essays about law and society

Law and Society

Law and society: introduction, the harvard library catalog: hollis, selected hollis searches for law and society research, selected books: general treatises, selected books: compilations and readers, selected books: research and reference, selected book series, selected journals.

For the purposes of this research guide, "law and society"  represents the intersection between societal development, norms, and practices and the roles and functions of law and legal institutions.  It is multidisciplinary in nature, and may involve various research approaches and methodologies that are found in social and behavioral science disciplines, including sociology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, ethnography, criminology, economics, political science, philosophy, history, and others.

The Law and Society Association (LSA) ( https://www.lawandsociety.org/ ) is a professional organization, founded in 1964, that is devoted to scholarship in this area.  The LSA meets once a year and publishes a scholarly journal, the Law & Society Review .

The following online reference materials provide information about law and society in general:

• International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Law and Everyday Life Patricia Ewick (2015).
• International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Law and Society Lora M. Levett and Adina M. Thompson (2015).
• Oxford Bibliographies: Law and Society Joachim J. Savelsberg and Lara L. Cleveland (2017).
• Oxford Bibliographies: Sociology of Law Mathieu Deflem (2015).
• Oxford Companion to American Law: Law and Society Movement Kermit L. Hall (ed.) (2004).
• Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History: Law and Society Lynn Dumenil (ed.) (2013).
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Legal History: Law and Society Stanley N. Katz (ed.) (2009)
• Oxford Handbook of Law and Humanities Simon Stern, Maksymilian Del Mar, and Bernadette Meyler (2019)
• Oxford Handbook of Political Science: Law and Society Lynn Mather (2013).
• Research Handbook on the Sociology of International Law Moshe Hirsch and Andrew Lang (2018)

This guide provides references to selected books, book series, journals, and other materials that are related to law in society, with particular focus on cross-disciplinary scholarship that is cultural in nature, such as law and sociology and law and anthropology.  

Research assistance is available to Harvard Law affiliates -- contact us at [email protected] .

The Harvard Library catalog, HOLLIS, includes records for the millions of books and other items in all of the Harvard libraries' collections, including the law library.  It also includes index entries for periodical articles.

The Subject fields of many HOLLIS records include controlled, predefined vocabulary terms from a subject outline established by the Library of Congress, the  Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) ( http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects.html ) .  Although there are also other lists of subject terms that catalogers also use, the LCSH subject keywords predominate in HOLLIS catalog records, especially in records for newer materials.

This guide includes links to pre-populated HOLLIS searches by subject, using LCSH and other predefined subject terms. There are also links to some general keyword searches, using terms of art that appear in the literature related to this topic. 

A link to a pre-populated search in this guide appears as follows:

HOLLIS Search: Subject =  "Law -- Social Aspects"

The HOLLIS searches listed below are intentionally broad. To reconfigure and/or limit the displayed search results after clicking a link to a pre-populated search, you can do any or all of the following:

• Add additional keywords and re-run the search.
• Change the search parameters from "Everything" to "Library Catalog."  This will limit your search results to items that have been cataloged by the Harvard Libraries, and will exclude periodical articles.
• Change results display order by using the "Sort by" menu on the right -- for example, change the sort from Relevance to Date-Newest to view the newest items first.
• Use the limiting options on the right side of the screen: resource type, date range, location, subject, language, and more.
• HOLLIS search: Keywords Anywhere = "Constitutional Subject"
• HOLLIS Search: Keywords Anywhere = "Legal Geography"
• HOLLIS Search: Keywords Anywhere = "Public-Private Distinction"
• HOLLIS search: Keywords Anywhere = "Sociolegal Studies"
• HOLLIS search: Publisher = "Eleven" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Society"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Agency and Structure" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Canon Law -- Social Aspects"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Citizenship -- Social Aspects"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Civil Society"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Communitarianism" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Community Life" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Conduct of Life" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Constitutional Law -- Social Aspects"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Culture and Law"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Deliberative Democracy"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Dignity" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Distributive Justice"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Durkheim" AND "Emile" AND "Law"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Dworkin" AND "Ronald" AND "Law"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Ethnological Jurisprudence"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Ethnology" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Family Policy" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Foucault" AND "Michel" AND "Law"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Freedom of Religion"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Habermas" AND "Jurgen" AND "Law"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Historiography" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Human Services" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Judicial Behavior"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Jurisprudence" AND Keyword Anywhere = "Society"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Law -- Social Aspects"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Law -- Sociological Aspects"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Law and Anthropology"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Law and the Humanities"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Law and the Social Sciences"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Legal Polycentricity"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Liberty"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Macrosociology" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Marginality, Social" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Marx" AND "Karl" AND "Law"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Mass Society" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Political Participation"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Popular Culture" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Power (Social Sciences)" AND Keywords Anywhere = "law OR legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Respect for Persons -- Law and Legislation"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Rule of Law -- Social Aspects"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Social Change" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Social Control" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Social Justice"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Social Movements" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Social Participation" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Social Policy" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Social Protection" AND Keyword Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Social Rights" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Social Structure" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Sociological Jurisprudence"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "Weber" AND "Max" AND "Law"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Welfare State" AND Keywords Anywhere = "Law OR Legal"
• Ancient Law: Its Connection with the Early History of Society, and its Relation to Modern Ideas by Henry Sumner Maine Publication Date: 1864 (1986 reprint)
• Anthropology and Law: A Critical Introduction by Mark Goodale Publication Date: 2017
• The Concept of Law by H.L.A. Hart Publication Date: 1961
• Explaining Law: Macrosociological Theory and Empirical Evidence by Larry D. Barnett Publication Date: 2015
• Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law by Eugene Ehrlich Publication Date: 1936, this translation published in 2002
• Human Dignity and Law: Legal and Philosophical Investigations by Stephen Riley Publication Date: 2018
• Law, Culture, and Society: Legal Ideas in the Mirror of Social Theory by Roger Cotterrell Publication Date: 2006
• Law, Justice, and Society: A Sociolegal Introduction by Anthony Walsh Publication Date: 2014 (3rd ed.)
• Law and Anthropology by Wolfgang Fikentscher Publication Date: 2016 (2nd ed)
• Law and Society: An Introduction by Steven Barkan Publication Date: 2018 (2nd ed.)
• Law as Culture: An Invitation by Lawrence Rosen Publication Date: 2006
• Law in a Changing Society by Wolfgang Friedmann Publication Date: 1959 Available through Hein as an eBook.
• Law in Many Societies: A Reader by Lawrence M. Friedman, Rogelio Pérez-Perdomo, and Manuel A. Gómez (eds.) Publication Date: 2011
• Law in Modern Society: Toward a Criticism of Social Theory by Roberto Unger Publication Date: 1976
• The Politics of Juridification by Mariano Croce Publication Date: 2018
• The Rule of Law in the Real World by Paul Gowder Publication Date: 2016
• Sociological Jurisprudence: Juristic Thought and Social Inquiry by Roger Cotterrell Publication Date: 2018
• The Sociological Movement in Law by Alan Hunt Publication Date: 1978
• Sociology of Law: Visions of a Scholarly Tradition by Mathieu Deflem Publication Date: 2008
• After Identity: A Reader in Law and Culture by Dan Danielsen and Karen Engle (eds.) Publication Date: 1995
• Exploring the "Socio" of Socio-Legal Studies by Dermot Feenan (ed.) Publication Date: 2013
• Law & Society: Readings on the Social Study of Law by Stewart Macaulay, Lawrence M. Friedman, John Stookey (eds.) Publication Date: 1995
• The Law & Society Reader by Richard L. Abel (ed.) Publication Date: 1995
• Law, Legal Culture, and Society: Mirrored Identities of the Legal Order by Alberto Febbrajo (ed.) Publication Date: 2019
• Law and Social Theory by Reza Banakar and Max Trevers (eds.) Publication Date: 2013 (2nd ed)
• The Law and Society Reader II by Erik W. Larson and Patrick D. Schmidt (eds.) Publication Date: 2014
• Law in Action: A Socio-Legal Reader by Stewart Macaulay, Lawrence M. Friedman, Elizabeth Mertz (eds.) Publication Date: 2007
• Private Life and Public Order: The Context of Modern Public Policy by Theodore J. Lowi (ed.) Publication Date: 1968
• The Role of Social Science in Law by Elizabeth Mertz (ed.) Publication Date: 2008
• Social and Political Foundations of Constitutions by Denis J. Galligan and Mila Versteeg (eds.) Publication Date: 2013
• Sociological Constitutionalism by Paul Blokker, Chris Thornhill (eds.) Publication Date: 2017
• The Sociology of Law: Interdisciplinary Readings by Rita James Simon (ed.) Publication Date: 1968
• Sociology of Law: Selected Readings by Vilhelm Aubert (ed.) Publication Date: 1969
• Analyzing Law's Reach: Empirical Research on Law and Society by American Bar Association Publication Date: 2008
• Law and Society: Critical Concepts in Law by David Cowan, Linda Mulcahy and Sally Wheeler (eds.) Publication Date: 2014 Four-volume set published by Oxford University Press.
• The Sociology of Law: An Expanded Bibliography of Theoretical Literature by A. Javier Trevino Publication Date: 2007 (4th ed)
• Theory and Method in Socio-Legal Research by Reza Banakar and Max Travers (eds.) Publication Date: 2005
• The American Moment Johns Hopkins University Press
• Amherst Series in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought University of Michigan Press
• Applied Legal Philosophy Dartmouth
• Bibliothèque de droit social Librarie général de droit et de jurisprudence
• Borzoi Books in Law and American Society Knopf / Random House
• Cambridge Studies in Law and Society Cambridge University Press
• Clarendon Law Series Oxford University Press
• Contemporary Law Series Yale University Press
• Current Legal Issues Oxford University Press
• Discourses of Law Routledge
• Fundamental Issues in Law and Society Research Northwestern University Press and the American Bar Association
• The International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory New York University Press
• The International Library of Essays in Law and Society Ashgate Publishing
• Juris Diversitas Ashgate Publishing / Routledge
• Landmark Law Cases & American Society University Press of Kansas
• Law, Meaning, and Violence University of Michigan Press
• Law and Social Theory Pluto Press
• Law and Society Series Publishers that have series with this title include Transaction Publishers and the University of British Columbia Press.
• Law in Society Robertson (UK), Wiley (US)
• Legal Discourse and Communication Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Legal Issues of Services of General Interest T.M.C. Asser Press
• Legal Latin in Practice New York University Press
• Morality and Society University of Chicago Press
• Nomos New York University Press
• Oxford Socio-Legal Studies Oxford University Press
• Oñati International Series in Law and Society Hart Publishing
• Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies Palgrave Macmillan
• Penser le Droit Bruylant
• Routledge Research in Applied Ethics Routledge
• Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy Routledge
• Routledge Studies in Law, Society, and Popular Culture Routledge
• Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought Routledge
• Social Justice Routledge - note that this publisher has two series with "Social Justice" in the title, and the search returns both.
• Studies in the Sociology of Law Routledge
• Studies on Law and Social Control Academic Press
• Utrecht Centre for Accountability and Liability Law (UCALL) Boom Juridische / Eleven
• Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference Yale University Press
• Annual Review of Law and Social Science
• Behavioral Science and Policy
• Crime, Law and Social Change
• Duke Forum for Law and Social Change
• Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy
• Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge
• International Journal of Law in Context
• International Journal of Society and Law Note: In 2007, the name of this journal was changed to "International Journal of Law, Crime, and Justice."
• International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
• Journal of Law and Courts Publication of the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association.
• Journal of Law and Social Change
• Journal of Law and Society
• The Journal of Law in Society
• The Journal of Legal Studies
• Journal of Social Policy
• Law & Social Inquiry
• Law & Society Review
• Law, Culture and the Humanities
• Law and Human Behavior
• Law and Humanities
• Law in American Society
• The Legal Studies Forum
• Modern Law Review
• Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy
• Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
• Political and Legal Anthropology Review (PoLAR)
• Review of Law and Social Changee
• Social Policy and Society
• Social Politics
• Social Problems
• Studies in Law, Politics, and Society
• Virginia Journal of Social Policy & Law
• Last Updated: Apr 12, 2024 4:50 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/law-and-society

