Player Piano

Chris White January 29, 2001 Dr. Nieckars Sociology 11-C Social Control and Deviance In our textbook, “Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach,” Henslin defines social control as a group’s formal and informal means of enforcing its norms. Two prime examples of social control are positive and negative sanctions. A positive sanction is a reward or positive reaction for following norms. A positive sanction could possibly be given to someone who tries to break and change norms in society …

…the reasons why I have not broken the law may be because I fear the consequences of the negative sanctions. So, the threat of a negative sanction has kept me from breaking laws. These are just a few of the ways that I have been affected by sanctions in my life. Everyday we are influenced by numerous positive and negative sanctions, either formal or informal, that affect our lives greatly ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** Vonnegut, Kurt, Westinghouse, 1976