SOCIOLOGY OF LAW

NAME: DIVYA SINGH

CLASS: B.A. LLB. ‘’A’’
ROLL NUMBER: 1983055
 CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION

2. SOCIOLOGY AND LAW

3. DURKHEIM ON SOCIOLOGY OF LAW

4. SOCIOLOGY OF LAW

5. BIBILIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION:

The sociology of law (or legal sociology) is often described as a sub-discipline of sociology or an
interdisciplinary approach within legal studies. Some see sociology of law as belonging "necessarily"
to the field of sociology, but others tend to consider it a field of research caught up between the
disciplines of law and sociology. Still others regard it neither a sub discipline of sociology nor a
branch of legal studies but as a field of research on its own right within the broader social science
tradition. Accordingly, it may be described without reference to mainstream sociology as "the
systematic, theoretically grounded, empirical study of law as a set of social practices or as an aspect
or field of social experience”. It has been seen as treating law and justice as fundamental institutions
of the basic structure of society mediating "between political and economic interests, between
culture and the normative order of society, establishing and maintaining interdependence, and
constituting themselves as sources of consensus, coercion and social control".

Irrespective of whether sociology of law is defined as a sub-discipline of sociology, an approach

within legal studies or a field of research in its own right, it remains intellectually dependent mainly
on the traditions, methods and theories of mainstream sociology and, to a lesser extent, on other
social sciences such as social anthropology, political science, social policy, criminology and
psychology. As such, it reflects social theories and employs social scientific methods to study law,
legal institutions and legal behaviour.

SOCIOLOGY AND LAW

Sociology and Law are two interwoven topics. Society is directly related to Sociology and in this
matter, every society follows certain laws. Therefore, Laws are the essential part of the society.
Sociology helps law to better understand society for smoother regulation and formation of laws.
Similarly, the law is important to regulate a society. Norms, customs, traditions all these come under
the law if the law did not exist then the society would not be less than a jungle. A human need
certain rules and regulation to keep them on track and hence laws were made. These laws are made
and established by society itself or governments are elected to formulate laws. From the formation
to the execution till its impact on society everything comes under the umbrella of Sociology.

Laws are produced to and put into action through different societal processes. Every social
institution such as family, polity, crime, corporation also individuals all these requirements and
comprise of different laws.

In Sociology, we would say that law is a Social Control over Society. To have harmonious society one
needs to build laws. Social control is basically a component utilized by the administration which
manages the exercises of all people inside any general public, with the law being an immaculate
illustration. When something is orally people tend to ignore and take it lightly. So therefore now
people have to build Judiciary system and law enforcement agencies. When something goes wrong
these agencies look after that issue and hence people keep in mind what consequences they can
face if they go against the law and act as an example for others. This is also related to Politics but it is
also as important for Sociology. The different institution may likewise be utilized as types of social
control, for example, the training framework i.e. Schools and colleges, religion or media, contingent
upon how and to the degree which they are utilized. For example, every one of them has the ability
to show individuals an arrangement of good standards and principles, which is likewise a type of
social control.

Law is a societal phenomenon. Often law and sociology are seen as two different trains or domains
and different groups of information. However, law and Sociology has similar subject matters such as
both evolve around social relationships, principles, social controls, commitments and desires coming
from specific social status and connections between or among people and society. Anything
happening in social lives of people liable to lawful control and legal explanations does have
likenesses with the social hypothesis and frequently read like the social hypothesis.

Often laws get neglected due to developments in society. So, as the social changes occur there must
be changes in the law. Just like modern Sociology of law after Second World War sociology of law
became the field of learning and factual study but a law was not central but some well-known
sociologist wrote about a law in society. Sociologist Talcott Parsons in his work stated that law is the
essential part of social control. Later, critical sociologist evolved with an idea that law as a weapon of
power. Further sociologist Philip Selznick contended that modern law has become receptive to
general public’s need instead it should be drawn ethically as well. German Sociologist Nikolas
Lehmann shares that Law is functional system of society therefore he states

“All collective human life is directly or indirectly shaped by law. Law is like knowledge, an essential
and all-pervasive fact of the social condition.”

Hence, in simple words Law is an essential element of Society and Society work smoothly with the
law. Both go hand in hand. One needs to understand Societies different elements for better Law
formation and enforcement and same goes for society to have peaceful and well-structured society
laws should be followed.

EMILE DURKHEIM ON LAW AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY:

It is the singularly most notable achievement of Emile Durkheim that he worked consistently and
successfully towards the institutionalization of sociology as an academic discipline. In the sharpness
of his formulation of the material and formal subject matter of sociology, in the innovativeness of his
methodology, and in the ability to build a sociological school of thought, Durkheim knows no equals.
It is the good fortune of the sociology of law to be able to rely not only on Durkheim's sociological
project in general, but also on his contributions to the sociological study of law in particular.

Durkheim's analysis of law in his sociological study of the moral foundations of the division of labour
is well known among sociologists. To empirically examine the transformation of society from the
mechanical to the organic type, Durkheim turned to the evolution of law as an indicator of the
changing moral foundations of society. Durkheim's central concern, to show that modern society is
characterized by a solidarity that preserves individualism, remains valuable today. The value of this
approach is not exhausted with reference to the empirical adequacy of Durkheim's theses on law,
such as concerning the evolution from repressive to recitative law. For in addition to sketching an
empirical model of law in society, Durkheim's sociology of law also encompasses an innovative
approach to the study of law. This approach centrally revolves around the recognition that the
normative dimension of society enables both evaluative as well as scholarly perspectives.
SOCIOLOGY OF LAW

The sociology of law became clearly established as an academic field of learning and empirical
research after the Second World War. After World War II, the study of law was not central in
sociology, although some well-known sociologists did write about the role of law in society. In the
work of Talcott Parsons, for instance, law is conceived as an essential mechanism of social control. In
response to the criticisms that were developed against functionalism, other sociological perspectives
of law emerged. Critical sociologists, developed a perspective of law as an instrument of power.
However, other theorists in the sociology of law, such as Philip Selznick, argued that modern law
became increasingly responsive to a society's needs and had to be approached morally as well. Still
other scholars, most notably the American sociologist Donald Black, developed a resolutely scientific
theory of law on the basis of a paradigm of pure sociology. Equally broad in orientation, but again
different, is the autopoietic systems theory of the German sociologist Nikolas Lehmann, who
presents law or "the legal system" as one of the ten function systems of society.

All collective human life is directly or indirectly shaped by law. Law is like knowledge, an essential
and all-pervasive fact of the social condition.

— Nikolas Luhmann, A Sociological Theory of Law

In more recent years, a very wide range of theories has emerged in the sociology of law as a result of
the proliferation of theories in sociology at large. Among the recent influences can be mentioned the
work of the French philosopher Michel Foucault, the German social theorist Jürgen Habermas,
feminism, postmodernism and deconstruction, neo-Marxism, and behaviourism. The variety of
theoretical influences in the sociology of law has also marked the broader law and society field. The
multi-disciplinary law and society field remains very popular, while the disciplinary speciality field of
the sociology of law is also "better organized than ever in institutional and professional respects".

BIBILIOGRAPHY

For the successful completion of this assignment, I drew references from the following
sources:
www.google.com
www.sociologygroup.com
www.oxfordscholarship.com
www.jstor.org