Why People Obey the Law

by Tom R. Tyler

People obey the law if they believe it's legitimate, not because they fear punishment--this is the startling conclusion of Tom Tyler's classic study. Tyler suggests that lawmakers and law enforcers would do much better to make legal systems worthy of respect than to try to instill fear of punishment. He finds that people obey law primarily because they believe in respecting legitimate authority.

In his fascinating new afterword, Tyler brings his book up to date by reporting on new research into the relative importance of legal legitimacy and deterrence, and reflects on changes in his own thinking since his book was first published.

Genres: Law, Nonfiction, Psychology, Crime, Academic

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1990

Reviews

[Alice Ewing]

No chance I read this book

[Wilte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the introduction and the afterword. Main part of the book seems to be a lit review, and survey and qualitative research in Chicago.

Seminal and influential book when published in 1990, arguing against a narrow instrumental/deterrence approach and in favor of approach that harnesses intrinsic motivation and (procedural) fairness.

https://wilte.wordpress.com/2020/12/0...

[Jacquie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concepts, but do yourself a favor and have a whiteboard handy while reading. Tyler really loves his bullets, subbullets, and metabullets; eventually you'll forget what the main point was.

[Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why this book was a pathbreaking study when it was published. There are a number of points to be taken from the book, particularly, I felt, around procedural justice. The challenge, I think, for anyone reading this book will be to look at how Tyler's work can be adapted to suit local conditions as it were. This is due to the fact that the studies that Tyler relies on and refers to are invariably of a US-centric nature. However, this would raise a number of research possibilities. I did like the afterword by Tyler which, to a degree, brought the study up-to-date by referring to more recent studies. This is important given that the book was originally published in the 1980s.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

an informative guide into the chicago study, exploring the design, the findings and the shortcomings of the study whilst offering commentary on the ultimate question as to why people obey the law, this is a must if you want to study criminology!

[Tim Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. Great for improving research skills and understanding of research methods.