Social Treatment Rules: Definition, Characteristics, and Relation to Law
Social Treatment Rules and Their Description: Connections and Distinctions with Law and Morals
There are some behaviors generally accepted by a social group or community that can be labeled as social customs. Some of them can be described as “not normative” in the sense that despite being a general pattern of behavior, they are not considered as “required” behaviors by the group. They are social customs because they are “regular” (usual) habits of the individuals. For example, carrying out leisure activities during the weekend. The failure to comply with these behaviors doesn’t generate any kind of adverse reaction by the other members of the social group.
However, there are other social customs with a normative nature that are considered obligatory by the members of the group, prescribing the behavior of the individuals. For example, the deference to old people in certain contexts. These behaviors are not required in the same way that those required by law, but they generate an adverse reaction of the social group if they are not carried out.
Though social treatment rules are a normative system different from law, there are some connections between them. Social treatment rules are mostly an initial platform in the consideration of certain behaviors as obligatory. After that, the social group may be interested in demanding that behavior through legal rules because of its importance and bigger stability (coercion machinery of the state). Much of the behaviors demanded by law were originally social treatment rules. And there are also behaviors that are demanded by law and later are turned into social treatment rules.
Despite these relations between law and social treatment rules, it is convenient to state certain canons to distinguish these rules from moral and legal ones.
Heteronomy
Heteronomy refers to actions that are influenced by a force outside the individual. Although heteronomy would be a common feature of legal and social treatment rules, some distinctions between them can be done. Legal rules are created and enforced by certain competent authorities and through certain appropriate proceedings, being both requirements stated in a higher rule. On the other hand, social treatment rules are also heteronomous, but in this case, there is not a certain competent authority or appropriate proceeding to do so. Social treatment rules are simply produced and enforced by the social group in a non-established way.
Temporal and Geographical Scope of Validity
Social treatment rules don’t have a clearly defined temporal and geographical scope of validity. Thus, social treatment rules look like moral rules and differ from legal rules. While law is valid in a clearly defined temporal scope, social treatment rules stop being valid through a slow process of decline and they gradually stop being considered as obligatory. Law is also valid in a clearly defined geographical scope, usually the state. On the other hand, social treatment rules don’t have a clearly defined geographical scope.
Externality
Social treatment rules are depicted through “externality”, meaning that in order to assert an individual has adapted his/her behavior to what is prescribed in the social rule, the external observance is enough. Here, social treatment rules look like legal rules and differ from moral rules, which demand internal observance. However, externality of social treatment rules is different from externality of legal rules. The former demands also an appearance of affability, not required in legal rules.
Sanctions
The obedience of social treatment rules is reinforced with “external sanctions” from the social group. For example, the creation of a bad public opinion about the person who disobeys the rule, or even the marginalization/exclusion. On the other hand, moral rules are reinforced with an “internal sanction”. Also, though both social treatment rules and legal rules are supported by “external sanctions”, law uses an “institutionalized sanction” that is publicly and previously known; as well as the competent authority and the appropriate proceeding to exert the sanction; and there is proportionality between the sanctions and the seriousness of the breach.
Structure of Law
Finally, law is not only composed of legal rules setting behaviors as compulsory, permitted or forbidden. There are also a set of rules that clearly define:
- Who is competent authority to produce these rules;
- What is the appropriate proceeding to produce these rules;
- Who (and through what proceedings) is competent to determine whether these rules have been violated and to impose the sanctions in such cases.