The Process of Legal Socialization in the Context of Modern Russian Society: Theoretical and Empirical Aspects

Abstract

In the Russian society of the 21st century, there are a number of dysfunctional aspects of the socio-legal system that influence the society negatively in the short, medium and long term. Dysfunctions are clearly observed against a background of large-scale transformations that have taken place in all main fields and subsystems of the Russian society. The author believes that, under the current conditions, the importance of institutional tools that contribute to the strengthening of the stance of law in the Russian society and facilitate the influence of the socio-legal system on people's conscience and behavior increases significantly. Legal socialisation represents one of such effective tools of influencing the younger generation. With a stable system of legal socialization, the State achieves effective counteraction to a wide range of social deviations. On the contrary, when legal socialization is characterized by the presence of the signs of disorganization, the state is forced to make maximum use of law enforcement agencies to compel citizens to comply with the rules of law without deep, sociocultural awareness of the expediency of lawful behavior (both in the context of individual and social approaches).