Introduction
In the book, “The Behavior of Law” Donald Black tries to explain how the conduct of law is a social phenomenon. Black describes a general, quantitative and predictive theory that describes the various conditions within which law is applied or can be applied. Black argues that since law is a social phenomenon, it does not take into account the human nature concept. As such, law can be explained without incorporating a person’s motivations or any other psychological motivations. This means that the theory does not take into account the rationality of human beings and also the goals and objectives of law. In explaining the theory, Black gives a number of predictive statements that are aimed at anticipating the direction of law in the various locations. Black states that the behavior of law is dependent on five aspects of social life that include: stratification, organization, morphology, conventionality (culture) and social control.
Chapter 2
In this chapter, Black introduces the concept of stratification; which he describes as the vertical aspect of society. As he had described in the previous chapter, the vertical aspect corresponds to social class or the socio-economic status (SES) of people in the society. Stratification also represents the uneven distribution of material goods in society. To put it even more clearly, stratification represents the wealth inequality that exists in many societies all over the world. Stratification, as Black indicates, has a number of aspects such as the magnitude in wealth difference (vertical distance) and the extent to which wealth has been distributed among the layers (vertical segmentation). As a result, stratification varies among individuals, places and among ethnicities. The author takes note of the fact that stratification explains law. Black explains that the stratification quantity is the vertical distance between people in a society. The difference in wealth is always measured among people whether is in terms of the amount of cattle one has, the amount of grain in granaries or in terms of money saved. Black argues that this variation always predicts and explains how the quantity of law works. Black claims that the more stratified a society is, the more law it has; meaning that law has a direct variation with stratification. This can be seen in the ancient tribes that had families that were equal before colonialism and had fewer laws but with colonialism, stratification became more evident and hence more laws.
Black argues that law varies with stratification. He takes note of the fact that people holding different ranks in the society are more likely to take their cases to court or pursue other legal means as opposed to people who are on the same rank. He also highlights the fact that prosecution, punishment and conviction also vary with social stratification. He cites the example of two people from different who have been involved in an accident are more likely to go to court rather than look for other means of settling the problem. According to Black, this is also an issue in the case of a citizen and a law enforcement officer or legal official. It so happens that a person who ranks lowly in the society is more likely to end up in court and face judgment and punishment as opposed to a person who ranks highly who may pay fines in the end rather than face punishment.
Black also puts forth the argument that law varies directly with rank. As he explains, he says that people occupying the lower ranks are more susceptible to the law application. For instance, Black gives the example of non-whites, women and the poor who are more vulnerable to the law than whites, men and the rich in society. This is mainly because the poor, non-whites and women occupy the lower ranks within the stratification system. With regards to their economic status, the poor are most likely to be defined as criminals due to their behaviors. The poor are most likely to be subjected to investigations, arrest, prosecution and judgments. As such, the poor, traditionally, have encountered more law or have been severely punished in the criminal judicial system. In contrast, the rich have sort of been immune to the law. People occupying the higher ranks are less likely to encounter lawsuits, be arrested, convicted or receive punitive measures. This shows that the higher ranks have fewer laws than the poor.
The degree of distance between a person who has a higher socio-economic status and another one that has a lower socio-economic status is also an issue that is very important, according to Black. Black argues that the degree of separation between the two parties (offender and victim) by their relative socio-economic status also determines the actions that will be taken and the course of the lawsuit. It is important to take note of whether the two are on extreme ends of socio-economic status or are slightly closer, for example a rich company CEO and a poor man or a middle class worker and a normal blue collar worker. The separation between the locations of the two is what Black refers to as vertical separation. The movement may be from a wealthier man to a poor man (downward movement) or from a poor man to a wealthier man (upward movement). In so doing, Black claims that crime has a direction. Black claims that the downward law is more powerful than the upward law. He further claims that the application of punishment or judgment is more likely to have a downward direction rather than an upward direction. Black takes the example of police in the USA handling more crimes committed by the African Americans that the reverse, more juveniles than adults and more poor people than the wealthier people. When people from the socio-economic status commit crimes to people that are higher up the socio-economic status, the crime will be considered as a very serious crime. With the different in ranks, the offence by a lower-ranked person to a wealthier man becomes more serious than when it comes from the top down. In cases where a wealthier man is punished by being sentenced to serve, the wealthier is more likely to obtain bail or face better conditions that the lower-ranked person.
