Social control

The end of The Sage of Vienna By Anonymous

Social Control by Edward Ellsworth Ross This is a LibriVox recording.

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org.

Recorded by the Progressing America Project Social Control Even when sociology outgrows the stage of vealiness, so that the question, what is society, can be relegated from the beginning of a textbook to the end, we shall still feel the need of expressing in a few words the characteristics that mark off a true society from all manner of aggregates and combinations of men.

This compels us to look for these marks, and having found them to arrange them in order of importance, the essential features first, the non-essential last.

In seeking that which is most distinctive in society, it is not necessary to pause at the threshold, finger on lip, and contemplate the outlines of a colossal something, leviathan, superorganism, social organism, social body, or other amorphous monster, composed of millions of human beings and having distinct parts, motions, activities, and aims.

The mind to tolerate or even to make use of each other by cooperation does not compel us to admit association.

It is disappearance from the only world that still feels real.

Social control can be astonishingly effective because humans are wired to fear exclusion.

In early human life, being cast out could mean danger or death.

High control groups exploit that ancient alarm.

Following the same general method, John R. Commons has worked out a somewhat elaborate account of the sociological view of sovereignty, which he states, of course, in social rather than political terms.

The most suggestive of these contributions, however, is that made by Ross in his Social Control, 1901.

Believing that a study of social control should not be limited to an examination of laws alone, Ross has instituted a comprehensive study of all social forces that go to make up the control of the group over the individual.

To this end, the work is divided into a study of the grounds of control, the means of control, and the system of control.

Under the grounds of control are discussed the role of sympathy, sociability, sense of justice, and of individual reaction as bases of social order.

Under the means of control, there is a given a description and analysis of the various forces by means of which the society obtains social obedience and affects social control.

These instrumentalities are partly legal, as law, belief, ceremony, education, illusion, and partly ethical, as public opinion, suggestion, art, and social valuation.

The complicated machinery for producing obedience on the part of the individual to the will of the group is subjected to careful examination, with results that are at times startling.

Du Bois.

social control by jane adams of hull-house i always find it very difficult to write upon the great race problem which we have in america i think on the whole that the most satisfactory books on the subject are written by people outside of america this is certainly true of two books white capital and black labor by the governor of jamaica and william archer's book entitled afro america although the latter is inconclusive it at least gives one the impression that the man who has written it has seen clearly into the situation and that i suppose is what it is very difficult for any american to do one thing however is clear to all of us that not only in the south but everywhere in america a strong race antagonism is asserting itself which has various modes of lawless and insolent expression the contemptuous attitude of the so-called superior race toward the inferior results in the social segregation of each race and puts the one race group thus segregated quite outside the influences of social control represented by the other those inherited resources of the race embodied in custom and kindly intercourse which make much more of a social restraint than does legal enactment itself are thus made operable only upon the group which has inherited them and the newer group which needs them most is practically left without.

Thus, in every large city, we have a colony of colored people who have not been brought under social control, and a majority of the white people in the same community are tacitly endeavoring to keep from them those restraints which can be communicated only through social intercourse.

one could easily illustrate this lack of inherited control by comparing the experiences of a group of colored girls with those of a group representing the daughters of italian immigrants or of any other south european peoples the italian girls very much enjoy the novelty of factory work the opportunity to earn money and to dress as americans do but this new freedom of theirs is carefully guarded their mothers seldom give them permission to go to a party in the evening and never without chaperonage their fathers consider it a point of honor that their daughters shall not be alone on the streets after dark the daughter of the humblest italian receives this care because her parents are but carrying out social traditions a group of colored girls on the other hand are quite without this protection if they yield more easily to the temptations of a city than any other girls who shall say how far the lack of social restraint is responsible for their downfall the italian parents represent the social traditions which have been worked out during centuries of civilization and which often become a deterrent to progress through the very bigotry with which they cling to them nevertheless it is largely through these customs and manners that new groups are assimilated into civilization added to this is the fact that a decent colored family if it is also poor often finds it difficult to rent a house save one that is undesirable because situated near a red-light district and the family in the community least equipped with social tradition is forced to expose its daughters to the most flagrantly immoral conditions the community permits this is but one of the many examples of the harmful effects of race segregation which might be instanced another result of race antagonism is the readiness to irritation which in time characterizes the intercourse of the two races we stupidly force one race to demand as a right from the other those things which should be accorded as a courtesy, and every meeting between representatives of the two races is easily characterized by insolence and arrogance.

To the friction of city life, and the complications of modern intercourse, is added this primitive race animosity which should long since have been outgrown.

So that's how the two books connect.

And it's one and the same business model that leads to social control.

It's essentially monetizing that which was the territory of police and intelligence agencies.

And usually either in the context of a criminal suspect or a terrorist suspect or authoritarianism.

And that's astonishing when you think about it, because we only surveil in order to predict people's behavior, and we only predict people's behavior in order to control it.

