INTRODUCTION

This course brings together three major areas of specialist disciplines, namely Sociology,
Criminology and Accounting. The course is not intended to make the students proficient
in the abovementioned fields of study. Rather, it is mainly to give them knowledge, skills
and attitude related to the three specialist areas of the course Interdisciplinary II. To this
end, the study of sociology, criminology and accounting is relevant for law students in
promoting knowledge and skills transfer which will significantly add values to the legal
practices in general and address social and legal problems (e.g., deviance, delinquency,
social injustice, crime problems including financial offense, organized crime, terrorism,
corruption, etc) that are hampering developmental endeavors, security and welfare of the
society at large.

As a three credit hour semester course, Interdisciplinary II will be conducted for 16

weeks.

For ease and uniformity of delivery, Sociology and Introductory Criminology constitute
part one and two of the course respectively and offered (progressively) in the first twelve
weeks duration of the semester, followed by Introductory Accounting for Lawyers that
constitutes the third part of the course and is offered in the remaining weeks of the
semester.

The course begins with the first part by introducing students with the subject matter of
sociology that covers definitions, historical development, types, sub-fields and theoretical
perspectives of sociology. It also deals with culture, socialization, society and law,
including the relationship between and/or impact of social system on the legal system and
vice versa. Moreover, it gives an overview of social organization, bureaucracy, social
institutions and social processes (social structure, relationships and social interaction,
stratification, social change, social mobility and inequality).

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The second part deals with the introductory remarks of criminology. It begins with the
conceptual and theoretical frameworks and schools of thoughts about crime, deviance,
delinquency, penology, victimology and criminology. Furthermore, it describes types of
crime problems and criminals, and measurement of crime, correctional administration
including punishment, treatment of offenders and alternatives to imprisonment.

Introductory Accounting for Lawyers aspect of this course deals with elementary notions
of drafting of balance sheet (the balance-sheet: principles of drafting, summary
description of the major categories of a balance-sheet; notions of provision and elements
of prospective accounting techniques); roles and duties of company auditors; elements of
evidences to be expected from regularly kept accounting documents for the establishment
of financial offences; standard tasks/mission to be set to accounting experts in the search
for financial offences and elements of identification of bankruptcy situations and on
company tax offences. Moreover, this part of the course acquaints students with the
knowledge and skills of interpreting audit reports.

Throughout the course, some illustrative case studies shall be presented from the
Ethiopian context.

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Course Objectives:
After being through this course, the students would be able to:

 Understand the meaning of sociology, sociological imagination, deviance,

delinquency, crime, penology, victimology, criminology and related key concepts;
 Familiarize themselves with the basic principles, theories and approaches of
sociology and criminology related to legal practice;
 Explore the nexus between and role or impact of law in society & vice versa;
 Know detailed description of the causative factors and measurement of crime;
 Analyze legal phenomena with in the context of sociological imagination and
social system/institutions;
 Appreciate the benefits of the knowledge of sociology and criminology to address
legal problems;
 Understand the meaning of accounting;
 recognize the characteristics of accounting information;
 Distinguish between the different users of accounting information;
 know the different specialized fields of accounting;
 Recognize the steps in the accounting cycle;
 Prepare basic financial statements of a firm;
 Identify elements of evidences to be expected from regularly kept accounting
documents for the establishment of financial offences,
 Understand accounting issues related to bankruptcy,
 Get acquainted with the different types of audits; and
 Differentiate between the different types of audit reports and their implications.

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PART I: SOCIOLOGY FOR LAWYERS

The first part of the course- sociology for lawyers, deals with introducing students with
the subject matter of sociology that covers definitions, historical development, types, sub-
fields and theoretical perspectives of sociology. This part also covers culture,
socialization, society and law, including the relationship between and/or impact of social
system on the legal system and vice versa. Moreover, it gives an overview of social
organization, bureaucracy, social institutions and social processes (social structure,
relationships, stratification, social change, social mobility and inequality).

