ACADEMIC YEAR- 2024-2025

TOPIC- ROLE OF LAWYERS AS SOCIAL ENGINEERS

NAME- YUVRAJ MITTAL

ENROLLMENT NO.- A26711121012

SUBJECT- SOCIOLOGY OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE

INTRODUCTION

Democracy is an experiment, and the right of the majority to rule is no more inherent than the
right of the minority to rule; and unless the majority represents sane, righteous, unselfish public
sentiment, it has no inherent right. William Allen White1 Just as good government must, by
definition be responsive to the needs of all of the citizenry, so must men and women of the law
maintain constant vigil that theoretical responsiveness be actually and equitably realized. No
challenge could be greater-no dream harder to transform into reality. It must first be understood
that any discussion of the role of the lawyer as a "social engineer" need not be prescriptive.
Members of the bench and the bar have always been social engineers in the sense that, through
various roles, they have engaged in prescriptive social activities, either in a progressive sense
or in a reactionary sense, throughout the history of Anglo-American jurisprudence.

PROFESSIONALS UNDER PUBLIC INDICTMENT

The mounting attacks on professionals in general, and doctors and lawyers in particular, are
known to almost everyone. Professionals are accused of all kinds of vagaries including:
pervasive self-interest manipulation; misuse of monopolistic power, including outrageous
overpricing for essential services, outright theft and a propensity for corruption; astonishing
failure to police our ranks; and, in the darkest moments of criticism, outright moral and
intellectual dishonesty. While such criticism is by no means new, it seems to be increasing in
frequency and intensity. In fact, the occupational "exposers" are enjoying a field day
denouncing the profession in numerous books where lawyers are scarcely conceded an ounce
of good intention.4 While the point can be easily belaboured, a few brief examples of the views
of some of the most highly respected members of the profession are worth noting. By way of
broadside general attack, Jethro K. Lieberman, a former editor of the Harvard Legal
Commentary, in his book entitled The Tyranny of the Experts5 looks professionally inward in
the following way: Professionals are dividing the world into spheres of influence and erecting
large signs saying "experts at work here, do not proceed further." The public respects the signs
and consequently misses the fact that what goes on behind them does not always bear much
relation to the professed goals and activities of those who put them up. Professionals frequently
say one thing and do another and assert that the laymen's inability to find consistency between
talk and action is caused by his inherent lack of insight into the professional mysteries. But the
gap exists, and it has important political, economic, and social consequences: The public is
losing the power to shape its destiny.6 After an analysis of the rise of the professional class in
the United States, Lieberman cites innumerable examples of professional and expert self-
service in structuralization, practice and perpetuation, virtually all, he argues, exercised at the
ultimate expense of the public. Law, he prescribes, is too serious to be entrusted to the legal
profession.7 One does not have to leave the confines of the organized bar to sense the urgency
of the indictment. For example, concerning the policing of the profession, an excellent
thermometer of professional health, the American Bar Association's Special Committee on
Evaluation of Disciplinary Enforcement, graphically sets out the dilemma resulting from the
inadequacy of professional self-discipline:

After three years of studying lawyer discipline throughout the, country, this committee must
report he existence of a scandalous situation that requires the immediate attention of the
profession. With few exceptions the prevailing attitudes of lawyers toward disciplinary
enforcement ranges from apathy to outright hostility. Disciplinary action is practically non-
existent in many jurisdictions; practices and procedures are antiquated; many disciplinary
agencies have little power to take effective steps against malefactors.... The committee
emphasizes that the public dissatisfaction with the bar and the courts is much more intense than
generally believed within the profession.8 One is hard pressed to find any recent studies which
do other than emphasize significant breakdown in the administration of justice in some areas
of the country. There are no sacred cows. Indeed, at one time it was safe to point to the judiciary
as the bastion of the pure and the good, and yet we are coldly left with a recent American Bar
Foundation publication by. William Thomas Braithwaite entitled "Who Judges the Judges,"
which is introduced with an almost eerie slam of the gavel, "There is a feeling of unease and
disquietude about the quality of our judges." 9 The criticism seems endless. Regrettably, as
many members of the profession concede, much-too much-appears to be well-founded.
Conversely however, while in many cases lawyers are targets for criticism, they have tended
to be by nature (and under traditional notions of practice, perhaps with no economic choice) a
group which has conformed in the main to the attitudes and aspirations of the vast majority of
the rest of the society. They are not, however, alone responsible for the nation's current state of
affairs. Rather than the turbulence of the times, the public indictment stems from a variety of
societal shortcomings including a comparison of projected ideals to the realities of a civilization
which has been unable to keep pace socially with the urgent demands of urbanization and a
spiralling technology.
Roscoe Pound, a renowned American legal philosopher, was a prominent figure of the
Sociological School of Jurisprudence that arose in the 19th to 20th century as a reaction
against the positivist theory of law. The Sociological School regards societal customs and
society itself as sources of law, arguing that law is not merely about individuals, but about the
association of individuals in society.

Pound, who is recognized as the father of this school, supported this idea by introducing his
own concept of Social Engineering based on the Sociological School. In his theory, Pound
drew an analogy between lawyers and engineers, viewing law as a body of knowledge and
experience that can be utilized by "social engineers" such as lawyers and advocates to
structure society. He likened law to engineering by stating that just as engineers use their
expertise to give structure to their final products, the law can be used in the same way to
create a structured society that leads to happiness.

