Law and the middle class: Evidence from a suburban town.

Abstract

This paper draws upon ethnographic evidence from a suburb of New York City to address the relationship between social class and the use of law. In the community studied, middle-class people are less likely than working-class people to complain to legal officials about the conduct of their personal associates such as relatives and neighbors. It appears that the greater transiency and atomization of middle-class people militate against their use of law by reducing the amount of negative information antagonists have about one another and by making avoidance a more attractive means of conflict management. Beyond this, the higher social status of middle-class people itself seems to result in a greater reluctance to use law in personal matters: Because they are generally equal or superior to legal officials in social standing, middle-class people are less willing than lower-status people to submit to their judgment. In light of this, it may be necessary to qualify the prevailing view that higher-status people have a greater propensity to use law as a means of conflict management. Where personal matters among themselves are concerned, the opposite may be the truth.