Legal socialization

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Necessity knows no law but makes law. ~ Gratian A mosaic LAW by Frederick Dielman, 1847-1935.JPG
Necessity knows no law but makes law. ~ Gratian
Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be observed, have need of good morals. ~ Niccolo Machiavelli, Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius (1965), trans. Allan Gilbert, book 1, chapter 18, p. 241. USMC-120901-M-YE622-085.jpg
Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be observed, have need of good morals. ~ Niccolò Machiavelli, Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius (1965), trans. Allan Gilbert, book 1, chapter 18, p. 241.

Legal socialization is the process through which, individuals acquire attitudes and beliefs about the law, legal authorities, and legal institutions. This occurs through individuals' interactions, both personal and vicarious, with police, courts, and other legal actors. To date, most of what is known about legal socialization comes from studies of individual differences among adults in their perceived legitimacy of law and legal institutions, and in their cynicism about the law and its underlying norms. Adults' attitudes about the legitimacy of law are directly tied to individuals' compliance with the law and cooperation with legal authorities. [1]

Contents

Legal socialization consists of an individual's attitudes toward the legal system (referred to as legitimacy), the law (legal cynicism), and moral codes that guide behaviour (moral disengagement)

Definition

Judith Torney includes, recognition of law, understanding function of the law, accurately recognising source of law, developing relevant attitudes towards those who enforce the law, bringing personal behaviour into line with morality and legality. [2]

Psychologist June Louin-Tapp, credited for her "pioneering efforts in legal socialization," [3] defines the concept this way:

Compliance to laws and respect for authority is variously called socialization, internalization of norms, conformity to rules, identification, moral internalization, and conscience formation. Regardless of nomenclature, psychologists have attended to the problem of compliant behaviour as an aspect of socialisation research, crucial to the maintenance of the social system. Essentially socialisation is the process whereby members of a society learn its norms and acquire its values and behaviour patterns. [4]

Laws are only observed with the consent of the individuals concerned and a moral change still depends on the individual and not on the passage of any law. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt UDHR.jpg
Laws are only observed with the consent of the individuals concerned and a moral change still depends on the individual and not on the passage of any law. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Internalisation (or internalization) in sociology and other social sciences is the process of acceptance of a set of norms and values established by people or groups which are influential to the individual through the process of socialisation. John Finley Scott described internalisation as a metaphor in which something (i.e. an idea, concept, action) moves from outside the mind or personality to a place inside of it. [5] The structure and the happenings of society shapes one's inner self and it can also be reversed.

The process of internalisation starts with learning what the norms are, and then the individual goes through a process of understanding why they are of value or why they make sense, until finally they accept the norm as their own viewpoint. [5] Internalised norms are said to be part of an individual's personality and may be exhibited by one's moral actions. However, there can also be a distinction between internal commitment to a norm and what one exhibits externally. [6]

Through internalisation individuals accept a set of norms and values that are established by other individuals, groups, or society as a whole.

Norm acceptance, norm conformity and norm compliance can be achieved by coercion, acculturation, or persuasion. But the commitment to the law can be better achieved by process of internalisation and legitimacy of law helpful in this process. [7]

According to Marju Luts reception is chiefly defined as the transfer of a legal phenomenon of a different legal culture, other area or other period of time to a new legal climate. Awareness of the recipient that its activity is truly the adoption of an element of law that is, in a legal-cultural context, hitherto alien (or already forgotten). The matter is further specified on the basis of whether such awareness is characteristic of the whole recipient society or only the initiators of reception. [8] awareness, Voluntariness

The authors: Chantal Kourilsky-Augeven believe pre-eminence previously given to the transmission processes of values, norms and behavioural models should be renounced in favour of a definition of legal socialisation during childhood and adolescence, from the perspective of the subject playing an active part; Law must be considered as a fundamental part of the culture the subject belongs to; The subject acquires the common knowledge of the dominant legal culture in his society by "legal acculturation of the subject" ; In parallel occurs the "acculturation by the subject" concerning different objects of the common legal culture. The "legal acculturation of the subject" would thus occur thanks to the transmission by school (or other channels conveying of the common culture), integrating the historical experience assimilated by national culture and fundamental concepts and values of the national legal heritage (in particular regarding the state, the citizen, law or justice) while the subject would himself proceed to the "acculturation of these concepts" in light of the codes of interpretation of reality acquired within his close environment in order to integrate them within his own system of representations. [9]

