Keywords
paradigmatic approach
anthropological paradigm
socio-legal behavior
social psychology
How to Cite
Abstract
Background. An examination of the development of legal psychology through the lens of the paradigmatic approach of American historian of science Thomas Samuel Kuhn (1922-1996) reveals the unique role of clinical and anthropological psychology in the formation of psychological and legal knowledge. The clinical paradigm in psychology is of particular significance due to its pioneering role in the field of legal-psychological studies. At the same time, clinicism very quickly lost its leading role, giving way to anthropologism, whose principles determined the entire subsequent character of research within this discipline. Therefore, to clarify the scope of legal-psychological studies, it is worth examining in detail the «historical roots» and the main theoretical and methodological foundations of anthropological science itself, tracing the implementation of its core ideas into the theoretical basis of the psychology of law.
Objective. To specify the influence of the anthropological paradigm on the formation of the theoretical and methodological foundations of legal-psychological knowledge.
Methods. The systemic method was applied to characterize the distinctive features of the subject area of the psychology of law within the system of social sciences. The structural-functional method was used to identify theoretical and methodological characteristics. The comparative method made it possible to identify the factors that determine socio-legal behavior by comparing various anthropological and socio-psychological concepts.
Results. The theoretical and methodological basis of anthropological research consists of three laws of «sociality»: the phased nature of social development requires us to take into account the historical character of the formation of any phenomenon during its study; an individual’s worldview is determined by their membership in a specific community and the differences between that community and other groups; the dominance of the doctrine of functionalism, according to which society must be viewed structurally as a system whose psychological balance is ensured by the effective interaction of its subsystems.
Conclusions. The subject of legal-psychological research within the social sciences has been differentiated. It has been established that legal-psychological research must take into account the historical aspect of the formation of collective legal consciousness in accordance with the three laws of «sociality». Historicism, as a paradigm of social research, requires scholars not only to study the sequence of the formation of elements of collective legal consciousness and the stages of their development, but above all to identify those universal elements that can explain the mechanism of its functioning today and its prospects for future development.
Keywords: legal psychology, paradigmatic approach, anthropological paradigm, socio-legal behavior, social psychology.
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