The exponent of sociological school of jurisprudence considered law as a social phenomenon. The school is principally involved with the connection of law to alternative up to date social establishments. They insist that the jurists ought to focus their attention on social functions and interest served by law instead of on people and their abstract rights. The main concern of sociological jurists is to study the effect of law and society on each other. They treat law as an instrument of social progress. Likewise child spanking is also use as an instrument of social progress. Sociological jurisprudence is a functional study of law applied to concrete social problems in order to make law an effective instrument of social control for harmonising …show more content…
He treated law as a means for affecting social control and did not believe in the father of American Sociological Jurisprudence for his unique contribution to the science of law and legal philosophy. Thus the evolution of civilization toward a higher state is inevitable . The two-fold purpose of law is to maintain the existing values of civilization and to carry forward human development; therefore law must adapt itself to the tasks of the time and place to perform its proper function of furthering this ideal. Dean Pound was considerably influenced by the Comtian sociologist Lester F. Ward. Ward's description of animated nature as burning with desires and desire itself as the dynamic agent in society furnished a foundation for a theory of interests. There can be no ultimate test as to which claims are to be preferred except through experience. One will vote always for the richer universe," for the good which seems "most apt to be a member of the more inclusive whole." The sociological jurists propose to study law in action on the basis of the hypothesis that the law in action bears some significant relationship to law in the books, and to proceed then to ascertain in what respects the hypothesis is or is not substantiated and requires qualification. Pound defines jurisprudence as the science of law. But this is more than an organizing of a body of legal precepts . There are three things to consider: the administration of justice, the legal order, and law. Mechanical application is wise social engineering only in matters of property and commercial law, the economic forms of the social interest in the general security of acquisitions and transactions where mechanical application of fixed, detailed rules or rigid deductions from fixed conceptions makes for certainty and predictability in industrial and commercial undertakings of economically organized
In strain theory, laws are equivalent to the accepted means that people can use to achieve their goals, which are described as a product of tradition and consensus. According to Frederick von Savigny, laws are “generalized statements of the tendencies actually operating, of the presuppositions on which a particular civilization is based” (Hagan 5). In this view, laws are almost indistinguishable from the commonly held morality found in a society. This theory on the nature of laws appears to match Merton’s understanding of how goals and methods of obtaining these goals are formed. An apposing theory on the creation of laws views them as a “product of conflict” (Hagan 5).
The three types of theories of the lawmaking process are rationalistic model, functionalist view, and conflict perspective. Rationalistic model is laws that are created as rational means of protecting the members of society from social harm(s). Functionalist view which was theorized by Emile Durkheim’s, is that laws are an institutionalized custom and need for a society to function as a whole. The final theory is conflict perspective which means laws are put in place for social control. Each one of these three theories both have their own benefits, as well as their flaws in helping to creating law(s).
From the Constitution’s ratification in 1787 through the 1850s, many American historians shared the consensus that the founding fathers had designed the Constitution the way they did because they were trying to protect the citizens and their rights. James Kent was one very prominent historian among this group. In his book, Commentaries on American Law (1826), he stated “THE government of the United States was erected by the free voice and joint will of the people of America, for their common defence [defense] and general welfare...and it is justly deemed the guardian of our best rights, the source of our highest civil and political duties, and the sure means of national greatness.” (Kent) Essentially, James Kent was trying to convey the point
Sociology is the study of the development, structure and functioning society. Sociology is all around us, it 's what we say, what we do, what we watch on TV, and what we see in our everyday lives. Sociology is a broad term, because there are many different words that associate with Sociology including family, relationships, media, gender, and crime. While sociology is all around us, a common place where we might witness ideas that come from sociology is right at home on our televisions. A popular show that displays a perfect example of sociology right now is Keeping up with the Kardashians.
Throughout the year we’ve learned and looked upon many different social views. The sociological concepts such as social interaction ,sex and gender, religion, race and ethnicity, and deviance are very important to society and have many social effects. My favorite tv show Law and Order(Special Victims Unit) covers and demonstrates these concepts in majority of the episodes. The show Law and Order consists of real life situations and issues which causes many different societal views or opinions throughout the show. Social interaction is one of the biggest sociological concepts.