Judith Torney describes three processes of legal socialisation namely, "accumulation process", "identification process" and "role transfer process". In accumulation process, law is learned from range of various sources. In "the identification process", attitudes and values of significant adults are absorbed in a natural psychological process wherein a tendency to adopt beliefs with whom one identifies and is socially bonded makes the impact. Whereas in "the role transfer process" from immediate surroundings like home or school one accepts rule making and implementing authority of the seniors and imputes the same and provides legitimacy to law making and/or enforcing agencies like police. [2]

Where there is an apparent need for a change of legal system in one culture and another existing culture provides an opportunity to satisfy the need

Veneration reception is one example which occurs if alien norms, institutes or a whole system is adopted for their venerated position and prestige of cultural background.

If a legal phenomenon is imposed upon another nation by force on another nation is referred to as imposed legal reception, in few instances under certain conditions imposed reception may transform into a voluntary process and thus become genuine reception but usually imposed legal phenomenon would not be considered genuine legal reception .

is a process whereby a legal phenomenon transfers to another geographic area or culture together with people. A situation where a norm of another legal culture is established in a different legal climate by enacting legislation regardless of its original implementation background may also be interpreted as a mere transplantation of a legal phenomenon. Transplantation also occurs where a legal theory is taken to another geographical area. As in the case of imposed reception or voluntary reception, an original transplantation may become true reception: of course not among the group or nation which is the carrier of transplantation but among the legal culture surrounding it in the new area. The transformation of transplantation into reception is perhaps of greater significance in the history of legal science than it is in positive law.

Methodological and systematic reception

in which the spread of legal doctrines and theories plays an especially important role. It is quite clear that the spread of methods brings about the spread of their conceptual and systematic basis. In this regard, system not only refers to a certain classification of legal material, but an internally consistent and systematic approach to law.

"Explicit legal socialisation", which covers socially obvious aspects of law, consciously identified with what he calls law, should be distinguished from "implicit legal socialisation" which regulates every day situations that the subject does not associate with law, due to their familiarity in every day life.

"Implicit" or "subconscious" legal socialisation – whereby the subject does not realise it is a matter of law, but thinks it is only ordinary practice – seems as effective as the first type of socialisation. [9]

Approaches

Procedural justice (the perceived fairness of legal system i.e. the police, judge, and defense attorney) is related to the overall measure of legal socialization and each of its individual components wise legitimacy, legal cynicism, and moral disengagement

According to Chantal Kourilsky - Augeven, phenomena of individuals' socialisation have been developed in three disciplines: psychology, anthropology and sociology. Psychologists, who study at the level of the individual, emphasize the construction of the personality or identity of the subject. Anthropologists start with a specific culture, considered as an entity formed by a group of people who share "ways of thinking, feeling and acting", values and behavioural norms. These common values and norms are then internalised by new generations and ensure the cohesion and continuance of the community. Like anthropologists, sociologists view the object of study from the perspective of society as a whole, but perceive socialisation more strongly in terms of the transmission of behavioural norms and models by persons and institutions. They tend to assign to them, for functional purposes, the role of socialisation agents. Socialisation of subjects is also considered in terms of learning of social roles or attainment of social skills. [10]

These three approaches tend to combine into two schools of thought. The first gives pre-eminence to the subject's viewpoint, but can only consider its development in relation to the interactions with the culture and society in which he is immersed. The second gives pre-eminence to society or culture as a whole, but can only apprehend subjects' modalities of adaptation or participation in this society by looking at modalities of individual development. [10]

Authority and legitimacy

Just laws which uphold human rights are the necessary foundation of peace. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi Vrouwejustitia.jpg
Just laws which uphold human rights are the necessary foundation of peace. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi
It is not the enactment, but the observance of laws, that creates the character of a nation. ~ Calvin Coolidge United States Declaration of Independence.jpg
It is not the enactment, but the observance of laws, that creates the character of a nation. ~ Calvin Coolidge

