Introduction
Forming effective rules of social coexistence based on the principles of the rule of law, equality and solidarity is impossible without a functioning system of effective guarantees of a comprehensive system of legal socialization, and effective mechanisms of legal education as concepts of democratic values. In modern conditions of transformational changes of all social reality, all legal categories are subject to significant changes, and legal socialization is no exception.
State-building and law-making processes are related to the cultural–ethical and moral–educational basis of civil society, and legal socialization as a special phenomenon of the intellectual–legal bloc reconciles global, national-state, government, corporate, public and individual interests. The person’s ability to integrate into the legal and state reality, to be a citizen, to express their identity (Bui Reference Bui2017), to exercise rights and perform duties, to function in the social and communicative space – all this is comprehensively provided by legal socialization. It should be understood as a complex process of gaining legal experience that can ensure conflict-free social interaction.
Legal socialization conceptualizes two processes for achieving compliance both on the basis of consensus and on the basis of coercion. Therefore, the task of proper legal policy is to form such a mechanism of law-making, law-enforcement, law-interpreting guarantees that take into account the latest requirements of social reality and the classic moral and ethical patterns of existence of civilized nations. Society needs to make sure that the next generation is ready and able to take responsibility in a timely manner, whether in working life, culture, civil society, politics or family issues.
Therefore, society in general and national public authorities in particular must consolidate the efforts of the family, the community and the state. Such provisions have been a basic prerequisite for educational learning theories for centuries. At present, this premise needs to be reconsidered, as societies are rapidly moving towards opening up to interactions and relationships with the widest possible sphere – global integration. Many societal problems affect all countries, requiring international coordination, governance and solutions for a homogeneous and standardized policy.
Globalization is a complex and multilayered phenomenon that affects individual and community lifestyles, democratic participation in society and, ultimately, the cultural and educational component, legal culture and legal socialization. As an all-consuming phenomenon, it influences all spheres of public life, all states and individuals. Mankind is living under the impact of global change. World global changes and achievements affect all spheres of society (Ergashev and Farxodjonova Reference Ergashev and Farxodjonova2020), the process of globalization is multidimensional (Kozak et al. Reference Kozak, Shengelia, Sporek, Lebedeva, Gribincea, Kozak, Kravchenko, Zakharchenko and Aliabieva2014).
Globalization is a process of radical change in the world based on information and the development of new technologies. Globalization strengthens ties between countries and affects virtually all areas of activity. Our time involves the struggle of two dissonant influences of one phenomenon, i.e. globalization. On the one hand, it is the ‘century of extremes’ in which mankind has experienced the most spectacular evolutions, managing to ‘compress time’ and ‘shorten distances’, as well as to know the highest level of economic and cultural development and, implicitly, of civilizations. But it is also the century in which hundreds of millions of people have been victims of wars, revolutions in the economic, political, technical and scientific fields, ethnic or religious purges, ideological intolerances, or devastating chronic poverty (Burlacu et al. Reference Burlacu, Gutu and Matei2018). Military conflicts, information attacks, hacker threats, terrorist acts, political and economic unrest, financial downturns, and now global pandemic threats are the product of global human problems.
It is established that the most noticeable among the changes in society and the state are the changes of the axiological basis at the level of individual identity (Palahuta et al. Reference Palahuta, Zharovska, Kovalchuk and Skliar2020). The individual is influenced by the transformed social reality. Legal socialization as a social phenomenon cannot bypass the processes of modern development; on the contrary, the phenomenon under study is changing under the influence of global general changes. Legal socialization is a complex and long-term process, the content of which covers the legal development of the individual through forming a person’s beliefs about the necessity of lawful behaviour, value and legal orientations, learning from social legal experience and legal culture, forming legal awareness, optimizing legal status, etc. Owing to legal socialization, a person’s motivational and behavioural adaptation to existing normative legal standards takes place. At the same time, under the conditions of such an individual’s adaptation, the relative freedom to choose the values developed by society is also provided in accordance with their own beliefs (Kozlovets Reference Kozlovets2020). At the same time, various deformations can occur, which lead to the emergence of legal nihilism, criminal tendencies, antisocial and anti-state behaviour.