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

• Subject List
• Take a Tour
• For Authors
• Subscriber Services
• Publications
• African American Studies
• African Studies
• American Literature
• Anthropology
• Architecture Planning and Preservation
• Art History
• Atlantic History
• Biblical Studies
• British and Irish Literature
• Childhood Studies
• Chinese Studies
• Cinema and Media Studies
• Communication
• Criminology
• Environmental Science
• Evolutionary Biology
• International Law
• International Relations
• Islamic Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Latino Studies
• Linguistics
• Literary and Critical Theory
• Medieval Studies
• Military History
• Political Science
• Public Health
• Renaissance and Reformation
• Social Work
• Urban Studies
• Victorian Literature
• Browse All Subjects

How to Subscribe

• Free Trials

In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Law and Society

Introduction, journals and collections.

• From Legal Realism to Empirical Legal Studies
• Neoinstitutionalism
• Systems Theory
• Critical Theory and Critical Legal Studies
• Feminist Legal Theory
• Economic Theory of Law
• Donald Black’s New Behavioral Sociology of Law
• Policing, Prosecution, Defense, and Juries
• The Disputing Process and Dispute Resolution
• Professionalization, Careers, and Firms
• Race, Class, and Gender in the Legal Profession
• Organizational
• International
• Organizations
• Science and Technology
• Legal Consciousness
• Human Rights

Related Articles Expand or collapse the "related articles" section about

About related articles close popup.

Lorem Ipsum Sit Dolor Amet

Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Aliquam ligula odio, euismod ut aliquam et, vestibulum nec risus. Nulla viverra, arcu et iaculis consequat, justo diam ornare tellus, semper ultrices tellus nunc eu tellus.

• Civil Rights
• Corrections
• LGBT Social Movements
• Political Sociology

Other Subject Areas

Forthcoming articles expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section.

• Consumer Credit and Debt
• Economic Globalization
• Global Inequalities
• Find more forthcoming articles...
• Export Citations
• Share This Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Law and Society by Joachim J. Savelsberg , Lara L. Cleveland LAST REVIEWED: 30 September 2013 LAST MODIFIED: 30 September 2013 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0113

Law and society studies address the mutual relationship between law and society with its different actors, institutions, and processes. Law is created and put into practice through societal processes. Simultaneously law effects and affects social change. Beyond a causal relationship, law is further understood to constitute social institutions such as the polity, family, property, corporation, crime, even the individual. The study of law and other specializations in the social sciences are thus closely interwoven. Law and society studies represent a multi- and interdisciplinary field. This bibliography therefore contains references to both sociological and nonsociological literature, while its location in a sociology bibliography suggests that we privilege sociological titles. Doing so is also justified as, organizationally, law and society studies grew out of sociology, especially in the United States. Additional sociological references can be found in the Oxford Bibliographies article Sociology of Law by Mathieu Deflem. The field of law and society studies to which scholars from many disciplines such as anthropology, cultural studies, history, jurisprudence, linguistics, philosophy, sociology, and political science contribute is large. A bibliography of some 150 titles thus has to be highly selective. The authors’ specializations affected which areas to include, despite their effort to be broad; and even in these areas many powerful works had to be left out. Institutionally much work is done in the context of the Law and Society Association (LSA) and presented at its annual meetings every few years in cooperation with related associations outside the United States. Yet, much work that is pertinent to law and society studies is conducted outside the LSA, for example in criminological contexts, where criminal law and justice and their relationship with diverse societal institutions are investigated, and in the Sociology of Law section of the American Sociological Association that seeks explicitly to apply a sociological perspective on law and that consciously cultivates links with other sections dealing with issues such as gender, politics, the economy, organizations, culture, globalization, or the family. Finally, while some of the work presented here is cumulative, many old and modern classics continue to provide guidance, formulate basic questions, and constitute reference points and identities. They are very much included in this bibliography.

More journals are devoted to interdisciplinary law and society research than can be listed here. They include many journals in the realm of criminology and criminal justice that include frequent contributions in line with the discipline’s agenda. Here we list those most central to law and society studies. Annual Review of Law and Social Science is the central review series for the subdiscipline, and Law & Society Review is the leading journal in the field. Among the other most prominent journals are Law & Social Inquiry , Journal of Empirical Legal Studies , and Journal of Law & Society . The Journal of Legal Studies is also a highly regarded interdisciplinary journal.

Annual Review of Law and Social Science . 2005–.

The Annual Review of Law and Social Science publishes one volume each year with review essays on specific themes from law and society studies, authored by recognized authorities in the field. The essays provide an overview of publications on each topic, while typically focusing on specific aspects and raising prospects for future research.

Journal of Empirical Legal Studies . 2004–.

The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies is a relatively new journal, founded in 2004 by the Society for Empirical Legal Studies, with an international advisory board. The journal is devoted to empirically oriented articles in law and law-related fields from a variety of legal environments.

Journal of Law & Society . 1974–.

The Journal of Law & Society is the leading British sociolegal studies journal. Interdisciplinary and international in nature, scholarship published in the journal addresses issues from a variety of legal cultures and includes theoretical contributions of cross-cultural interest.

Journal of Legal Studies . 1972–.

The Journal of Legal Studies , founded in 1972, publishes interdisciplinary academic research into law and legal institutions. Emphasis is on social science approaches. Economics, political science, and psychology are most prominently reflected.

Law & Social Inquiry . 1976–.

Law & Social Inquiry is the journal of the American Bar Foundation, a nonprofit national research institute. Promotes theoretical and empirical research on law and legal institutions. Founded in 1976 as the American Bar Foundation Journal , the journal publishes original studies on sociolegal topics including legal institutions, the legal profession, and legal history. It was renamed Law & Social Inquiry in 1988.

Law & Society Review . 1966–.

Law & Society Review , founded in 1966, publishes work about the relationship between society, law, and the legal process. The journal publishes work from a broad array of fields reflecting the disciplinary diversity of its associated membership organization, the Law and Society Association.

back to top

Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login .

Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here .

• About Sociology »
• Meet the Editorial Board »
• Actor-Network Theory
• Adolescence
• African Americans
• African Societies
• Agent-Based Modeling
• Analysis, Spatial
• Analysis, World-Systems
• Anomie and Strain Theory
• Arab Spring, Mobilization, and Contentious Politics in the...
• Asian Americans
• Assimilation
• Authority and Work
• Bell, Daniel
• Biosociology
• Bourdieu, Pierre
• Catholicism
• Causal Inference
• Chicago School of Sociology
• Chinese Cultural Revolution
• Chinese Society
• Citizenship
• Civil Society
• Cognitive Sociology
• Cohort Analysis
• Collective Efficacy
• Collective Memory
• Comparative Historical Sociology
• Comte, Auguste
• Conflict Theory
• Conservatism
• Consumer Culture
• Consumption
• Contemporary Family Issues
• Contingent Work
• Conversation Analysis
• Cosmopolitanism
• Crime, Cities and
• Cultural Capital
• Cultural Classification and Codes
• Cultural Economy
• Cultural Omnivorousness
• Cultural Production and Circulation
• Culture and Networks
• Culture, Sociology of
• Development
• Discrimination
• Doing Gender
• Du Bois, W.E.B.
• Durkheim, Émile
• Economic Institutions and Institutional Change
• Economic Sociology
• Education and Health
• Education Policy in the United States
• Educational Policy and Race
• Empires and Colonialism
• Entrepreneurship
• Environmental Sociology
• Epistemology
• Ethnic Enclaves
• Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis
• Exchange Theory
• Families, Postmodern
• Family Policies
• Feminist Theory
• Field, Bourdieu's Concept of
• Forced Migration
• Foucault, Michel
• Frankfurt School
• Gender and Bodies
• Gender and Crime
• Gender and Education
• Gender and Health
• Gender and Incarceration
• Gender and Professions
• Gender and Social Movements
• Gender and Work
• Gender Pay Gap
• Gender, Sexuality, and Migration
• Gender Stratification
• Gender, Welfare Policy and
• Gendered Sexuality
• Gentrification
• Gerontology
• Globalization and Labor
• Goffman, Erving
• Historic Preservation
• Human Trafficking
• Immigration
• Indian Society, Contemporary
• Institutions
• Intellectuals
• Intersectionalities
• Interview Methodology
• Job Quality
• Knowledge, Critical Sociology of
• Labor Markets
• Latino/Latina Studies
• Law and Society
• Law, Sociology of
• LGBT Parenting and Family Formation
• Life Course
• Lipset, S.M.
• Markets, Conventions and Categories in
• Marriage and Divorce
• Marxist Sociology
• Masculinity
• Mass Incarceration in the United States and its Collateral...
• Material Culture
• Mathematical Sociology
• Medical Sociology
• Mental Illness
• Methodological Individualism
• Middle Classes
• Military Sociology
• Money and Credit
• Multiculturalism
• Multilevel Models
• Multiracial, Mixed-Race, and Biracial Identities
• Nationalism
• Non-normative Sexuality Studies
• Occupations and Professions
• Panel Studies
• Parsons, Talcott
• Political Culture
• Political Economy
• Popular Culture
• Proletariat (Working Class)
• Protestantism
• Public Opinion
• Public Space
• Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
• Race and Sexuality
• Race and Violence
• Race and Youth
• Race in Global Perspective
• Race, Organizations, and Movements
• Rational Choice
• Relationships
• Religion and the Public Sphere
• Residential Segregation
• Revolutions
• Role Theory
• Rural Sociology
• Scientific Networks
• Secularization
• Sequence Analysis
• Sex versus Gender
• Sexual Identity
• Sexualities
• Sexuality Across the Life Course
• Simmel, Georg
• Single Parents in Context
• Small Cities
• Social Capital
• Social Change
• Social Closure
• Social Construction of Crime
• Social Control
• Social Darwinism
• Social Disorganization Theory
• Social Epidemiology
• Social History
• Social Indicators
• Social Mobility
• Social Movements
• Social Network Analysis
• Social Networks
• Social Policy
• Social Problems
• Social Psychology
• Social Stratification
• Social Theory
• Socialization, Sociological Perspectives on
• Sociolinguistics
• Sociological Approaches to Character
• Sociological Research on the Chinese Society
• Sociological Research, Qualitative Methods in
• Sociological Research, Quantitative Methods in
• Sociology, History of
• Sociology of Manners
• Sociology of Music
• Sociology of War, The
• Suburbanism
• Survey Methods
• Symbolic Boundaries
• Symbolic Interactionism
• The Division of Labor after Durkheim
• Tilly, Charles
• Time Use and Childcare
• Time Use and Time Diary Research
• Tourism, Sociology of
• Transnational Adoption
• Unions and Inequality
• Urban Ethnography
• Urban Growth Machine
• Urban Inequality in the United States
• Veblen, Thorstein
• Visual Arts, Music, and Aesthetic Experience
• Wallerstein, Immanuel
• Welfare, Race, and the American Imagination
• Welfare States
• Women’s Employment and Economic Inequality Between Househo...
• Work and Employment, Sociology of
• Work/Life Balance
• Workplace Flexibility
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Legal Notice
• Accessibility

