Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-wtssw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-10T00:50:21.643Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Toward an Understanding of Legal Culture: Variations in Individualism and Collectivism between Kurds, Lebanese, and Germans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Günter Bierbrauer
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Legal culture is a socially derived product encompassing such interrelated concepts as legitimacy and acceptance of authorities, preferences for and beliefs about dispute arrangements, and authorities' use of discretionary power. This study investigated five attributes of legal culture by comparing subjective notions of law and the legal system of respondents from Turkey (Kurds), Lebanon, and Germany. Our samples fell into two distinct groups on cultural orientation: the German group showed a distinct individualistic orientation; the two other groups (Kurds and Lebanese) showed a relative collectivistic orientation. The findings suggest a substantial variety of legal preferences and practices between the two orientations. Collectivistic groups had a greater preference for abiding by the norms of tradition and religion and were less willing to let state law regulate in-group disputes; individualistic respondents showed a clear preference for formal procedures and guidelines. The study suggests that legal norms prevailing in Western societies may be inconsequential to people socialized in other cultures. Implications of diverse conceptions of law, legal expectations, and legitimacy for various cultural groups in multiethnic and plural societies are discussed.

Type
Cultural Differences and Legal Consciousness
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , 1994 , pp. 243 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by The Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I am grateful to Judge Karsten-Michael Ortloff, VG Berlin, who first exposed me to the intricate problems of asylum adjudication, and to Judge Walther Gottwald, OLG Stuttgart, for advice on sociolegal issues. In addition I would like to thank Rüdiger Volkmann, Jutta Bott, Uwe Wolfradt, and Heike Meyer for able research assistance, and Gudrun Chafik for the skillful and dedicated preparation of the manuscript. I am also grateful to Neil Vidmar, Robert Wicklund, and three reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on earlier drafts. This research was supported by a grant from the Volkswagen-Foundation.

