Legal Value Orientations as Basic Category of Law Students’ Legal Culture

Abstract

An obvious connection of legal culture, value orientations and legal consciousness was established by cross-disciplinary analysis. Legal culture is considered as a whole in relation to legal value orientations. The necessity of forming legal value orientations is proved, as without them it is impossible to achieve a high level of legal culture and to ensure a student’s behavior within the framework of the law. This component is analyzed as a compulsory element of a law school student’s legal consciousness. The concept of legal value orientations is defined from the standpoint of different approaches and from the point of view of various authors, wherein these orientations are studied through the cognitive-volitional component. The relation of legal value orientations and legal beliefs is analyzed. It is offered to comply with a number of pedagogical conditions, to apply certain methods and techniques, which will influence the educational process and will promote forming legal value orientations. The need for developing value orientations in students is proved; it is shown that without value orientations it is impossible to reach a high level of legal culture, to engage in civic activities and to become a law-abiding citizen. Legal value orientations are studied as a construction material of legal culture and govern a student’s legal behavior.