Powered by:

• [66.249.64.20|81.177.180.204]
• 81.177.180.204

Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — Civil Law — Relationship between Law and Society

Understanding The Relationship Between Law and Society

• Categories: Civil Law Society

About this sample

Words: 1412 |

Published: Mar 1, 2019

Words: 1412 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Table of contents

Law and society, definition of law and society, the role of law in society, what is law, what is society.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Heisenberg

Verified writer

• Expert in: Law, Crime & Punishment Sociology

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 1039 words

3 pages / 1509 words

6 pages / 2615 words

1 pages / 658 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Civil Law

The idea of Rule of Law is one of the integral building blocks of a Modern democratic society. Furthermore, the laws are made for the welfare of the people to maintain peace and harmony between the conflicting forces in society. [...]

The report on courtroom observation concentrates on perceptions from a civil law court which is located at the new justice building in Manchester. The passageway of the building was imposing. The security guards directed me to [...]

Although the term social control has been widely used in numerous scientific fields for a long time, a general definition has not been agreed upon yet among many writers. This is partly due to the fact that the word ‘control’ [...]

"'Send him,' quoth , 'to our infernal king, / To doom him as best seems his majesty" (1.1.52-3). Nestled in the lengthy opening monologue by Don Andrea, these lines introduce the overarching question that Thomas Kyd's The [...]

"You see, like you, I suffer from the fantastic and so I love the realism of earth. Here, with you, everything is circumscribed, here all is formulated and geometrical, while we have nothing but indeterminate [...]

In the Oresteia, Aeschylus presents his three books (“Agamemnon”, “The Libation Bearers”, and “The Furies”) so that the narrative progresses from madness and lack of justice in “Agamemnon”, where Clytemnestra receives no penalty [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Acquisition
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Religion
• Music and Media
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Lifestyle, Home, and Garden
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Business History
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Systems
• Economic History
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Developmental and Physical Disabilities Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

A newer edition of this book is available.

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

3 (page 67) p. 67 Law and morality

• Published: March 2008
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Moral questions inexorably arise in almost any legal system, and confronting them is one of the fundamental characteristics of a free society. ‘Law and morality’ examines the relationship between the law and the moral practices adopted by society. In some cases, there is conflict between the law and the moral code of certain individuals or groups. More extreme is the situation in which the law actually conflicts with the majority's moral values. In apartheid South Africa, for instance, the law was used to pursue immoral aims. In such cases, we may ask whether unjust legislation of this kind qualifies as ‘law’. Must law be moral? Can anything count as law?

Signed in as

Institutional accounts.

• Google Scholar Indexing
• GoogleCrawler [DO NOT DELETE]

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Sign in through your institution

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Law and Society Essay

2017, Law and Society Today

Law and Society emerges from the believe that legal regulations and decisions must be understood in its context. Both law and society have common understanding. They are never autonomous in their context. In other words, law is deeply embedded within a society. It therefore implies that law is socially and historically constructed to become legally recognized procedures and institutions and besides that, law needs a society for its effectiveness and usefulness. This essay is meant to focus at the history of law and society, relationship of law and society, different branches of law in the society together with its associates which leads to highlight the key characteristics of law and society perspectives with reference to other research contributions of the same field that hold promise for scholars of law and politics. Importance of law in the society is one of the areas that will be discussed in this essay with challenges and control measures hence end up with a conclusion.

Related Papers

1st International e-Conference on Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences: Conference Proceedings

Radomir Stojanović

DIP JYOTI CHAKRABORTY

Law is a guiding principle for the society to ensure achievement of happiness without bloodshed, peace and harmony restraining people from getting beyond guidelines hence breaches set regulations, rules, policies or norms. Society is referred to human beings who can be described as wicked animals who can easily be swayed by the slightest sight or sniff of materialistic gains like power, financial, luxuries etc., leading to unwanted acts causing creation of restrictions.

Lumen Juris / TransJus

Maurício Palma , Wellington Migliari , Douglas Zaidan

Transdisciplinarity involves solving problem research and different actors from ac-ademia collaborating. The present publication is an effort made by the authors in order to bring awareness to issues related to law, society and institutions, but not neglecting the responsibility of propounding new ideas to object the violation of human rights, anti-feminism, corruption and partiality of judges. Themes that have hit a considerable number of newspapers headlines and polarised public opinion. Justice, the protection of human dignity and gender have undoubtedly drawn the attention of worldwide societies to the limits of political institutions, economic and state powers. "TransJus is a research institute of the University of Barcelona headquar-tered in the Faculty of Law. Here more than sixty scholars and academic researchers of all legal areas, Criminology, Management, Public Administration , Labour Relations and Political Sciences, can fi nd a space of trans-disciplinarity for joining synergies in the ambit of seminars, congresses, workshops, debates and publications". "Our readers may also access freely the TransJus Working Papers Publications. A digital platform for the online publication of original working papers. Transjus Working Papers are instruments for the dissemination of high quality research within legal and politological fi elds which cover a wide range of issues regarding our fi ve research areas: i) governance, transparency and corruption; ii) fundamental rights, victims and retroactive justice; iii) international economic law, tax law and cooperation; iv) environment, urban planning, housing and health; v) protection of individuals , minorities and age"

Migliari, W.

Wellington Migliari

Transdisciplinarity involves solving problem research and different actors from academia collaborating. The present publication is an effort made by the authors in order to bring awareness to issues related to law, society and institutions, but not neglecting the responsibility of propounding new ideas to object the violation of human rights, anti-feminism, corruption and partiality of judges. Themes that have hit a considerable number of newspapers headlines and polarised public opinion. Justice, the protection of human dignity and gender have undoubtedly drawn the attention of worldwide societies to the limits of political institutions, economic and state powers.

AYLIN KOCUNYAN

Course description The aim of the seminar is to problematize law in socio-legal and multidisciplinary approaches and to trace "law in action" beyond the static and descriptive dimension of legislations. Locating law in its socio-temporal context and considering the legal phenomena as a multi-layered dynamic process, the seminar intends to explore the complex relationship between law, legal institutions and socio-historical dynamics and to problematize law within the social landscape and the particular cultural settings in which it emerges in relation to a variety of social actors. As Christopher Tomlins argues, the project of situating law in its socio-temporal context engenders an almost infinite set of relationships for examination. Normative approaches investigating law only understand it within the narrow context of legal reforms and are far from reflecting the intellectual and epistemological process, which preceded the ultimate form of legislations. After introducing the major theories on the sociology of law, the seminar intends and to explore law as a social product. Without leaving aside the making of state laws and other forms of normativity, the epistemological dimension of the seminar will focus on law in all its variety, in the form of ideas, ways of reasoning, doctrines, legal and cultural transfers, and more importantly as a subject of legal science and will analyze the role of education and social movements in the development of legal thought. Such an approach to law also opens a productive dialogue between neighboring disciplines, law, history and sociology and offers an empirical laboratory through historical case studies. The seminar will privilege the Ottoman/Turkish geographical space in relation to Europe without neglecting a global context. The time frame will mainly cover the nineteenth century. The seminar will contextualize law within historical momentums and global movements (such as constitutionalism, dynamics of revolutions, etc.) and will address issues such as legal pluralism and imperialism. The various themes of this seminar will also overlap with those of imperial history.

IOSR Journals

It is determined that in the philosophical thought of the theory of natural law, substantiating the natural nature of law, its moral principles and contractual basis, inextricably linking morality and law, created an axiological, ethical and philosophical basis for developing lawyer ethics as a value-imperative regulation of lawyers. The phenomenon of civil society as a space of actualisation of law through modern philosophy's prism is analysed. Two approaches to understanding the configurations of civil society are identified-liberal and state. These approaches differ in defining civil society and the importance of the state's role in its actions. Simultaneously, both approaches share a common vision of the values of individual freedom, concretised in human dignity, human rights, inviolability, respect for property, and the rule of law, which meant the establishment of laws observance and punishment for violations. Such values set the need to protect the rights of citizens in resolving conflicts and disputes. The agonal nature of protection is associated with competition in public life and as such is possible in a bar that defends human dignity, human rights and freedoms, inviolability and respect for property. Background: Philosophical understanding of the field of law has been inherent in Western culture since antiquity, but fully manifests itself in the New Age, when the rights and freedoms of the individual have become the focus of intellectuals. Philosophers and jurists have formed a discourse that has unfolded over the centuries within the philosophy of law. The relevance of this discourse today gains additional leverage due to the general civilisational demand for human existence's unifying factors. The concepts of justice, rights, freedoms, human dignity are actualised in the global social discourse, concretised in the dialogue of citizens with the authorities, discussed in the media, etc. By its nature, philosophy is designed to seek answers to socially significant questions, analyse the problems that cause social resonance, and justify the strategies of social development. Obviously, in this perspective, the philosophy of law is in demand at the present stage of civilisational progress.

