Legal Construct, Social Concept by Larry Barnett

Author:Larry Barnett [Barnett, Larry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781351509169
Google: Cx4uDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-07-12T01:58:09+00:00

Conclusion

The evidence reviewed in this and preceding chapters strongly suggests that the social system in the United States is relatively impervious to influence by legislation and litigation. As a component of the system, legal doctrine appears to be a dependent variable, affected by social circumstances but not appreciably affecting them. The evidence is thus contrary to popular notions regarding law and will be lamented by many. However, the inability of law to modify social patterns can also be considered a societal asset. For a social system to be molded by legal doctrine, two conditions are presumably necessary: societal homogeneity and centralized control. These conditions, however, appear to endanger the ability of a society to respond effectively to pressures for significant change. To be capable of adapting to consequential alterations in its environment, a social system would seem to require the same attributes that allow a biological ecosystem to survive severe stress created by an external source, viz., diversity and complexity.44 The ineffectiveness of law as an instrument for social change may thus be a concomitant of the heterogeneity and decentralization created by relatively high population density45 and of a greater resilience conferred on society by that density. From a macrosociological perspective, in short, the marginal social impact of law may be understood as neither aberrant nor deplorable but, rather, an inherent and advantageous aspect of our social system.

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