Legal socialization should be based on the fundamental idea of legality and the inevitability of legal responsibility. Legal norms are universally binding, and violations of them, even in conditions of ignorance, are punishable. In some countries, the process of legal socialization of a person is complicated by a number of other negative factors such as disenfranchisement, domination and lack of control of government, lack of experience in self-government, weak constitutionalism, unformed political and legal culture and more. The negative factors of legal socialization undoubtedly include the frequent lack of an effective mechanism for the implementation of legal norms in the state, and unfavourable socio-economic or political conditions.
The aim of the article is to analyse the problems of legal socialization in the context of changes in the global social reality and the analysis of a set of measures of citizenship legal education as a priority factor of proper legal socialization in modern conditions.
We see the scientific novelty of the study of the legal socialization of the individual in the practical significance of this process for the formation of civil society and the rule of law. In addition, adherence to a comprehensive approach allowed taking into account modern approaches to understanding the peculiarities of legal socialization in the context of changes in global social reality.
Materials and Methods
In the development of the theory of law there are problems of theoretical definition and description of legal phenomena, establishing causal links between them, with further study required of the specific impact of legal phenomena on the practical life of modern society. The accuracy of legal research depends on the proper choice of methodological tools, so this study is based on the author’s methodological tools. It includes a set of key approaches and a three-tier system of methods. The following approaches are used: synergetic, which is a methodological basis of legal reality in a globalized society; interdisciplinary – due to the need to combine knowledge and methods of science, including psychology, philosophy, pedagogy, kratology, public administration, jurisprudence, etc.; humanistic – allowed to consider legal socialization as a valuable legal category, which serves as a platform for the practical realization by the subjects of law of their rights and freedoms; and the cosmopolitan-sociological approach for understanding the transnational processes that shape the global society in the new sociological perspective (Cotesta et al Reference Cotesta, Cicchelli and Nocenzi2013).
Philosophical methods have become a structural framework of the methodology, and include the dialectical method of scientific research, which expands the possibilities of legal forecasting of social phenomena related to legal socialization and citizenship education, and allows us to determine their internal patterns and therefore identify trends for change; and the phenomenological method, which allows the studied legal phenomena to be considered as certain legal phenomena based on social practice.
Among the general scientific methods, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction are used. Special-scientific methods are represented by legal statistics for comprehensive analysis and establishment of certain patterns based on statistical processing of quantitative material collected as a result of the study (certain data from UN and EUROSTAT official documents and publications were used); these methods include the method of legal regulation, which provides a certain algorithm of actions that contribute to developing a model of the necessary legal field for the effectiveness of citizenship legal education in modern conditions; the method of extrapolation of trends as a reaction of the legal system to public demands and transformations; and the normative-dogmatic method, for the analysis of certain normative documents.
From the authors’ methodological toolkit we understand the development and conduct of the survey. Using the method of survey based on the authors’ questionnaires provided an opportunity to substantiate their theses on the changing factors of globalization legal reality, in particular in the context of students’ attitudes to the latest medical and technological opportunities and establish information channels for legal and political knowledge.
Modelling is one of the best methods of studying political and legal activity, as it allows the final manifestation of a holistic system of forms of participation, to predict the functioning of public authorities and civil society institutions based on constructive dialogue in the legal state.
Determinants of Changes in Legal Socialization under the Influence of Globalization of a Social Reality
The new millennium leads to the latest change in the entire social and existential space. Achieving the harmonious development of mankind in the modern era of global transformations, environmental crises and information challenges is impossible without the joint activities of states at all levels and the activation of political and legal consciousness of the planet’s inhabitants (Sergeieva et al. Reference Sergeieva, Hriadushcha, Dubov, Didych and Saienko2022). Globalization has also been driven by policies of deregulation and characterized by cycles of instability, increasing vulnerability for all social groups. Manifestations of the transformation of legal globalization directly affect the legal socialization of the individual and, in our opinion, are represented in the following.