Századvég Edition

Through its function, law provides normative prescriptions for human behaviour, i.e. it prohibits certain types of behaviour and permits others in a given situation. The fundamental task of jurisprudence is therefore to clarify the meaning of the interrelationships between normative prescriptions and thus to ensure that there are no contradictions in meaning between the many thousands and tens of thousands of legal norms. Only in this way is it possible that the legal rules to be followed in everyday life fulfil their function and that legal certainty is not endangered. Substantive jurisprudence analyses and develops the totality of legal concepts that ensure the internal conceptual coherence of a field of law and constantly monitors the coherence of the legal norms required for specific life situations. From now on, depending on the different legal concepts to varying degrees, the consistency of the specific legal norms and legal concepts with the general principles of justice is also included in the consideration. This approach thus moves in the dimension of normative conceptual coherence. On a broader level, the philosopher of law does the same when, apart from analysing substantive law, he deals with the content of the principles of justice and their relationship to each other, and from this establishes requirements for the conditions of a just legal order. However, law, although it fulfils its function in a normative dimension, is a social phenomenon like other fields of activity that fulfil a social function, e.g. the economy, art, science, politics, etc., and any legal phenomenon can be studied from the point of view of facticity, just like other social phenomena. This is the essence of the sociological approach to law, which can be formulated in contrast to the approach of theoretical jurisprudence or legal philosophy as a field of analysis of social facticity and causality or effects. For example, while the substantive law of civil law examines a legal regulation on a pledge or surety from the point of view of how these contractual securities fit into the framework of existing contract law as a whole, the sociological approach to law asks how often pledges or sureties are used as contractual securities in everyday contractual practice, from the point of view of the absence of contradictions of meaning. Or which social interests and which social disadvantages have favoured the emergence of this form of pledge and surety in everyday contractual practice, and which social interests would be served by alternative regulations in this area? In the sociology of law, one therefore moves from the normative dimension to the factual dimension, to the dimension of conflicts of interest, social causes and effects, when analysing legal norms and legal phenomena. Looking at sociological studies and the various lines of research in the sociology of law in this approach, one can distinguish between a narrower and a broader understanding of the sociology of law. The sociology of law in the narrower sense still focuses on legal norms like the thematic legal sciences, and it is no coincidence that the sociology of law developed historically in the last decades of the 19th century. The sociology of law in the narrower sense, like the theoretical legal sciences, is concerned with legal norms and legal provisions, but with their actual consistency rather than with normative-conceptual coherence and possible logical contradictions. Or does it ask which social interests and political forces have shaped the legal norms under study and which political forces serve the dominance of which political forces in social struggles and which social groups are subordinated and disadvantaged in power by the legal norms under study?

ankit hooda

relation between law and society

Uzoma Innocent

A paper on the importance of law to society

Lilit Kazanchian

The article explores the notion and peculiarities of the concept of “civil society” in the modern, legal state. In the given research, the author implements a holistic, systematical (methodical) analysis of peculiarities of the relationship between the state and society. Therefore, the theoretical and practical research of problems of development of the relationship between civil society and the state gives an opportunity to find new solutions in problems of cooperation of individual and shared interests. Moreover, the study is also focusing on various approaches of well-known jurists on the essence, content and legislative consolidation of civil society. The author concludes that in recent decades, the philosophy of law took under its active protection the civil society, where the harmonious combination of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the person should correspond to public interests. Therefore, the theoretical and practical analysis of interactions between the state...

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

NCJRS Virtual Library

Essays in law and society, additional details.

9 Park Street , Boston , MA 02108 , United States

No download available

Availability, related topics.

Law and Society

By Himangshu Rathee, ITM University

“ Editor’s Note: The interlink between social norms and legal principles have been widely discussed by a large number of scholars. This paper discusses various views of law and society in relation to each other. ”

INTRODUCTION

• Before we begin it is important to understand the role of social and legal rules in the society.
• Social rules play a vital role in human society and such rules distinguish human societies from animal groups. Behaviour of humans towards others is controlled, directly and indirectly through moral standards, religious doctrines, social traditions and legal rules.
• Marriage is an excellent example to show how social rules govern human life. Earlier, religious significance was attached to monogamous marriage (in Britain) and it was also maintained through moral rules (declaring live-in-relationships as ‘wrong’) and by the operations of rules of law which can define and control the formalities of the marriage ceremony, lay down who can and who cannot marry [i] , specify the circumstances in which divorce can be obtained, define the rights to matrimonial property upon matrimonial breakdown, and so on.
• Legal rules are significant in the world of business, with matters such as banking, money, credit and employment all are regulated by law to some extent. In a complex society, there is hardly any area which is untouched by law. Even a basic activity like eating is indirectly affected by law as the food one eats is required to meet rigorous standards of purity, hygiene [ii] and even description. [iii] Driving, handling property etc. is also governed by law.
• Thus, the span of law is very wide; it governs almost every activity which happens in the society in one way or the other. Law is applicable to an unborn person and also to a person who is dead. Hence, it can be said that span of law is very wide in the society.

Scrutinizing Law

• Law can be properly understood only by examining the ways in which it actually operates in the society and by studying the extreme complex relationship between a social group and legal code.
• Now, for the time being fundamental notion is of ‘rule’.
• Rules in general, are statements issued by the respective authorities which tell what ought to be done and what not. Twining and Miers offer a wide definition of a rule as ‘a general norm mandating or guiding conduct or action in a given type of situation’. Thus, the basic characteristic of rule is that they are normative in nature. Simplest example for rule may be ‘no smoking in the office premises’ such a statement guides action of the employees working in the organisation that they (enployees) are not suppose to smoke inside the office.
• Rules which enable certain activity to be carried out with some form of legal backing and protection are called ‘power conferring rules’. For example, law of contracts guides a person in a manner in which he/ she wish to make a valid contract.
• In a social group ‘various systems of rules’ exist apart from law, for say, in church there is a moral duty to put the cap or hat off as soon as the person enters the church, this is nowhere, mentioned in law but still is a rule(moral) for the particular social group (Christians).

Legal Rule Versus Moral Rule:

• Legal Rules are those rules which are applicable to society as a whole and are deliberately made by the law- making bodies for the welfare of the society. These are generally, applicable to all and can only be changed at the power of the law- making bodies, which may be parliament, legislature or judiciary. For example, the maximum speed limit set for various vehicles on various roads.
• Moral rules are principles of right or wrong behaviour that are generally accepted by a society.These are generally, personal in nature as they vary from place to place and society to society and change with respect to time. For example, in a society telling a lie may be considered immoral, that is, against moral rules.

Legal Rule Versus Rule of Custom:

• Customs in brief can be defined as the code of conduct which is observed for a long period of time in a society which is not against any morals or public policy.These are generally, personal in nature as they vary from place to place and society to society. For example, in a society it may be a custom that marriage can only be solemnized in a temple.

Legal Rule Versus Etiquettes:

• Etiquettes may be defined as a set of rules for behaving correctly in social situations. For example, masticating food while keep the mouth close.

WHAT IS THE SYSTEM OF LAW?

• Different Jurists have different opinion about how the system of law should operate.
• American writer Karl Llewellyn gave ‘Law-Jobs Theory’.

Law-Jobs Theory:

• The theory is a general account of the functions of legal institutions in social groups of all kinds.
• He argues that every social group has certain basic needs, which are catered for by the social institution of law by ensuring that the group survives and by providing for the prevention of disruptive disputes within the group. If there are any disputes law must provide the way of resolving them.
• He further says that law must also provide the means whereby the authority structure of the group is constituted and recognized and finally the law must provide for the manner in which the mentioned ‘ law- jobs’ are carried out.
• Robert Summners identified five techniques of law, which may be used to implement social policies, these techniques are:
• The use of law to remedy grievances among members of a society;
• The use of law as a penal instrument, with which to prohibit and prosecute forbidden behaviour;
• Law as an instrument, with which to promote certain defined activities;
• The use of law for managing various governmental public benefits, such as education and welfare policies;
• The use of law to give effect to certain private arrangements between members of a society, such as the provisions of the law of contract.
• Karl and Robert, both a forth mentioned jurists theory is mainly based on the various functions of law in the society.
• Austin on the contrary treats rules (legal) divorced from social context or settings, for him hallmark of a legal rule lies in the manner of its creation. He defined law as the command of the sovereign body in a society and these commands were backed up by threats of sanctions, to be applied in the event of disobedience.

Criticisms To Austin’s Theory of Command:

Following are the criticisms of Austins’s theory of command from the societal point of view:

• All laws are not commands, for say, marital laws never commands anyone to marry but lays down the procedure and formalities people must follow for a valid marriage. Similarly, law does not command to enter into contract.
• Variety of kinds of legal rule is there, it would not be desirable to reduce them to simple propositions, ‘law are commands’.

HLA Hart’s Concept of law:

• Every social group must have certain rule imposing duties upon the members of the group concerning standards of behaviour.
• There are primary rules which are concerned with basic criminal law rules, at the same time such rules might also impose civil-duties.
• There are certain problems with primary rules which can be resolved with the help of secondary rules.
• Following are the problems with the primary rules along with their remedy:
• Problem 1àSuch a simple code leads to no settled procedure for resolving doubts pertaining to the nature and authority of an apparently ‘legal rule’. Such a problem can be solved with the help of with the introduction of ‘rules of recognition’, these rules will constitute the hallmark of what is truly a law and may do so by reference to a set of other rules or institutions, such as a constitution or a representative body like parliament.
• Problem 2àPrimary rules are static, that is, these may not change with the changing circumstances of the social group. ‘Rule of Change’ enables the specified bodies to introduce new rules or to alter the existing ones, thus resolving the problem.
• Problem 3àPrimary rules will be inefficiently administered, because their enforcement will be through diffuse social pressures within the group. According to Hart introduction of ‘rules of adjudication’, can help to solve this problem as such rules provide for officials (judges) to decide disputes authoritatively.

• Therefore, these secondary ‘rules are rules about rules’, and Hart argues that union of primary and secondary rules is a characteristic of modern legal system.

Criticisms to Hart’s Concept of Law:

Following are the criticisms to Hart’s Concept of Law:

• Too Simple, the reduction of all duty imposing to a category which he calls ‘primary rules’ is very simplified whereas a complex classificatory scheme is required to deal with and understand adequately various areas of law like family law, criminal law, law of contracts, law of tort etc.
• All Laws are not rules, Dworkin argues that there are principles in law as well whereas Hart views the entire legal system as a ‘system of rules’. Rules are applicable in all -or- nothing manner while principles are guidelines, stating a reason that argues in one direction. For example, if a man murders his father and father has executed a will in favour of his son, according to the rule son should get father’s property but son will not get the property because of the principle ‘ a man should not profit by his own wrong’ [iv] . Another example which takes hard rule and principles involved into account is tort of negligence.
• Other writers are of the view that the law is best understood by examining the actual operation of the legal system in practice, and by comparing the law in texts with the way it actually operates. Such an approach is taken by those writers whose work [v] is usually catogarised as ‘Legal Realism’.

