Socio-Legal Methods

In its most basic form, sociology is “the study of how society is organised”, investigating “the origin, development, organisation and functioning of human society.” Socio-legal studies, on the other hand, analyse the law from a range of perspectives, giving rise to a range of social-legal methods of research “by bringing to bear the insights of other disciplines, including economics and other social sciences, history, literary theory, philosophy, and more.” This has led some to comment that socio-legal methods of research could be considered “a scholarly field distinguished by its commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and multidisciplinary research methods”. Indeed, this multidisciplinary approach casts light on several areas of law which a study of statutes and case law would not otherwise have revealed.

A prime example would be Milgram’s 1963 psychology experiment, which sought to investigate the nature of obedience and authority following World War II. To ensure that participants were ‘blind’ as to the true nature of the experiment, Milgram asked participants to assist with a ‘learning’ experiment, in which the ‘teacher’ would administer an increasingly potent electric shock each time the ‘learner’ gave an incorrect answer. Unbeknownst to the participants, the ‘learner’ was always an actor, and the draw on which role the participant would play was fixed so that the participants were always given the role of ‘teacher’. As the ‘learner’, in a separate room, continually gave wrong answers, the participant was instructed to administer increasingly dangerous voltage levels (although the ‘learner’ was not shocked in reality), the highest of which were marked ‘dangerous’ (300V) and ‘XXX’ (450V). After 315V, the ‘learner’ cou...

... middle of paper ...

...or is adequate engages the social science discipline of philosophy. In considering criminal law, the psychology that drives people to commit crimes should be taken into account. History may teach us not to repeat past mistakes, or how to best learn from them. Literature may reveal the injustices of the law, or highlight features that are lacking. Every kind of social science is likely to be of relevance at some point; the law cannot be exist simply in the legal sphere – it must consider those whose lives will be impacted by it, and look to society for inspiration as to its substance, just as society should be able to look to the law for guidance. A socio-legal approach “allows us to consider the role of law among groups that are no longer necessarily united by a single society, culture or nation state”, and instead create the most just and effective laws possible.