Law, Societies and Justice

Emily I Ramirez
10/27/2022
University of Washington

Big Ideas Assignment (1)

Informal norms are the norms that are socially enforced by society. Informal norms and formal
norms have much in comparison such as the statement of implied rules. Formal norms tend to
have centralized enforced consequences whereas else informal norms have more inconsistent
consequences. These two types of norms highly influence each other in different aspects. Formal
norms tend to illustrate events such as laws and informal laws emphasize social attributes such as
social relationships or cultural aspects. Norms are extremely important because it is what keeps
humanity in order within This society. Whether it be with informal norms to keep our social life
in balance with one another and to establish law and order within our society and regulate
behavior. “This is surely a missed opportunity for cross-fertilization, not only for scholars of
Islamic law and society but also for the broader community of LSR readers who work on issues
of law and religion, legal consciousness, legal pluralism, rights contestation, or any number of
substantive areas that are core to our field. We hope that this special issue will help to close the
gap between scholarship on Islamic law and society and the broader field of law and
society.”(Moustafa and Sachs Law and Society Review Special Issue Introduction: Islamic Law,
Society ...) This is in connection with how different types of norms are important in different
situations. And the connection between them both. Informal norms are important because they
shape our society ”Ella says there were no records or written law but there was a traditional code
consisting of a regulation promulgated by former kings or followed by General consent which
governed the tenure of lands the right to property and personal security and exchange or barter.”(
Merry Colonizing Hawai'i: The Cultural Power of Law) this also shows informal norms that
incorporate religion are highly subjective to people.
2. Can one argue that either formal social control or informal social control is more
important in structuring individual behavior? Why or why not? Consider
examples from class, readings, and your own life.
I believe one can argue that informal social control is more important than formal control when
structuring someone's behavior. Informal social control connects with an individual more than
formal social control. informal. Social norms are mainly enforced in a smaller aspect which helps
with character development. In the same aspect where informal means are learned within a
culture or an environment, it connects with an individual's identity, morals, and values. I can
connect this to my personal life, everything I do that I have learned within society such as having
manners or within my culture to kids and my parents when entering the house and being kind to
the elderly. These things all structured me to be the person I am today. “The first type of
attribution entails environmental influences that officials believe cause delinquency and
crime...An eight-item summed score of negative external attributions was derived from
indicators of factors in the youth's im- mediate social environment ("peers are delinquent,"
Law, Societies and Justice
Emily I Ramirez
10/27/2022
University of Washington
"peers are a negative influence," "dysfunctional family," "lots of family conflict," "poor grades,"
"poor school attendance," "uses drugs and/or alcohol," and "has drug/alcohol
problems").”(Bridges and Steen [pdf] racial disparities in official assessments of juvenile
offenders: Attributional stereotypes as mediating mechanisms: Semantic scholar) this is a perfect
example from the reading because it shows how external influences that are tied in with social
norms affect someone's behavior, in this case, many young people commit crime due to the
social influences that are around them. Informal norms can be either good or bad but directly
influence a person's behavior toward themselves and society.

3. Socio-legal scholars argue that law is “indeterminate” and that we need to study
more than just the words of law. What do they mean by this, and why is law
considered indeterminate? How does that matter to real world experiences?

The argument that we have an indeterminate system of law is due to the lack of actual
implication of the law in society( law in action), they focus on how the law is too broad and not
be used in every single case/situation due to the change within our society. This matters in the
real world because it Law is a formal norm that enforces norms and rules in society. This is also
important because this provides multiple outcomes to the same or very similar situations. “Law
is indeterminate to the extent that legal questions lack single right answers. In adjudication, the
law is indeterminate to the extent that authoritative legal materials and methods permit multiple
outcomes to lawsuits. If arguments for radical indeterminacy are valid, they may raise serious
doubts about the possibility of legitimate, nonarbitrary legal systems and adjudicative
procedures.”(Kress Legal Indeterminacy - JSTOR) Kress explains this very well due to the law
being indeterminate, we as people are not subjected to a firm legal decision because there are
many different interpretations of statutes. “Unlike many of the colonized states of Africa, Hawaii
did not adopt a dual legal system for foreigners and natives, but created a unitary system
modeled on the west. yet under this new legal order people were arrested convicted, and
sentenced for social and sexual practices that help previously be acceptable within Hawaiian
communities”( Merry Colonizing Hawai'i: The Cultural Power of Law) this is an example of
how written law does not always come into play in the exact way it was internationalized.

4. What is the relationship between law and (in)equality? Do you think law enhances
or diminishes experiences of equality, in what ways, and why does it matter?

The law was first established to enforce the rules and norms within a society. Law works hand
and hand with equality because it creates rules which affect one's life, and how one should be
seen and behave within society. For example, when the Jim Crow law was created it segregated
blacks and whites and also made black and white educational systems that were not created equal
which implemented fewer opportunities for people of color which creates inequality.“More than
a fifth of Black women live below the poverty line, but their lives are largely invisible. Instead,
Law, Societies and Justice
Emily I Ramirez
10/27/2022
University of Washington
popular culture and mainstream media outlets are! dated on Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé Knowles,
and Michelle Obama, to whom they turn for insights into the experiences of Black
women.”(Taylor Until black women are free, none of us will be free) in other words people of
color still experience inequality in today's society however are comparing the 1 percent of people
that are successful to give a false representation of what the majority of black people experience.
Taylor also said “Much of what is meant by identity politics in its contemporary idiom is simply
representation—the presence of Black, queer, gendered, and classed bodies with almost no
attention paid to their political commitments. But The radicality of Black women’s politics was
based on their position at the bottom.”(Taylor Until black women are free, none of us will be
free) this shows how injustice is not only made towards BIPOC people but also creates injustice
towards the LGBTQ community and all of the people that do not fit the American standard.

5. What are some different types of law throughout the world? Do they ever coexist
or conflict with each other in the same place? What are the consequences of these
different types of law on the lives of everyday people?

There are mainly five different types of laws: civil law, common law, customary law, mixed law,
and religious law. Many counties share their type of law which makes it easier to agree upon
certain aspects and decisions in their democracy. However many counties adopt more than one
type of law and that is where there is a conflict with other counties. The consequence of having
different types of laws is The conflict between laws which is called private international law.
This can cause disagreement between counties and can also even get as bad as starting wars with
one another. This also has many effects on people that are accustomed to different laws.
Law, Societies and Justice
Emily I Ramirez
10/27/2022
University of Washington
Works cited

Bridges, George S., and S. Steen. “[Pdf] Racial Disparities in Official Assessments of

Juvenile Offenders : Attributional Stereotypes as Mediating Mechanisms: Semantic Scholar.”

Undefined, 1 Jan. 1998,

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Racial-disparities-in-official-assessments-of-%3A-as-Bri

dges-Steen/7f2b5bc0dbb9dd4a70d996b22712579763645f67.

Kress, Ken. “Legal Indeterminacy - JSTOR.” California Law Review, 1989,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3480606.pdf.

Merry, Sally Engle. “Colonizing Hawai'i: The Cultural Power of Law.” Goodreads,

Goodreads, 1999, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1061329.Colonizing_Hawai_i.

Moustafa, Tamir, and Jeffrey Adam Sachs. “Law and Society Review Special Issue

Introduction: Islamic Law, Society ...” Law and Society Review, 2018,

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lasr.12360.

Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. “Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free.”

The New Yorker, 20 July 2020,

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/until-black-women-are-free-none-of-us-will-b

e-free.