WHY SHOULD WE OBEY LAW?

• Different jurists have different views about ‘why people obey law’ and one more important sub-topic which would be covered under the same head is AUTHORITY .

John Austin:

• One of the main element of Austin’s command theory is legal sanction, due to fear which people obey law.
• He argued the concept of internal aspect of obedience to law, which states that people conform to law because of more complex social and psychological process, whereby people accept the legitimacy and authority of the source of law. Thus, people obey law because they consider it ‘right and proper’ to do so.
• There are certain exceptions to the above concept mentioned by Hart like some may obey law due to genuine worry about the consequences of disobedience, some others might obey the law out of sheer convenience.
• Everything depends on the kind of society and the legal system in question.
• AUTHORITY is also a vital part of the law.

Max Weber identified three types of authority in social groups, as follows:

• Charisma: The authority of a leader or ruler may be the result of the personal, individual characteristics of the leader, such character traits sets a person apart from others.
• Traditional Obedience to the leader or regime is sustained because it has always been so by tradition (origin of authority), for say, son of a leader will always be a leader.
• Bureaucratic [vi] àIn modern western societies such an authority exists, where the authority of the regime is legitimized through rule and procedures.
• Rarely, in reality any of the above mentioned three types of mentioned authorities existed in their pure forms.
• The best example to show that all the three authorities exist (may) at the same time is the current society of India.
• Traditional authority is seen in the formal opening of the parliament.
• Charismatic authority in the leaders likes Gandhi-ji and now-a-days such authority is seen in NarendraModi by a large group in the society.
• Rational-Legal authority can be seen in political and legal institutions such as the civil service.
• Thus, the ‘obedience to law’ and ‘sources of authority’ are complex concepts and the views as usual regarding the matter in context varies from jurist to jurist.
• Some other writers, to study law and its related aspects, take into account the cultural and historical background of the society.

LAW AND SOCIETY

• When the term ‘society’ is used, a picture which often comes in mind is of loose collection of people, institution and other social phenomenon and among these law occupies a prominent place, holding these social arrangements in an orderly fashion.
• Law merely does not bind society but the behaviour patterns, relationships and beliefs also play a vital role in keeping the society together. For example, no law asks one to socialize with one’s neighbor, but still one does which is due behaviour and man’s innate need for social relationships.
• There are various social phenomena which constitute parts of the overall structure of a society, such phenomena apart from law includes political institutions (Parliament, political parties etc.), economic and commercial institutions (trade unions, factories etc.), religious institutions (temples, church), institutions concerned with teaching of social rules and standards (schools, family etc.) and cultural institutions (press and media, cultural associations etc.)
• Core Concepts:
• Social Stratification :  Within a society groups and individuals may be differentiated, or ranked, by their place on a ‘ladder of influence’, with some ranking higher in terms of power, prestige, wealth or some other criterion, than others.
• Following are some examples of social stratification:
• In India, caste system is the best example. Generally, lowest position or rank is held by the Scheduled Tribes, preceded by Scheduled Castes, and then comes Other Backward Classes, finally highest rank is held by the General category.
• Similarly in a Tribal society may have rank according to power (legitimate), first position may be occupied by the king, then the chief and so on.
• Function in society:  ‘Function’ of a social institution or process is the contribution it makes to the overall social structure and its maintenance. For example, family unit in a society ensures continued procreation, also ensures socialization and moreover, family as a consuming unit boosts up the economic base of the society. In the mentioned example, family contributes to the maintenance (smooth running and functioning) of the society and such a contribution is measured by taking into account the functions performed by the family in the society.
• Emile Durkheim, who was a French Sociologist of later nineteenth century was concerned about knowing ‘what keeps the society together’, so he formulated the following theory rather points about the society.
• He said that there are two types of societies, as follows:

Simple, technological undeveloped society:

• Mechanical Solidarity is the primary characteristic of such type of society, which means, that the whole group exists and acts collectively towards common aims, the moral and legal code(the ‘collective conscience’) being acknowledged and accepted by the whole group, keeping the group together.
• If there is any deviation from the collectively held norms of the group, sanctions are issued on the offender through repressive (criminal, or penal) law, which expresses the community’s anger and avenges this repressive law serve to identify and punish the deviant; it also fulfils the function of maintaining the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, thus helping maintain the collective conscience, and hence the cohesion of the group.
• Disputes are between the group and the individual.
• There is no room for individual’s creativity and interests of an individual are identical to the interests of such social group.

Advanced, technological developed society:

• When the social group becomes more complex, there is occupational specialization or division of labour where every individual has a specified role and thus, individual is no more a self-sufficient producer and consumer of his everyday needs.
• Individuals living in a society are dependent on each other. For example, the task of making is divided among farmers, flour mills and bakaries, each occupationally specialized and they are also economically interdependent on each other, farmer is dependent on the flour mill for the payment so as the mill dependent on the bakery. Such an economic interdependence is known as Social Solidarity which is the primary characteristic of an advanced society.
• Nature of collective conscience is such that the individual takes on social importance in his or her own right. Individuals are encouraged socially to develop and realize talent, skills and personalities.
• Law in the advanced type of society takes the form of compensatory rules, where the objective is to solve the grievances by trying to restore the aggrieved person he or she was in prior to the dispute. Disputes are between the individuals or between the groups, within the society.
• Criticisms to Durkheim’s analysis of society:
• Overestimated the decline of repressive law, in the advanced society as he himself explained the continued existence of repressive and criminal type rules. Today, also there are a number of criminal- law rules.
• Underestimated the presence of compensatory or civil law, in the simple societies that already exist in them, for say, disputes between families involving property.
• In addition, Chambliss and Seidman also distinguished between advanced and undeveloped (simple) societies regarding dispute settlement system, the system is as follow according to them:
• In simple societies the system tends towards compromise, or “give-a-little” and “get-a-little”. In societies approximating to the community type (these terms referring, like Durkheim’s types, to hypothetical models, or ‘ideal types’ which never actually occur in reality in their ‘pure’ form, simple societies), social relations tend to be fairly permanent; indeed the continued existence of the community group depends upon the continued existence of social ties, and consequently in such type of societies, the type of dispute-settlement is often compromise.
• The official dispute settlement system in complex or advanced society tends towards “winner-takes-all”. There are many disputes involving no desire or need by the parties to continue their relationship. The example given by Chambliss and Seidman is of personal injury in an automobile accident. Only in cases where the parties do anticipate future relations, then there is any genuine attempt to give a little, take a little.
• Thus, law responds differently in both (simple and advanced societies) the type of societies.

LAW: A DEEPER STUDY

• Law plays an important part in the definition and regulation of all kinds of social relationships, between individuals and between groups. For example, a basic social unit in any society is family which is defined and protected through legal rules (marital laws) and institutions (family courts).
• In the business world too, the law regulates activities of the limited company, the partnership and the trade union. Financial deals between people in business are normally subject to the law of contract and there are many obligations contained in the acts of the parliament such as the Companies Act, 2013, with whose regulations all companies must comply.
• Public laws, deal with constitutional rules, the authority of elected representatives such as councilors, or members of parliament and the power bodies of such as the civil service, the courts, the police etc.
• One of the most important facets of law is that it is dynamic in character and changes as per the social conditions. For example, before 2005 an unmarried hindu women could not adopt according to the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 but the law was amended in 2005 and now an unmarried female hindu could adopt, such an amendment took place due to change in the socio-cultural factors of the society.
• Macaulay was of the view that business firms try to avoid disputes by negotiating, if it all when any dispute arise they(firms) try to compromise because good business relations are essential, if a business wants to continue to flourish.
• It is also necessary to study the changes in employment relationships and generally speaking, in social relationships due to the developing industrialisation (industry is also a part of society)s, within the economy.

INDUSTRIALISATION AND THE ROLE OF LAW

• In eighteenth and nineteenth century industry and commerce developed a lot, especially in Britain.
• Many factors contributed to such an expansion of manufacturing industries, among them availability of natural resources (notably coal) and the suitability of certain areas for the use of water and steam-powered machines. Supreme factor was the existence of a free market in the labour, this refers to a situation where workers sell their labour for wages
• Prior to the industrial revolution, social relations in which agricultural labourers or peasants were tied to, and economically dependent on, the land-owners and nobility (their lords and masters).
• Due to industrial revolution two new classes came into existence: the industrial working class and the industrialists, who employed them, paid their wages and frequently provided them with housing.
• Together with the commercial entrepreneurs who traded in the manufactured goods and brought raw materials to be worked in the factories, these constituted the rising new ‘middle class’, the ‘bourgeoisie’, a social class distinct from the landowners who traditionally possessed the wealth and political power and who had until then been the sole ‘ruling class’.
• Problems/Tensions introduced by class system:
• Tensions associated with higher(land owners) class;
• Middle class make demands for a greater political voice in the parliament, bringing them in conflict with the established landowning class.
• Many people of the working class demanded improvement in their working conditions, and for a political voice. Workers also organized themselves into trade unions, sin order to put pressure on the employers (industrialists) for better pay and conditions.
• Tensions associated with lower(working) class;
• The Master and Servant laws of 1823 provided for the imprisonment of any worker who broke his/her employment contract by going on strike.
• Combination acts and other associated acts were also detrimental to the interest of the workers and were advantageous for the employers.
• Now and then also unemployment was major problem, so the workers had little or no bargaining power and have to accept the terms and conditions laid by the employer.
• The only means by which the worker class could put pressure on employers was by the way of trade unions.
• The status of workers was the same even after the repealing of these combination acts [vii] as the judges were still able to interpret strikes as ‘conspiracies to injure’ the employer’s interest.
• The relationship between employer and employee , in law, one of contract; that is, a legally binding agreement made by two parties, containing the agreed rights and obligations of each party, any breach of which entitles the aggrieved party to a legal remedy for breach of contract.
• Problem with the contract: An employment contract may be oral coupled with the frequently vague and complex nature of the terms, which called law to settle disputes rose from employment situations. For example, an employee might bring a claim against the ex-employer alleging the dismissal was unlawful. The difficulty is that many legal rules and remedies are only applicable if there is a proper ‘employment contract’.
• The old legal test for ascertaining whether an employment relationship existed was the ‘control’ test, expounded in the case of Yewens versus Noakes [viii] in 1880, and formulated in terms of the extent to which the employer exercised effective control over the workers. However, the growth of specialized and highly skilled occupation led to many cases where the employer could not sensibly be said to be ‘in control’ of the activities of the employee, and this test has been discarded.
• In 1953 Denning LJ observed that ‘the test of being a servant does not rest nowadays on submission to orders. It depends on whether the person is part and parcel of the organization’ [ix] . This ‘organization’ test, like all other tests rely upon single factors, and have been found unworkable in practice.
• Now there is modern approach [x] to this problem which take into account various factors (mode of payment, income tax etc.) and these tests are known as multiple or mixed tests.
• Status of workers was improved when piece meal legislation [xi] was passed as it laid minimum standards of working conditions.
• Statutes or Acts for benefits of employees/worker class:
• Employment Right Act, 1996 laid down the individual rights of an employee. Before this there was ‘The Wages Act, 1986’.
• Health and Safety at Work etc Act,1974 lays legal duties upon employers, employees, manufacturer and to observe due care in installing, using and maintaining equipment and premises; the act provides various administrative sanctions for the enforcement of its provisions, and contains a legal framework for worker-participation in safety at work.
• The Employment Relations Act, 1999 amended the Employment Rights Act, 1996; provides that the employees must be given notice of the main terms of the contract of employment.Further, the act also extended maternity rights and introduced a three months paternity leave.
• Therefore, the law played an important role in industrialization and now also playing a vital role in employee and employer’s relationship, thereby indirectly influencing the social structure of the society.