When experiences with legal actors are perceived as fair, just and proportionate, these experiences reinforce the legitimacy of the law, and can contribute to compliance and desistance. However, when punishment is delivered unfairly, unjustly and/or disproportionately, it leads to cynicism about the law, and can contribute to anger and persistence (Sampson and Bartusch, 1998; Kirk and Papachristos, 2011; Papachristos, Meares and Fagan, 2012). It is easier in a democratic and pluralist society to exercise authority through legitimacy, i.e. Acting in ways that people find appropriate, reasonable and just. [11]

According to Tom R. Tyler, People obey the law if they believe it's legitimate, not because they fear punishment—this is the startling conclusion of Tom Tyler's classic study. Tyler suggests that lawmakers and law enforcers would do much better to make legal systems worthy of respect than to try to instill fear of punishment. He finds that people obey law primarily because they believe in respecting legitimate authority. Brute coercive power may achieve obedience but will not sustain it. Only a sense of fairness, trust and legitimacy can do that by nurturing feelings of obligation. When outcomes are fair, and the procedures that lead to those outcomes transparent and just, people will follow rules, cooperate with police, pay fines, and accept punishment. Procedural justice - the experience directly or vicariously of transparency, fairness, neutrality and respect in dealings with criminal justice - is vital for any rule-following behaviour. [12] [13]

Settled Irish socializing with modern-day traveller to promote integration Moden day intergration.png
Settled Irish socializing with modern-day traveller to promote integration

In order to better understand representations and behaviours of adults in relation to law and rights, their origin in childhood and adolescence are of relevance. [4] Legal socialization is shaped during adolescence and that these attitudes are influenced by perceptions of fairness of interactions with authority figures and are important because they are related to delinquent behavior. (Fagan & Tyler, 2005). [14] School specific (un-)fairness experiences can affect legal socialisation of students. [15]

Youth who perceive their experiences procedural justice being less fair have more negative attitudes about the law, legal system, and moral rules and codes. Youth with more negative views of the legal system and moral codes participate in more delinquent behavior. Legitimacy and moral disengagement components and overall measure of legal socialization are related to higher levels of delinquent behavior.

See also

Related Research Articles

Internalization is the process of making something internal, with more specific meanings in various fields. It is the opposite of externalization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialization</span> Lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies

In sociology, socialization or socialisation is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social norm</span> Informal understanding of acceptable conduct

Social norms are shared standards of acceptable behavior by groups. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into rules and laws. Social normative influences or social norms, are deemed to be powerful drivers of human behavioural changes and well organized and incorporated by major theories which explain human behaviour. Institutions are composed of multiple norms. Norms are shared social beliefs about behavior; thus, they are distinct from "ideas", "attitudes", and "values", which can be held privately, and which do not necessarily concern behavior. Norms are contingent on context, social group, and historical circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social control</span> Concept within the disciplines of the social sciences and within political science

Social control is a concept within the disciplines of the social sciences. Social control is described as a certain set of rules and standards in society that keep individuals bound to conventional standards as well as to the use of formalized mechanisms. The disciplinary model was the forerunner to the control model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth culture</span> Norms, values, practices and shared symbolic systems of children, adolescents and young adults

Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth "how it is?" and are distinct from those of adults in the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acculturation</span> Process of cultural and psychological change

Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and adjusts to a new cultural environment as a result of being placed into a new culture, or when another culture is brought to someone. Individuals of a differing culture try to incorporate themselves into the new more prevalent culture by participating in aspects of the more prevalent culture, such as their traditions, but still hold onto their original cultural values and traditions. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both the devotee of the prevailing culture and those who are assimilating into the culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institution</span> Structure or mechanism of social order

Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and norms are all examples of institutions. Institutions vary in their level of formality and informality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principle</span> Rule, guide or inevitable consequence

A principle is a proposition or value that is a guide for behavior or evaluation. In law, it is a rule that has to be or usually is to be followed. It can be desirably followed, or it can be an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed. The principles of such a system are understood by its users as the essential characteristics of the system, or reflecting system's designed purpose, and the effective operation or use of which would be impossible if any one of the principles was to be ignored. A system may be explicitly based on and implemented from a document of principles as was done in IBM's 360/370 Principles of Operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enculturation</span> Process of acquiring values from a neighboring culture

Enculturation is the process by which people learn the dynamics of their surrounding culture and acquire values and norms appropriate or necessary to that culture and its worldviews. As part of this process, the influences that limit, direct, or shape the individual include parents, other adults, and peers. If successful, enculturation results in competence in the language, values, and rituals of the culture. Growing up, everyone goes through their version of enculturation. Enculturation helps form an individual into an acceptable citizen. Culture impacts all that an individual does, regardless of whether they know about it. Enculturation is a deep-rooted process that binds together individuals. Indeed, even as a culture changes, center convictions, values, perspectives, and youngster raising practices are very similar.

