RUDN journal of Sociology (Dec 2016)
“Situation” in the study of moral and legal consciousness: From theory to techniques
Abstract
The multidimensional structure of legal consciousness, in which the norms of different orders collide, and the intricate intertwining of cognitive, emotive and behavioral components cannot be described in just one system of representations. This article considers conceptual bases of the study of moral and legal consciousness on the example of value-cognitive dilemmas. The author presents interpretations of the concept “situation” in the works of Russian and Western scientists, identifies its general theoretical bases and analyzes its potential in the study of moral and legal consciousness; suggests as one of the ways to find and identify determinants of moral and legal consciousness identification of specific decisions made by individuals in a variety of small-scale short situations in the given frame and normatively determined, because in the situational dilemma a social agent, whatever decision he makes, needs a rational reason and justification. The author describes the process of designing a technique on the basis of vignette-method and the method of controlled projection for the study of the conflict of multiple rationalities implying different models of justification in the structure of value choice.
