What are the causes of the inefficiency of bankruptcy proceedings and who has to suffer as a result? The authors conducted a nationwide study of insolvencies and the legal procedures to deal with them in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1976. A report on this study was presented in 1977. In the following article the authors use the results of the study as a springboard for some sociolegal reflections on the functioning of law in general and bankruptcy law in particular. They emphasize the three main functions of bankruptcy law in any capitalist society (distribution, conflict resolution, and prevention) and describe social organization of these functions in West German bankruptcy law. Bankruptcy, as revealing a situation of breakdown and crisis, poses problems that are not only practical but also theoretical, problems that can stimulate sociolegal reasoning and help us to understand the social foundations of law.

This is a sociolegal study based on empirical data collected during a two-and-a-half year investigation carried out in ten major Polish industrial establishments. The authors contrast the legal model of industrial social organization with operational reality and emphasize the strong divergence between them. It is suggested that the divergence is due to the fact that the legal structures constructed by bureaucrats in the name of the working class after World War II have not responded to the changes that have occurred within the working class nor to the current structure of power. Because of this divergence, changes in the legal model seem necessary if further escalation of industrial unrest in Poland is to be prevented.

The “drug wave” of the late 1960s was widely perceived as a threat to the legitimacy of normative expectations in Dutch and German society. Although the overwhelming reaction of public opinion to drug users in both countries was hostile and punitive, the German legislature passed even more repressive laws whereas the Dutch legislature adapted the normative system to the use of both “soft” and “hard” drugs. Although in each instance the initiative for legal change came from the political and moral “progressives,” the conservative “moral center” retained a veto power. Why it used this veto power in Germany but actively supported the reform bill in Holland is explained in terms of the macrostructure of each society.

This article traces a panoramic picture of the changes in family law in Italy during the last decade, with special reference to: the problems of adoption, divorce, abortion, and family counseling; the profound innovations introduced into the Civil Code in 1975 concerning relationships between spouses, between parents and children, and between children born in and out of wedlock; and the consequent problems of inheritance.

The transformation of positive law is analyzed from a sociological point of view that explores both changes in the socioeconomic environment in which, and the political debate through which, they occurred.

On the basis of a broad examination of relevant empirical research and theoretical studies, the authors conclude that, even though the reforms may represent normative innovations in the context of the plurality of family models in contemporary Italy, their practical efficacy is limited by the amount of social and economic support, which until now have been inadequate.

Most Western European legal systems contain a rule obligating adult children to support their parents, which derives from a Roman statute promulgated at the time that the extended family system was disintegrating and the nuclear family emerging. Such maintenance does not appear to be inconsistent with contemporary social circumstances and kinship relationships. But those for whom it is invoked are highly vulnerable people excluded from the social security system. Although the amounts of maintenance ordered under this rule are small, such orders create problems for the aged, their children, the responsible agencies and their employees. The result is a social paradox: the rule purports to motivate families to care for their aged parents, but the families upon whom the obligation is imposed actually suffer from such imposition.

Taking as our starting point Renato Treves's book on sociology of law (1977), we try to give an overview of the way in which a sociological perspective developed in Italy. We deal with sociology of law as an example of this process, insofar as it reflects the ambiguities and contradictions confronting the social sciences in Italy. These disciplines are torn by contradictory forces: on the one hand, they are “naturally” attracted to and stimulated by projects for planning, rationalizing, and modernizing society; on the other, they often find themselves unable to cope with the limitations, precariousness, and abstraction of these projects, and therefore tend to seek refuge within the academic world. However, the urgent need for analyses of Italian social reality has spurred research activity and debate over the role of the social sciences, especially since the end of the 1960s, compelling them to expand their scope beyond traditional academic and scientific boundaries.