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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: November 24, 2007
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 359 Law and Society

You will be held accountable for the readings and discussion questions listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

* * * * *

Week 13: Week of November 25, 2007

Topic: Conflict Resolution

Dates


• November 30-December 7 - Second Meetings
• December 7 - The Final Absolute Deadline

Preparatory Readings

• Bonsignore . Before the Law. Chapters 18 and 19.
  
• Bellow and Minow. Law Stories. White & Afterword.
• Documentary, "---" to be shown in class.
• Curran and Takata. Sociology of Law Handbook. Chapter 1 & 2 (see links below)
  -- Introduction
  -- Chapter 1, part 1
  -- Chapter 1, part 2
  -- Chapter 2
  
  

Lecture related links:



• Index on Structural Violence
• Metaphor and Theory links to "The Blind Men and the Elephant." Eric K. mentioned this metaphor when we were discussing several concepts relating to our class.
• "Who's Habermas? Why Habermas?"
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  
• Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
• "The Case Against Gold Stars" by Alfie Kohn.

Concepts to be covered:



• mediation
• dispute resolution
• restorative justice
• victim-offender mediation



Discussion Questions:

Note: Incorporate this week's readings and the documentary, "---" into your answers to the discussion questions below.

1. In White's "On the Vision and Practice of Participation in Project Head Start," what is the tension between facts and norms? Why.
2. How would the four different sociological perspectives -- the structural functionalist, Marxist, interactionist, and Habermasian theoriest -- explain conflict resolution? Which perspective to you agree with the most? Why.
3. What is the lawyer's role in transforming "raw" disputes into a choice about process? Is a lawyer a "hired gun", a "guru" or a "friend"? [Bonsignore, p. 501, Q.2]
4. Does American society have too much conflict or too little? How could this be measured and evaluated? [Bonsignore, p. 501, Q. 3]
5. Is restorative justice a legitimate goal of our justice system? Is it obtainable? [Bonsignore, p. 533, Q. 4]



Suggested Creative Measures/Visual Projects:




Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "law and society" Must be approved before starting your creative measure. Cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). A bibliography must be attached to your visual presentation. No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your ideas ASAP.



• Make an explosion box , and decorate it to reflect an issue relating to conflict resolution.
• Research models of conflict resolution in your community.
• Explore the strengths and weaknesses of restorative justice.
• Come up with your own "law story".



Recommended Readings:

--- Jurgen Habermas. Between Facts and Norms.
--- Martha Minow. Making All the Difference: Exclusion, Inclusion and American Law. Check out this link Martha Minow on the Dear Habermas site.

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 359 "Law and Society"

takata@uwp.edu