Social control is the regulations, sanctions, mechanisms, and systems that restrict the behaviour of individuals in accordance with social norms and orders. Through both informal and formal means, individuals and groups exercise social control both internally and externally. As an area of social science, social control is studied by researchers of various fields, including anthropology, criminology, law, political science, and sociology.

Social control is considered one of the foundations of social order. Sociologists identify two basic forms of social control. Informal means of control refer to the internalization of norms and values through socialization. Formal means comprise external sanctions enforced by government to prevent the establishment of chaos or anomie in society. Some theorists, such as Émile Durkheim, refer to formal control as regulation.

Social control developed together with civilization, as a rational measure against the uncontrollable forces of nature which tribal organisations were at prey to within archaic tribal societies. Criminal persecutions first emerged around sixth century B.C. as a form of formal social control in Athens, Greece. The purpose of these persecutions were to check certain groups and protect them from malicious interests. Historically, religion also provided an informal moral influence on communities and individuals.

Prior to the wider use of the term "social control", social philosophers referred to the concept in early works. In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes discusses how the state exerts social order using civil and military power. Cesare Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments argues that people will avoid criminal behavior if their acts result in harsher punishment, and that changes in punishment act as a form of social control. Sociologist Émile Durkheim also explored social control in the work The Division of Labour in Society, discussing the paradox of deviance and arguing that social control is what makes us abide by laws in the first place.

The term "social control" was first introduced to sociology by Albion Woodbury Small and George Edgar Vincent in 1894. However, at the time, sociologists only showed sporadic interest in the subject. While the concept of social control has been around since the formation of organized sociology, the meaning has been altered over time. Originally, the concept simply referred to society's ability to regulate itself. However, in the 1930s, the term took on its more modern meaning of an individual's conversion to conformity. Academics began to study social control theory as a separate field in the early 20th century. Within the 20th century, social scientists presumed that religion was still a principal factor of social control.

In the decades leading up to the end of the 1980s, an increased prevalence of the individual as a feature within society led to new psychotherapeutic modalities, suggesting the use of therapy as a means of social control.

Social values are result of an individual internalizing certain norms and values. Social values present in individuals are products of informal social control, exercised implicitly by a society through particular customs, norms, and mores. Individuals internalize the values of their society, whether conscious or not of the indoctrination. Traditional society relies mostly on informal social control embedded in its customary culture to socialize its members. The internalization of these values and norms is known as a process called socialization.

Sociologist Edward A. Ross argues that belief systems exert a greater control on human behavior than laws imposed by government, no matter what form the beliefs take.