On his way to a meeting, Mr. Mzee boards a matatu plying his route. The driver turns the music volume up which he complains.
He is ignored and his continued “nagging” leads to ejection at the next stage. He arrives late for the meeting. Back home a new neighbor who is always playing loud music has refused to heed calls to cease the habit and argues that law will not stop him as it does not work. With reference to the above scenario, discuss the efficacy of law as an instrument of social control, highlighting factors which act as barriers to change. Law is the set of rules that guides our conduct and regulates human behavior in the society.
Mostly it is enforceable through public agencies for example the government. Our relations with one another are governed by many rules of conduct—from important concepts of ethics and fair play to minor etiquette matters such as which fork to use and how to introduce strangers to one another. We obey these rules because we think they are right or simply because we desire the approval of others. It can also be defined as an instrument for attaining social order which is fundamental for the growth of a society, be it economic or political activities.
Social order is generally peace, calm, lawfulness, lack of conflict and people doing what is expected of them. Law therefore comprises primary rules which can also be referred to as ‘duty imposing rules’. Social control is methods used by members of a society to maintain order and promote predictability of behavior. Law is just but one form of social control.
It also entails rules of behavior that should be followed by the members of a society. Some of the rules of conduct fall into the realm of good manners as the culture define them.As such they describe behavior that is socially desirable but not necessarily compulsory. Other rules of conduct are not optional and are enforced by laws. In complex, large-scale societies, laws are usually written down formally so that they can be known clearly to everyone. This is not the case with laws in small-scale societies such as those of foragers, pastoralists, and horticulturalists.
Their laws commonly are much more informal, being rarely written down. Since they are part of the evolving oral tradition that is familiar to members of these societies, here is no need to explain them to anyone. However, people visiting from other societies are not likely to know what the laws are until there is a dispute. In his book, The Concept of Law, H. L.
A Hart defines Efficacy of the law as the obedience by the populace of a rule. No law can be said to be efficacious unless followed by the majority of the populace. It can also be defined as the power to produce an effect by a certain law. Barriers to change.
A barrier to change can be defined as anything that prevents change or makes it difficult for change to come about. IntroductionLaw is not independent from the society but is part and parcel of it and therefore connected to the structure and functioning of the society in which it exists hence it cannot be analyzed separately from society and vice versa. It is an integral aspect of social order and control as it guides human behavior. How effective law is in social control As an instrument of social change, law entails two interrelated processes: the institutionalization and the internalization of patterns of behavior. * Institutionalization of a pattern of behavior refers to the establishment of a norm with provisions for its enforcement or establishing of a law.
Internalization of a pattern of behavior means the incorporation of the value or values implicit in a law or establishing a certain framework into one’s lifestyle. Law is a discipline in itself and has many functions when it comes to social control.* It lays down procedures for doing things i. e. the civil and criminal procedure rules, council by laws, traffic rules, Speed limits, to mention but a few. This according to HLA HART is basic primary rules that require human beings to adhere to and abstain from certain actions whether they like it or not.
Law also resolves disputes after commencement of legal action or suits in a court of law. * It provides mechanisms for facilitating interpersonal relationships. * It also acts as a social engineer in that it tries to control the behavior of members in the society. It is therefore desirable, necessary and a highly efficient way of bringing changes in the society.
The Legal institutions and procedures are the preferred avenues of social engineering hence the best way to achieve certain positive objectives of social and economic policy. In view of Mr.Mzee’s scenario, the crew of the matatu he boarded violated his (Mzee’s) right to a healthy environment by exposing him to noise pollution as articulated in chapter 4 article 42 Cap (b) and further explained in article 70 clause (1). The matatu crew further violated the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) regulations as articulated in the “Noise and excessive vibration pollution control” regulations of 2008. The matatu crew breached Cap 403 of the traffic act that prohibits playing of loud music in public transportation vehicles.
The laws are in place but are not very effective due to laxity on the part of the law enforcers, thereby influencing the poor attitude of the matatu driver. The crew committed a crime by ejecting Mzee from the matatu before reaching his destination thereby breaching a contract they entered into when Mzee boarded the matatu and paid fare leading to his late arrival at the meeting. . A contract is an agreement to provide goods or services in exchange for a consideration which can mean money or something else that the party wants. Breach of contract occurs when one of these terms is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract.There are two ways in which this can happen.
