SOC 3568 - Sociology of Law

A dominant theme among many sociologists, jurists, and philosophers is that a primary function of law is to bring about social change. To this end, sociology of law will be explored through both historic and modern perspectives emphasizing the contributions of theorist such as Durkheim, Marx, Weber, Aquinas, Rousseau, Hobbs, Hart, Rawls, and Dworking. Specific issues to be addressed by the course include: (1) the evolution, functions, and forms of social control, (2) forms of legal thought as they relate to contemporary social and political order, (3) conditions that give rise to forms of social control and the staff of specialists that are its promoters, and (4) the degree of freedom and coercion existing in the form of law. Sociological conditions that give rise to major legal developments will be explored through key appellate and supreme courts cases. An additional emphasis of the course will be to investigate what role sociology and other social sciences should play in the process of making new laws and abolishing obsolete ones.