The systematic, continuous and rapid updating of legal knowledge: the globalization of space leads to the emergence of new social phenomena. This is related to the development of science, including technology, medicine, biology, etc. Global scientific discoveries have transformed reality into an unforeseen synergetic space, in which the bifurcation point of the universe can be transformed instantly and the vector of change is unpredictable. This is primarily due to technical progress. The law is designed to provide legal consolidation of the necessary relations for society (Korniienko et al. Reference Korniienko, Plakhotnik, Blinova, Dzeiko and Dubov2023). Therefore, there are often exclusive relationships that require regulation by law. The peculiarity of such relations is that in the current system of law it is impossible to find social analogues that could be used by similarity. The latest relationships are unique; for example, the latest reproduction methods, including surrogacy, genetic regulation, gender reassignment and gender issues and the problem of expanding the binary approach to gender, debatable aspects of the right to body modification, posthumous reproduction, the right to easy death and transplantation of organs and tissues, relationships on the internet, etc.
In turn, global crises, environmental incidents, affect the individual, his/her potential, characteristics and internal determinants. An individual’s personal world does not change as quickly as technical characteristics, moral and religious norms, customs and mental characteristics. Therefore, there is a significant impact on the anthropic environment, which causes a human-centred crisis. Society’s response to such changes may be mixed. In some places, new opportunities contradict the moral, ethical and mental human values or civil society values. Such uncertainty and ambiguity provoke abstract manifestations of legal socialization, and distorts legal consciousness.
Surrogacy
We will demonstrate the deformation of legal socialization on the example of such a reproduction method as surrogacy. In Ukraine, there is no specialized legal regulation in this area, but this procedure is not prohibited by law; in addition, contractual regulation of this reproduction method is allowed. In Ukraine, the rights of surrogate mothers are determined in the legislation; however, the legal framework for regulating the rights of a child is not sufficient. We even have, for example, pre-implantation diagnosis of the embryo, which is not available in other countries. And before that, we have a sufficient level of medical care for both the surrogate mother and such parents. For example, compared with Greece, there is no previous court decision, which also shortens the time to enter the surrogacy programme. But we have certain limitations. For example, only heterosexual couples can become real parents here. And it is not just a heterosexual couple living together, but there should be a registered, legalized marriage. Today, morals in the world have changed, and we want to go into Europe. For example, in Romania, there is no such prohibition: there can be a single woman, a single man, and an unmarried couple. Newborn babies are the most vulnerable in this story. The law protects biological parents, unequivocally. A surrogate mother too. But it almost does not protect children. Such protection must be written into future laws (Sadovnyk Reference Sadovnyk2021). The Ministry of Health is working on a draft law on assisted reproductive technologies, which should regulate, in particular, the field of surrogate motherhood (Draft Law of Ukraine No 8629-1… 2018). In recent years, Ukraine has practically become the centre of surrogate ‘tourism’, as many European countries have prohibitive legislation in this area. Foreigners use Ukrainian women as a gestational courier, which, of course, cannot be unequivocally approved by civil society. Moral norms of society often implement religious principles, which also deny this way of procreation. Legal regulation should be based on its demand in social reality. There are no official statistics concerning the latest reproduction methods, and we cannot illustrate the scale of the problem given the omission of such information by the public authorities.
