Description, concept, structure and types of legal awareness

The process of regulation of public relations at all times caused a lot of questions. After all, it has not only its own specifics, but also a rather atypical subject of direct influence. For many centuries, people tried to find the best way to regulate social relations, until they saw the high role and effectiveness of law.

Since then, legal norms have invaded the whole world. Today, with the help of law, any human activity is regulated. This allows not only to control it, but also to direct it in the direction where it can bring the most favorable result. However, the regulation of society is an extremely complex process. It should be noted that it is carried out both by the state, through law, and directly by citizens. That is, for successful coordination of the actions of society it is necessary that the latter be aware of the fundamental benefits of this kind of activity. A person directly realizes his thoughts and ideas about the process of legal regulation. Thus, the activity on comprehension of law in a particular state is called legal consciousness, which will be discussed later in the article.

What is a right?

Before the author will introduce the concept, structure and types of legal awareness, it is necessary to consider the features of a different, more important category. In this case, we are talking about law in its classic version. Why does humanity need it? What benefits does it have? These questions are increasingly being asked by legal practitioners in our time. In simple terms, law is a set of rules of conduct authorized by the state. They, in turn, are guaranteed by the authorities, and also have a generally binding and formally defined character. It is worth noting that the modern life of a person is almost completely subordinate to these rules, because they govern all aspects of social life without exception. Moreover, all right is not used chaotically. In its structure, it is divided into industries, sub-sectors and institutions, which makes it much more convenient to use its norms. Legal awareness in this case indicates the degree of "popularity" of the legal sphere of the country among people.

The concept of legal consciousness

Legal consciousness, the concept, types, functions, the structure of which will be presented later in the article, is a specific form of consciousness of society. In other words, this is a set of views, ideas, moral standards, principles, assessments, beliefs, moods and feelings that arise in relation to law.

It should be noted that the opinion can be addressed not only to the legal system of the national state, but also to law in general. That is, a person has the opportunity to put forward his thoughts about the most appropriate structure of legal phenomena and their necessity. A person’s legal consciousness testifies to his cultural level of development, as well as the level of state consciousness. As a rule, the presence of the category presented in the article is the main indicator of civil society.

It should also be noted the similarity of such categories as legal awareness and legal culture. The concept, structure, types of these phenomena are very often identified. But the opinion of their identity is erroneous. As a rule, the second category, the legal culture, is more extensive. That is, it includes such elements as the concept, structure and types of legal awareness. TGP in this case suggests that justice is only a structural element of such a large category as legal culture.

How does legal justice relate to law?

Many scholars and ordinary people do not understand the question of how legal consciousness relates to the entire legal sphere. In this case, it should be noted that these categories are, in fact, related. That is, one is fully revealed through the other. Indeed, law is a statistical category that affects all relations arising in society. As for legal awareness, it is precisely this that allows people to change the legal system of the state for more efficient regulation of their lives. But this is not the only positive point in this category. Its true advantages lie in the term itself.

Features of legal awareness

As mentioned earlier, the legal consciousness, concept, structure, types and levels of which are presented in the article is one of the types of social consciousness. Thus, the category is a cognitively evaluative factor that allows people to express their attitude to legal phenomena in the state. That is, legal consciousness is an attribute of modern civil society in which people not only fight for their natural and national capabilities, but also understand the personal role for the state and its regulatory system as a whole. The term also describes the behavior of people within the framework directly created by legal acts.

The connection of legal consciousness with other forms of social thought

The category presented earlier in the article is closely related to other forms of social consciousness in a particular country. For example, this factor is strongly influenced by political views, philosophical concepts, ideological theories, religious beliefs, etc. That is, the direct connection of legal consciousness occurs with the culture of society. Moreover, the category is mainly determined by the historical development of mankind. For example, before people allowed the slave trade, which, in turn, was quite legitimate. But after democratic transformations at the end of the 20th century, the legal consciousness of society changes towards freedom, equality, etc.

Category structure

The concept, structure and types of legal awareness are, of course, terms related to each other. However, a fairly significant role is played by the system of the category presented in the article. Because it is thanks to its elements that we have the opportunity to visually see the effect of this phenomenon on other components of human life. To date, the structure of the category is divided into the following components:

1. A legal ideology is the greatest element of legal awareness. It represents the most abstract concepts, ideas and visions of the legal sphere. It should be noted that the structure and types of legal consciousness are closely related to each other. Therefore, the ideological element actually generates a large number of forms of legal reflection, since it combines many specific concepts.
   