LAW AND SOCIETY: CONSENSUS OR CONFLICT?

• Law may be regarded as a mechanism of social control, regulating activities and interests in the name of the community, a ruling class or the state. The state may be defined as either a ‘neutral arbitrator’ or ‘interested party’ and the balancing of interests.
• Law may be seen as an institution for the furtherance and protection of the welfare of everyone, on the contrary it (law) can also be viewed as an instrument of repression wielded (command or to rule) by the dominant groups in the society. Some sociologists agree with the former view point and some other with the latter.

Talcott Parsons:

• He had a ‘consensus’ view of society, according to him a ‘system’ comprises of actions and institutions, each functioning to maintain social stability and order.
• His theory focuses on examining those elements within society which tend towards the maintenance of the society.

Criticisms to Talcott’s view regarding society:

• His theory does not take into account those elements of the society which tend towards social conflict and such elements are considered for any theory of social order.

Pluralist or Conflict view:

• The pluralist view, in its ‘pure’ form, accepts the existence of conflicting groups and interests, but maintains that the constant interaction and negotiation between conflicting groups, all of which are assumed to have more or less equal bargaining-power, helps maintain social stability and equilibrium. The role of the Law and the state is portrayed as ‘neutral arbiter’, or ‘honest broker’ ;taking no sides in these conflict situations, but providing the machinery of conflict-settlement either through law or through political debate and policy-making by government.

Criticism to the Pluralist view:

• Multitude (a large number of people) of interest-groups in a society do not possess equal power, in either political, legal or economic terms, as some groups have power to influence law-making and the implementation of those laws, which others do not have.

Liberal-democratic view:

• The view states that the acceptance of social conflict manifestations (obvious to the understanding of an individual) are played out within boundaries of socially accepted norms in terms of official legal and governmental authority whose concerns are the resolution of such conflicts.
• For say, White presented a model which he calls an open model, whereby conflicts and consensus are taken into account. The model says that conflict

is expected to continue in different forms between interest groups but it is assumed that these conflicts can be resolved through a legitimate process. There will be basic agreement that conflict-resolution can be achieved within framework of negotiation, arbitration, judicial decision and electoral battle, backed up by strike but without resort to revolution.

Marx and Marxists:

• Marx was concerned with the analysis of capitalist societies. Capitalism, according to Marx, involves the exploitation of the working classes by the capitalist class.
• Marx distinguished between the working class (‘proletariat’) who possess the labour powerand the capitalists (‘bourgeoisie’) who own the capital and means of production (factories, business concerns etc.) and the landowners, who derive their income from rent of their land.
• Capitalists and the landowners occupy the powerful economic and political positions in the society through the exploitation of the unfortunate class, that is, the working class, thus the relationship was not of equality, as exploitation led to suppression of the interests of the working class.

How to Take Exploitation Ahead?

• Marx recognized that exploitation could only continue by avoiding bitter revolutions by the working class, for these capitalists need to maintain the control over the official state institutions.
• By control of state apparatus (government, law, police etc.), they (capitalists) could dominate the interests of the working class and thereby, protecting their (capitalists) own interests.
• In terms of capitalist Ideology as expressed through law, private property is regarded as fundamental to social and economic stability.
• Consensus can deliberately occur in the society when basic interests, or the interests which are ‘in the national interest’ or for the common good. For example, Armed Forces Special powers Act, 1958 has been enacted for the common and most importantly for the national interest of the society.
• Different jurists and sociologists have different views about LAW AND SOCIETY.
• According to me, law of India is good and well framed as far as it is considered from text point of view except a few. One of the major law which needs to be amended is the reservation system.This can be solved with the help of THEORY OF SEGREGGATED CLASS.
• The theory says that the class should not be categorized according to the caste or surname but according to the income of the family.
• ASSUMPTION OF THE THEORY: For inspecting the income of the family, government should have a proper committee.
• Furthermore, if the quota is given to one family then it should not be given to the immediate next progeny of the family, as the family got to improve their financial status. This also means if the financial status is not improved, then the family can be offered quota again, but only to the grand-children.
• The basis of the above rule is that the child of the family was given enough opportunity to improve the status of the family.
• One day, there would be no need of quota.

Edited by Sinjini Majumdar

[i] For say in Hindus, Hindu Marriage Act,1955 defines it(Section 5(IV))

[ii] Food  Safety and  Standards  Act, 2006, The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,1954 in India etc.

[iii] Right to be informed

[iv] Riggs versus Palmer; 115 N.Y. 506

[v] Karl Llewellyn, Jerome Frank, Oliver Wendell Holmes etc.

[vi] Also known as rational-legal

[vii] Combination Act, 1799à Prohibited combinations of the workmen

Combination of Workmen Act, 1825àAct of UK parliament, which prohibited trade unions; suppressed the right        to strike

[viii] (1880) 6 QBD 530

[ix] Bank voor Handel enScheepvart NV v Slatford; (1953) 1QBD 248

[xi] Like Factories Acts (in india this act was passed in 1948)

Related Posts:

2 thoughts on “Law and Society”

I can apply? I am from Sierra Leone, West Africa.

The note was helpful

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Give it a try, you can unsubscribe anytime :)

Thanks, I’m not interested

The Code of Hammurabi: a Cornerstone of Ancient Law and Society

This essay is about the Code of Hammurabi, a collection of 282 laws created by King Hammurabi of Babylon. It discusses the Code’s principle of lex talionis, or “an eye for an eye,” which shaped a system of reciprocal justice tailored to Babylonian society’s hierarchical structure. The Code covered various aspects of daily life, including commerce, agriculture, family law, and property rights, often prescribing different penalties based on social status. Its public display reinforced Hammurabi’s divine authority, with a stele depicting the king receiving the laws from the sun god Shamash. The Code unified the diverse territories under Hammurabi’s rule, offering a standardized legal framework that served as a political tool. Despite its perceived harshness today, it remains a significant historical artifact, embodying humanity’s ancient desire for order and fairness in governance.

How it works

The Code of Hammurabi stands as a seminal document in ancient legal history, offering a glimpse into the values, structure, and norms of Babylonian society. This collection of 282 laws was enacted by King Hammurabi, who reigned from around 1792 to 1750 BCE in Mesopotamia. Inscribed on a stone stele that now resides in the Louvre Museum, the Code reflects a civilization seeking to bring order and justice through a standardized set of laws, reinforcing Hammurabi’s authority as both a ruler and a servant of the gods.

Central to the Code’s definition is the principle of lex talionis, or the law of retaliation. This concept, often paraphrased as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” laid the groundwork for a system of reciprocal justice, aiming to match the punishment to the offense. However, the application was not always straightforward, as it was tempered by social hierarchy. Penalties for the same crime varied depending on the victim’s and perpetrator’s social class, with enslaved people receiving harsher treatment than free citizens. Thus, the Code is also a reflection of the stratified nature of Babylonian society, wherein status significantly influenced the administration of justice.

Beyond retaliation, the Code of Hammurabi outlined regulations on a range of civil, economic, and familial matters. Commercial transactions like loans and contracts were carefully legislated to ensure fairness and transparency. For instance, laws dictated the terms of lending practices to protect both debtor and creditor. Agricultural guidelines, such as stipulations on irrigation and crop management, addressed disputes between landowners and tenants. In family law, the Code provided a framework for marriage contracts, inheritance rights, and the legal obligations of spouses. It also safeguarded women’s rights to some extent, granting them legal recourse in cases of divorce and property disputes.

The public display of the Code itself was significant. It proclaimed Hammurabi’s role as a ruler who was divinely appointed to enforce justice, a sentiment reflected in the preamble, where the king describes his intention to “cause justice to prevail in the land.” The stele’s top depicts Hammurabi receiving the laws directly from Shamash, the sun god and god of justice. This visual assertion reinforced the divine legitimacy of the laws, suggesting that their observance was not just a civic duty but a moral one.

While some might view the Code of Hammurabi as harsh by contemporary standards, it represented an early attempt to formalize and codify laws that would apply broadly across the kingdom. It provided citizens with a known set of standards that governed their rights and responsibilities, reducing the arbitrariness often associated with pre-literate legal systems. Moreover, the Code served as a tool of political cohesion, helping to unify the diverse territories under Hammurabi’s rule by creating a common legal framework.

Despite its age, the Code of Hammurabi continues to fascinate modern scholars for its detailed insights into ancient society. It is one of the earliest comprehensive legal codes discovered, offering a rare window into how justice was conceived and administered thousands of years ago. While Hammurabi’s Code was not the first of its kind—the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu predates it by several centuries—it remains a crucial historical artifact. Its influence rippled through subsequent legal traditions, both in the ancient Near East and beyond, embodying the enduring legacy of Mesopotamian civilization.

In summary, the Code of Hammurabi is more than a legal document; it is a testament to humanity’s long-standing desire to impose order through justice. It reflects a complex social hierarchy, a thriving commercial economy, and a ruler’s divine mandate to govern with fairness and wisdom. Although many of its provisions seem archaic, the Code represents an ambitious effort to balance social order with individual accountability, principles that continue to inform legal systems to this day.

