Table of Contents
Definition of Informal Sanction
(noun) A sanction that is not enforced or punished by an authority but that occurs in everyday interactions with other people.
Example of Informal Sanction
- In a movie theater, one individual asks another individual to lower their voice.
Informal Sanction Pronunciation
Syllabification: in·for·mal sanc·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /in-fOR-muhl sAngkshUHn/
- British English – /in-fAWm-uhl sAngkshUHn/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ɪnˈfɔrməl ˈsæŋkʃən/
- British English – /ɪnˈfɔːml ˈsæŋkʃən/
Usage Notes
- Plural: informal sanctions
- The terms “informal sanction” and “informal social sanction” are used interchangeably in a sociological context.
- Sociologists study four primary types of sanctions:
Related Quotation
- “Informal sanctions are not clearly defined and can be applied by any member of a group (such as frowning at someone or making a negative comment or gesture” (Kendall 2006:56).
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Word origin of “informal” and “sanction” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Burk, James, ed. 1991. Morris Janowitz: On Social Organization and Social Control. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- LaPiere, Richard T. 1954. A Theory of Social Control. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Melossi, Dario. 1998. The Sociology of Punishment: Socio-structural Perspectives. Aldershot, United Kingdom: Ashgate/Dartmouth.
- Park, Robert Ezra, and Ralph H. Turner. 1967. On Social Control and Collective Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Related Terms
Reference
Kendall, Diana. 2006. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Works Consulted
Ferrante, Joan. 2011a. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Ferrante, Joan. 2011b. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Informal Sanction
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “informal sanction.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 23, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/informal-sanction/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
informal sanction. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/informal-sanction/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “informal sanction.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/informal-sanction/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“informal sanction.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/informal-sanction/>.