According to Black, law varying with rank is constant for societies. All over the world, different locations and societies have different levels of wealth and hence they have different ranks. As a result, application of law will vary with the rank (S) in the society. Black takes note of the fact that traditional societies have always had fewer laws than the industrialized societies. He cites the example of the African communities that had very few laws before the laws were introduced by the whites. Further, Black indicates that individuals in the wealthier locations are more likely to file complaints which might lead to arrests than those individuals from the poorer regions. Also, an offender in a wealthier region will receive harsh punitive measures than offender in the poorer region. This shows how typically the law is applied in regions.
Chapter 3
In this chapter, Black covers the topic of morphology. He refers to this as the horizontal aspect of social life. Morphology has the dimensions such as intimacy and differentiation that can be connected in a manner similar to stratification and the behavior of law. However, in this case, there is a curvilinear correlation between the variables (Black, 39). Black states that within each vertical layer, there is some sort of hierarchy that differentiates one person in the layer form the other member of that same layer. Black describes morphology as the distribution of people in society including their integration, intimacy, networks of interaction and their division of labor. Regarding societal integration, Black argues that the social life always has people at the core and those that are at the periphery. The people that are at the core (center) of the social life increase their integration levels while those at the periphery are weakly integrated and marginalized. As such morphology can be used as a measure of the extent to which people are active in the social life. According to Black, a number of factors such as marital status, employment and financial status affect integration levels. Black states that the law is more in cases where the society is independent and less in places where the society is more intimate and well integrated. The distance of relation between people determines the level of intimacy. The hierarchy also explains the style and form of law that will be applied. Law may be applied as compensatory or penal, conciliatory or therapeutic. Black explains that the more law in a society means that the society is differentiated and is more intimate but further explains that such a positive correlation only exists until the people in that society become interdependent on each other. In such a point, the law will start decreasing as people would be more close to each other and help each other out on various things.
It so happens that people who are more intimate are more likely to see each other as friends while people that are complete strangers may see each other as adversaries. Strangers may view each other as danger since they do not have a connection or know each other well enough. People that are intimate are more likely to help each other out in case of a problem such as resolving conflicts through dialogues and reconciliation while strangers may decide to seek legal means to squash their issues. Black states that people that are marginalized or are considered marginal in the layer are most likely to be singled out blamed for problems in the society. A crime that is committed by an integrated offender is considered a less serious offence than one that has been committed by a marginalized defender. Additionally, a marginalized defender is most likely to be handed over to the authorities where he may be mistreated, arraigned in court and punished. Black states that a person who is marginalized is more susceptible to the law. He further states that a person without a family, jobless or lacks financial stability is more likely to get in trouble with law enforcement.
Black also offers a prediction that that the law varies with differentiation at the structural level. He states that more laws exist in locations with high divisions of labor, economic transactions and networks. On the other side, there are fewer laws in regions with poor networks, fewer divisions of labor and few economic transactions. In such societies, people are most likely to collaborate and get involved in the lives of each other. People in these simple societies would rather have few laws as they protect each other and would not want to offend the others. Thus, these simple societies are slightly immune from the law. Black offers the example of nomadic communities that have few property laws as their economic system is traditional but with the modern systems, they will need property rights and ownership. These are laws that are normally present in industrialized societies. Black states that social differentiation increases the social distance among people hence making them become total strangers. Societies that are differentiated use more laws while the less differentiated societies use fewer laws.
Tone of the Reading
Black employs an empirical tone in the reading. On many instances, Black has written empirical statements so as to argue out his behavior of law theory. Black states “Law varies directly with stratification” (Black, 13). Here Black indicates that in places where the social life involves a higher degree of inequality or stratification, the law will increase. This statement is highly testable in a real life setting using empirical evidence. By giving that statement, Black knows that it is easy to go to the field and carry out a research on stratification and the use of law. In the real world, it is common to observe that places that are inhabited with people that have a higher socio-economic status often have an organized form of living which is mainly governed by laws. With civilization and increased wealth, people tend to become aware of the need to protect what they own and to increase security. As such, these areas will have high security surveillance. Offenders in these high-end areas often face the full face of the law. Black knew of this relationship between stratification and law use and that is why he used the statement in the book. He goes on to give a number of examples such as the difference in the application of law between the ancient African communities and the civilized world where law use varies greatly.
