NCJ Number
146250
Editor(s)
D L Shapiro
Date Published
1994
Length
680 pages
Annotation
This is a law school casebook on the actual and potential uses of social science in the American legal process and how those uses might be evaluated.
Abstract
This book analyzes four subtopics, all of which are part of the larger involvement of social science in law: (1) substantive law, the legal rules which make the involvement relevant; (2) legal method, the process of managing the involvement; (3) social science findings, the relevant research results; (4) social science method, the techniques of carrying out and analyzing that research. The substance of the book identifies five major uses of social science in law: (1) determine facts; (2) make laws; (3) provide context; (4) plan the litigation of a case; and (5) plan a system of litigation. The book is divided into seven chapters: (1) Jurisprudential Origins of Social Science in Law (Early Developments; The Realist Movement); (2) A Primer of Social Science Methods (Asking Questions, Gathering and Interpreting Information); (3) Social Science Used to Determine Facts (Trademarks, Obscenity, Damages); (4) Social Science Used to Make Law (Legislative Facts, Constitutional Law, Common Law, Social Authority); (5) Social Science Used to Provide Context (Social Science as Context, Contexts for Determining Past, Present and Future Facts, Social Frameworks); (6) Social Science Used to Plan the Litigation of a Case (Choosing Venue, Jury, Instructions); and (7) Social Science Used to Plan a System of Litigation (Building Theory, Evaluating Innovations). Part II consists of a teachers manual. Footnotes, 4 appendixes, and an index