Mirror Sites:
CSUDH Habermas UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: June 6, 2001
Latest update: November 2, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org

Sociology of Law Readings
Week of October 29, 2001: Week 10

• Online Readings:

  • George Herbert Mead: The Importance of Play to the Emergent Self See discussion topic for conceptual linking to Sociology of Law.

    More soon . . . .

  • Theoretical Concepts You Should Know:

    1. restorative justice: "Restorative justice is a valued-based approach to criminal justice, with a balanced focus on the offender, victim, and community. The foundation of restorative justice is to determine the harm resulting from a crime, what needs to be done to repair the harm, and who is responsible for repairing the harm."
       Definition from Restorative justice: Healing the Effects of Crime Website maintained by Tom Cavanagh. Dedicated to learning together how to heal the harm of crime.

    2. retributive justice: The dominant approach to criminal justice at the present time is sometimes called retributive justice and is focused on determining what law was broken, who broke it, and how should they be punished."

    3. distributive justice: Distributive justice is that approach to social justice that delves more deeply into the inequality of access to resources and that inequality's contribution to deviance and crime in the first place.

  • Some Suggested Measures of Learning:

    Comment on one of the following topics, or do something of your own choosing.

    1. Consider Martha Minow's wavering between vengeance and forgiveness. Explain how the same underlying assumptions are bothering her that are bothering Nozick. (Almost halfway down the file.)

    2. In the law we emphasize the similarities in our case with the precedents of the past if the precedents are in our favor. If they are not, we differentiate our case from the facts of the precedent case. Consider South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission a precedent. Try to clarify the similarities and the differences between the two cases.

       Consider what harm was done in each case. Consider whether vengeance or retribution is sought.

       Consider what harm was done in each case. Consider whether vengeance or retribution is sought. Consider both the simlarities and the differences.

    3. How can Mead's conception of the Other and its importance to the "double" that permits us to learn to interact with the Other help us to understand the dilemma the US is facing now after September 11?

       Consider that we have little experience in viewing ourselves and the Other reflexively and with having practiced the roles we will now need to play. How could we possibly use play to help in the present legal, political situation?