References

Bade, Klaus J. (1994) “Immigration and Social Peace in United Germany,” 123 Daedalus 85.Google Scholar
Bellah, Robert, Madsen, Richard, Sullivan, William M., Swidler, Ann, & Tipton, Steven M. (1985) Habits of the Heart. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.Google Scholar
Bierbrauer, Günter (1992) “Reactions to Violation of Normative Standards: A Cross-cultural Analysis of Shame and Guilt,” 27 International J. of Psychology 181.Google Scholar
Bierbrauer, Günter (1994) “Measurement of Normative and Evaluative Aspects in Individualistic and Collectivistic Orientations: The Cultural Orientation Scale (COS),” in Kimetal. 1994.Google Scholar
Bierbrauer, Günter, & Volkmann, Hans-Rüdiger (1988) “Legal Culture: Attitudes towards Asylum Seekers in West Germany,” in van Koppen, P.J., Hessing, D.J., & van den Heuvel, G., eds., Laivyers on Psychology and Psychologists on Law. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeidinger.Google Scholar
Felstiner, William L. F. (1974) “Influences of Social Organization on Dispute Processing,” 9 Law & Society Rev. 63.Google Scholar
Friedman, Lawrence M. (1975) The Legal System. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford (1979) “From the Native's Point of View: On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding,” in Rabinow, P. & Sullivan, W. M., eds., Interpretive Social Science. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.Google Scholar
Gluckman, Max (1969) Ideas and Procedures in African Customary Law. London: Oxford Univ. Press for the International African Institute.Google Scholar
Hamilton, V. Lee, & Sanders, Joseph (1988) “Punishment and the Individual in the United States and Japan,” 22 Law & Society Rev. 301.Google Scholar
Hofstede, Geert (1980) Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values. Beverly Hills, GA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hofstede, Geert (1991) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Hui, C. Harry (1988) “Measurement of Individualism—Collectivism,” 22 J. of Research in Personality 17.Google Scholar
Kidder, Robert L. (1983) Connecting Law and Society: An Introduction to Research and Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Kim, Uichol (1994) “Introduction to Individualism and Collectivism: Conceptual Clarification and Elaboration,” in Kim et al. (1994).Google Scholar
Kim, Uichol, Triandis, H. C., Kagitcibasi, C., Choi, S. C., & Yoon, G., eds. (1994) Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method, and Applications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Leung, Kwok (1987) “Some Determinants of Reactions to Procedural Model for Conflict Resolution: A Cross-national Study,” 53 J. of Personality & Social Psychology 898.Google Scholar
Leung, Kwok (1988) “Theoretical Advances in Justice Behavior: Some Cross-cultural Inputs,” in Bond, M. H., ed., The Cross-cultural Challenge to Social Psychology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Leung, Kwok, & Bond, Michael H. (1984) “The Impact of Cultural Collectivism on Reward Allocation,” 47 J. of Personality & Social Psychology 793.Google Scholar
Leung, Kwok, Bond, Michael H., & Schwarz, Shalom (1993) “Exploratory Mechanisms for Cross-cultural Differences: Values, Valences, and Expectancies?” (submitted for publication).Google Scholar
Levine, Donald N. (1985) The Right from Ambiguity: Essays in Social and Cultural Theory. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lind, E. Allan, & Earley, P. Christopher (1992) “Procedural Justice and Culture,” 27 International f. of Psychology 227.Google Scholar
Markus, Hazel Rose, & Kitayama, Shinobu (1991) “Culture and the Self: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation,” 98 Psychological Rev. 224.Google Scholar
Menkel-Meadow, Carrie (1984) “Toward Another View of Legal Negotiation: The Structure of Problem Solving,” 31 Univ. of California Law Rev. 754.Google Scholar
Menkel-Meadow, Carrie (1991) “Pursuing Settlement in an Adversary Culture: A Tale of Innovation Co-opted or ‘The Law of ADR,‘” 19 Florida State Univ. Law Rev. 1.Google Scholar
Merry, Sally Engle (1988) “Legal Pluralism,” 22 Law & Society Rev. 896.Google Scholar
Miller, Joan G. (1984) “Culture and the Development of Everyday Social Explanation,” 46 J. of Personality & Social Psychology 961.Google Scholar
Nader, Laura, ed. (1969) Law in Culture and Society. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Parsons, Talcott (1977) The Evolution of Societies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Pospisil, Leopold (1971) Anthropology of Law: A Comparative Theory. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (1952) Structure and Function in Primitive Society. London: Cohen & West.Google Scholar
Rosen, Lawrence (1989) The Anthropology of Justice: Law as Culture in Islamic Society. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Sampson, Edward E. (1985) “The Decentralization of Identity: Toward a Revised Concept of Personal and Social Order,” 40 American Psychologist 1203.Google Scholar
Sampson, Edward E. (1987) “Individualization and Domination: Undermining the Social Bond,” in Kagitcibasi, C., ed., Growth and Progress in Cross-cultural Psychology. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
Sanders, Joseph, & Hamilton, V. Lee (1992) “Legal Cultures and Punishment Repertoires in Japan, Russia, and the United States,” 26 Law & Society Rev. 117.Google Scholar
Sinha, Jai B. P., and Verma, Jyoti (1987) “Structure of Collectivism,” in Kagitcibasi, C., ed., Growth and Progress in Cross-cultural Psychology. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
Thibaut, John, & Walker, Laurens (1975) Procedural Justice: A Psychological Analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Tonnies, Ferdinand (1957 [1887]) Community and Society. New York: Harper Torchbooks.Google Scholar
Triandis, Harry C. (1989) “The Self and Social Behavior in Differing Cultural Contexts,” 96 Psychological Rev. 506.Google Scholar
Triandis, Harry C., Leung, Kwok, Villareal, Marcelo J., & Clack, Felicia L. (1985) “Allocentric versus Idiocentric Tendencies: Convergent and Discriminant Validation,” 19 J. of Research in Personality 395.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. (1990) Why People Obey the Law. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Weber, Max (1954 [1925]) Max Weber on Law in Economy and Society. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Yang, Kuo-Shu (1988) “Will Societal Modernization Eventually Eliminate Cross-cultural Psychological Differences?” in Bond, M. H., ed., The Cross-cultural Challenge to Social Psychology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar