Why People Obey the Law [Paperback]

Tom R. Tyler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 1992

A study which aims to demonstrate that people comply with the law not so much because they fear punishment as because they feel that legal authorities are legitimate and that their actions are generally fair.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the original edition: "[T]he argument and findings of Why People Obey the Law have important implications for the debate about the way in which people subject to legal procedures should be treated. . . . [T]he study is provocative and raises an issue of real importance. -- Roger Hood, Times Literary Supplement



Praise for the original edition: "Theoretically and empirically, Tyler makes a powerful case. . . . The data set is unusually rich. -- V. Lee Hamilton, Michigan Law Review



Praise for the original edition: "[A] major contribution by a well-known, well-respected scholar in the field. -- Austin Sarat, Law & Society Review



Praise for the original edition: "Tyler's book is interesting, significant, and clearly written. Most important, it contributes to an urgent need for critical consideration of . . . an ideology whose main results have been the current shameful state of the American penal system. -- Dario Melossi, Contemporary Sociology



Tyler's book posits an alternative model of legal compliance--one that focuses upon ways of obtaining public consent for and cooperation with particular regulatory regimes.... Though written from the perspective of the discipline of social psychology, there are lessons here for everybody involved or interested in legal regulation, governance or, indeed, community relations. -- Andrew Goldsmith, Law Society Journal
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Tom R. Tyler is University Professor at New York University, teaching in the Psychology Department and the Law School. He studies the exercise of authority in groups, organizations, and societies. His many books include "The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice, Social Justice in a Diverse Society, Cooperation in Groups," and "Trust in the Law". --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (January 29, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300052359
• ISBN-13: 978-0300052350
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,687,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very useful treatise on perceptions of justice, November 25, 1995

By A Customer

This review is from: Why People Obey the Law (Paperback)

Professor Tyler of U.C. Berkeley has written a lucid and useful treatise that explores one aspectof why people obey the law: their perceptions of the procedural and substantive justice of thelegal system. As this issue is multifaceted, Tyler examines various aspects of a wide variety of perceptions and opinions within his sample. The data he presents are extremely valuable in explaining, not why people break the law, but the equally important (or more important) question of why they usually do not. His conclusions emphasize the importance of public perceptions of substantive and especially procedural justice and how people's interactions with courts and the police shape those beliefs. Certainly, Tyler has not explained "why people obey the law," as that would be a gargantuan task (although the book is not small). Rather, he explicates one extremely important aspect of why people obey the law, and for that Tyler has made a valuable contribution to students of the law, politics, and psychology. This book will be a classic in the law and society movement, if it has not already become one.