Law And Social Change
The abstract idea of '' social change'' evinces dimension of some of the characteristics of a group of people. If any action which affects a group of people who shared values or characteristics can also be said as ''social change.'' Generally, the change in existing pattern of social life is known as '' Social hange''. Society and social conditions never remain static. Generally, social change is to be understood as change in social structure. !ccording to Gainsberg, social change is change in social structure e.g the si"e of a society, the composition or balance or its part or the type of its organisation. !ccording to #ones, ''social change devotes variation in, or modification of , any aspect of social process,social patterns, social interaction or social organisation.'' $avis observed that social change is large number of persons are engaging in activities that differ from those which their immefiate fore%fathers engaged in some time before. !ccording to !nderson and &arker, social chnage involved alteration and structure or functioning of forms or processes themselves. Social change means there is must change in social structure. Social structure which can be understood as nature, social behaviour, social relations, social organi"ations, community of people. Social change is change in the social order. !ccording to harles harles . (arper, '')significant alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time.) In this context, I deem it is apt to remember, the observation of $ennis *. +ox ''-ell%meaning ''-ell%meaning efforts by liberal psychologists to reform the law in keeping with values such as dignity, privacy, privacy, ustice, and e/uality are often misguided because law exists to serve ser ve the status /uo. aw inhibits the systemic, radical social change necessary for psychological and societal well%being. It does so through coercive power, substantive assumptions about human nature, the ideology of law's legitimacy, a preoccupation with procedure rather than substance, a focus on rational technicality rather than e/uity, and encouragement for limited, self%defeating legal solutions. &sycholegal scholars should arouse public dissatisfaction with law and assist social movements seeking to overcome legal impediments to social change. '' The theories of Social Change: 0. inear theory of social change 1. yclic theory of social change. Elements of Social Change: The word ''social change'' is used in history,politics, history,politics, economics,and sociology. Social change is also an issue in social work, political science, history,sociology, history,sociology, anthropology anthropology,, and in many social sciences. Social change is being created by revolution, protest,politics, communities, and by direct action. 2lements of social change can be separated as follows. 0. &hysical or geographical 1. 3iological 4. 2conomic
5. ultural 6. &sychological 7. Technical 8. &opulation Anthony Giddens observed social change as infra: Sociology was born of the transformations that wrenched the industriali"ing social order of the -est away from the ways of life characteristic of preceding societies. The world that was created by these changes is the primary obect of concern of sociological analysis. The pace of social change has continued to accelerate, and it is possible that we stand on the threshold of transitions as significant as those that occurred in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Shackman, Liu, and ang, observed two sources of social change. 9ne is '' systematic'' and another is ''non%systematic''. Technological innovation, climate change and changes forced by other countries which come under purview of non%systematic source of social change. Generally, changes to society occur through combination of systematic as well as non% systematic processes. 2isenstadt :0;84< argued that modernisation re/uired a basic level of free resources and the development of standardised and predictable institutions, such as a stable but flexible market system and political process. !n additional re/uirement was that governing institutions be flexible enough to adapt to the changes that come up.
= The classic (egelian dialectic model of change is based on the interaction of opposing forces. Starting from a point of momentary stasis, Thesis countered by !ntithesis first yields conflict but subse/uently results in a new Synthesis. = Thomas >uhn in The Structure of Scientific *evolutions argued with respect to the opernican *evolution that people are unlikey to ettison an unworkable paradigm, despite many indications that the paradigm is not functioning properly, until a better paradigm can be presented. = The Greek philosopher (eraclitus used the metaphor of a river to speak of change thus, )9n those stepping into rivers staying the same other and other waters flow) :$>11301<. -hat (eraclitus seems to be suggesting here, later interpretations notwithstanding, is that, in order for the river to remain the river, change must constantly be taking place. Thus one may think of the (eraclitan model as parallel to that of a living organism, which, in order to remain alive, must constantly be changing. = $aoist The hinese philosophical work $ao $e #ing, I.? and II.8? uses the metaphor of water as the ideal agent of change. -ater, although soft and yielding, will eventually wear away stone. hange in this model is to be natural, harmonious and steady, albeit imperceptible. Law as a means of social control:
Two fold obectives of law to serve is, firstly, to keep up stability and afford orderly life in the society. Secondly, to persuade social change by changing itself according to the needs of the changing society. Thus , law is an important agency of social control. The society supervenes the law for bettermost sociali"ation. *ule of law in any constitution is the bedrock for democracy. 3y putting fear in th minds of public, the law is a helpful agency for social control. aw regulates the behaviour of the people in society. aw, by using force, makes the people conscious about their duties and obligations. aw saves precious and good concepts of the society. The exploitation of the people is c urbed through law. The constitution of India, criminal , civil laws and other statutes are designed to surmount this goal. The functionalist slant: !ccording to Talcott &arsons, one of the leaders of this school, change stems from other social systems :through, for instance, cultural influence, as in the case of 2nglish education in the former colonies of the 3ritish 2mpire< and tensions and strains within the system itself, especially those related to economic activities. @ichael (aralambos, holds that the economy is solely responsible for resolving societal problems, with industrialism playing an especially crucial role. +unctionalists also trust that cultural norms and values unite society, which is, to a great extent, resistant to change, and thus make certain that change in social structure is likely to be slow if it conflicts with not easily modified cultural, religious or political principles. !ccording to (arper, short%term changes, as in family developmental stages, may be obvious and easy to comprehend, but they may not actually constitute changes at all in the long run . Law as an instrument of social change: To understand the social change through law and legal system, it is pertinent to understand that the working of legal system in the light of political,social,economic perspectives which can be seen in the constitution of India. aw is a mirror to know how people relate to one another , their values,what they consider worth preserving in life, and how they define their own security. Law and !ublic o"inion: The law , which is molded through public opinion is thus the result of state action in accordance with the public opinion. (ere it is necessary to remember that when *aiv Gandhi government waned to bring defamation bill, because of the opposition to the bill in the public, the government dropped the idea. The public opinion is the reflection of the &eoples will. &ublic opinion becomes law. Social change and the constitution of #ndia: &reamble is a key to open the statute and consists of source and obectives of the statute. iterally preamble means preliminary statement in writing or in speech or an introductory part of the statute. The word ''&re '' means ''before''. '' !mble'' means ''walk''. Thus , it is known the word '' preamble'' means ''before walk''.
The preambular declaration provides that we the people of India having solemnly resolved to
constitute India into a sovereign,socialist,secular,democratic republic and #ustice Social, economic and political iberty of thought, expression , belief, faith and worship. 2/uality of status and of opportunity and to promote among them all. +raternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The Supreme ourt of India in 3eru 3ari's case,0;7; observed that preamble is not part of the constitution and hence the parliament has no power to amend the preamble. ater, in >esavananda 3harati vs State of >erala,0;84 the ourt held that there is no wrong in treating preamble as part of constitution. Conclusion: ! systems perspective must acknowledge that social problems are interconnected rather than isolated. &eople should be advocates for radical perspectives defensible on both psychological and political grounds, in keeping with values such as dignity, autonomy, e/uality, and ustice.
