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A DEVELOPMENTAL THESIS OF LEGAL CULTURES: Police‐Community Relations in Rural, Urban, and Suburban Communities
Author(s) -
SHINGLES RICHARD D.,
SHOEMAKER DONALD J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
law and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.534
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-9930
pISSN - 0265-8240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9930.1979.tb00195.x
Subject(s) - variation (astronomy) , sociology , theme (computing) , ideal (ethics) , political science , criminology , law , physics , computer science , astrophysics , operating system
There is a considerable deficiency of both theory and research, particularly comparative research, on the variation among legal cultures within nations. The authors attempt to develop theory to stimulate and guide U.S. research by introducing a developmental thesis of legal cultures. The thesis provides a description and explanation of variation between rural, urban, and suburban communities by cross‐classifying two ideal typologies: a developmental theme (traditional and modern societies) and James Q. Wilson's varieties of police styles (watchman, legalistic, and service). Specific hypotheses pertaining to the development of police roles, police‐community relations, and the rule of law and how they might vary across rural, urban, and suburban communities are offered. The hypotheses are intended to guide research and specify conditions for evaluating empirically the thesis.