Cambridge IGCSE Sociology: Social Control and Social Identity — Revision Notes (0495)

These notes cover two linked key questions from Cambridge IGCSE Sociology (0495) Paper 1: 2.2 How does society control us? and 2.3 What influences our social identity? In short: societies use formal agencies (government, police, courts, prisons, armed forces) and informal agencies (family, school, peers, media, religion, workplace) to produce conformity through sanctions, while some people resist through protest groups and subcultures; identity is shaped by age, gender, ethnicity and class, and increasingly by the digital world and globalisation.

Fuller explanations of 2.3: what influences our social identity study guide.

Syllabus coverage

0495 syllabus 2025–2027:

• 2.2 2.2.1 formal and informal social control, positive and negative sanctions; 2.2.2 consensus and conflict views (functionalism, Marxism, feminism); 2.2.3 effectiveness of formal agencies; 2.2.4 methods of formal control (law-making, coercion, digital surveillance, arrest, sentencing, imprisonment); 2.2.5 effectiveness of informal agencies; 2.2.6 informal sanctions (ostracism, parental rewards, social media “likes”, religious rewards and sanctions, school punishments, dismissal from a job); 2.2.7 resistance through protest groups and subcultures.
• 2.3 2.3.1 age, gender, ethnicity, social class; 2.3.2 the digital self; 2.3.3 globalisation; 2.3.4 postmodernist views of chosen identity.

Key terms

Term	Definition
Social control	Ways society ensures people follow norms and laws
Formal social control	Control by official agencies using written rules and laws
Informal social control	Control through everyday unwritten rules and reactions of others
Positive sanction	A reward for conforming
Negative sanction	A punishment for deviating
Coercion	Use or threat of force
Digital surveillance	Monitoring through CCTV, phone and internet data
Ostracism	Excluding someone from a group
Subculture	A group with norms and values different from mainstream society
Protest group	Organised group campaigning for or against change
Digital self	Identity built and presented online
Hybrid identity	Identity mixing more than one culture
Cultural defence	Strengthening identity when a culture feels threatened
Pick and mix identity	Postmodern idea of choosing identity through consumption and lifestyle

2.2 How society controls us

Formal agencies and methods

Agency	Method	Effectiveness point
Government	Law-making	Laws only work if enforced and seen as legitimate
Police	Arrest, surveillance, coercion	Many crimes are never reported or solved
Courts	Sentencing	Sentences may deter, but reoffending is common
Penal system	Imprisonment	Removes offenders, but may not rehabilitate
Armed forces	Coercion in emergencies	Used rarely in democracies; can lose legitimacy

Informal agencies and sanctions: family (parental rewards, grounding), education (praise, school punishments), peer group (acceptance, ostracism), media (social media “likes”, public shaming), religion (promise of reward, religious sanctions), workplace (promotion, dismissal).

Consensus and conflict views

Perspective	View of social control
Functionalism	Control maintains value consensus and social order for everyone’s benefit
Marxism	Control serves the ruling class; laws and agencies protect capitalism
Feminism	Control maintains patriarchy; women are controlled in the home and public spaces

Resistance (2.2.7): people may join protest groups or subcultures because of shared grievances, a sense of belonging, identity or excitement. Examples include environmental protest groups, youth subcultures (for example punks in the 1970s), online subcultures (gaming communities, fandoms) and religious subcultures.

2.3 What influences social identity

• Age: life stages are socially constructed and vary between cultures (Pilcher, 1995).
• Gender: learned through socialisation (Oakley, 1972); changing but unequal.
• Ethnicity: shared culture, language, religion; strengthened by community and by discrimination (Modood et al., 1997).
• Social class: shapes tastes, values and cultural capital (Bourdieu).
• Digital self: positives — expression, community, contact across distance; negatives — pressure, cyberbullying, privacy risks (boyd, 2014; Turkle, 2011).
• Globalisation: homogenisation, hybrid identities, cultural defence; impacts of cultural diversity, multiculturalism and global culture.
• Postmodernism: identity chosen through consumption and lifestyle; critics say choice is limited by money and social position.

Worked example: an 8-mark “discuss” answer plan

Discuss how effective informal agencies are in producing conformity. (practice)

1. Family: early, powerful sanctions; most children absorb norms — but some families fail to control teenagers.
2. Peer group: acceptance and ostracism are strong in adolescence — but peers can encourage deviance.
3. Media and social media: likes and shaming shape behaviour — but online spaces also spread deviant subcultures.
4. Judgement: informal agencies are highly effective for everyday norms, while serious crime needs formal control.

Common mistakes and exam traps

• Describing agencies without explaining how they control (sanctions, methods).
• Saying the police are always effective — consider unreported crime and legitimacy.
• Forgetting positive sanctions; control is not only punishment.
• Treating globalisation as only making identities the same.
• Ignoring resistance in 2.2; examiners expect reasons why people join protest groups.

Quick self-test

1. Give one example of a positive and one of a negative informal sanction.
2. Name three formal agencies of social control.
3. Explain the Marxist view of social control in one sentence.
4. Give two reasons why people join subcultures.
5. Give one positive and one negative impact of social media on identity.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between 2.2 and 6.1 in Paper 2? Both cover agencies of social control; 2.2 focuses on conformity and identity, while Paper 2’s crime topic links control to preventing crime and deviance.

Are subcultures always deviant? No — some are simply different, such as fan communities; others involve rule-breaking.

Which perspectives should I use for 2.2.2? Functionalism as the consensus view, Marxism and feminism as conflict views.

Related pages: social control and identity practice questions | Paper 1 revision notes