Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/111

 SOCIAL CONTROL 97

deed. If pressure could be applied, not to conduct but to the very intents and desires of the heart, something might be done toward reforming character. While moral character is not best built up by fear of the consequences of yielding to certain moods, and hope of reward for cultivating an opposite disposition, pres- sure of this kind is not without efficacy. In any case, when men reach the reflective stage, treatment according to desert wins much heartier approval than treatment according to deed.

4. The operation both of law and of public opinion is expen- sive. Moreover, as punishment both legal and social is cheaper than reward, they rely over-much on fear and fail to get the best service out of a man. They hold ground already won, but offer little stimulus to new and signal achievement on behalf of society. Even hope of fame will hardly inspire one to become a hero, martyr, or saint.

The recognition of these facts leads men to desire that defective human control be supplemented by the awards of a judge, who, by his omnipresence, his omnipotence, his omnis- cience and his infinite resources, might cure these deficiencies. Such a longing can be met only through belief in the super- natural.

If any one is to be influenced in his actions by the recom- pense attached, he must of course believe that the promised requital will come without fail. But this assurance, based on testimony, observation, or former experience, may properly be distinguished from a conviction grounded on inference, tradition, or authority. These unverifiable convictions regarding what is beyond the field of human experience we shall call belief, and the control of conduct by means of these convictions we shall term control by belief.

The first group of supernatural sanctions rest on the belief that there is a supernatural being who is interested in and follows the doings of men, and that he intervenes in this life to punish the bad and to reward the good. A perfect illustration of this type is yielded by the blessings and curses of the Mosaic law.