that constrain risk-taking” (Benson, 1992 cited in Spilka, 2003, p.426). Religions like Islam specifically prohibit any substance abuse and traditional conservative churches also have the power to ban alcohol and the use of drugs. Unfortunately, religion’s impact on the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse has not yet gained recognition. Religion also tends to limit human sexuality within the confines of marriage and for procreation purposes, but in more liberal societies religious stance against premarital and extramarital sex has loosened up (Spilka, 2003, pp.429-440). Social controls are necessary to groups and communities to fight deviance and preserve identity. Social control mechanisms in gender roles and religion determine the degree of “variability and diversity” accepted within the group without damage to their identity or to the established order (Christensen & Levinson, 2003, p.398). Although individually castrating, social controls ideally aim for unity. References American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990. The liberal art of science: Agenda for action. Washington, D.C.: APA. Christensen, K., & Levinson, D. (Eds.). (2003). Encyclopedia of community: from the village to the virtual world. E-L (Vol. 2). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group, LLC. Downes, D., & Rock, P. (2007). Understanding deviance: a guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. New York: University of Oxford Press.  Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide. New York: Free Press. Ferrante, J. (2007). Sociology: a global perspective (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education. Gillem, A.. & Thompson, C. (Eds.). (2004). Biracial women in therapy: between the rock of gender and the hard place of race. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Press.  National Institute of Open Schooling (n.d.). Social control. In Module – III: Social Change, Socialization and Social Control (L-20). Retrieved from http://nos.org/331courseE/L- 20%20SOCIAL%20CONTROL.pdf Pelham, B., & Nyiri, Z. (2008). In more religious countries, lower suicide rates. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/108625/more-religious-countries-lower-suicide-rates.aspx Rousseau, J. J. (1920). The social contract: & discourses. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, ltd. Spilka, B. (2003). The psychology of religion: an empirical approach (3rd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.   Read More