The impact of law upon society. Before and shortly after the war, the author had attempted to analyse in a series of publications the impact of legislation upon society, by stressing its indirect psychological influence on the bulk of the population. At that time his views were largely ignored, both by lawyers and students of the sociology of law. A recent doctoral dissertation by H. J. Pot who, in a critical analysis, drew attention to his views and to those, defended in the past by Jeremy Bentham and more recently by Anders V. Lundstedt, induced the author to develop again the concept of social impact of law, in the light of modern sociological theory. He attempts to reveal the reasons, why lawyers are, in general, opposed to his concept of law as an instrument for social engineering, and forwards a few suggestions for sociological research by combined teams of lawyers and sociologists.
