Community Change, Community Stasis, and the Law

Abstract

The law as an institution should be a major focus of study for those who wish to understand the psychology of community life, and a major focus of intervention for those who wish to shape a shared sense of community. In this chapter, community psychology is potentially concerned with law in 5 ways: (1) a means of community change, (2) an expression of community identity, (3) an impediment to change, (4) a forum for policy development and implementation, and (5) the arbiter of micro-level conflict. Each of these functions are discussed, as well as instrumental effects of law on the community, i.e., forms and efficacy of legal intervention on community change. Direct and indirect effects of law on the social behavior of the community and how it initiates change is described, and community psychology in a post-realist legal context is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)