Edward Alsworth Ross's Theory Of Social Control

3 Review of Literature:

Edward Alsworth Ross (1866–1951) developed the concept of Social Control more or less simultaneously with becoming a sociologist. From 1896 onwards he published a series of articles as a preview (so the idea actually dates from just before the twentieth century). By the time he collected the articles in a book, the concept of Social Control had already gained notoriety. Social Control reads as a scholarly essay on human society, with an emphasis on the problem of social order. Ross concludes that Social Control will be all the more necessary as we move from “community” to “society. Classic figures such as Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Markx and Michel foucalut also invoke for the idea. Essentially, however, Ross is concerned with classifying and labeling institutions and practices, much like Max Weber a few years after him. Interactions of individuals and generations there emerges a kind of collective mind evincing itself in living ideals, conventions, dogmas, institutions, and religious sentiments which are more or less happily adapted to the task of safeguarding the collective welfare from the ravages of egoism. Order, then, is equated with peaceful social relations and a degree of collective harmony. It is equally the opposite of a ruling class’s exploitation of subordinate groups, which Ross calls class control, not Social Control (Marx Disposition) Ross admits that the order has not always prevailed historically, but he seems to consider