Therefore, we turn to the authors’ survey, which will give us the opportunity to establish public opinion. We conducted it among students in order to avoid mistakes in the context of the established legal socialization of the elderly which was completely formed under the Soviet ideological system. It is young people, in our opinion, who can represent the latest trends and modern views. We call people from 18 to 35 years old as youth, but our target audience was students, because students are the main driver of change. We conducted a sociological survey regarding the attitude to surrogate motherhood. In total, 560 students of various specialties took part in the survey (in particular, 223 students from the specialty of law took part), 265 men, 295 women, which we have the right to call it a large gender error in this context. According to our survey of student youth (in Kyiv, Lviv, Zaporizhia, Odesa), among 560 students, only 14% indicated that they consider surrogacy as a reproduction method that can be legalized by the state. Another 43% of respondents were very categorical about surrogate mothers, stating that such activities were unacceptable in their view and equating it with prostitution. The results of the survey showed the public need to resolve problematic aspects of new relations and to harmonize them with constitutional human rights. The results also demonstrated the need for a systematic updating of legal information related to somatic human rights and other technical capabilities.
Obtaining Legal Information through the Latest and Classic Channels
On the one hand, the informatization of knowledge involves the development of digital culture and the ability to quickly transmit information to all corners of the globe. Getting up-to-date information instantly is a significant priority of legal education in the information society era. Informatization of public life will be demonstrated by international official statistics. Thus, the involvement in information services in 2000 was 6.5%, and in 2018 it increased to 51.4% (United Nations 2018).
Social media is playing an increasingly important role in legal, civic and political life. It is used by various social communities to promote their ideas of law and statehood. Such communication opportunities are used by social movements, activists and other civil society institutions to promote radically opposed ideological positions, which do not always have legal goals. Social media is becoming a central element of the new electronic information sphere. According to our survey among young people, 98% of respondents systematically (at least once a week) used social networks as a form of obtaining any required information, including legal, public and political.
Problems with electronic social media include the following negative manifestations: one-sided information; abuse of psychological methods of influencing a person in order to form aggressive behaviour or views; lack of different views; violation of journalism ethics and standards; fake information; unfair political and social advertising; hate speech and discrimination, including abuse or threats against individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability or gender.
However, different types of information sources can cause a conflict in the consequences of legal socialization. Depending on the author and the source of information, there may be different interpretations of legal norms, various political manipulations or misconceptions. Information technology as the latest, vast resource can also rapidly disseminate false information, creating social chaos. As for social networks that are widely used and discussed in our society, their presence also changes some traditional dimensions of human life. Issues of academic authority and moral character are becoming central elements in the discussion of the authenticity of messages, methods, research, data, analysis and stories that are gaining popularity on the internet (Torres and Bosio Reference Torres and Bosio2020).
In addition, information resources can become a means of warfare (fakes, misinformation, manipulation), in this aspect it is worth considering information on warfare as a powerful factor in national and social destabilization. In March 2018, the European Commission conducted a global survey, ‘Society, Culture and Demography. Digital Society and Technology’, in which respondents demonstrated the importance of quality media: respondents perceive traditional media to be the most trusted source of news (radio 70%, TV 66%, print 63%). Online sources of news and video hosting websites are the least trusted, with rates of 26% and 27% respectively (European Commission 2018).
Complexity of Legal Knowledge and Practical Implementation Skills of Implementation and Interpretation of Legal Norms
Someone’s personality is not limited to a particular area of legal relations. Today, a person represents him or herself in many areas, including being a citizen, a subject of law, a participant in territorial relations, an employee or employer, a taxpayer, a service user, a family member, and so on. Therefore, legal norms of different types are in demand, the individual must understand them, but also be able to implement them by appealing to the competent public authorities, to be able to protect their rights, freedoms and legitimate interests.
Currently, critical reflection is based on the maturity of legal ideology, on human rights and legal socialization; while legal culture as a complex social problem cannot be studied solely as a legal phenomenon, it is influenced by reality, so the complementarity of the methodological approach expands the potential of scientific research. Complexity of knowledge involves a combination of different fields of knowledge, such as political science, public administration, sociology, education, medicine, psychology, etc., in order to achieve a holistic integrated knowledge of the individual as a subject of law.
The need to combine legal and political knowledge of a person as a citizen of the state can be illustrated with the following example. The formation of a new set of knowledge occurs in parallel with the changing socio-political system of the country and the process of state formation. It is clear that the content of the object–subject sphere of the new science was determined by the attention of scientists to those phenomena and processes that accompanied the political transformation primarily in their country. Political science provides information about changes in the political system of the state, the reform of the national factor, and socio-social processes taking place in society. It is the political methods, principles, values and approaches that guide the paradigm of equality policy, implement it through the functioning of public authorities, the functioning of public institutions and policy actors and establish trends in the national political process.
Interpretation of Legal Norms and Legal Socialization in the Context of the Educational Process
Among the factors that negatively affect legal socialization, in particular the socialization of young people, we highlight the inefficiently organized educational process and inadequate legal education in educational institutions, which promotes the participation of individuals in antisocial groups. It causes the need to change the legal field of education in the direction of the need for comprehensive acquisition of legal knowledge and practical skills in the legal field. Understanding the importance of educating respect for the law, professional justice skills, and awareness, which determines the strict observance of the rule of law, including intolerance of corruption, and acts of arbitrariness, plays a significant role in the educational process.
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the number of appeals to the European Court of Human Rights has been growing rapidly. For comparison, in 1999 there were 8,400 applications. From 2010 to 2013, the figures reached more than 60,000 cases. As of 2020, 41,700, respectively (see Figure 1). This means that in the twentieth century, society has become more aware of their rights, and the national and international mechanisms for their implementation.
Applications allocated to a judicial formation.
Source: Official information from the European Court of Human Rights (2021).
Education and upbringing should include competencies aimed at forming a holistic system of scientific worldview, ideas about the nature of legal phenomena, skills of legal instruments, legal analysis in the field of legislation, interpretation of laws and other legal acts, qualification of this act, delimitation of legal relations and offenses, analysis of legal practice and creation of knowledge for solving new theoretical and methodological, research and practice-oriented tasks. There is new empirical evidence on the factors of socialization that force lecturers to introduce interdisciplinary teaching in the field of law (Schäfke et al. Reference Schäfke, Mayoral Díaz-Asensio and Hvidt2018). Emphasis should be placed on rethinking interdisciplinary teaching methods related to socialization in research and multidisciplinary environments.
Despite the integrativeness and multiculturalism of legal communication in the modern transformational-globalization era, the dominant part of the states is polyethnic. Migration flows, cultural interactions, tourism and economic cooperation have provoked a distortion of the established principles of regulating the doctrine of sovereignty and the public. International communication is in demand today. This, in turn, raises a number of issues related to the pluralism and cultural heterogeneity of communities.
Many societal challenges have implications in different countries, requiring transnational coordination, governance and solutions – for homogenized and standard policies (Moos and Wubbels Reference Moos and Wubbels2018). Legal standards for law and state recognize the primacy of the principles of equality, non-discrimination, the rule of law, restrictions on state power, protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens. These standards are recognized at the international level and civilized nations create norms in order to implement universal values in national legal policy. This process will hypothetically develop into global law in the future.
Multiculturalism and polyethnicity are accompanied by the inevitable processes of reconciling different moral, social, cultural and religious paradigms of the functioning groups in society, which requires tolerance and mutual respect. It is the legal socialization of the positive legal principles of equality, non-discrimination and solidarity that can give the legal system an effective praxiological dimension in the context of the doctrine of the rule of law and humanism.
Along with this, numerous publications and the growing debate on global citizenship education (GCE) over the past 10 years demonstrate that this concept is becoming increasingly relevant for modern educational institutions (Bosio Reference Bosio2019; Bosio and Gaudelli Reference Bosio and Gaudelli2018). Torres (Reference Torres2017) even calls for the inclusion of global citizenship education in the modern educational programme. Its benefits are manifested in the following triad. First, the GCE supports global peace; second, it encourages measures for economic, social and cultural inequality and can reduce global poverty; third, it provides a solid foundation and guidelines for upholding civic virtues, leading to a more democratic society. At the same time, global citizenship education should emphasize active participation and action towards social justice and sustainability.
Along with integration phenomena, the component of national priorities is being radicalized. Cultural globalization has often been associated with formidable negative phenomena, among which are cultural dilution, cultural meltdown, cultural hegemony, and cultural imperialism (westernization/Americanization). Cultural globalization is, in this way, conceived as a threat to the cultural identity of most developing countries. The cultural protectionism often advocated for, or constructed by, nation building is never perfectly efficient in ensuring a purity of national cultures, as nation-states are themselves compromised to varying degrees by globalization in their capacity to maintain the exclusivity of identity attachment (Ajimase Reference Ajimase2019).
Globalization forces states and nations to protect cultural and mental intentions from the annexation of international law. Over time, the concept of global citizenship, associated with globalization, has become popular in academia, referring to a shared sense of identity and human values. Traditional concepts of citizenship education in many nation-states are unable to address the challenges of multiculturalism (Akkari and Maleq Reference Akkari and Maleq2019). Cultural diversity is also a pressing issue in contexts where globalization contributes to the expansion of certain values, ideologies and products, leading to widespread, albeit uneven, cultural and linguistic homogenization. This has caused real concern among a number of nations and ethnic groups for the preservation of culture and language. The Education 2030 Framework for Action, under the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in September 20152, depicts education as inclusive and as crucial in promoting democracy and human rights and enhancing global citizenship, tolerance and civic engagement as well as sustainable development (Robiolle-Moul Reference Robiolle-Moul2017).
Citizenship Legal Education as a Priority Means of Proper Legal Socialization
Legal socialization includes civic education, i.e. education of a citizen–patriot, religious, economic, physical education, family education, character formation, etc. These aspects have a specific national hue and national orientation, as each nation interprets morality, treats public and domestic affairs, methods of education and so on, in its own way (Volynets et al. Reference Volynets, Stadnik and Panchenko2021).
The declaration of democratic strategies and intentions to implement systemic reforms by European countries’ authorities, the awareness of humanities scholars of the need for multilevel political and legal education of the population and total citizenship education does not mean that the process is nearing completion. Many citizens do not show social and legal activity, do not participate in various public initiatives, and do not properly use the legal mechanisms that ensure their legitimate rights and interests. Political passivity is evidence of a distorted view of democracy, without understanding the basic principles of democracy and realizing the essence of one’s own power subjectivity.
In modern conditions, when many challenges, including globalization, undermine the foundations of conflict-free social interaction and social cohesion of modern society, conducting legal education among the public is a particularly important task. Citizenship education contributes to a person’s social inclusion and legal activity. This is an area for a powerful strategic investment in building fair, peaceful and equal coexistence. Citizenship education is a process that affects a person at certain stages throughout their life, and is important in the implementation of fundamental legal principles, such as the principles of justice and equality, social freedom and humanism, democracy and more. Proper and timely citizenship legal education of citizens can prevent a significant number of offences and conflicts, can increase public participation in democratic processes, and can prevent all kinds of discrimination with respect to social differences, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin.
Thanks to the measures provided by citizenship education, a person learns tolerance and respect for the rights and dignity of others, learns the means and methods of ensuring such respect, becomes a patriot of their country. In the current conditions of modernization of institutions of economic, social and political systems, and ensuring the progressive development of society, one of the key aims is to increase the efficiency of educational technologies that promote the formation of competencies that are in demand in modern conditions. Strategic directions in the field of social policy in the context of globalization have naturally led to the renewal of state policy in the field of realization of everyone’s right to education, freedom of science and other creative activities. A guarantee of international law to ensure human rights and freedoms in national legal systems formulates the need to improve educational technologies and improve the quality of legal education.
In the formation of external and internal motivation, an individual’s personal qualities grow, so the subject, the sphere of their life and their chosen social landmarks are essential. In this regard, an important issue is to increase the role of motivation criteria for lifelong educational and training activities of subjects of law as an awareness at the level of personal applied value of law in activities in a particular field.
