NCJ Number
75424
Date Published
1977
Length
124 pages
Annotation
A law-focused resource guide for use in high school social studies courses presents materials designed to help students cope with decisionmaking in personal law situations related to the family, the market place, the court of law, and the world of work.
Abstract
Section one, composing about one-half of the guide, contains a series of chapters on various facets of civil law. Two introductory chapters examine the differences between criminal and civil law; explain torts, contracts, and constitutional rights; and provide the procedural context within which civil disputes are adjudicated. The remaining six chapters contain basic information on the following topics in civil law: injury and property damage, motor vehicle torts, the world of work, personal finance, love and marriage, and students and school. Each chapter is preceded by a series of objectives focusing on key topics and establishing student goals for the chapter. A series of case studies composes the primary content of each chapter. Each case study or problem: (1) provides the basic facts of a potential civil dispute, (2) contains legal reference to the basic concept or law involved, and (3) provides questions designed to stimulate the student to apply the law to the facts of each case and draw a legal conclusion. Section two of the guide contains a set of law-related competencies for primary level, intermediate level (grades 5 to 8), and secondary level (grades 9 to 12) as a guide to curriculum development and evaluation. Each level of competency is organized into three categories: 'Groups Establish Certain Acceptable Behavior,' or demonstrating the need for specific civil laws, 'Groups Differentiate Between Acceptable and Unacceptable Behavior,' or defining illegal behavior, and 'Groups React in Varied Ways to Acceptable and Unacceptable Behavior, or emphasis upon areas of enforcement and correction. Thirty-one references and five appendixes with supplementary legal information and legal resources are provided.