Social Control Systems

Code:

C200

Acronym:

SCS

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Criminology

Instance: 2025/2026 - 1S (since 15-09-2025 to 19-12-2025)

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Criminology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
C	56	Oficial Study Plan LC 2023	2	-	6	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

- Acquire the key concepts and know the main theoretical developments and empirical applications of the problematic of social control, deviance and crime.

- Acquire the conceptual and methodological tools to analyse the main systems of social control and punishment of crime and deviance.

- Analyse and discuss relevant empirical and theoretical literature on social control.

- Critically reflect on the role of new technological advances in creating social order and controlling deviance

Learning outcomes and competences

By the end of the semester, students should:

• Have acquired the knowledge and the capacity to identify, analyse and communicate the main questions, the core concepts and the theoretical arguments of the sociological and criminological perspectives on social control;
• Be able to compare different approaches on the subject, as well as their contributions and limitations;
• Have acquired a critical perspective of the main processes and structures of social control, crime and deviance.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

NA

Program

I - Introduction: conceptual and disciplinary domain, theoretical-empirical outlines of emergence and development, key questions, and research topics.

II - Essential Perspectives and Authors

1. Michel Foucault: Disciplinary Power, Biopower, and Knowledge of Deviance


2. Stanley Cohen: Social Control Networks


3. David Garland: Control and Punishment as Cultural Strategies


4. Crime Deterrence and Social Control

IV - Contemporary Perspectives and Themes

1. Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Trust


2. Social Disorganisation, Social Capital, and Collective Efficacy


3. Big Data, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence for Social Control


4. Social control of Legal Entities: Compliance

Mandatory literature

Cohen Stanley; Visions of social control. ISBN: 0-7456-0021-2
Deakin, Jo, Taylor, Emmeline , Kupchik, Aaron ; The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018
Garland David; The^culture of control. ISBN: 0-226-28384-4
Innes Martin; Understanding social control. ISBN: 0-335-20940-8
Mathieu Deflem (ed); the handbook of social control, Wiley Blackwell, 2019
Foucault , Michel; Vigiar e punir : nascimento da prisão. ISBN: 8532605087

Complementary Bibliography

Christie Nils; Crime control as industry. ISBN: 0-415-23487-5
Michel Foucault; Em defesa da sociedade. ISBN: 85-336-1004-1
Michel Foucault; Nascimento da biopolítica. ISBN: 978-972-44-1544-4

Comments from the literature

Throughout the semester bibliography in electronic format will be provided, v.g. relevant scientific articles.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Classes combine the exposition of the program contents with the realization of exercises of analysis and discussion of key issues of the Curricular Unit (CU) program, based on the indicated literature. These activities converge to the development of a written assignment on one of the topics covered in the CU.

keywords

Social sciences > Criminology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	70,00
Trabalho escrito	30,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Trabalho escrito	15,00
Estudo autónomo	35,00
Frequência das aulas	50,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

In order to successfully complete the CU, the student must:

• Perform the distributed evaluation (DE) and the final exam (FE);
• Obtain at least 8 values in each of the evaluation components (DE and FE);
• Obtain a final weighted score of the two evaluation elements equal or higher than 10 values.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final Classification = 0,30xDE + 0,70xFE

Examinations or Special Assignments

The DE is a written assignment about one of the topics indicated by the lecturer.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

As established in applicable regulations.

Classification improvement

The improvement of classification is accomplished by final exam, and the DE element is considered in the calculation of the final grade.