Society and Law

List of Figures
Preface

1 Introduction
Manifest Functions of Law
Latent Functions of Law
Dysfunctions of Law
Law as a Social Construction
Max Weber’s Sociological Approach to the Study of Law
1. The Moral Approach
2. The Jurisprudence Approach
3. The Sociological Approach
Chapter Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for Kids for Cash

2 The Rule of Law and Major Legal Systems
The Rule of Law
Criteria for the Rule of Law
The Rule of Law in the United States
Typologies of Law
Weber’s Three Features
Major Legal Systems
Romano-Germanic System, or Civil Law
Common Law Systems
Socialist Legal Systems
Islamic Legal Systems
Functions of Law
Social Control
Dispute Resolution
Social Change
Chapter Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for the Corporation

3 Modernization and Theoretical Perspectives on Society and Law
The Evolution of Legal Systems
Modernization and the Expansion of Law
Traditional Legal Systems
Transitional Legal Systems
Modern Legal Systems
Theories of Law and Society
Early European Scholars of Law
Classical Sociological Theories of Society and Law: Durkheim, Marx, and Weber
Sociolegal Theorists
Basic Tenets of Legal Realism
Current Theories of Society and Law
Critical Legal Studies (CLS)
Feminist Legal Theory
Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Intersectional Approaches to Society and Law
Chapter Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for Little Injustices: Laura Nader Looks at the Law

4 The Organization of Law
The Courts
Dispute Categories
Organization of the Courts
Participants in Court Processes
Litigation in the Court Systems
Civil Cases
Criminal Cases
Legislatures
Administrative Agencies
The Administrative Process
Law Enforcement Agencies
Chapter Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for Runaway Jury

5 Lawmaking and the Social Construction of Laws
Social Constructionist Approach to Lawmaking Legislation
The Instigation and Publicizing Stage
Information-Gathering Stage
Formulation Stage
Interest Aggregation Stage
Mobilization Stage
Modification
Administrative Rulemaking/Lawmaking
The Administrative Process
Judicial Lawmaking
Lawmaking by Precedents
The Interpretation of Statutes
The Interpretation of Constitutions
Influences on Lawmaking Processes
Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for Food, Inc.

6 Law and Social Control
Social Control: Why do Most People Behave Most of the Time?
Internalization of Norms
Control through External Pressures: Sanctions
Informal Social Control
Formal Social Control
Criminal Sanctions
Why We Punish
Does the Threat of Death Deter Criminals?
Who is Punished? Disproportionate Minority Sentencing
Who is Not Punished Proportionately? White-Collar Crime
Administrative Law and Social Control
Licensing
Inspection
Threat of Publicity
Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for The Thin Blue Line

7 Law and Dispute Processing
Private Wrongs and Public Outcries
Stages of Dispute Processing
Methods of Dispute Resolution
Primary Resolution Processes
Negotiation
Mediation
Arbitration
Forced or Mandatory Arbitration
Adjudication/Litigation
Hybrid or Combined Forms of Resolution Processes
Collaborative Law
Settlement Counsel
Partnering
Rent-A-Judge
Mediation-Arbitration or Med-Arb
“Mini-Trial”
Who Can Sue? Justiciability and Standing
Types of Private Wrongs
Intentional Acts
Negligence
Strict Liability
Property Disputes
Contract Disputes
Family Disputes
Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for the film, Hot Coffee

8 Law and Social Change
Law and Social Change
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)
Friedrich Karl von Savigny (1779–1861)
Social Changes as Causes of Changes in Law
New Technologies as Catalysts for Change
Revenge Porn or Nonconsensual Pornography
Texting While Driving
Law as an Instrument of Social Change
Case In Point: Same-Sex Marriage Laws and Laws
Attempting to Block Same-Sex Marriage
The Advantages of Law as an Instrument of Social Change
The Limits of Law in Creating Social Change
Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for RBG

9 Gate-Keeping and the Law: The Legal Profession
The Practice of Law: A Brief History
The Evolution of the Legal Profession and the Professionalization of Lawyers in the United States
Legal Education: The Growth of Law Schools in the United States
The Current Picture for Law Schools in the United States
The American Bar Association
The Legal Profession Today
Stratification within the Legal Profession
Stratified Law Schools
Stratified Law Practices
Big Law
Small Law or Private Practice
Government Lawyers
Advocacy Law/Nonprofit Law/Public Interest Law
Diversity in Practice? Law and Diversity
Crashing the Gate: Deprofessionalization and the Practice of Law
Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions For A Civil Action

10 Gender, Inequality, and Law
Law at the Intersections: Intersectionality
Feminist Legal Scholarship/Feminist Jurisprudence
The Social Construction of Gender
The Separate Spheres Ideology
Legal Constructions of Gender
Early America: Women, Law, and the Colonial Era, 1630–1763
The Revolutionary to Post-Revolutionary Period, 1763–1815
The Civil War and the Period of Reconstruction, 1861–1877
The Progressive Era and First Wave Feminism, 1890–1920
Second-Wave Feminism, 1960s to 1980s
Feminist Jurisprudence: Sameness, Difference, or Both?
Third-Wave Feminism, 1990s to 2000s
Fourth-Wave Feminism?
#Metoo
Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for the Film North Country

11 Race, Inequality, and Law
Critical Race Theory
The Social Construction of Race
Legal Constructions of Race
Racial Prerequisite Cases: Race and Citizenship
The Naturalization Act of 1790
In re Ah Yup, 1878
Ex parte Shahid, 1913
Ozawa v. United States, 1922
The End of Racial Prerequisites
Race and Marriage: Anti-Miscegenation Law in the Twentieth Century
Kirby v. Kirby, 1922
The Estate of Monks, 1941
Loving v. Virginia, 1967
Law And Social Change Revisited
Executive Order 13769: The Travel Ban
Summary
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
Suggested Movie
Discussion Questions for The Loving Story

Glossary
References
Index

Hayden (criminal justice, Merrimack College) has written a reader-friendly textbook for undergraduates in courses in sociology, criminology, criminal justice, and social justice. Intended to engage students on a personal level, the book is jam-packed with figures, black-and-white photos, cartoons, and other visuals. Especially helpful is the highlighting in bold of important key terms defined in an extensive glossary. Special features found in every chapter include summaries, critical thinking questions, and movie suggestions. Other pedagogical tools are "Case in Point" boxes that provide extended examples, "Legalese" boxes that define legal terms, and "Sidebar" boxes that explain legal concepts. Many examples and cases are related to Massachusetts. . . Hayden does a good job of overlaying topics of relevance to law and the legal system, including the rule of law, the organization of law, lawmaking, dispute processing, and the legal profession. The chapters on the legal constructions of gender and race are insightful. Though intended as textbook, the volume might find use as a secondary resource for those studying social justice.



Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates.