Mesosociology is the study of intermediate (''meso'') social forces and

stratification Stratification may refer to: Mathematics * Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols * Data stratification in statistics Earth sciences * Stable and unstable stratification * Stratification, or st ...

such as

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...

, age,

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

, ethnicity,

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

s and geographically circumscribed communities. Mesosociology lies between analysis of large-scale macro forces such as the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

or human

societies A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

(which is a domain of

macrosociology Macrosociology is a large-scale approach to sociology, emphasizing the analysis of social systems and populations at the structural level, often at a necessarily high level of theoretical abstraction. Though macrosociology ''does'' concern itself ...

), and everyday human social interactions on a small scale (a territory of

microsociology Microsociology is one of the main levels of analysis (or focuses) of sociology, concerning the nature of everyday human social interactions and agency on a small scale: face to face.Smelser, Neil J. 1997. ''Problematics of Sociology.''. Microsociolo ...

Social control

Meso-level forces of social control include organizations and communities. The organizations are middle-level structures of control. One type is a comprehensive institution, an organization in which people are confined until they can adhere to society's norms, including prisons and mental hospitals. Another type of middle level organization is the reintegration structure. This structure rehabilitates those who do not conform. These include rehabilitation centers for drugs and alcohol. A final type of organization is a safety-valve organization. These provide outlets for behavior that is considered deviant but cannot be eradicated from society, including prostitution. Communities also are instruments of social control. Things that are controlled by local governments are often the most visible signs of social control in a community, such as a police force and the organization of neighborhoods.

References

Turner, Jonathan H. ''Sociology''. Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ. 2006. Methods in sociology {{socio-stub