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

, age,

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

, race,

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

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 A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

. Mesosociology lies between analysis of large-scale macro forces such as the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

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. ...

(which is a domain of macrosociology), and everyday human

social interaction A social relation is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more conspecifics within and/or between groups. The group can be a language or ...

s 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.''. Microsociol ...

Social control

Meso-level forces of

social control 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 con ...

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