2. Legal psychology consists mainly of moments of cognition, which are based on direct cognition with the help of feelings, emotions and, in some cases, people's experiences. It is believed that this component of justice is biased. After all, society evaluates all emerging events, taking them to heart, without involving logic.
3. The third structural element of legal awareness, of course, are behavioral factors. They represent the reaction of a person after the actual "digestion" of information. Most of the behavioral factors are based on motives and internal attitudes that appear due to the psychological and mental perception of information.

It should be noted: the structure and types of legal awareness are largely related categories. After all, each species has its own characteristics, however, in the systemic issue, it completely copies the classic category. Thus, in order to more fully realize what such a concept, structure and types of legal consciousness, it is necessary to consider its varieties.

Types of the presented category

Classification of justice is carried out through various criteria. To date, the scientific community does not have a single view on the species division of various forms of legal thought. However, most often classification is based on its subjective composition. Thus, the following types are distinguished:

1. The legal consciousness, concept, structure, the types of which are presented in the article, in the context of society is a combination of generally accepted concepts, ideas, views and opinions that exist at the level of the entire state. That is, this is a consolidated view of the legal realities of the country. As a rule, public justice is manifested in legislative acts, because they are issued by public authorities, elected directly by the people. Thus, this type of perception is reflected in the largest institutions, which are of a massive nature. These include not only the legal sphere, but also religion, political ideology in the state, art, etc.

2. As practice shows, group, or individual, social justice is not always singled out in the form of a separate species. This is because the scientific community has still not agreed on the existence of such a form at all. However, it is impossible to deny it. After all, legal consciousness does not immediately pass into the minds of individuals. Initially, certain moral ideals, concepts and views must penetrate into individual social groups. In this case, group justice is characterized by a number of specific factors. Firstly, it forms not just a sphere of like-minded people, but a separate subculture. Secondly, all social groups are not homogeneous. Therefore, each of them puts forward their own vision of the individual components of the political system and regulators of public relations.

3. The last type is individual justice. It is characterized by the fact that the development of certain views on the legal policy of the state occurs in the mind of the individual. Moreover, each unique person forms a legal vision based on their own experience and social thought.

As we see, the concept, structure and types of legal awareness, the ways of forming these structures are closely intertwined with each other. Moreover, each term individually makes it possible to reveal the essence of the whole category as a whole.

Category Action Levels

The concept, structure and types of legal awareness were briefly discussed earlier in the article. But it is also necessary to take into account the fact that the presented category exists at several levels. In this case, the allocation of a particular stage of legal awareness is carried out on the basis of its subjects. For instance:

1. Ordinary justice is the lowest level of the category. It characterizes the concept and vision of a legal policy based on the personal qualities of each individual person in the process of his daily life. That is, this is the level of perception of ordinary people who have special knowledge in the field of jurisprudence.
2. The second most important is the theoretical level. As a rule, it has its manifestation in the activities of theoretical scientists who are engaged in the scientific understanding and development of legal concepts.
3. The last most significant level is professional. Such legal awareness, as a rule, exists in the minds of practicing lawyers who directly use legal norms to solve certain situations and perform other functions.
   

The doctrine of the levels of justice is of great importance. Because it clearly shows how the formation of the category occurs, which actors are involved in this process. After all, the concept, structure and types of legal awareness, levels of legal awareness are all products of precisely human activity.

Legal Functions

Of course, the concept, structure and types of legal awareness are very important elements of the category for its analysis. However, its role can be fully realized only on the basis of key functions. They, in turn, are the main lines of action of legal awareness. Functions clearly show the benefits and features of the existence of the category. As a rule, to date, scientists identify five main functions, namely:

1. The regulatory function proves that legal consciousness is the actual continuation of law. That is, it has an impact on social relations. But if the law directly coordinates them, then legal consciousness allows us to evaluate the behavior of subjects and issue an actual verdict.
2. The regulatory function of justice is quite closely intertwined with the evaluation. But the latter is aimed at developing a specific vision of certain legal features.
3. The cognitive function determines the process of obtaining and accumulating a certain body of knowledge about law and its institutions. Based on these statements, the individual gets the opportunity to create his own theory of the theory about certain phenomena.
4. The most specific is the prognostic function. Its essence is that the individual on the basis of knowledge gained has the ability to predict the further development of legal situations.
5. Of course, the legislative function is the most important in nature. It is expressed in the fact that on the basis of a vision of the characteristics of law, almost everyone has the opportunity to change the current legal regime through the publication of regulatory acts. However, for this he needs to possess the possibility of a legislative initiative.

Conclusion

So, the article examined the concept, structure and types of legal awareness. Their characteristics indicate the great importance and role of the presented category not only for society, but also the process of its direct regulation.