NCJ Number
115722
Journal
Law and Society Review Volume: 22 Issue: 5 Dated: (1988) Pages: 949-961
Date Published
1988
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article assesses Stuart Henry's thesis that formal law and private justice are integrally related.
Abstract
Henry's theory holds that various formal, structural elements of law and informal, micro elements of social control (private justice) combine to create horizontal and vertical layers of law. Taken together, these layers compose the continuum of law. Henry argues that change within the continuum of law is caused by the interrelationship of structural and micro-layers. Change is possible, therefore, only when participants realize the totality and interrelation of the elements of law. Henry's insistence on viewing law as continuous, interrelated parts has merit. Moreover, his desire to view social actors in their everyday life is equally correct. Law reform occurs when the dynamic between private justice and formal law gives rise to concrete conditions that allow for legal change, but these conditions are always connected to the general development of society. Thus, the goal of integrative theory should be to form a clear picture of the dynamic. Henry has outlined the first crucial step for this by focusing on the interrelations of the law continuum. What is needed next is a clearer understanding of the processes of both micro-forces and macro-forces that combine to compose the law continuum and how these forces relate to the macro-structures of society. For a comment on this assessment, see NCJ-115723. 21 references.