The sociological school of jurisprudence is the synthesis not only of various juristic concepts but also of various other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, political science and economics.

The sociological school of jurisprudence studies the circumstances which create the legal institutions, and the relationship between those legal institutions and other social institutions which condition the scope and the operation of law. It does not focus on the ethical content of law.

In this school of thought, law is thought of as a social institution which serves collective social purposes and interests (as opposed to merely serving individual purposes and interests).

Some jurists have suggested that the relationship between positive law and the ideals of justice should also be studied by this school since it treats law as an instrument of social progress and by extension, it makes value judgments.

Salient Features

According to Roscoe Pound, the main features of the sociological school of jurisprudence are:
1. It emphasises the functional aspect of law and not its abstract contents.
2. It treats law as a social institution which is closely related to various other disciplines that have a direct impact on society.
3. It believes that human experience is the basis of law and that law is designed to meet dynamic social needs. (This is contrary to the emphases placed on ‘command’ by analytical positivism and on the past by the historical school of jurisprudence.)
4. It either adopts a pragmatic approach by treating law as an applied science which uses functional methods to investigate, analyse and solve social problems or else, it adopts a realistic approach and defines law primarily in terms of judicial precedents.

Also see The Theory of Social Engineering