Citation

Hembroff LA. Am. J. Sociol. 1987; 93(2): 322-347.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1987, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/228747

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This research tests several of the primary propositions constituting Black's theory of the behavior of law. The data consist of judgments about the seriousness of acts embedded in social contexts, which are varied systematically to represent the theory's five structural factors. The judgments were obtained with the use of a factorial survey approach from a probability sample of household members in a small southern city. The results generally support Black's theory, although several problems are noted regarding two of his propositions.