The Use of Law for Social Engineering
The question that will be discussed is “how the law can be used as a tool for social engineering”. With this as the basis for the paper, it raises the possibility of incorporating past methods that have worked, as well as using new and untested methods. It is thought that the law can be used to control the behavior of people. It is also believed that it is a method of predicting the actions of people in the relation to committing crime. One of the methods I will be discussing is The Code of Hammurabi, and it’s relation to social engineering. I will also be discussing a few other personal ideas.
In answering the question of how the law can be used as a tool for social engineering there are a few options that will be discussed. Social engineering is a means of trying to control human behaviors with the emphasis of laws. This principle is based upon the thought that laws are a deterrent to future crimes. As written by Roscoe Pound in the jural postulates, he lays the foundation for assumptions in which a civilized society should be able to live by.
In the postulates, Pound is using the assumption that all members of society want to be civilized and wish to act accordingly. While for the most part, it is a realistic assumption that most people want to live in a civilized manner. Realistically, there will always be people who do not follow in this credo.
Law has been a changing concept within our society, and was started approximately as early as 2000 B.C. The Code of Hammurabi, was one of the first attempts to establish a “written code of conduct.” Laws were created as a guideline for maintaining peace and order among the civilization.
If I were personally able to enact laws within our society, I would use guidelines from the Code of Hammurabi. The code of Hammurabi came into existence to replace blood feuds with a system that was governed by the state. By bringing these guidelines into action, this banned the blood feuds as well as protected the weaker from the stronger. Offenders of the codes were punished and it was a way of modeling for society what the consequences would be if they were involved in such offenses. The Code of Hammurabi was not a cruel method of maintaining order. It was in fact a very sensible method of maintaining law.
There are five sections which make-up the Code of Hammurabi:
1.A penal code of laws.
2.A manual of instruction for judges, police officers, and witnesses.
3.A handbook of rights and duties of husbands, wives and children.
4.A set of regulations establishing wages and prices.
5.A code of ethics for merchants, doctors, and officials.
I would personally rejuvenate rules two and three. Rule two seems to be an important necessity in today’s chaotic criminal justice system. It appears that there is a lack of trust within the system itself. People have seen what they believe to be a miscarriage of justice, and it tends to sour their faith in the ability of the system to work effectively. As seen within the judicial system over the years there have been many cases which have split people due to unfounded guilt or innocence. In many other cases, the overturning of convictions due to new technology or evidence.
In rule three, I would hold people accountable for their actions. While this may seem outdated, I see no harm in laying out the moral principles of duty for people to live in a civilized manner. In my personal opinion, many of the issues that are crime related within the United States are due to poor morals, and values being instilled within our children and families. I believe that by returning to a system of socially acceptable values, and ideation’s that people will be able to live in a more harmonious manner while attaining the quality of life that they desire. While I am not condoning that the parents should be held in jail because their children commit crimes, I do strongly believe that families should have a profound influence on the actions of one another. As time has passed throughout the centuries, the family unit as a strength model has severely diminished.
The code of Hammurabi is a simple proposition to maintain order and civility among the masses. I believe that the most admirable aspect of the Code of Hammurabi is the one that promotes “restoration of equity between the offender and the victim.” This method was the first “victims rights” advocacy program. The idea behind this was that the victim was required to forgive their vengeance against the perpetrator. Now in some cases, I don’t know that this would be appropriate or a good idea. I think it should be determined by the desires of the victim, as in how safe do they feel facing their victimizer? Will it make the victim feel re-victimized or further traumatized?
The code is not about vengeance or retribution. This is in fact about making people take accountability for their actions. I believe that by knowing you would have to face the person whom you violated, may be somewhat of a deterrent to committing crimes.
I know that over the past years victim’s rights have been severely diminished. I feel that asserting a rule of accountability for the actions that we take as individuals can only enhance the way that we function as a whole society. Too many times we see that “justice is a dish best served cold.” It seems that people forget that the importance of laws is to co-exist in peace with each other. Laws were not created to take away our individuality or autonomy. They were created to enhance the probability of success while living among the masses.
References
Concept of Law, retrieved May 29, 2004 from:
http://www.acvcc.state.al.us/asads/conceptoflaw.htm
Schmallger, F. (2003) Criminal Law Today: An Introduction with Capstone Cases (2nd ed.) (UOP Special Edition Series) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
