SOSYOLOJİYE GİRİŞ

The concepts such as xenophobia, racism, Islamophobia, anti-immigration and global
terror that increased in the new world order that emerged especially after September 11 also shape the perceptions of social peace and security. There is an ongoing search for how people and societies could provide the harmony they need in their lives.

In the process of achieving a certaindegree of social life; the values serve an important function in terms of determining which attitudes and behaviors are right or wrong, fair or unfair. It is possible to define social values as basic abstract principles or generalized moral beliefs that guide our attitudes and behaviors. Everything in the life
of a society is perceived according to values. Values are the principles such as freedom and equality that define the ideal principles of what is desired and right in a society or group.

The anomie that Durkheim has described refers to a state of normlessness and irregularity that arises in periods of social changes and irregularities, in the event that the social order deteriorates or fails to operate. In this case, people become more aggressive and depressed, resulting in an increase in violence, crime and suicide rates.
Anomie is related to a social situation, not to a personal state of mind. It is caused by the tension between individual interests and collective cultural conscious.

Religion could be described as the institutionalized system of symbols, beliefs, values, and practices that respond to the feelings of a certain group of people regarding the
sacred one and provide answers to questions about final interpretations. Durkheim defines religion as a whole, all parts of which are comprised of Social norms could be basically classified into five groups; religious rules, moral rules, manners and customs, fashion rules and legal rules. The concept of anomie should be well understood to ensure a better understanding of norms. The concept of anomie, which refers to
normlessness and irregularity, was firstly used by the Durkheim, a French sociologist,
in his work “Suicide.” Durkheim defined anomie as a state of irregularity that prevents
the individuals, who become incapable of knowing which norms to determine as criteria when they need to act, from integrating with society.

The natural law approach which was widely accepted in the First Age was almost forgotten in the Middle Age under the influence of Christianity and the search for a “natural law” outside the “dogma” was not welcomed. In the 16th century, the natural law was interpreted by Jean Bodin (1530-1596) as a means of legitimizing the absolute monarchy.

We can classify the functions of legal rules in three main categories in terms of their effects;

Oppressive: The laws might be more or less challenging. There is physical pressures at various levels in social control systems.

Facilitating: Thelawsensuretheexpectations about behaviors and make them predictable.

Ideological: As a belief system, the ideology is reflected in legal rules and it emerges,
depending on certain values.

Sociology of law must include the following components;

(1) an understanding of the longstanding historical context of the development of law

(2) an analysis of historical context that considers the developments of the economic structure as it correlates with the developments of law

(3) particular attention should be allocated to the role of ideology and cultural factors, which contributes to the social construction of law in conjunction with economic factors already discussed (the sociology of law is therefore not
restricted to a discussion of the role of the economy)

(4) an inclusion of a discussion of the functions of law.

The general characteristics of the sociology of law could be listed as follows;

a. It determines the law as a social phenomenon.
b. It investigates the relationship between
legal developments and social change.
c. It examines the social events that influence
the formation of the concept of law.
d. It examines the formation and development
of legal rules in the course of history.
e. It touches upon the types of legal organization

White-collar crimes: These crimes are committed by individuals belonging to wealthy segments of society, such as tax evasion, illegal sales, securities and real estate frauds and embezzlement. Measuring the distribution of white-collar crimes is more difficult than other crimes because most of these types of crimes are not included in official statistics. These crimes are actually more harmful than other crimes and are more prevalent in industrial societies.

Values, norms, religious and moral rules, manners and customs are learned by new generations in the course of education and socialization. On the other hand, law means that the rules guiding the social life are expressed in a written form and systematized so as to cover the sanctions to be imposed by the state. The answer is C.

Anomie is related to a social situation, not to a personal state of mind. It is caused by the tension between individual interests and collective cultural conscious. The answer is C.

Fashion comes from the word modus, meaning “limitless” in the Latin language. It is an expression of the appearance that the individual can get according to his/her lifestyle. The answer is A.

A, B, C and E are features of deviance. However, incompatible behavior that violates only one law describes the concept of crime, not deviance. The answer is D.

A and E are organized crimes, while B and C can be cybercrimes. However, white-collar crimes are committed by individuals belonging to wealthy segments of society, such as tax evasion, illegal sales, securities and real estate frauds and embezzlement. The answer is D.

For functionalists, deviance helps to define the boundaries of proper behavior. It has also been suggested that the social control mechanisms such as the police and courts are required, but a certain level of deviance would have positive functions as well. Even if it appears to be dysfunctional at first sight, deviance creates social solidarity and unity and in this sense, it is functional. Deviance is also necessary to clarify the norms of society. The answer is A.

Albert Cohen, like Merton, also shows the contradictions in American society as the main cause of crime. According to Cohen, the reactions of individuals about tension are realized in a collective way through subcultures. Crime is a collective reaction rather than an individual one. The answer is D.

Lombroso’s view that criminals have certain physical characteristics is no longer accepted. The physical characteristics attributed by him to criminals such as being narrow-fronted, having pointy chin and cheekbones or long arms are actually widespread throughout society. The answer is D.

Although the history of the sociology of law extends up to Aristotle, Ibn Khaldun, Grotius and Montesquieu, whom we could call distant messengers, it has become evident only in the late 19th century. The term “Sociology of Law” was first used by Italian Anzilotti in 1892 as “Sociologia Juridica”. The answer is B.

Aristotle states that the “friendly relationships” between human beings, Grotius states that the “relations originating from people’s sense of searching for their fellows,” Durkheim and Duguit state that the “relations of solidarity arising from similar and different needs” and Marx and Engels state that the “relationships of exploitation among classes” emerge on the basis of law. The answer is E.

The anomie that Durkheim has described refers to a state of normlessness and irregularity that arises in periods of social changes and irregularities, in the event that the social order deteriorates or fails to operate. On the other hand, moral rules, fashion rules, religious rules, manners and customs along with legal rules comprise social norms. The correct answer is Choice A.