ABSTRACT
The empirical ramifications of the postulated connexion between criminal law and the intertwined social phenomena of conflict and power stretch far beyond description and analysis of the emergence of specific criminal laws. In general, the corollary of Svend Ranulf’s association of the ‘disinterested tendency to inflict punishment’ with the social significance of the lower middle class may not yet be empirically redundant in modern western societies. To postulate some connexion between the emergence of many criminal laws and factors such as conflict and power is not, at least a priori, untenable as a working hypothesis. Indeed, it can be argued that the strength of this relationship is such that its cumulative, historical effect leaves an indelible imprint upon the general tenor of the criminal laws extant at any given time. The sociology of law will only realize its true potential by maintaining its allegiance to the mainstream of sociological thought.
