The function of law in industrial societies. The systems of law are so far reaching that we find legal rules and procedures in all area of social behaviour. It is necessary to cast aside popular misconception that law is limited to the control of criminal behaviour. The purpose of law is not just to maintain social order, mitigate conflict, or to promote interrogation but to protect and create social harmonies. Law is implicated in the construction of diverse and distant social worlds, such as social networks and organisations, dinner tables, hospitals, movie theatres and social movements. Durkheim believed as was said earlier that law is not just limited to the control of crime but its impact on social significance. He said “ Crime was not only normal in any society, but was also functional. No society exists in which some level of crime was not evident. As functional as it served to reinforce social norms proved the raw material for social change and provide a safety valve for social discontent, where people can simply disobey the law, rather than seeking to change it.” Law will reflect the society that we are in, law impacts us on a daily basis, but also creates structures. As Durkheim said “ Law is bound up with the fundamental conditions of all social life and serves a social function” Law therefore consists of cultural schemas and resources that operate to define social and pattern social life. Social structures and legality is constructed through every day actions and practices, through repeated invocations of the law, legal concepts and terminology, as well as through imaginative and unusual associations. Exemplifying this is the every day things that we do such as; every package of food, piece of clothing,, every time we park a car, deliever clothing for dry cleaning, or simple things like leaving an umbrella in a cloakroom we are informed for limited liability for loss. Newspapers, television, novels, plays, magazines and movies are all full of legal images. We pay our bills because they are due; we respect our neighbours property because it belongs to them; we drive on the right side of the street because it is expected. Contracts, property or traffic rules seem not only necessary but natural and an inevitable part of social life. Parsons had the theory that common values provide the basis for social order, this could be the underlying reason why the examples above are carried out in such a manner and why every day things and the way in which people conduct themselves and the decisions and actions that people make when living in society today. Legality is therefore not inserted into social situations, it has evolved and adapted into society through imaginative and unusual associations. Sociologist theories stand out as the most developed perspective that contemplate the role of law in a social environment. Emile Durkheim believed, law was the measurable indicator of society’s morality which is analysed in terms of causes and functions. Large organic societies of modern times allow for greater individual variation in thought and action. With the increasing range of functions and tasks in modern societies comes an increasing differentiation between individuals. The consequence of this is that law secures order as well as diversifying to allow restitution and reintegration should legal norms be broken. Society needs a strong moral force to hold it together. Both Durkheim and Webber offered similar views regarding the forms and functions of law as both expressions or broader social formalities, in particular the transformations towards modernity and as a channel for developing social sensitivities, interests and actions. So law is part of the complex social totality, in which it constitutes and is constituted, shapes and is shaped. Law is an aspect of social structure. Social structure is the pre existing patterns of social reality that influence us on a daily basis. It is the frame work of society that dictates to us the appropriate behaviour and attitudes depending on our particular status within the overall structure of society. Law should be called an institutional phenomenon. Lopez and Scott define social structure as “social structure is seen as comprising the relationships themselves, understood as patterns of casual interconnection and interdependence among agents and their actions, as well as the positions that they occupy”. Firstly it deals with normative patterns to which various kinds of sanctions are applied. The second characteristic of law is that it is non specific when referring to the different categories such as the economy, which provides society with a monetary base and the means to produce and distribute goods. Examples of this include politics; which is responsible for providing leadership and laws governing behaviour. Education; which provide the means to teach members of society how to be productive and intelligent members. Another category is Family, which provides the means to reproduce and to socialise with children. Religion which provides guidance for many issues the most being the meaning of life and death. The above categories bring us to the conclusion that any social relationship can be regulated by the law. Therefore it seems justified that law should be treated as a generalised mechanism of social control that operates diffusely in virtually all sectors of society. Lopez and Scott in their definition of social structure referred to “positions that people occupy”. Social structure determines one’s social class, through their status within society.
Social class consists of ones educational level, occupational prestige, income, wealth and can include other factors such as wealth, race and gender Individuals are greatly influenced by ones social class, which can be unfair to those who are less privileged. Exemplifying this issue, depending on someone’s class, there are distinct differences in attitudes and behaviours regarding work, these issues include gender; some argue that men and women who have otherwise equal qualifications receive different treatment in the workplace because of their gender. Others note that individuals are sometimes viewed as having different essential qualities based on their race and ethnicity. These social distinctions often go unexamined because they appear to be the result of social structures. The theorist Max Weber agreed that different classes exist, but he thought that “status” was the key factor in deciding which group each of us belongs to. So where we live, our manner of speech, our schooling, our leisure habits, these and many other factors decide our social class. More importantly he believed that the way in which people think about their life chances. For example if we think that we can become a respected and highly valued member of wider society, then this is likely to put us in a higher social class than others. A child who attends private school, lives in a large house, has parents who are “professional” people is likely to feel that she/he has a greater chance of becoming generally respected compared to a child who was educated in an inner city and who lives in a council estate. As mentioned above as some of the elements consisting of social class such as education. It was argued by Talcott Parsons that education is like a bridge between the family and wider society, preparing us for our adult roles in society Parsons argues that schools perform the function of role allocation. Max Weber thought that status was the key factor in deciding which group each of us belong to, this can be the case for role allocation within the society too.
Role allocation is now used to describe both a status and the behaviours associated with it. Secondly role allocation can refer to the behaviours exhibited by someone of a certain status. Role allocation refers to the process by which roles are assigned to individuals and to the related dynamics of role entry an exit. Socialisation is the process in which social structure relays to individuals, the skills and attributes suitable with the role that they enact. Norms are the base of shared expectations for behaviour, the allocation of roles to individuals, the timing of role entry and exit, socialisation, experiences that facilitate role performance and social sanctions that are used when individuals fail to perform their roles. Talcott and Parsons believes that order, stability and cooperation in society are based on values consensus that is a general agreement by a member of society concerning what is good and worth while. Davis and Moore developed parsons idea of role allocation and linked it to social stratification. Social stratification is a means of ensuring that the most talented people fill the positions that are most functionally important for society. The high rewards for these top strata’s act as the incentives for the most able people to compete for these functionally important positions. For Davis and Moore education is the “providing ground for ability, a selective agency for placing people according to their capabilities”
Conclusion
