NCJ Number
121983
Editor(s)
M J Lerner
Date Published
1990
Length
281 pages
Annotation
This interdisciplinary compendium of essays promotes a concept of social conflict and control in law and justice that includes social, political, economic, and legal controls.
Abstract
Written by prominent scholars in law, sociology, anthropology, political science, social work, and economics, the compendium discusses instructional programs in law and the social sciences, deviance, and the origin of order and the dynamics of justice. The first essays examine the influence of legal professionalism on lawyers, conflict management, reasons why people deviate in socially constructive versus socially destructive ways, deviance and rule violation, the origin and significance of social movements that promote social change in response to justice, and ways in which justice is used as a facade for inappropriate State dominance. The essays also address the relation between law, order, and justice and the link between assumptions about crime, criminals, opportunity, time, and other variables and social control. The authors generally indicate that justice is not an objective condition, but rather a varying perspective on rights, duties, and responsibilities. The pursuit of individual and collective freedom for social control produces contrasting definitions of deviance. It is suggested that emphasis be placed on social deviation rather than on individual deviance and that understanding social structure is fundamental to promoting justice and dispute resolution. 510 references, 5 tables, 3 figures.