What is created by a network of roles in which each person accepts certain duties towards others?
Correct answer B. Social Order
Topic / 66 questions
Social Control MCQs
Social Control MCQs are sociology questions on how societies encourage conformity and respond to deviance, covering norms, sanctions, crime, punishment and theories from thinkers such as Durkheim, Foucault and Lombroso. They help CSS, PMS, UPSC and lecturer candidates revise this topic, and every question comes with an instant answer.
- Methods and Research 94
- Culture 87
- Social Stratification 82
- Social Institutions 78
- Theory and Perspectives 74
- Social and Cultural Change 71
- Social Control 66
- Religion Education and Health 64
- Social Groups 57
- Introduction to Sociology 55
- Development of Sociology and Important Sociologists 54
- Population and the Environment 48
- Sociology and Society 45
- Socialization 45
- Crime and Deviance 45
- Race and Ethnicity 39
- Social Mobility 37
- Technology & Media 36
- Globalization 35
- Population Growth 32
- Personality 31
- Sociology as a Science 30
- Groups and Organizations 30
- Political and Economic Power 29
- Community 26
- Role & Status 25
- Cities and Urban Life 20
- Social Interaction and Everyday Life 19
- Poverty in Pakistan 19
- Civil Society 18
- Work, Government and the Economy 17
- Urbanization in Pakistan 16
- Nations, War and Terrorism 14
- The Process of Socio-Economic change in Pakistan 13
- Poverty,Social,Exclusion and Welfare 12
- Aging in Pakistan 12
- Immigration Issues in Pakistan 11
- literacy in Pakistan 6
- Drug Abuse in Pakistan Society Its Causes and Consequences 5
LaPiere saw social control mainly as a process arising from the individual’s what?
Correct answer B. Need for group acceptance
Where is informal control found?
Correct answer B. Primary groups
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Much leadership and authority depends on skilfully manipulating the group as what?
Correct answer B. Control device
What is a person who fails to comply with the rules and regulations of society usually called?
Correct answer B. Deviant
What is a society that lacks consistent guidelines for people to learn and follow called?
Correct answer C. Anomic Society
In which kind of mobility system are ideas of equal opportunity irrelevant to deciding which individuals occupy which statuses?
Correct answer C. Closed
In the past, how was a woman’s mobility usually decided?
Correct answer C. Status of their husbands
How do career and mobility patterns for men and women compare?
Correct answer A. Growing more nearly alike
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Who can experience social mobility?
Correct answer B. Individuals or entire groups
If we fail to respect and obey social norms, we may be punished through informal or formal what?
Correct answer B. Sanctions
Who suggested that the punishments a culture establishes help define acceptable behaviour and so contribute to stability?
Correct answer D. Emile Durkheim
Who offered pioneering insights into professional criminals by publishing an annotated account written by a professional thief?
Correct answer C. Edwin Sutherland
What are gambling, public drunkenness, prostitution and smoking marijuana often regarded as?
Correct answer D. “victimless” crimes
Which term did Charles Perrow introduce for failures that are inevitable given the way human and technological systems are organised?
Correct answer B. Normal accidents
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Which growing problem did the Macpherson Report draw attention to?
Correct answer A. Institutional racism: systematic forms of disadvantage built into the routines and practices of social institutions
What did Sutherland’s study of the professional thief suggest?
Correct answer D. People are socialised into a life of crime by associating with others who define it in positive terms
How was disciplinary power exercised in 19th-century factories?
Correct answer B. Punctuality uninterrupted work and the threat of dismissal
Which of the following does Wilkinson identify as the main determinant of relative health in a society?
Correct answer B. Social integration
What term describes failing to conform to a set of norms accepted by a significant number of people in a community or society?
Correct answer C. Deviance
About Social Control MCQs
This category examines formal and informal mechanisms that keep behaviour within social norms. Questions cover the types of social control, functions and dysfunctions of deviance, the purpose of punishment, white-collar and corporate crime and why it has low visibility, and labelling and relativist views of deviant behaviour. Theorists feature strongly, including Foucault on carceral organisations, Lombroso on biological explanations, Merton on strain and Carol Smart on gender and crime, along with modern surveillance technology.
Deviance and social control is a major part of sociology and criminology syllabi and is tested in CSS, PMS, UPSC and lecturer recruitment. Many questions ask which thinker said what or apply a theory to a short case, such as a student cheating to succeed. Practising these MCQs helps you remember theorists and apply their ideas confidently. Scenario questions reward clear understanding.
Key facts to remember
- Social control refers to the ways a society encourages conformity to its norms.
- Informal social control works through family, peers and community disapproval.
- Formal social control is exercised by institutions such as police, courts and prisons.
- Durkheim argued that punishing deviance reinforces shared values and social solidarity.
- Cesare Lombroso claimed criminals could be identified by physical features.
- White-collar crime is committed by people of high status in the course of their occupation.
Exams that include Social Control MCQs
Pakistan
- CSS
- PMS
- PPSC
- FPSC
- Lecturer tests
India
- UPSC CSE
- UGC NET
- State PSC exams
Bangladesh
- BCS
- Government job tests
- University admission tests
How to prepare for Social Control MCQs
- Make a table matching theorists such as Durkheim, Merton, Becker, Foucault and Lombroso with their main idea on deviance.
- Learn Merton's five adaptations, conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion, and practise placing examples in each.
- Compare formal and informal social control with two examples each from everyday life.
- Revise the functions of deviance according to functionalists, such as clarifying norms and promoting social change.
Frequently asked questions
What is social control in sociology?
Social control is the set of formal and informal means by which a society encourages people to follow its norms and discourages deviance. Informal control comes through family, peers and public opinion, while formal control comes through laws, police, courts and other institutions.
How many Social Control MCQs are on MCQs360?
MCQs360 has 66 Social Control MCQs, each with an instant answer. You can practise them free without signing up and revise deviance and crime theories in a single short session. Start with the theorist-based questions, which are most common.
Which exams ask Social Control MCQs?
These questions appear in CSS and PMS Sociology and Criminology papers and in PPSC and FPSC lecturer tests in Pakistan. In India they feature in UPSC CSE Sociology, UGC NET and state PSC exams, and in Bangladesh in BCS and university tests.
What are Merton's modes of adaptation?
Robert Merton's strain theory describes five responses to the gap between cultural goals and legitimate means: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Someone who cheats to achieve good grades accepts the goal but uses illegitimate means, which Merton called innovation.
Last reviewed October 2026