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More About This Textbook
Overview
Law and Society is written to be highly accessible to the average undergraduate student. This multidisciplinary text draws on the work of anthropologists, historians, law professors, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists to clearly outline how law is an essential social institution that shapes society, while also being shaped by it.
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Meet the Author
Steven E. Barkan is professor of sociology at the University of Maine, where he has taught since 1979. His teaching and research interests include criminology, sociology of law, and social movements. He is the 2008-2009 president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and had previously served as a member of the SSSP Board of Directors, as chair of its Law and Society Division and Editorial and Publications Committee, and as an advisory editor of its journal,Social Problems. He has served on the student paper award committees of the Crime, Law, and Deviance and Sociology of Law sections of the American Sociological Association. Professor Barkan has written many journal articles dealing with topics such as racial prejudice and death penalty attitudes, views on police brutality, political trials, and feminist activism. These articles have appeared in the American Sociological Review, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, Social Forces, Social Problems, Sociological Forum, Sociological Inquiry, and other journals. For Prentice Hall, he is the author of Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 4/e and of Law and Society: An Introduction (both coming out in early 2008).
Professor Barkan welcomes comments from students and faculty about these books. They may email him at barkan@maine.edu or send regular mail to: Department of Sociology, 5728 Fernald Hall, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469—5728.
Table of Contents
The Social Nature and Significance of Law 1
The Significance of Law for Society and for Ourselves 3
The Social Functions of Law 4
The Dysfunctions of Law 6
The Study of Law and Society 7
Traditional and Social Science Views of Law 7
Assumptions in the Study of Law and Society 9
What Does Law and Society Study? 10
Law and Justice 12
The Case of the Speluncean Explorers 14
Law and Logic in Tumultuous Times 17
The Plan of the Book 18
Summary 19
Key Terms 20
Understanding Law and Society 21
What Is Law? 21
Selected Definitions of Law 23
Definitions of Law and the Existence of Law 27
Explanations of Law 30
Early Approaches 30
Contemporary Perspectives 42
Summary 51
Key Terms 54
Families and Types of Law 55
Families of Law 55
Common Law 56
Civil Law 60
Theocratic Law 64
Socialist Law 68
Traditional Law 70
Types of Law in the United States 71
Criminal Law 71
Civil Law 75
Executive Orders 77
Administrative Law 78
Other Distinctions 80
Special Topics 82
Military Law and Military Justice 82
Native American Law 84
International Law 85
Summary 88
Key Terms 91
Law and Dispute Processing 92
The Disputing Process 93
Stages in the Disputing Process 94
Methods of Dispute Processing 95
Explaining Dispute Processing Decisions 104
Societal Factors 104
Individual Factors 110
Dispute Processing in the United States 112
Dispute Processing and Litigiousness: Then and Now 113
Legal Consciousness and Going (or Not Going) to Court 117
The Litigation Crisis Controversy 123
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 128
Summary 131
Key Terms 133
Law and Social Control 134
Law, Deterrence, and Incapacitation 136
Deterrence: Conceptual Considerations 137
Research on Deterrence 142
The Issue of Incapacitation 146
Law, Morality, and Consensual Crime 149
Philosophical Considerations 150
Social Science Considerations 154
Repealing Consensual Crime Laws? 156
Special Topics in Law and Social Control 158
The Death Penalty Controversy 158
White-Collar Crime 162
Summary 164
Key Terms 167
Law and Social Change 168
The Impact of Social Change on Law: Law as Dependent Variable 170
Social Change and Fundamental Legal Change 170
Social Change and Specific Legal Developments 178
The Impact of Law on Social Change: Law as Independent Variable 190
Aspects of the Law to Social Change Relationship 191
The Limits of Law as a Social Change Vehicle 193
Problems in Assessing Legal Impact 195
Conditions That Maximize the Potential Impact of Legal Change 197
Law and Social Movements 199
Use of Law by Social Movements 199
Use of Law Against Social Movements 204
Summary 206
Key Terms 208
Law and Inequality 209
Law and Inequality in the American Past 210
Social Class 210
Race and Ethnicity 214
Gender 218
Contemporary Evidence 221
Social Class 221
Race and Ethnicity 226
Gender 231
Summary 234
Key Terms 236
The Legal Profession 237
Images and Perceptions of Lawyers 238
Reasons for the Negative Image 238
The Positive Image: Lawyer as Hero 240
History of the Legal Profession 241
Early Origins of Lawyers 241
Origin and Development of the American Legal Profession 242
The U.S. Legal Profession Today 245
Growth and Demographics of the Legal Profession 245
The Stratification and Social Organization of the Bar 247
Cause Lawyering 251
Women in the Law 253
Legal Ethics and Corruption 255
Satisfaction with Legal Careers 257
Law School and Legal Education 258
The Growth of the American Law School 258
Critique and Defense of Legal Education Today 261
Summary 263
Key Terms 266
Courts and Juries 267
Criminal Courts in the United States 267
Understanding the Criminal Court 268
Normal Crimes and the Courtroom Workgroup 270
Plea Bargaining: Evil, Necessary Evil, or Not Evil? 273
The Jury in Democratic Society 276
History of the Jury 277
How Well Does the Jury Perform? 280
The Issue of Jury Nullification 283
Summary 285
Key Terms 288
References 289
Glossary 317
Index 323