Cite this page

The Code of Hammurabi: A Cornerstone of Ancient Law and Society. (2024, May 12). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-code-of-hammurabi-a-cornerstone-of-ancient-law-and-society/

"The Code of Hammurabi: A Cornerstone of Ancient Law and Society." PapersOwl.com , 12 May 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/the-code-of-hammurabi-a-cornerstone-of-ancient-law-and-society/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Code of Hammurabi: A Cornerstone of Ancient Law and Society . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-code-of-hammurabi-a-cornerstone-of-ancient-law-and-society/ [Accessed: 20 May. 2024]

"The Code of Hammurabi: A Cornerstone of Ancient Law and Society." PapersOwl.com, May 12, 2024. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-code-of-hammurabi-a-cornerstone-of-ancient-law-and-society/

"The Code of Hammurabi: A Cornerstone of Ancient Law and Society," PapersOwl.com , 12-May-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-code-of-hammurabi-a-cornerstone-of-ancient-law-and-society/. [Accessed: 20-May-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Code of Hammurabi: A Cornerstone of Ancient Law and Society . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-code-of-hammurabi-a-cornerstone-of-ancient-law-and-society/ [Accessed: 20-May-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us!

Internet Archive Audio

• This Just In
• Grateful Dead
• Old Time Radio
• 78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings
• Audio Books & Poetry
• Computers, Technology and Science
• Music, Arts & Culture
• News & Public Affairs
• Spirituality & Religion
• Radio News Archive

• Flickr Commons
• Occupy Wall Street Flickr
• NASA Images
• Solar System Collection
• Ames Research Center

• All Software
• Old School Emulation
• MS-DOS Games
• Historical Software
• Classic PC Games
• Software Library
• Kodi Archive and Support File
• Vintage Software
• CD-ROM Software
• CD-ROM Software Library
• Software Sites
• Tucows Software Library
• Shareware CD-ROMs
• Software Capsules Compilation
• CD-ROM Images
• ZX Spectrum
• DOOM Level CD

• Smithsonian Libraries
• FEDLINK (US)
• Lincoln Collection
• American Libraries
• Canadian Libraries
• Universal Library
• Project Gutenberg
• Children's Library
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Books by Language
• Additional Collections

• Prelinger Archives
• Democracy Now!
• Occupy Wall Street
• TV NSA Clip Library
• Animation & Cartoons
• Arts & Music
• Computers & Technology
• Cultural & Academic Films
• Ephemeral Films
• Sports Videos
• Videogame Videos
• Youth Media

Search the history of over 866 billion web pages on the Internet.

Mobile Apps

• Wayback Machine (iOS)
• Wayback Machine (Android)

Browser Extensions

Archive-it subscription.

• Explore the Collections
• Build Collections

Save Page Now

Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future.

Please enter a valid web address

• Donate Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape

Law, church, and society : essays in honor of Stephan Kuttner

Bookreader item preview, share or embed this item, flag this item for.

• Graphic Violence
• Explicit Sexual Content
• Hate Speech
• Misinformation/Disinformation
• Marketing/Phishing/Advertising
• Misleading/Inaccurate/Missing Metadata

plus-circle Add Review comment Reviews

143 Previews

5 Favorites

Better World Books

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS

No suitable files to display here.

EPUB and PDF access not available for this item.

IN COLLECTIONS

Uploaded by station22.cebu on February 3, 2020

SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata)

The Replication Conundrum

Rebuilding the scientific establishment's credibility is a noble goal, but the obstacles are formidable.

Until quite recently—I cannot put an exact date on it—I assumed that everything published in scientific journals was, if not true, at least not deliberately untrue. Scientists might make mistakes, but they did not cheat, plagiarise, falsify, or make up their results. For many years as I opened a medical journal, the possibility simply that it contained fraud did not occur to me. Cases such as those of the Piltdown Man, a hoax in which bone fragments found in the Piltdown gravel pit were claimed to be those of the missing link between ape and man, were famous because they were dramatic but above all because they were rare, or assumed to be such.

Such naivety is no longer possible: instances of dishonesty have become much more frequent, or at least much more publicised. Whether the real incidence of scientific fraud has increased is difficult to say. There is probably no way to estimate the incidence of such fraud in the past by which a proper comparison can be made.

There are, of course, good reasons why scientific fraud should have increased. The number of practising scientists has exploded; they are in fierce competition with one another; their careers depend to a large extent on their productivity as measured by publication. The difference between what is ethical and unethical has blurred. They cite themselves, they recycle their work, they pay for publication, they attach their names to pieces of work they have played no part in performing and whose reports they have not even read, and so forth. As new algorithms are developed to measure their performance, they find new ways to play the game or to deceive. And all this is not even counting commercial pressures. 

Furthermore, the general level of trust in society has declined. Are our politicians worse than they used to be, as it seems to everyone above a certain age, or is it that we simply know more about them because the channels of communication are so much wider? At any rate, trust in authority of most kinds has declined. Where once we were inclined to say, “It must be true because I read it in a newspaper,” we are now inclined to say, “It must be untrue because I read it in a newspaper.”

The Milgram experiments would be considered unethical today because they involved gross deception of their subjects. If there had not been such deception, the experiments could not have been done.

Quite often now I look at a blog called Retraction Watch which, since 2010, has been devoted to tracing and encouraging retraction of flawed scientific papers, often flawed for discreditable reasons. Such reasons are various and include research performed on subjects who have not given proper consent. This is not the same as saying that the results of such research are false, however, and raises the question of whether it is ethical to cite results that have been obtained unethically. Whether it is or not, we have all benefited enormously from past research that would now be considered unethical. 

One common problem with research is its reproducibility, or lack of it. This is particularly severe in the case of psychology, but it is common in medicine too. 

Many papers in medical journals are now fundamentally epidemiological in nature. Let me give a hypothetical example. Groups of assiduous researchers have assembled a database of 5,000,000 people. (In Scandinavia, the medical records of the entire population are available for such research.) The researchers correlate, say, the self-reported consumption of bananas with a disease, let us call it bananism. They find that those who eat more than 5 bananas a week are 1.4 times more likely to suffer from bananism than those who eat fewer, even when many other factors are controlled for. What is one supposed to do with this result?

No one is ever going to reproduce the experiment. Though trying to reproduce other researchers’ results is a perfectly honourable, and indeed a very useful, thing to do, the kudos attached to it is not very great. Like modern architects, scientists strive mightily to be original, therefore they add twists to the original design that make subsequent interpretations contentious. Besides, it is difficult, costly, and time-consuming to assemble population samples of 5,000,000 and ask them about their consumption of bananas.

With psychology, the difficulties are even greater because of the nature of the subject matter. Recently on Retraction Watch , I came across an article titled The Replication Database: Documenting the Replicability of Psychological Science . I quote:

Despite its importance, replication efforts are few and far between in psychological science with many attempts failing to corroborate past findings. 

The authors have founded a database to trace efforts at replication.

This is an honourable enterprise, but it seems to me to avoid one important reason why psychological experiments are so difficult to replicate, namely the reflexive nature of the human mind. 

Let us take the late Stanley Milgram’s famous experiments on obedience to authority as an example. I disregard any criticisms of Milgram’s probity that have been raised; I take the experiments at face value. Certainly, their results in the wake of the Second World War were very startling. Moreover, when they were published in book form, I remember reading the book as if it were a great novel, so compelling was it. 

But what now are the lessons that we can still draw from these fascinating experiments? Could we reproduce the experiments in such a way as to establish their stability and their timeless scientific validity? 

The experiments would be considered unethical today because they involved gross deception of their subjects. If there had not been such deception, the experiments could not have been done. But let us suppose that the ethical objections were waived, and permission given for the experiments to be repeated. 

It is extremely doubtful whether they could be repeated. They were carried out in the early 1960s, in social conditions very different from those of today. Apart from anything else, it is likely that a large proportion of the population that would volunteer to participate would have heard of, and possibly even know about, Milgram’s original results. But even if they hadn’t or didn’t, so much has changed in the meantime that any difference in results might be attributable to any number of reasons, from Milgram having been mistaken in the first place, to chance, to a change in the mentalities of the population. 

In other words, the problem of reproducibility in psychological science is inherent in the nature of the science itself, the more it departs from purely physiological investigation and becomes of obvious social significance. Research involving attitudinal surveys is particularly time-, culture- and purpose-limited. Nothing is so easy, or so dangerous, as to suppose that we ourselves are models for the whole of humanity, for the whole of time.

Book Review A Nobel Polemicist Samuel Gregg

Essay Unanchored in El Salvador G. Patrick Lynch

Book Review The Rule of Historicist Judges? David Lewis Schaefer

Forum Constitutional Government After Chevron ? Adam White

Book Review Orwell’s Arresting Ambiguities Theodore Dalrymple

• Politics & Social Sciences

Buy new: .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $151.72 $ 151 . 72 Ships from: Amazon Global Store UK Sold by: Amazon Global Store UK

Amazon global store.

• International products have separate terms, are sold from abroad and may differ from local products, including fit, age ratings, and language of product, labeling or instructions.
• Manufacturer warranty may not apply
• Learn more about Amazon Global Store.

Save with Used - Acceptable .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $54.33 $ 54 . 33 FREE delivery May 29 - June 4 Ships from: ThriftBooks-Phoenix Sold by: ThriftBooks-Phoenix

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Follow the authors

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Law, Morality, and Society: Essays in Honour of H.L.A. Hart Hardcover – January 1, 1977

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 322 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Clarendon Press
• Publication date January 1, 1977
• Dimensions 5.7 x 0.9 x 8.6 inches
• ISBN-10 0198245572
• ISBN-13 978-0198245575
• See all details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clarendon Press; UK ed. edition (January 1, 1977)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198245572
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198245575
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.18 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.7 x 0.9 x 8.6 inches
• #1,061 in Philosophy of Law
• #18,992 in Philosophy of Ethics & Morality

About the authors

Peter hacker.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

P. M. S. Hacker

P.M.S. Hacker is the leading authority on the philosophy of Wittgenstein, and has written ground-breaking books on cognitive neuroscience together with M.R. Bennett. His major recent work has been the acclaimed tetralogy on human nature. He is the author of 24 books, editor of 4 books, and author of 165 papers. He is also Emeritus Fellow and former Tutorial Fellow in philosophy at St John’s College, Oxford. He holds an Honorary Professorship at University College, London at the Institute of Neurology, and has held British Academy and Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships and visiting chairs in North America.

www.pmshacker.co.uk

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

No customer reviews

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

The University of Chicago The Law School

Inside higher ed covers analysis from sonja starr on changes to college essay prompts, re-evaluating the ‘essay carveout’.

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in two lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill last summer, the justices seemed to leave room for colleges to consider race through applicants’ essay responses.

“Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA).