Pound believed that the law's primary goal is to establish equilibrium and concord in society,
as individuals always priorities their own interests. In simpler terms, he advocated for
maximum happiness and minimal conflict among members of society when conflicts of
interest arise. He contended that it is the responsibility and purpose of the law to intervene
and mediate during such conflicts between personal interests and communal interests.
Furthermore, Pound stressed the significance of both individual and communal interests,
which should receive equal consideration unless a conflict arises.

Definition
According to Pound, "Law is social engineering which means a balance between the
competing interests in society," in which applied science are used for resolving individual and
social problems."

The term "social" denotes a collection of individuals who come together to form a society,
while "engineering" refers to the practical application of scientific principles through the use
of tools and devices. Pound draws a parallel between the work of lawyers and that of
engineers.

The social engineering theory of Roscoe Pound is based on the belief that the law can be used
as a tool to engineer and structure society for the betterment of its members. This theory
suggests that lawyers and advocates are social engineers who use their knowledge and
experience of the law to create a framework for a better society.
Pound believed that law and society are interdependent and that the law's primary objective is
to establish equilibrium and concord in society by resolving conflicts between self-interests
and community interests. According to Pound, the law should be used as a means of social
control to achieve the goals of maximum happiness and minimum friction in society. The social
engineering theory emphasizes the role of law in shaping and improving society, and it asserts
that the law should be used as a tool to create a harmonious and balanced social order.

Roscoe Pound believed that in order to create an effective legal system, the following steps
must be taken when determining the scope and subject matter of the system:
1. Preparation of an inventory of interests, classifying them: This involves identifying and
categorizing the various interests of individuals, groups, and society as a whole
2. Selection of the interests which should be legally recognized: This involves determining
which interests should be protected and enforced by the legal system.
3. Demarcation of the limits of securing the interests so selected: This involves defining
the scope and boundaries of legal protection for the selected interests.
4. Consideration of the means whereby laws might secure the interests when those have
been acknowledged and delimited: This involves identifying the legal mechanisms and
tools that can be used to protect the selected interests.
5. Evolution of the principles of valuation of interests: This involves developing a set of
principles to evaluate the relative importance of the selected interests and to balance
them against one another.

Theory of Social Engineering

He distinguishes three sorts of legal interests:

1. Private Interest
Also known as individual interests, are assertions, demands, or wishes made from the
perspective of the person, according to Pound. According to Pound, individual interests
include:
 A. Personality- interest of personality comprises of interests in:

§ The physical person,

§ Willpower,
§ Integrity and Reputation,
§ Sensitivities and Privacy,
§ Beliefs and Opinions.

B. Domestic relationships:
It's critical to distinguish between an individual's interest in a domestic
connection and the interest of society in structures like the family and
marriage. Individuals with the following interests:

§ husbands and wives,

§ parents and children And
§ marital interests.

1.
A. Substantive interest, which includes:

§ Property Interests,
§ Succession, Disposition Of A Will,
§ Industry And Contract Freedom,
§ Promised Benefits
§ Favourable Interpersonal Relationships,
§ Associational Freedom, And
§ Job Stability

2. Social Interest
He defined public interests as claims, demands, or aspirations viewed from the perspective of
living in a politically constituted community. According to Roscoe Pound, the key topics of
popular attention are:
 A. Interests of the state as a legal entity, which include Protection of the interests
of the state as a legal person claims to property that has been bought and held
for corporate purposes by a politically organized organization.
B. State interests as a custodian of social interests, including supervision and
administration of trusts, charitable endowments, protection of the natural
environment, territorial waters, seashores, regulation of public employment,
and so on to use things that are available for public use, seem to overlap with
social interests.
Social Interest: Social interests are the claims, demands, or wants that are generalized as
claims of social groupings and are thought of in terms of social life. Social interests allegedly
consist of:

i. The social interest in ensuring general safety encompasses the branches of law
related to maintaining:

o Public Safety,
o Public Health,
o Peace And Order,
o Protection Of Property, And
o Ensuring Secure Transactions

ii. The social interest in ensuring the security of social institutions includes:

o Public Safety,
o Public Health
o Peace And Order,
o Protection Of Property, And
o Ensuring Secure Transactions.
o Safeguarding Domestic,
o Religious, Political, And
o Economic Institutions

iii. The social interest in promoting general morals includes preventing and prohibiting
activities such as prostitution, gambling, and excessive drinking.
 iv. The social interest in conserving social resources involves protecting and training
dependents and those with disabilities, conserving human resources, and rehabilitating
delinquents, as well as providing for the economically dependent.
v. The social interest in promoting general progress has three aspects: economic
progress, political progress, and cultural progress.

o Political progress includes freedom of speech, association, opinion, and

criticism which are given under Article 19 of the constitution.

Conclusion
Law serves as a crucial tool in resolving conflicts between social and individual interests, which
exist simultaneously and hold equal importance. Although Roscoe Pound's theory of Social
Engineering was proposed for American society, it is now widely adopted across the world for
dispute resolution. India has also implemented this concept to ensure societal welfare.

The Judiciary and Legislators have a significant role in enacting laws that cater to various
human desires. As human desires continue to expand in this technology-driven society, new
policies and strategies are being developed to fulfill them.
REFERENCES

Roscoe Pound Theory Of Social Engineering (legalserviceindia.com)

Professional Responsibility and the Organized Barâ•flAn Essay on the Role of the Lawyer as
a "Social Engineer" (core.ac.uk)