Formal negative sanctions are one of the tools to maintain social norms in society.
What is the norm?
This term came from the Latin language. Literally means “rule of conduct”, “pattern”. We all live in society, in a team. Each has its own values, preferences, interests. All this gives the person certain rights and freedoms. But we must not forget that people live next to each other. This single collective is called society or society. And it is important to know what laws govern the rules of conduct in it. They are called social norms. Formal Negative Sanctions allow to ensure their compliance.
Types of Social Norms
Rules of conduct in society are divided into subspecies. It is important to know, because it is from them that social sanctions and their application depend. They are divided into:
- Customs and traditions. Pass from one generation to another over many centuries and even millennia. Weddings, holidays, etc.
- Legal. Fixed in laws and regulations.
- Religious Rules of conduct based on faith. Baptismal rites, religious festivals, fasting, etc.
- Aesthetic. Based on the feeling of the beautiful and the ugly.
- Political. They regulate the political sphere and everything connected with it.
There are also many other rules. For example, etiquette rules, medical standards, safety rules technique, etc. But we have listed the main ones. Thus, it is a mistake to believe that social sanctions apply only to the legal sphere. Law is only one of the subcategories of social norms.
Deviant behavior
Naturally, all people in society must live according to generally accepted rules. Otherwise, chaos and anarchy will come. But some individuals sometimes cease to obey generally accepted laws. They break them. This behavior is called deviant, or deviant. It is for this that formal negative sanctions are envisaged.
Types of Sanctions
As it has already become clear, they are called upon to restore order in society. But it is a mistake to consider that sanctions are negative. That this is something bad. In politics, this term is positioned as a restrictive tool. A wrong concept is emerging, meaning a ban, a taboo. One can recall and cite as an example the recent events and the trade war between Western countries and the Russian Federation.
There are actually four types of them:
- Formal negative sanctions.
- Informal negative.
- Formal positive.
- Informal positive.
But we will dwell in more detail on one form.
Formal Negative Sanctions: Case Studies
It was no coincidence that they got such a name. Their feature is the following factors:
- Associated with a formal manifestation, as opposed to informal, which have only an emotional connotation.
- They are used only for deviant (deviant) behavior, in contrast to positive ones, which, on the contrary, are designed to encourage the individual for exemplary performance of social norms.
Here is a concrete example from labor law. Suppose citizen Ivanov is an entrepreneur. Several people work for him. In the course of labor relations, Ivanov violates the terms of the labor contract concluded with the employees and delays their salaries, arguing that this is a crisis in the economy.
Indeed, sales fell sharply. The entrepreneur does not have enough money to cover wage arrears to employees. You might think that he is not to blame and can withhold impunity with impunity.But actually it is not.
As an entrepreneur, he had to weigh all the risks in carrying out his activities. Otherwise, he is obliged to notify the employees about this and begin the appropriate procedures. This is provided for by law. But instead, Ivanov hoped that everything would work out. The workers, of course, did not suspect anything.
When the day of payment comes up, they find out that there is no money at the checkout. Naturally, their rights are violated (each employee has financial plans for recreation, social security, and possibly certain financial obligations). Workers file a formal complaint with the state labor protection inspectorate. The entrepreneur in this case violated the norms of the labor and civil codes. Inspecting authorities confirmed this and ordered to pay salaries soon. For each day of delay, a certain penalty is now charged in accordance with the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In addition, the inspection authorities imposed an administrative fine on Ivanov for violations of labor standards. Such actions will be an example of formal negative sanctions.
findings
But an administrative fine is not the only measure. For example, a worker was severely reprimanded for being late to the office. The formality in this case consists in a specific action - entering into a private matter. If the consequences for his delay were limited only to the fact that the director emotionally, in words, made a remark to him, then this would be an example of informal negative sanctions.
But not only in labor relations do they apply. In almost all areas, mostly negative formal social sanctions prevail. The exception, of course, is moral and aesthetic norms, etiquette rules. Their violations are usually followed by informal sanctions. They are emotional. For example, no one will fine a person for the fact that he didn’t stop on the highway in the forty-degree frost and didn’t take his fellow traveler as a companion. Although the society can negatively react to it. A flurry of criticism will fall upon this citizen, unless, of course, it is made public.
But do not forget that many norms in these areas are enshrined in laws and regulations. So, for their violation, you can get, in addition to informal, formal negative sanctions in the form of arrests, fines, reprimands, etc. For example, smoking in public places. This is an aesthetic norm, or rather, a deviation from it. It's ugly to smoke on the street and poison all passers-by with tar. But until recently, only informal sanctions relied on it. For example, a grandmother can speak critically against an intruder. Today the smoking ban is a legal norm. For its violation, the individual will be punished with a fine. This is a vivid example of the transformation of an aesthetic norm into a legal plane with formal consequences.