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UNIT ONE: THE SUBJECT MATTER OF SOCIOLOGY

Unit one presents the subject matter of sociology including the conceptual framework of
sociology, sociological imagination and sociology of law; its development, founding
fathers and types of sociology.

Unit Objectives:
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
 Define sociology, sociological imagination, sociology of law and other key
concepts relevant to legal studies, and appreciate the nexus between sociology and
law
 Describe and discuss the types and sub-fields of sociology
 Achieve broader understanding of the contributions of founding fathers of
sociology in light of law and express their views in the class
 Understand the concerns of sociology and analyze these with the legal context

Basic Questions:
 What is Sociology
 What is Sociological Imagination?
 Discuss the jargons of sociology
 What is Sociology of Law?
 What are the major Social Currants?
 Who are the major founding fathers of sociology?
 What were the contributions of early and modern sociologists?
 Describe and discuss the types of Sociology
 Compare and contrast the subfields of Sociology

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1.1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
1.1.1. The Meaning of Sociology, Sociological Imagination and Sociology
of Law
1.1.1.1 The Meaning of Sociology

In sociology, few concepts are overlapping and very difficult to give one agreed
definition. Thus different scholars provided different definitions. However, for the
purpose of this course we will deal with the definitions given by the following three
scholars: August Comte, Otite O, and Charon Joel M. In this regard, students are required
to synthesize those definitions for the broader understanding of the meaning of sociology.

Auguste Comte (1837): He found and coined the term sociology for the first time. He
combined two Greek words (1) “Socio”- means society, (2) Logos (Logy)-means study.
Comte thus defined sociology as the study of society/the science of society. That is,
sociology is the scientific study of society.

Otite Onigu (1994) broadly defined sociology as “the science of society, social
interactions and social institutions.” He further contend that sociology deals with
studying social structures and relationships [For him social structure meant the way in
which society organized in terms of status, class, roles, norms and values]. However,
Otite regard human/social interactions as(sometimes) problematic. What do you think?
(3) Charon Joel M. (1993) on the other hand defined sociology (broader than that of
Comte & Otite) as “one perspective that is useful for understanding society (modern
society), social change, and social problems.” As he described, the study of major social
problems such as deviance, delinquency, crime, poverty including unemployment,
beggary, divorce, prostitution, health problems and the like are among the concerns of
sociology.
According to Charon J M.,

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 Sociology is an academic discipline with various concerns, theories/perspectives, and
scientific approaches. It examines social interactions, social patterns (culture,
institutions, social structure, roles and power relationships) and ongoing processes of
socialization.
 Sociology as a science focuses on five topics:-societies, social organizations, social
institutions, social change & social problems.

In reference to the above (& other definitions) students should be able to recognize the
following argument:

Instead of defining sociology in one simple sentence, for example ‘ the scientific study of
society or social behavior’, it is better to see and define sociology as the study of social
behavior, social system, social organizations/institutions, social structure, social
interaction, culture and socialization, social order & social control, and social change-
to name the most central. Throughout this course, there will be an attempt to describe
and discuss these concepts that are central to sociology. Perusals of the readings and
discussions by the students taking this course need to assess these concepts, as
sociological jargons.

Activity:
1. What are the major issues/concepts commonly raised in the above definitions?
2.Identify and explain key concepts specifically focused by Comte, Otite and Charon.

1.1.1.2 Sociological Imagination

The meaning of sociological imagination and its key elements:

 “The ability to see our private (individual) experiences and
personal difficulties as entwined with the structural arrangements of society and the
historical times in which we live”[ C. Wright Mills, 1959 cited in Zanden, 1993].
 “An awareness of the relationship between an individual and
the wider society” [Schaefer & Robert, 1993; Schaefer 2003)].

