Synopses & Reviews
MySearchLab provides students with a complete understanding of the research process so they can complete research projects confidently and efficiently. Students and instructors with an internet connection can visit www.MySearchLab.com and receive immediate access to thousands of full articles from the EBSCO ContentSelect database. In addition, MySearchLab offers extensive content on the research process itself–including tips on how to navigate and maximize time in the campus library, a step-by-step guide on writing a research paper, and instructions on how to finish an academic assignment with endnotes and bibliography.
Theoretical Approach: Multidisciplinary - anthropology, political science, sociology, psychology, history, etc.
Key Features:
- Social Science perspectiveon law and legal system
- Examines both how law and legal system works and how it is supposed to work
- Current topics examined
Synopsis
Law and Society is written to be highly accessible to the average undergraduate student. This multidisciplinary text draws on the work of anthropologists, historians, law professors, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists to clearly outline how law is an essential social institution that shapes society, while also being shaped by it.
Synopsis
Theoretical Approach: Multidisciplinary - anthropology, political science, sociology, psychology, history, etc.
Key Features:
- Social Science perspectiveon law and legal system
- Examines both how law and legal system works and how it is supposed to work
- Current topics examined
About the Author
Steven E. Barkan is professor of sociology at the University of Maine, where he has taught since 1979. His teaching and research interests include criminology, sociology of law, and social movements. He is the 2008-2009 president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and had previously served as a member of the SSSP Board of Directors, as chair of its Law and Society Division and Editorial and Publications Committee, and as an advisory editor of its journal,
Social Problems. He has served on the student paper award committees of the Crime, Law, and Deviance and Sociology of Law sections of the American Sociological Association. Professor Barkan has written many journal articles dealing with topics such as racial prejudice and death penalty attitudes, views on police brutality, political trials, and feminist activism. These articles have appeared in the
American Sociological Review, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, Social Forces, Social Problems, Sociological Forum, Sociological Inquiry, and other journals. For Prentice Hall, he is the author of Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 4/e and of Law and Society: An Introduction (both coming out in early 2008).
Professor Barkan welcomes comments from students and faculty about these books. They may email him at [email protected] or send regular mail to: Department of Sociology, 5728 Fernald Hall, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469—5728.
Table of Contents
BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: The Social Nature and Significance of Law
Chapter 2: Understanding Law and Society
Chapter 3: Families and Types of Law
Chapter 4: Law and Dispute ProcessingChapter 5: Law and Social Control
Chapter 6: Law and Social ChangeChapter 7: Law and Inequality
Chapter 8: The Legal ProfessionChapter 9: Courts and Juries
COMPREHENSIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS
*Each chapter ends with Summary and Key Terms
Chapter 1: The Social Nature and Significance of Law
The Significance of Law for Society and for Ourselves
The Study of Law and Society
Law and Justice
The Plan of the Book
Chapter 2: Understanding Law and Society
What is Law?
Explanations of Law
Chapter 3: Families and Types of Law
Families of Law
Types of Law in the United States
Special Topics
Chapter 4: Law and Dispute Processing
The Disputing Process
Explaining Dispute Processing Decisions
Dispute Processing in the United States
Chapter 5: Law and Social Control
Law, Deterrence, and Incapacitation
Special Topics in Law and Social Control
Law, Morality, and Consensual Crime
Chapter 6: Law and Social Change
The Impact of Social Change on Law: Law as Dependent Variable
The Impact of Law on Social Change: Law as Independent Variable
Law and Social Movements
Chapter 7: Law and Inequality
Law and Inequality in the American Past
Race and Ethnicity
Contemporary Evidence
Race and Ethnicity
Chapter 8: The Legal Profession
Images and Perceptions of Lawyers
History of the Legal Profession
The U.S. Legal Profession Today
Law School and Legal Education
Chapter 9: Courts and Juries
Criminal Courts in the United States
The Jury in Democratic Society