Sociology of Law

Functionalist Theorists argue that the Legal System supports Social Consensus rather than Social Conflict - a Critical Evaluation

1 .0 Introduction

In general the sociological approach is concerned with the collectiveness of people living in the society , the groups formed by them , and also the functions and values of the society in general . One of the major purposes of the sociological approaches is to explain the relationship that exists between the majority and minority . This majority /minority relationship is explained by an exploration of various attributes like

The basis of the

economic production of a society

The political system of the society

The predominate culture of the society

The general focus is concentrated on the established relationships and the presence of groups rather than on the individuals and their actions It tries to explore the patterns of relationships that have a bearing on the different types of majority /minority relationships . Several social considerations are taken in to account while one tries to explain the sociological relationships . One of such considerations can be found in the perspectives in sociology . Perceptive may include the components like an approach , a theory and values which are the normal ways of looking at a social problem . In the sphere of macro-sociology two influential perspectives may be found in the functionalist and conflict perspectives . Functional theorists argue that the social consensus is very important for a possible cooperation in the society and they further their argument by indicating that the conflicts have a tendency to destroy the consensus . Based on this ideology the fundamentalists argue that the legal system prevalent in a society supports the social consensus approach rather than the social conflict to restore harmony in the society . This examines the veracity of this argument by making a critical evaluation report

2 .0 and Conflict : Sociological Perspectives

In to elaborate a discussion on the argument of the fundamentalists on the social consensus it is important to describe the basic features of both the Functionalist theory and the conflict theory .2 .1 Characteristics of Functionalist Theory

Two perspectives based on a Functionalist approach and a Conflict approach influence the macro-sociology . Basically these approaches concentrate on theories about majority minority relations . The Functionalist approach can be traced in the works of eminent sociologists like Talcott Parsons , Kingsley Davis , and Wilbert Moore The work of Durkheim is another important one in the Functional analysis of sociology . According to Kitano (1985 ) Durkheim 's (1964 ) shift in the social stratification which has equated the society to a system with its need for and organic solidarity ' was necessitated for redefining the functional explanations . Here the different abilities and talents result in the presence of inequalities and Durkeim never advocated that it is possible for one group to dominate the other by using its power . Based in this theory Farley (2000 ) has identified the following characteristics of the Functionalist approach

2 .2 Society is made of a Number of Independent Parts

The important character of a society as outlined...