ABSTRACT
In its most general sense, legal socialisation refers to the process through which individuals develop values, attitudes, and beliefs about laws, the institutions that create law, and the people that enforce law. Although seminal works in the field have referred to it as the development of values and attitudes pertaining to law, the field of legal socialisation has expanded to also include the processes by which people develop their understanding of the law and legal actors within society, especially their relationship with such legal forces. Although legal socialisation may occur both formally and informally, the process appears to be both individualised and developmental in nature, resulting from the complex interplay between an individual’s cognitive and emotional maturity, as well as the influence of personal and vicarious experiences. Critically, legal socialisation plays a fundamental role in understanding legal behaviour, including both compliance and co-operation with the law and legal authority. This entry overviews the legal socialisation field, focussing on the (1) underlying fundamental assumptions; (2) core components of the process; (3) dominant theoretical approaches; and (4) underexplored areas.