Black goes on state “The relationship between law and differentiation is curvilinear” (Black, 39). This statement means that there would be a decrease in laws in areas where differentiation is low in terms of division of labor and also in cases where individuals lean towards interdependency. This statement is testable and also valid. Black gives the example of the poor neighborhoods where people tend to be interdependent as compared to the wealthier neighborhoods. Because of the interdependence between people in the poorer neighborhoods, there are fewer laws governing their day to day life. On the other hand, because of the limited and in some cases lack of interdependence between the wealthier individuals, may laws are put in place to govern their relations. Also, as people tend to have different jobs in the society (doctors, bankers etc.) the more rules they have. Due to the different times the leave for work and the time they arrive at their house after work, it is most likely to observe a number of laws. Poorer neighborhoods have limited division of labor and hence fewer laws. This is evident in the modern society and is logical.
Black goes on to state that “The relationship between law and relational distance is curvilinear” (Black, 41). This statement means that law decreases in areas where people are intimate and people who participate in each other’s’ life. This is an empirical statement given that it can be tested with actual empirical evidence. In close-knit societies, people tend to be close to each other and help each other in various ways. As a result, there are fewer laws that govern their relationships given that they understand each other well. On the other hand, in places where intimacy lacks between people in a society, people will adopt many laws to govern their relations. People in such areas see each other as strangers and hence limited interaction.
“Law directly varies with culture” (Black, 63) is another statement by Black that is empirical. It means that law increases in areas where culture and organization increases. The statement can easily be proven by empirical evidence. Societies that are highly organized tend to have an increase in laws as compared to the less organized societies. Since organization means following a kind of order, highly organized societies will have many rules. As Black noted, the ancient nomads had little organization hence fewer laws but with the introduction of order in the practice has brought about many rules such as those related to grazing lands and pasture. Black also mentions “Law varies inversely with other social control” (Black, 107). In this statement, Black alludes to the fact that there would be an increase in laws in areas where social control is available.
Critique
The book was clearly written by a scholar who had conducted a vast amount of research. Black uses simple language that can be understood by all. Additionally, he uses a number of examples to drive in the message among his readers. By using these many examples, Black engages the reader making sure that the reader does not find the book boring. Black has done a tremendous job in arguing out his points and defending his theory. He uses example to show the reader that he had conducted research. Many of his statements are empirical meaning that they are testable and also valid. By using data from various sources and quoting past literature, Black greatly improves the reliability of his study which has greatly influenced the reliability of his behavior of law theory. It could easily be seen in the real world how his theory applied. Relating his theory to real world situation was one of his greatest strength. Despite the value the book has added to sociology, its main weakness in the fact that it has not used any empirical evidence to prove any of the empirical statements that have been stated. For example, Black stated that whites and the wealthy are more likely to report crimes to the police. In as much as the statement can be empirically tested, there was no evidence to prove the statement. What Black used was examples but not empirical evidence to prove his theory. It is hence difficult for the author to substantiate his claims using empirical data. One could easily question the lack of empirical data or research in Black’s work. The theory is only based on observations but without testability, the theory is questionable. This is a major weakness of the book and really affects the reliability of the theory. In the theory that he put forth in the book, Black only ponders on the behavior of law rather than consider other aspects such as the purpose of law, the value of law, the impact of law. Additionally, the author does not propose any guidance, judgment or solutions. Black mainly bases his theory on sociology and omits the psychology of the individual from his or her assumptions on the behavior of law.
What I found Interesting
Even though the book had no empirical evidence, the use of real life examples clearly shows how relevant the behavior of law theory is relevant to sociology today. Although the book was written many years ago, the premise it puts forth is very relevant today. For example, the bias treatment of people due to their socio-economic status is very true even in today’s society. It is a common occurrence that the poor are usually roughed up, arrested and punished for crimes while the wealthy are not arrested or receive preferential treatment during punishment. This is also the case with the minority races that have had many cases with the law enforcement as compared to the Caucasians.
Works Cited
Black, Donald J. The Behavior of Law. , 2010. Print.
