Preface Chapter 1. The Social Nature and Significance of Law Chapter 2. Defining Law Chapter 3. Understanding Law and Society: Early Approaches and Contemporary Perspectives Chapter 4. Families of Law Chapter 5. Types of Law Chapter 6. Law and Dispute Processing Chapter 7. Dispute Processing in the United States Chapter 8. Law and Social Control Chapter 9. Law and Social Change Chapter 10. Law and Inequality Chapter 11. The Legal Profession Chapter 12. Courts and Juries Glossary Index
Biography
Steven E. Barkan is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Maine. Over his career, his teaching and research interests have included criminology, the sociology of law, and social movements. In addition to his many publications in these areas, Professor Barkan is past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), served as chair of the SSSP’s Law and Society Division and on the council of the American Sociological Association’s Sociology of Law Section, and is past president of the Textbook and Academic Authors Association. Most recently, he published the eighth edition of Criminology: A Sociological Understanding (Pearson 2023), the updated second edition of Health, Illness, and Society: An Introduction to Medical Sociology (Rowman & Littlefield 2023), and the third edition of Sociology: Understanding and Changing the World (FlatWorld 2021).
"The publication of Steven Barkan’s third edition of Law and Society: An Introduction should be a welcome development by anyone interested in this field. I have been using Dr. Barkan’s book for several years and the vast majority of my students have always found the text clear, engaging, and informative. The third edition once again delivers on clarity and employs up-to-date examples that highlight the interaction between law and society. Key themes—including law and social control, law and social change, and law and inequality—are explained thoroughly and rigorously. Dr. Barkan manages to do this without overwhelming students/readers with minutiae."
Luigi Esposito, Barry University"In this Third Edition of Law & Society, Steven Barkan once again brings together an impressively broad range of perspectives on law in a manner that is comprehensive and accessible. Students will appreciate the book’s engagement of contemporary issues, debates, and social movements and its exploration of law as a tool for not only achieving social justice but imposing and maintaining inequality."
Francine Banner, University of Michigan-Dearborn"In this new and reorganized edition of Law and Society: An Introduction, Steven Barkan once again brilliantly succeeds in helping readers understand how law and society affect each other. Professor Barkan incorporates the latest research and discusses many current topics including sexual assault, the new abortion bans, legal consciousness, incarceration, drug use, capital punishment, and law enforcement surveillance. The end-of-chapter questions are thought-provoking and will be of great pedagogical value to students and instructors alike."
A. Javier Treviño, Wheaton College
