The social control of sex and food: A brief overview

The concept of social control was formalized with the establishment of sociology as a scientific discipline in America in the last two decades of the 19th century. Two early American sociologists in particular, Edward A. Ross and Lester F. Ward, were instrumental in the movement to conceptualize social control and illustrate its applicability with regard to various social phenomena. During Ross's time social control has undergone extensive refinement, represented most recently in Chriss’ typology of social control consisting of informal, legal, and medical control. In this chapter, informal control is explored specifically as it relates to the control of sexual activity and food quests beginning in human antiquity.