In social justice theory, internalized oppression is a concept in which an oppressed group accepts the methods and incorporates the oppressive message of the oppressing group against their own best interest. Rosenwasser (2002) defines it as believing, adopting, accepting, and incorporating the negative beliefs provided by the oppressor as the truth. It occurs when a dominating group preemptively displays aggression from a perceived inequality of self-worth compared to the group it wants to dominate with the intention of establishing themselves as a highly-valued/ superior group in order to achieve authority and power, and it's benefits, also known as practice of cultural imperialism.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conflict criminology</span>

Largely based on the writings of Karl Marx, conflict criminology holds that crime in capitalist societies cannot be adequately understood without a recognition that such societies are dominated by a wealthy elite whose continuing dominance requires the economic exploitation of others, and that the ideas, institutions and practices of such societies are designed and managed in order to ensure that such groups remain marginalised, oppressed and vulnerable. Members of marginalised and oppressed groups may sometimes turn to crime in order to gain the material wealth that apparently brings equality in capitalist societies, or simply in order to survive. Conflict criminology derives its name from the fact that theorists within the area believe that there is no consensual social contract between state and citizen.

In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live, or to describe the significance of different actions. Value systems are prospective and prescriptive beliefs; they affect the ethical behavior of a person or are the basis of their intentional activities. Often primary values are strong and secondary values are suitable for changes. What makes an action valuable may in turn depend on the ethical values of the objects it increases, decreases, or alters. An object with "ethic value" may be termed an "ethic or philosophic good".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural reproduction</span> Cultural concept

Cultural reproduction, a concept first developed by French sociologist and cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieu, is the mechanisms by which existing cultural forms, values, practices, and shared understandings are transmitted from generation to generation, thereby sustaining the continuity of cultural experience across time. In other words, reproduction, as it is applied to culture, is the process by which aspects of culture are passed on from person to person or from society to society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deviance (sociology)</span> Action or behavior that violates social norms

Deviance or the sociology of deviance explores the actions and/or behaviors that violate social norms across formally enacted rules as well as informal violations of social norms. Although deviance may have a negative connotation, the violation of social norms is not always a negative action; positive deviation exists in some situations. Although a norm is violated, a behavior can still be classified as positive or acceptable.

In economics, nonmarket forces are those acting on economic factors from outside a market system. They include organizing and correcting factors that provide order to markets and other societal institutions and organizations, as well as forces utilized by price systems other than the free price system.

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In sociology and other social sciences, internalization means an individual's acceptance of a set of norms and values through socialisation.

Moral Development focuses on the emergence, change and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood. Morality develops across a life span in a variety ncknunand is influenced by an individual's experiences and behavior when faced with moral issues through different periods of physical and cognitive development. Morality concerns an individual's reforming sense of what is right and wrong; it is for this reason that young children have different moral judgment and character than that of a grown adult. Morality in itself is often a synonym for "rightness" or "goodness." It also refers to a specific code of conduct that is derived from one's culture, religion or personal philosophy that guides one's actions, behaviors and thoughts.

A legal norm is a binding rule or principle, or norm, that organisations of sovereign power promulgate and enforce in order to regulate social relations. Legal norms determine the rights and duties of individuals who are the subjects of legal relations within the governing jurisdiction at a given point in time. Competent state authorities issue and publish basic aspects of legal norms through a collection of laws that individuals under that government must abide by, which is further guaranteed by state coercion. There are two categories of legal norms: normativity, which regulates the conduct of people, and generality, which is binding on an indefinite number of people and cases. Diplomatic and legislative immunity refers to instances where legal norms are constructed to be targeted towards a minority and are specifically only binding on them, such as soldiers and public officials.

References

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