It's kind of that simple.

So the question that we're asking when we increase surveillance to this degree, and we allow for so much prediction, is how much social control can liberal democracy take?

Well, that, you know, that raises a prediction question.

Du Bois.

social control by jane adams of hull-house i always find it very difficult to write upon the great race problem which we have in america i think on the whole that the most satisfactory books on the subject are written by people outside of america This is certainly true of two books, white capital and black labor, by the governor of Jamaica, and William Archer's book entitled Afro-America.

Although the latter is inconclusive, it at least gives one the impression that the man who has written it has seen clearly into the situation, and that, I suppose, is what it is very difficult for any American to do.

one thing however is clear to all of us that not only in the south but everywhere in america a strong race antagonism is asserting itself which has various modes of lawless and insolent expression the contemptuous attitude of the so-called superior race toward the inferior results in the social segregation of each race and puts the one race group thus segregated quite outside the influences of social control represented by the other those inherited resources of the race embodied in custom and kindly intercourse which make much more of a social restraint than does legal enactment itself are thus made operable only upon the group which has inherited them and the newer group which needs them most is practically left without.

Thus, in every large city, we have a colony of colored people who have not been brought under social control, and a majority of the white people in the same community are tacitly endeavoring to keep from them those restraints which can be communicated only through social intercourse.

one could easily illustrate this lack of inherited control by comparing the experiences of a group of colored girls with those of a group representing the daughters of italian immigrants or of any other south european peoples the italian girls very much enjoy the novelty of factory work the opportunity to earn money and to dress as americans do but this new freedom of theirs is carefully guarded their mothers seldom give them permission to go to a party in the evening and never without chaperonage their fathers consider it a point of honor that their daughters shall not be alone on the streets after dark the daughter of the humblest italian receives this care because her parents are but carrying out social traditions a group of colored girls on the other hand are quite without this protection if they yield more easily to the temptations of a city than any other girls who shall say how far the lack of social restraint is responsible for their downfall the italian parents represent the social traditions which have been worked out during centuries of civilization and which often become a deterrent to progress through the very bigotry with which they cling to them nevertheless it is largely through these customs and manners that new groups are assimilated into civilization added to this is the fact that a decent colored family if it is also poor often finds it difficult to rent a house save one that is undesirable because situated near a red-light district and the family in the community least equipped with social tradition is forced to expose its daughters to the most flagrantly immoral conditions the community permits this is but one of the many examples of the harmful effects of race segregation which might be instanced another result of race antagonism is the readiness to irritation which in time characterizes the intercourse of the two races we stupidly force one race to demand as a right from the other those things which should be accorded as a courtesy, and every meeting between representatives of the two races is easily characterized by insolence and arrogance.

To the friction of city life, and the complications of modern intercourse, is added this primitive race animosity which should long since have been outgrown.

Du Bois.

social control by jane adams of hull-house i always find it very difficult to write upon the great race problem which we have in america i think on the whole that the most satisfactory books on the subject are written by people outside of america This is certainly true of two books, quote, White Capital and Black Labor, end quote, by the governor of Jamaica, and William Archer's book entitled, quote, Afro-America, end quote.

Although the latter is inconclusive, it at least gives one the impression that the man who has written it has seen clearly into the situation, and that, I suppose, is what it is very difficult for any American to do.

one thing however is clear to all of us that not only in the south but everywhere in america a strong race antagonism is asserting itself which has various modes of lawless and insolent expression the contemptuous attitude of the so-called superior race toward the inferior results in the social segregation of each race and puts the one race group thus segregated quite outside the influences of social control represented by the other those inherited resources of the race embodied in custom and kindly intercourse which make much more of a social restraint than does legal enactment itself are thus made operable only upon the group which has inherited them and the newer group which needs them most is practically left without.

Thus, in every large city, we have a colony of colored people who have not been brought under social control, and a majority of the white people in the same community are tacitly endeavoring to keep from them those restraints which can be communicated only through social intercourse.

one could easily illustrate this lack of inherited control by comparing the experiences of a group of colored girls with those of a group representing the daughters of italian immigrants or of any other south european peoples the italian girls very much enjoy the novelty of factory work the opportunity to earn money and to dress as americans do but this new freedom of theirs is carefully guarded their mothers seldom give them permission to go to a party in the evening and never without chaperonage their fathers consider it a point of honor that their daughters shall not be alone on the streets after dark the daughter of the humblest italian receives this care because her parents are but carrying out social traditions a group of colored girls on the other hand are quite without this protection if they yield more easily to the temptations of a city than any other girls who shall say how far the lack of social restraint is responsible for their downfall the italian parents represent the social traditions which have been worked out during centuries of civilization and which often become a deterrent to progress through the very bigotry with which they cling to them nevertheless it is largely through these customs and manners that new groups are assimilated into civilization added to this is the fact that a decent colored family if it is also poor often finds it difficult to rent a house save one that is undesirable because situated near a red-light district and the family in the community least equipped with social tradition is forced to expose its daughters to the most flagrantly immoral conditions the community permits this is but one of the many examples of the harmful effects of race segregation which might be instanced another result of race antagonism is the readiness to irritation which in time characterizes the intercourse of the two races we stupidly force one race to demand as a right from the other those things which should be accorded as a courtesy, and every meeting between representatives of the two races is easily characterized by insolence and arrogance.

