The Law as an Instrument of Incremental Social Change

• Autores: Friedman, Lawrence, Landinski, Jack
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 1969
• Institución: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Repositorio: Revistas - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:revistaspuc:article/12822
• Enlace del recurso: http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/derechopucp/article/view/12822
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Law; society; social change; legal change; public instrument; social relations; formal changes; Derecho; sociedad; cambio social; cambio legal; instrumento público; relaciones sociales; cambios formales

Historically, social science has relegated the function of law to one of social control. As a result, this article seeks to highlight the importance of law as an instrument of social change. In this context, the authors address the relationship between law, legal change and social change through various examples that reflect the extent to which law affects social demands. Thus, the article establishes that law is a mechanism that regulates human relations in order to achieve social goals. For its part, social change can be understood as an evident modification in the patterns of behavior and relationships between people, emanating from the conscious and rational decision of individuals to solve their problems. Now, legal change is that change that takes place in the legal world; however, in order to better understand this change, the types of relationships between law and social change must be evaluated. The paper concludes by pointing out that law acts as an instrument of social change by being able to influence people's behavior, either through the imposition of sanctions or persuasion; and such a change in behavior can only be achieved if the rule is communicated and accepted by the society it is intended to affect.