Skip to main content

Sample Research Proposal on Stigma and Justice the influence of Stigma on Social Norms, Legal Rules and Decision-making Process.

Law can be a tool social control, but it can be a tool to trigger social change and eliminate injustice in social field. For some idealists, the ultimate goal of legal system is to create and maintain a well society of justice. They believe that we can achieve the goal through democracy and rule of law. Thus, the tasks are two: maintaining a 'healthy' democratic system and ensuring rule of law. However, in any democratic society with rule of law, not only legal enforcement deviate from the original ideal, the law itself injustice sometimes. The question is: why?

Some attribute the injustice of law to self-interested judges and representatives; some believe that the discrepancy between rules and enforcement arises from the underestimation the influence of social field. For example, Moore believes it is semi-autonomous social field that attribute to the ineffective of legal rules. However, some events expose the insufficiency of these explanations.  

 

Example 1: Neither law nor any social norms recognize rape and murder. However, reports of murder, rape and violence among the thousands trapped in New Orleans' shelters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Example 2: Although Taiwanese has widely accepted rule of law and are conscious about right of due process. In 2002 SARS period, government quarantined all the medical worker and patients of a hospital without legal basis, no matter they were infected with SARS or not. Most people recognized the mandatory quarantine, and no 'victim' brings the case to the courts.

Example 3: Most semi-autonomous social field refuse the right to privacy and equal protection of law, however, HIV/AIDS carriers are discriminated and deprived of right to privacy in many circumstances.

            In these cases, the injustice of law comes not from any self interests of judges or officers. These cases show, even some legal rules are widely accepted by individuals and incorporated into social field, some deviant occur from time to time. One of the possible explanations is the effect of people's fear and stigma.

Different from descriptive methodology of legal anthropologists that usually presume a value-neutral legal pluralism, I assume a goal of justice in the legal system. Moreover, I focus my research on the SARS and HIV/AIDS regulation in an attempt to delineate the dynamic interaction between feelings, behaviors, social norms and legal rules. Three questions will be addressed in this paper::

1.       How does stigma occur?

2.       How stigma and fear influence the social field, people's interaction as well as stigmatized people's identity? How does the stigma & fear -influenced social field deter and distort the implementation of legal rules?

3.       In what way the law of social fields (norms) affects the decision-making process and legal rules. Do the legal rules play a role in shaping social norms?


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The analysis on the external and internal environment of Primark retailing industry

Introduction The omnipresence of global trends and innovations debunk the idea of business monopoly and empire states. Today, the trends are set to maximize the potential of human powers by trivializing simple phenomena in order to fashion complex and subtle effects. In the minds of prominent sociologists and philosophers these trivialization of occurrences brought about by man's deepest desire of uncovering the truth and meaning of life. However, our correspondence and connection with the truth is indirect and diluted which can only be accessible via representations and constructs. Hence, the necessity, though, not necessarily is, of excavating the truth embedded on phenomena became an ordinary human laborious pursuit. Moreover, due to rapid changes on various aspects of human life our reactions vary depending on the way we perceive it, while forming effective and efficient mechanisms become a mechanical elocutionary act. This fact is paralleled with the nature and condition of b...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Comparative Study of Teaching Methodologies Used by the Primary Teachers in Public and Private Schools

Proposal 1.0 Title of the Study The working title of this study is initially drafted as A Comparative Study of Teaching Methodologies Used by the Primary Teachers in Public and Private Schools. 2.0 Provision for Topic Based on the working title provided, there are three topics that the study will explore teaching methodologies, primary level and public and private schools. There is always the comparison between public and private schools based on facilities, class size, budgets, administrative support and of course teaching methods employed, all contribute to the decision where the child should be educated. Primary education, on the other hand, is the first stage of compulsory education which aimed to basic literacy and numeracy. 3.0 Introduction As already mentioned, primary education thrives for basic literacy and numeracy amongst all pupils. This level of education focuses on establishing foundations in science, geography, history and other social sciences. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sample Research Proposal on The Influence and Impact of Advertising to Consumer Purchase Motive

Introduction   Today's market is characterised by highly competitive organisations which are all vying for consumer's loyalty. Firms are faced with the challenge to maintain their own competitive edge to be able to survive and be successful. Strategies are carefully planned and executed to gain the ultimate goal of all: company growth. However, external factors are not the only elements which influence growth. There are also internal factors, components working within the organisation which shape the direction of the company. Along with the changing business world, customers change as well, becoming more demanding and knowledgeable than before. In turn, company management had shifted their focus on their clients or customers so as to stay successfully in business. This transition meant that organisations have to completely reformulate their conventional business aims and purposes from being process-focused to customer-centred. Hence, in order to bring out exceptional custome...
Post a Comment
Read more