Social control is essentially a society’s ability to regulate itself. Having existed since the beginning of civilization, this control has taken many different forms throughout history, but has almost always featured an enforcer of some type to insure that the rules are followed. In current times those who enforce the laws are known as police officers, and they exist to bring order to a system that otherwise might not regulate itself. Their role in society is to insure that it does not tear itself apart and follows its own established rules. Police are the order within the chaos that society can become.
While law enforcement is not perfect it was created for a valid reason. The position that police assume in society is that of peace keepers and law enforcers, a role that is not easy and very demanding. While they are men and women within society who are to be respected and lauded for their service, they are also penalized far more than average citizen when they make a mistake. As servants of the law and protectors of their own distinct communities, police officers are expected to assess and evaluate each situation they find themselves in to better serve the people and to keep themselves protected.
There are moments when officers make mistakes and are thereby forced to own up to their own actions. In a recent case covered by Associated Press (2016) a California police officer wounded a minor who was in possession of a replica firearm. The 911 call that had summoned the officer and his partner to a city park in Santa Rosa spoke of a young man acting erratically and carrying a gun, prompting the officers to respond. What was revealed however was that the entire scene was in truth orchestrated by the troubled teen that was later on discovered to harbor suicidal tendencies.
The troubled teen’s plan had been to threaten the responding officers with the replica and
in effect be gunned down. Though not widely practiced, this form of suicide is known as death by cop, in which an individual intentionally threatens an officer, hoping that the response will be swift and fatal. It is a process that takes much thought and little in the way of conscience as it does allow for the psychology trauma that might well be inflicted upon the officer. Such a premeditated attempt speaks to society’s troubles with regulating itself in at least one regard, as those who expect the police to govern and judge them effectively often do not take into account the difficulty that comes with the task.
The officer in question reacted to what was thought to be a serious threat, and in doing so wounded the minor in the process. Such an occurrence has happened in the past and proven fatal to the individual holding the fake gun, though more often than not such cases do not involve the level of planning that went into this particular scenario. Society is not as adept at controlling itself without the presence of law enforcement, and leans heavily upon the men and women that take up the task of insuring the safety of the masses. In doing so they are forced to make judgment calls at times, and in some instances must be held accountable for the decisions that are made under duress.
While this particular case is being held as a reminder of past instances when police were accused of using excessive force, it is in fact quite different as the wounded minor was responsible for the incident. The machinations of the general public cannot be laid at the feet of the police, and must instead be regulated by those responsible whenever possible. Society must be able to initiate the informal use of social control in such instances. Attending to the teen’s emotional and psychological needs could have possibly saved a great deal of hurt and a possible investigation that could possibly place more suspicion upon the police.
Police serve a purpose, but that purpose is typically only to be used when the situation at
hand has reached a level beyond what those involved can handle. They are intended to be peace keepers, but are also taught to respond with deadly force if need be. In the case of the officer and the teenager involved in the aforementioned incident the matter had obviously gone beyond what anyone could, or would, deal with. There was real belief that the problem had escalated beyond the point where the teen could be talked down, and without anyone knowing that the gun he held was a replica, there was no one that was willing to risk their life to confront him. This was a situation where the police were supposedly needed, and one in which the teen had orchestrated his own demise.
Though social control has been defined and redefined throughout the years in accordance with the changes to society, it is still very much the same theory that began long ago when civilization realized the need for order. While the role of those who enforced order and kept society from tearing itself apart has changed in many ways throughout history, there has almost always been someone set into place, an elite of some sort that were designated as those who would keep the peace and enforce the rules. In the current day and age police officers are those individuals, the elite among society that are expected to keep order among the many different regions of the nation. How they go about this task is a hotly debated topic that continues to change and be redefined in response to society’s needs and desires.
Society will always find a way to regulate the actions of its own citizens, and in many cases that comes to the addition of some form of law enforcement. Police are the preferred method of many to stem the chaos that might otherwise result from a lawless society. However there are times when formal control is considered too overbearing and allows excessive force in enforcing the rules of society. In such instances it is important to remember that in any system there is bound to be a certain level of chaos. Police exist to instill the order that society requires.
References
Associated Press. (2016). Calif. Officer shoots, wounds suicidal teen pointing replica gun.
PoliceOne.com. Retrieved from
https://www.policeone.com/officer-shootings/articles/184587006-Calif-officer-shoots-wounds-suicidal-teen-pointing-replica-gun/