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 In an attempt of understanding social behavior, sociologists rely on an unusual type of
creative thinking (Wright Mills described such thinking as sociological imagination),
which is an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society.
This awareness allows us to comprehend the links between our immediate, personal,
social settings and the remote, impersonal social world that surrounds us and helps to
shape us(C. W. Mills 1959 cited in Schaefer, 2003). The key element in the
sociological imagination is the ability to view one’s own society as an outsider would,
rather than only from the perspective of personal experiences and cultural biases. The
sociological imagination thus allows us to go beyond personal experiences and
observations to understand broader societal or public issues.

Examples: unemployment, divorce, crime problems, the practice of eating while

walking (in Japan people don’t eat while walking, they will stop to eat or drink while
they are walking-considered as abnormal behavior, disrespect).
i) Unemployment is unquestionably a personal hardship for a person without a
job. However, C. W Mills pointed out that when unemployment is a social
problem shared by millions of people, it is appropriate to question the way that a
society is structured or organized.
ii) Divorce: Mills also viewed divorce not simply as the personal problem of a
particular man or woman, but rather as a societal problem, since it is the out
come of many marriages and complex predisposing factors .
iii) What is your opinion regarding crime problems in Africa including
Ethiopia.

Calhould and Suzanne also defined sociological imagination as a way of looking at our
experiences in light of what is going on in the social world around us [Calhould, D &
Suzanne, 1994].

The basic premise of sociological imagination is the notion that only by understanding
the society in which we live can we gain a fuller insight into ourselves as individuals.

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 To paraphrase Mills: people do not usually define their personal problems in terms of
historical change and institutional contradictions. They do not usually think of the
connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history. Thus
sociological imagination is the ability to grasp the relationship between our lives as
individuals and the large social forces that help shape them.

Various scholars contend that Mill’s arguments were sometimes controversial and refuted
as “our personal trouble and public issues… overlap and interpenetrate to form the larger
structure of social and historical life.”

Take for example, unemployment problems can’t be looked into the ‘personal
characters’ of individuals but because of the collapse structure of opportunities,
global external influences such as financial crisis, economic recession, climate
change, catastrophic impacts of HIV/AIDS, structural adjustment policies.
Therefore, the possible solutions require to consider the economic, legal, political,
cultural,… interactions of the society and not merely the personal situation and
characteristics of the individual.

1.1.1.3. The Meaning of Sociology of Law

Sociology of law which is radically different from sociological jurisprudence in its

methodology and ideology deals with understanding the processes by which laws
emerged or were created, focuses on consensus and conflict paradigms of social
institutions, the relationship between law and more general social norms including, the
impact of one over the other(Cotterrell,1992, Liska 1981).

Sociology of law refers to both a sub-discipline of sociology and an approach within the
field of legal studies. Sociology of law is a diverse field of study which examines the
interaction of law with other aspects of society, such as the effect of legal institutions,
doctrines, and practices on other social phenomena and vice versa. Some of its areas of

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inquiry include the social development of legal institutions, the social construction of
legal issues, and the relation of law to social change. Sociology of law also intersects
with the fields of jurisprudence, economic analysis of law and more specialized subjects
such as criminology1

1.1.2. Historical development of sociology

A necessary element of any science’s self-awareness is its history. Most sociologists find
it convenient to place sociology’s origins with the work of a French sociologist Auguste
Comte (1798-1857), who was the first to use the term “sociology”

Before sociologists, there were social philosophers, historians, political scientists,

economists, geographers, and religious thinkers who looked at society but objective
investigation was not the goal of these scholars. Earlier to the emergence of sociology as
a scientific study, these scholars used their speculations in order to deal with societal
issues and problems. In this regard, it emerged as a scientific discipline in the late 19 th
or early 20th centuary.

What are the major reasons for its late emergence?.... because of the SOCIAL CURRANT
of the 19th C2.
There are six types of social currants3:-
1. Massive social change[due to revolutions]
2. Political upheavals
3. Exposure to different cultures
4. The development of secularization
5. The growth of physical sciences
6. Social problems and social reform movements

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_law
2
3
Social currants are circumstances or factors for the late emergence of sociology as an independent
scientific thought

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