SOCI 3823 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Orthodox Marxism, Class Conflict, Statistical Significance
13 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Law is a social construct and studying it can help us understand how people work. Structural-functional theory focuses on advantages of social structure for both individuals and society. Emile durkheim: deviance is behavior that violates social norms and inspires negative social reactions. Mechanical (small homogeneous) vs organic (large, more complex) solidarity. Deviance tells us what is right and wrong. Talcott parson: focus on consensus of how societal institutions must function and harmony for society to be successful. Law reinforces values, norms, and rules that work organize society. Primary function of law is to mitigate social conflict and promote integrative social process for social discourse. Law reinforces norms of society often through legal sanctions. Strengths bond between people who don"t deviate. Conflict is normal and everywhere in society. Society is in a state of constant conflict because interest groups always compete for scarce resources. Groups with most are more likely to win. Law is a product of evolving economic forces.