One party can interfere with the completion of this agreement or one party can not do something they have promised to do. When Mr. Mzee boarded the matatu that was plying his route, it can be said that a binding agreement or a bargained for exchange was formed between the conductor and Mr. Mzee in that, On Mr. Mzee paying the indicated fare the conductor was to make sure that Mr.
Mzee was dropped at his designated destination. So the conductor did not honor the agreement by non-performance.This is a major breach because the intent of the contract which was Mr. Mzee’s arrival at his destination was disregarded because he was ejected before he arrived. The action of ejecting Mr.
Mzee from the matatu interfered with his economic activity of the day since he arrived late for the meeting thus rendering the law as a social means of spurring development ineffective. The action of the crew was tantamount to a breach of peace, creating conflict and endangering the lives of the passengers by exposing them to noise pollution thereby interfering with the social order.The laws that are meant to deter such actions are in place but the enforcers did not take any action leading to a not caring attitude by the crew therefore rendering the law less effective. Back home his neighbor violates the NEMA regulations, City council by laws, breaches Mr.
Mzee’s environmental rights and criminally creating disturbance and breaching peace by playing loud music. . If his new neighbor does not have a license to permit emission of loud noises at permissible levels Mr. Mzee should report his neighbor to NEMA following the new laws NEMA has come up with considering noise regulations.
One of this law indicates that where an Environmental Inspector has reasonable cause to believe that any person is emitting or is likely to emit noise or excessive vibration in any area in excess of the maximum permissible levels, or is causing or is likely to cause annoyance, the Environmental Inspector may, with the approval of the Director-General, in consultation with the relevant lead agency, serve an improvement notice on that person in the form prescribed in the Tenth Schedule, directing that a)the cessation of the noise or excessive vibration, or prevention or discontinuance of any annoyance, or prohibiting or restricting its occurrence or reoccurrence a) compliance with the permissible noise or excessive vibration levels; b) the reduction of the level of noise or excessive vibration emanating from the premises to a level specified in the notice.Any person who fails or refuses to not comply with the conditions in an improvement notice commits an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding more than twenty four months, or to both. Mr. Mzee suffered mental anguish thereby interfering with their interpersonal relationship with each other. The new neighbor’s attitude of not caring is clear indication of laxity on the part of the authorities who are mandated with the task of ensuring that Mr.
Mzee’s complaints are heard and action taken against the offender. The lack of consent or lack of acceptance of law as depicted by the neighbor’s attitude renders the law ineffective The extent to which law can provide an effective impulse or driving force for social change varies according to the conditions present in a particular situation.1. The law must emerge from a prestigious source.
In Mr. Mzee’s case the law we are referring to is the National Environment Management Authority NEMA regulations which were brought about by the minister of environment. Most Kenyan’s might not consider this to be that prestigious a source in comparison to The Constitution of Kenya which people hold with such a high esteem because it was agreed by the whole of Parliament which is a highly prestigious and authoritative source. This might be the reason why the matatu and the neighbor played their music at high volumes because the law concerning playing music at such levels is not from a prestigious source.2.
Those enforcing the law must be very much commited to the change intended by the law and the enforcement of the law must be aimed at making the change in a very short time. NEMA unfortunately doesn’t have it’s own officers and has to rely on other organs e. g The Kenyan Police so as to enforce it’s rules and regulations. This may lead to the ;aw not being carried out as effectively as they would’ve wanted it to be and also it might not happen immediately because the other organs that they have to rely on might have other jobs to carry out. 3.
The law that is introduced should be compatible and have some sort of relationship with the current or existing values so that the members of the society can accept the law without having to go against what they morally stand for. If this condition isn’t considered the members of the society can easily refuse to accept it and this may act as a barrier to change. In certain extremes the society can end up protesting against this new laws.4. Fourth, For the law to be fully effective in a society, the law makers can put up laws that have already been passed and are providing positive results in certain communities so that if the members of the society ever raise certain doubts the law makers can easily calm their fears by showing them the other societies that they can identify with. 5.
The enforcement of the law should be reasonable. Although it wasn’t reasonable in Mr. Mzee’s situation.
