Q1: UPPSC Mains 2024 General Hindi: Mains Question

On the basis of the following prose passage, answer the questions given below: When socialisation takes place properly, members of society behave in conformity with social rules; if socialisation goes wrong, deviant behaviour increases. Therefore, the persons who are responsible for socialisation also bear a great responsibility for social control. According to Bottomore, education is the firmest basis of a child's primary socialisation. By clarifying moral ideas and developing the intellect of the individual, the educational system contributes to social norms. The purpose of education is to acquaint the individual with the various units of society. Education possesses not only scientific importance but also practical utility. Whereas other means of social control compel the individual to obey social rules through punitive methods, education inspires him to follow them voluntarily through self-analysis. First, socialisation acquaints us with compassionate conduct; second, it also makes us monitor the progress of conduct. By keeping us balanced towards desirable behaviour, socialisation—which is a part of education—acts as the greatest controlling power of society. Socialisation, independent of changing circumstances, generally helps in the conduct of collective activities, and, as a result, social control is maintained. A second important task performed by education, as an instrument of social control, is to develop knowledge in our lives. When knowledge develops in us, we can distinguish between good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate. Once we separate the appropriate from the inappropriate, we shall eliminate inappropriate behaviour from life and adopt appropriate behaviour—behaviour that conforms to social standards. Thus, with the growth of knowledge we shall understand proper conduct and follow it, so that social control is automatically maintained. Education provides us with reason and inspires us to free ourselves from emotional, egocentric and purely personal decisions. Hence an uneducated person, acting on impulse, may do anything wrong, whereas an educated person, even in the most difficult circumstances, takes patient decisions and shows prudence. In short, education teaches the individual self-restraint. Because the individual is the unit of society, the presence of control at the individual level automatically ensures social control.