The relationship between the law and society affects everyone and everything. How the law is written and how it is acted upon in society are two different things. It is imperative, therefore, that we as citizens pay attention to and understand the importance of the relationship between the law and society as it affects both our own lives and the lives of those around us. We engage in and witness the power of the law and society everyday. The law is personal, however, the law is also discretionary depending on where you look.
Definition and Description of Procedural Justice Procedural justice is the act involved in decision making. It incorporates the process of involving transparency and fairness in making decisions. The incorporation of justice in this process is equally essential it entails that all parties allowed to give their views before decision are made concerning a given matter. Some theories state that restorative and distributive justice might not be met but for as long as there is a fair and justice procedure, there is always the possibility of having outcomes that are equitable (Jason &Tyler, 2003).
Introduction Finders keepers, losers weepers is a childhood adage that means whatever is found on the school playground can be kept but there is no principle of law that supports an individual is entitled to keep something he finds, while the original owner bears the loss. The premise when something is lost by one individual and found by another has been expressed in various ways over the centuries.
The sociological perspective encourages us to explore societies’ problems from a non-biased perspective. When investigating controversial issues it is quintessential to keep one’s opinion out of the equation. As C. Wright Mills stated in his 1959 essay “The Promise”, “Problems and their solutions don’t just involve individuals; they also have a great deal to do with the social structures in our society” (Leon-Guerrero, 2015). Eliminating personal experiences and self-perception creates an even playing field to determine fact from fiction.
It allows one to understand hoe the society fits together and the consequences that might arise when the community is affected by social change. Secondly, sociology enables one to develop a sense of appreciation for the diversities that are found in a set of people. It also develops the knowledge of an individual on a range of issues including human behavior, the social organization as well as culture. 6. Introduce one classical sociological
[5] Common law works in a different way, the judges rather than the Parliament make common law or ‘judge-made law’. Considering criminal and civil cases, the judges take decisions based on the stare decisis principle (Latin “to stand by things decided”, the legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent [4]), deliver rulings and create precedents, thus applying the law to real life situations. Therefore, the value of the precedent is very high in the English Common Law system. The strengths of common law
Is Kelsen’s Pure Theory of Law pure? In his famous article “On the Pure Theory of Law,” Hans Kelsen discusses his pure theory of law. He argues that the only pure form of law theory is the theory of positive law, which he calls “legal positivism”. Kelsen presents legal positivism to be the only consistent form of jurisprudence because this theory considers the law in its positive form and it separates law from any other social disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, politics and ethics.
In today’s modern society, everyone is largely affected by society. From multiple social institutions like the government and economy for instance or even the effects of education and mass media; these all play a huge role in an individual’s relationship, behavior, and actions in their society. For an individual to understand things like a “culture” or why every society has a ‘social class hierarchy,’ they will be directed to “Sociology”. Sociology is the systematic study of the structures of human society and social interaction. Sociology attempts to understand how things like society, social events, interactions, and patterns influence the way humans think, act, and feel.
As the law have definite rules and abstracts, the application of such rules and structure can be ineffectively applied which requires the ultimate result to reach. In addition, such structures are difficult to be applied in every situation and thus, it is important to understand the situation and the means of structure where it can provide the complete solution to the problem. It also involves the articulation of complex facts which are also tricky to understand. Advantages – it provides the understanding to view the person as an active agent and also promotes the idea of self-responsibility. The humanistic approach also enables the professional to work on the subjective experiences of an individual.
Sociology is the scientific study of human social relationships and interactions. Sociology 's subject matter is diverse. Subject matter for sociology ranges from the micro level of an individual and interaction to the macro level of systems and the social structure. At the society level, sociology examines and explains matters like crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and discrimination, schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social movements. We can see these subject matters crystal clear as sociology ranges from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture and from social stability to radical change in whole societies.