Social control theory focuses on the techniques and strategies that regulate human behavior and lead to conformity, or obedience to society’s rules—the influences of family and school, religious beliefs, moral values, friends, and beliefs about government. There are both macrosociological and microsociological perspectives of social control, as well as theories regarding movement between conventional and delinquent behavior; internal and external control mechanisms; and a variety of life course and developmental theories speaking to the types and strengths of controlling influences throughout an individual’s life.
