ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book acknowledges the importance of both internalized social norms and the criminal justice system, and focuses on the role of small-group interactions and the production of social order. It presents theoretical perspective, following the individual as he or she is introduced into Japanese society, and more specifically, into a variety of small-group settings. The book describes typical patterns of social life in Japan to exploring some of the nonintuitive consequences of this type of social structure. It explains that recent research has uncovered another aspect of modern Japanese society that, on the surface, is puzzling. Japanese consistently exhibit low levels of "generalized trust", that is, trust in the benign intentions of others.