Sonja Starr, a law professor at the University of Chicago, has been analyzing changes to college essay prompts since the fall. She told  Inside Higher Ed  that the “essay carveout,” as it’s often called, is a “meaningful path forward” for colleges trying to maintain their racial diversity. Her report on “ Admissions Essays After SFFA ,” published last month in the  Indiana Law Journal , suggests that many selective colleges are taking the approach seriously, too.

Read more at Inside Higher Ed

Bragg abuses law in prosecution of Trump

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses former President Donald Trump of multiple felonies by joining a state misdemeanor business records charge with a potential other crime dealing with both federal and state election laws. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig

This guest essay reflects the views of John J. Faso, a member of the New York bar and a Republican who served as a member of Congress.

Josef Stalin’s secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria was notorious for hunting down real and imagined enemies of his patron. Beria once said, “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”

While Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a far cry from Beria, his prosecution of Donald Trump has all the makings of a political rather than legal initiative.

Bragg accuses Trump of multiple felonies by joining a state misdemeanor business records charge with a potential other crime dealing with both federal and state election laws. Our country has two parallel systems of governance — state and federal — and therefore two parallel justice systems run by separate sovereigns, each with their own laws and prosecutors.

The New York State case of People v. Trump oversteps the boundaries of those systems by premising a state criminal prosecution on a purported federal criminal violation. Neither state nor federal law supports that concept, and if upheld it would undermine both legal systems with harsh and unpredictable consequences.

Trump is accused in state court of falsifying business records in the first degree. The crime consists of making false entries in the written records of a business with intent to defraud. It is upgraded to a felony if done to commit or conceal “another crime.”

From our Editorial Board, get inside the local, city and state political scenes.

By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy .

Setting aside the significant definitional issues, this prosecution founders legally on the conflation of the two legal systems. The indictment itself never identifies the underlying “another crime,” although standard practice, and standard due process notice requirements demand prosecutors expressly inform the defendant of the crimes charged. Here, the prosecutors simply suggested several possible crimes to fill that gap.

Federal authorities chose to take no action on this issue, not even a civil regulatory violation. In legal briefs, prosecutors suggest this lack of federal action is no bar to a state prosecution since they need only prove the intent to violate federal law.

This is an even more disturbing proposition, since it would mean that any business record that might show an intent to violate any federal law, including federal misdemeanors, could be prosecuted as a New York felony.

In Bragg’s version of the law, he could prosecute federal income tax violations or federal national security laws. Strikingly, and contrary to arguments the Biden administration has made in U.S. Supreme Court, under Bragg’s interpretation local district attorneys could prosecute federal immigration law violations.

The illogic of Bragg’s position goes even further since his team asserts that literally any crime could serve as “another crime” to enhance the falsifying business records misdemeanor. Because this theory has no principle that would limit the definition of “another crime” to any specific set of crimes, other states’ crimes or even those of other countries would suffice.

Justice Juan Merchan denied the defense’s motion to dismiss but these issues will surely be ripe for appeal if Trump is convicted, though that would come after the November election.

As the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in another context, legislatures do not “hide elephants in mouseholes.” If New York prosecutors had such sweeping powers to import the whole of federal criminal enforcement powers into state criminal law, that would have been clearly stated by the State Legislature.

To the contrary, New York’s laws make no claims to federal criminal enforcement authority.

Bragg’s prosecution is a gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion. Somewhere, Lavrentiy Beria is smiling.

This guest essay reflects the views of John J. Faso, a member of the New York bar and a Republican who served as a member of Congress.

Unlimited Digital Access Only 25¢ for 5 months

We use cookies to collect and analyse information on site performance and usage to improve and customise your experience, where applicable. View our Cookies Policy . Click Accept and continue  to use our website or Manage to review and update your preferences.

Your cookie preferences

Strictly necessary cookies.

The following cookies are necessary to allow you to access the website including login, move between pages and to receive services which you have requested. They include cookies to store analytics and track user interactions so we can personalise content to best suit your interests and needs.

Functional cookies

These cookies allow the Website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced and more personal features, such as twitter feed and online chat.

Performance cookies

Performance cookies monitor site performance and user actions. These cookies do not collect identifiable information.

Marketing cookies

From time to time, we may use cookies to display advertisements that we believe are relevant to you or work with advertisers to display our own adverts on third party websites, based on cookies set on your visit to the Website. These may include Facebook Advertising, Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing, and communications, and Google Advertising.

Cara bursary recipient is ‘exceptional’ law student

Matheson, in association with Trinity College Dublin (TCD), has announced second-year TCD Law and Political Science student Jude Pierse as winner of the Cara Scholarship.

Named in honour of late Matheson partner Cara O'Hagan, the annual scholarship is open to second-year undergraduate students in TCD, including students on the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) or the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) schemes, mature students, and students who face barriers in third-level education.

Jude has been awarded:

• A place on Matheson’s summer internship programme in June,
• €5,000 for each academic year, and
• Will be overseen by a Matheson mentor.

Managing partner Michael Jackson said: “We view D&I [diversity and inclusion] as a strategic necessity that fuels innovation, drives collaboration, and develops the best professionals to provide the best services to our clients, and we are proud to be able to support the next generation of legal talent.”

Professor Caoimhín MacMaoláin (Head of Trinity School of Law) said that Jude was a most deserving recipient.

“Jude is an exceptional law student, and receiving the Matheson Cara Scholarship and the opportunities that this brings, will prove to be invaluable to his future career,” she said.

Jude responded, saying that he was delighted to receive the “life-changing” bursary and that he was grateful to Matheson for the opportunity.

“Coming from a non-legal family, it can be very intimidating to walk through the doors of a large law firm. It often seems like a place out of reach. However, thanks to Cara's lasting work and the shared commitment of everyone at Matheson, I feel welcomed and valued,” he said.

Share this article

Gazette Desk

Latest top stories.

Public wants and expects more from State – AG

Debating lawyers' role ‘mark of healthy society’

SAYE share schemes may make comeback

McCann FitzGerald expects provider to enter market

OPINION: Immigration reform will attract talent

One-stop permit control will ease admin

Law Society update for Leitrim solicitors

EPAs, probate, and tax among topics on agenda

ICJ considers South Africa’s Gaza request

Call for further orders against Israel on action

Free detained Tunisian lawyers – CCBE

Call for probe into ‘violent arrests’ and torture

Related to education

Waterford ty student takes legal-essay prize.

Competition honours life of late judge Gráinne O’Neill

‘Bad-behaviour policy’ a must for school leaders

59% not confident in handling indiscipline

Jude Pierse to get €5,000 per academic year and internship

Law Society team second in Brown Mosten finals

Pair ‘impressive in dealing with sensitive scenarios’

Advertisement

Supported by

There’s a New Covid Variant. What Will That Mean for Spring and Summer?

Experts are closely watching KP.2, now the leading variant.

• Share full article

By Dani Blum

For most of this year, the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus accounted for an overwhelming majority of Covid cases . But now, an offshoot variant called KP.2 is taking off. The variant, which made up just one percent of cases in the United States in mid-March, now makes up over a quarter.

KP.2 belongs to a subset of Covid variants that scientists have cheekily nicknamed “FLiRT,” drawn from the letters in the names of their mutations. They are descendants of JN.1, and KP.2 is “very, very close” to JN.1, said Dr. David Ho, a virologist at Columbia University. But Dr. Ho has conducted early lab tests in cells that suggest that slight differences in KP.2’s spike protein might make it better at evading our immune defenses and slightly more infectious than JN.1.

While cases currently don’t appear to be on the rise, researchers and physicians are closely watching whether the variant will drive a summer surge.

“I don’t think anybody’s expecting things to change abruptly, necessarily,” said Dr. Marc Sala, co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Covid-19 Center in Chicago. But KP.2 will most likely “be our new norm,’” he said. Here’s what to know.

The current spread of Covid

Experts said it would take several weeks to see whether KP.2 might lead to a rise in Covid cases, and noted that we have only a limited understanding of how the virus is spreading. Since the public health emergency ended , there is less robust data available on cases, and doctors said fewer people were using Covid tests.

But what we do know is reassuring: Despite the shift in variants, data from the C.D.C. suggests there are only “minimal ” levels of the virus circulating in wastewater nationally, and emergency department visits and hospitalizations fell between early March and late April.

“I don’t want to say that we already know everything about KP.2,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Healthcare System. “But at this time, I’m not seeing any major indications of anything ominous.”

Protection from vaccines and past infections

Experts said that even if you had JN.1, you may still get reinfected with KP.2 — particularly if it’s been several months or longer since your last bout of Covid.

KP.2 could infect even people who got the most updated vaccine, Dr. Ho said, since that shot targets XBB.1.5, a variant that is notably different from JN.1 and its descendants. An early version of a paper released in April by researchers in Japan suggested that KP.2 might be more adept than JN.1 at infecting people who received the most recent Covid vaccine. (The research has not yet been peer-reviewed or published.) A spokesperson for the C.D.C. said the agency was continuing to monitor how vaccines perform against KP.2.

Still, the shot does provide some protection, especially against severe disease, doctors said, as do previous infections. At this point, there isn’t reason to believe that KP.2 would cause more severe illness than other strains, the C.D.C. spokesperson said. But people who are 65 and older, pregnant or immunocompromised remain at higher risk of serious complications from Covid.

Those groups, in particular, may want to get the updated vaccine if they haven’t yet, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. The C.D.C. has recommended t hat people 65 and older who already received one dose of the updated vaccine get an additional shot at least four months later.

“Even though it’s the lowest level of deaths and hospitalizations we’ve seen, I’m still taking care of sick people with Covid,” he said. “And they all have one unifying theme, which is that they’re older and they didn’t get the latest shot.”

The latest on symptoms and long Covid

Doctors said that the symptoms of both KP.2 and JN.1 — which now makes up around 16 percent of cases — are most likely similar to those seen with other variants . These include sore throat, runny nose, coughing, head and body aches, fever, congestion, fatigue and in severe cases, shortness of breath. Fewer people lose their sense of taste and smell now than did at the start of the pandemic, but some people will still experience those symptoms.

Dr. Chin-Hong said that patients were often surprised that diarrhea, nausea and vomiting could be Covid symptoms as well, and that they sometimes confused those issues as signs that they had norovirus .

For many people who’ve already had Covid, a reinfection is often as mild or milder than their first case. While new cases of long Covid are less common now than they were at the start of the pandemic, repeat infections do raise the risk of developing long Covid, said Fikadu Tafesse, a virologist at Oregon Health & Science University. But researchers are still trying to determine by how much — one of many issues scientists are trying to untangle as the pandemic continues to evolve.

“That’s the nature of the virus,” Dr. Tafesse said. “It keeps mutating.”

Dani Blum is a health reporter for The Times. More about Dani Blum