To the friction of city life, and the complications of modern intercourse, is added this primitive race animosity which should long since have been outgrown.

Du Bois.

social control by jane adams of hull-house i always find it very difficult to write upon the great race problem which we have in america i think on the whole that the most satisfactory books on the subject are written by people outside of america This is certainly true of two books, white capital and black labor, by the governor of Jamaica, and William Archer's book entitled Afro-America.

Although the latter is inconclusive, it at least gives one the impression that the man who has written it has seen clearly into the situation, and that, I suppose, is what it is very difficult for any American to do.

one thing however is clear to all of us that not only in the south but everywhere in america a strong race antagonism is asserting itself which has various modes of lawless and insolent expression the contemptuous attitude of the so-called superior race toward the inferior results in the social segregation of each race and puts the one race group thus segregated quite outside the influences of social control represented by the other those inherited resources of the race embodied in custom and kindly intercourse which make much more of a social restraint than does legal enactment itself are thus made operable only upon the group which has inherited them and the newer group which needs them most is practically left without.

Thus, in every large city, we have a colony of colored people who have not been brought under social control, and a majority of the white people in the same community are tacitly endeavoring to keep from them those restraints which can be communicated only through social intercourse.

one could easily illustrate this lack of inherited control by comparing the experiences of a group of colored girls with those of a group representing the daughters of italian immigrants or of any other south european peoples the italian girls very much enjoy the novelty of factory work the opportunity to earn money and to dress as americans do but this new freedom of theirs is carefully guarded their mothers seldom give them permission to go to a party in the evening and never without chaperonage their fathers consider it a point of honor that their daughters shall not be alone on the streets after dark the daughter of the humblest italian receives this care because her parents are but carrying out social traditions a group of colored girls on the other hand are quite without this protection if they yield more easily to the temptations of a city than any other girls who shall say how far the lack of social restraint is responsible for their downfall the italian parents represent the social traditions which have been worked out during centuries of civilization and which often become a deterrent to progress through the very bigotry with which they cling to them nevertheless it is largely through these customs and manners that new groups are assimilated into civilization added to this is the fact that a decent colored family if it is also poor often finds it difficult to rent a house save one that is undesirable because situated near a red-light district and the family in the community least equipped with social tradition is forced to expose its daughters to the most flagrantly immoral conditions the community permits this is but one of the many examples of the harmful effects of race segregation which might be instanced another result of race antagonism is the readiness to irritation which in time characterizes the intercourse of the two races we stupidly force one race to demand as a right from the other those things which should be accorded as a courtesy and every meeting between representatives of the two races is easily characterized by insolence and arrogance to the friction of city life and the complications of modern intercourse is added this primitive race animosity which should long since have been outgrown when the white people in a city are tacitly leagued against the colored people within its borders the result is sure to be disastrous but there are still graver dangers in permitting the primitive instinct to survive and to become self-assertive when race antagonism manifests itself through lynching it defiantly insists that it is superior to all those laws which have been gradually evolved during thousands of years and which form at once the record and the instrument of civilization the fact that this race antagonism enables the men acting under its impulsion to justify themselves in their lawlessness constitutes the great danger of the situation the men claim that they are executing a primitive retribution which precedes all law and in this belief they put themselves in a position where they cannot be reasoned with although this dangerous manifestation must constantly be reckoned with as a deterrent to progress and a menace to orderly living moreover this race antagonism is very close to the one thing in human relations which is uglier than itself namely sex antagonism and in every defence made in its behalf an appeal to the latter antagonism is closely interwoven many men in every community justify violence when it is committed under the impulsion of these two antagonisms and others carelessly assert that great laws of human intercourse first and foremost founded upon justice and right relations between man and man should thus be disregarded and destroyed if the national association for the advancement of colored people will soberly take up every flagrant case of law-breaking and if it allow no withdrawal of constitutional rights to pass unchallenged it will perform a most useful service to america and for the advancement of all its citizens many other opportunities may be open in time to such an association but is not this its first and most obvious obligation

THE TEACHER by LESLIE PINKNEY HILL lord who am i to teach the way to little children day by day so prone myself to go astray i teach them knowledge but i know how faint they flicker and how low the candles of my knowledge glow i teach them power to will and do but only now to learn anew my own great weakness through and through i teach them love for all mankind and all god's creatures But I find my love comes lagging still behind.