law as a social control
Module 5
Law as a social control
Laws are often referred to as a way to create and structure society. Without laws, would we be able to function. Laws have to be broken to create new laws. When laws are broken, new laws are created to correct the wrong. If laws are created just to be broken, why are they created at all?
Althoug legislatures, law makers and law enforcers are often shunned, I believe that they are the people who keep our society going. Without them, there wouldn't be change, we would still beliving in historical times. There wouldnt be civil rights, womens rights,etc. No matter what the law is, it will always effect peoples values, beliefs, and social structure differenlty. We all live very differently, therefore laws will effect us differently.
Can lawas be used as social control? Ofcourse, that is why they are there. Without laws, our world would be chaotic and ultimatley catastrophic. What is important is the use and abuse of the laws in existance. Walker discusses the issue to control police behavior. Do restraints on police officers help them when carrying out the law, or does it give them more power than needed. Althoug police are limited to what they can and can not do, doesn't mean that they follow the rules themselves. Police and power are two subjects that could be discussed for hours with no resolution. If police behavior was controlled internally (within the dept) there wouldnt miranda rights or any due process rights during search and seizure, interrogation, and arrest. And first and formost there wouldnt be rules to control police behavior in general. Deadly force is also discussed, this became a huge issue when the beating of Rodney King occured. LAPD became notorious for extensive and brutal police behavior.
We read many times, that police officers are involved in domestic violence themselves. I find this to be insane. One day they are out arresting an abusive man or women, and the next they are abusing thier own husband or wife. Lets be honest, it is often men. Recently, the Dona Ana county sheriff office lost two of thier patrolmen due to domestic violence, one officer went as far as pulling a gun (duty weapon) on his girlfriend. It is hard to believe that people would do this, especially when they know the law, and know the consequences.
web content????
I did a search for the subject as law as a social control, what I found was a bunch of univesity instructor syllabus. I did find one site that discussed the reality of social control.
www.uwgb.edu/austina/courses/cjp/ Lectures/Perspectives.ppt
So What?
Regarless of all the current issues that deal with law as a social control, in our society that is the only way to contol the bahaviors of the citizens. No matter what way you look at things, what ever happens, it effects the future of our society. Stuctural Functionalism, is a prime way to describe our society. Things we do today, affect what happens tomorrow. Laws are not made to be broken, however when they are broken, this give us an opportunity to update our system of crime control. Whether is is the rich or the poor creating the laws, somebody isn't going to be happy. Courts do have discretion, however they don't have the power to make things work out for everybody. Some people call our society a "melting pot", and others call it a very large "tossed salad." Call it what you will, ultimately it is the diversity that keeps our society so incredibly unique and unfounded. There isn't another country that has the power and capablities to be like ours, which explains the large number of immigrants in our country.
Law as a social control
Laws are often referred to as a way to create and structure society. Without laws, would we be able to function. Laws have to be broken to create new laws. When laws are broken, new laws are created to correct the wrong. If laws are created just to be broken, why are they created at all?
Althoug legislatures, law makers and law enforcers are often shunned, I believe that they are the people who keep our society going. Without them, there wouldn't be change, we would still beliving in historical times. There wouldnt be civil rights, womens rights,etc. No matter what the law is, it will always effect peoples values, beliefs, and social structure differenlty. We all live very differently, therefore laws will effect us differently.
Can lawas be used as social control? Ofcourse, that is why they are there. Without laws, our world would be chaotic and ultimatley catastrophic. What is important is the use and abuse of the laws in existance. Walker discusses the issue to control police behavior. Do restraints on police officers help them when carrying out the law, or does it give them more power than needed. Althoug police are limited to what they can and can not do, doesn't mean that they follow the rules themselves. Police and power are two subjects that could be discussed for hours with no resolution. If police behavior was controlled internally (within the dept) there wouldnt miranda rights or any due process rights during search and seizure, interrogation, and arrest. And first and formost there wouldnt be rules to control police behavior in general. Deadly force is also discussed, this became a huge issue when the beating of Rodney King occured. LAPD became notorious for extensive and brutal police behavior.
We read many times, that police officers are involved in domestic violence themselves. I find this to be insane. One day they are out arresting an abusive man or women, and the next they are abusing thier own husband or wife. Lets be honest, it is often men. Recently, the Dona Ana county sheriff office lost two of thier patrolmen due to domestic violence, one officer went as far as pulling a gun (duty weapon) on his girlfriend. It is hard to believe that people would do this, especially when they know the law, and know the consequences.
web content????
I did a search for the subject as law as a social control, what I found was a bunch of univesity instructor syllabus. I did find one site that discussed the reality of social control.
www.uwgb.edu/austina/courses/cjp/ Lectures/Perspectives.ppt
So What?
Regarless of all the current issues that deal with law as a social control, in our society that is the only way to contol the bahaviors of the citizens. No matter what way you look at things, what ever happens, it effects the future of our society. Stuctural Functionalism, is a prime way to describe our society. Things we do today, affect what happens tomorrow. Laws are not made to be broken, however when they are broken, this give us an opportunity to update our system of crime control. Whether is is the rich or the poor creating the laws, somebody isn't going to be happy. Courts do have discretion, however they don't have the power to make things work out for everybody. Some people call our society a "melting pot", and others call it a very large "tossed salad." Call it what you will, ultimately it is the diversity that keeps our society so incredibly unique and unfounded. There isn't another country that has the power and capablities to be like ours, which explains the large number of immigrants in our country.