Exploring the mechanism of legal socialization, it is necessary to dwell on the understanding of the educational component of legal socialization. Under modern conditions in many countries, systems are actively reforming the education system in order to optimize the educational process, increasing the professional level of teachers, and ensuring the continuity of the educational process. The world community seeks to prepare the younger generation for life in democracy, to form the qualities and competencies necessary for the development of civil society. International organizations are acutely responsive to issues that pose a threat to both the individual and society as a whole. Nowadays, many normative documents have been adopted, which must be implemented by nation states in order to educate the public on law, and to encourage citizens to conscious legitimate activities.
In general, it should be noted that modern society ensures the human right to education to a greater extent. Confirmation is found in the UN Reports. Thus, in 2005, 678,921,000 people received general education, while, in 2018, it was 750,739,000 people, and this figure is growing against the background of declining numbers of children and youth in the world (UNESCO 2015). Therefore, we can conclude that the legal policy of moving states and regions towards education is intensifying.
Due to the efforts of international cooperation, modern states have received a lot of information resources for effective legal education. Considering global citizenship education, topics and learning objectives, UNESCO (United Nations 2004) has become a guide to educating citizens in a globalized society. Since the appearance of the UN Secretary-General’s global initiative on the practical implementation of the process of citizenship education in the world, UNESCO has contributed to the implementation of the project. The document (United Nations 2004) is intended for use by specialists in the field of education, specialists in curriculum development, persons involved in the process of legal education, politicians, and so on. The educational collection ‘All Different, All Equal’ is useful for the development of socio-legal and civic competencies; it promotes tolerance for cultural diversity, openness to other cultures, beliefs and worldviews of others, helps to acquire legal knowledge and develop critical thinking about the processes taking place in a globalized world.
An important international document aimed at changing the standards of national education, as well as improving approaches to legal education is the ‘World Program for Human Rights Education’. The ‘World Program for Human Rights Education’ was approved on 10 December 2004 by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 59/113 (United Nations 2004). The document is crucial in terms of studying the normative foundations of legal socialization, and offers a practical method of conducting educational activities among the population in order to develop people’s respect for fundamental human rights. The programme is structured in four successive phases, and is currently in the fourth stage of its implementation, uniting the international community in a desire to raise legal awareness (Mikhailina Reference Mikhailina2017).
The 2019 UNESCO Resolution identifies a significant need to intensify the implementation of appropriate legal policy in the field of education at all levels. In particular, it points to the need to ensure and adhere to the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The primary goal is Goal 4, which is to enable students to be creative and responsible citizens of the world. The complexity of this task includes appropriate guarantees, including the effectiveness of governing bodies in education, professionalism of teachers, dissemination of education to all ages and social groups, inclusive educational environment, and adequate funding for education.
The value of legal socialization is that a person, under the influence of socialization institutions acquires legal knowledge and experience, becomes the bearer of the legal culture of society and, over time, has the reverse effect on the formation of legal values of society. Successful legal socialization of a person is impossible without creating real conditions for its implementation, without carrying out the necessary state reforms (legal, economic, law enforcement, judicial, etc.), and without creating internally consistent legislation. T. Mikhailina, studying the determinants of the development of the legal system and state institutions, noticed that the positive changes were directly related to the citizens’ conscious legal activity, which corresponded to a critical analysis of state and legal phenomena, the ability to freely express their position and choose a variant of behaviour, and to unite in groups in order to achieve a socially useful goal (Zharovska et al. Reference Zharovska, Kovalchuk, Gren, Bohiv and Shulhan2021).
The democratic changes that have taken place in the world in recent decades have prompted the international community to recognize the fundamental role of educating the public in the spirit of respect for human rights. Democratic education of the population is characterized by various dimensions – from knowledge of standards and mechanisms for the implementation of human rights, and the acquisition of skills to apply this knowledge in practice, to the development of human social activity, correct life values, beliefs and attitudes. Dominantly valuable is proper public education, which would properly, systematically and purposefully influence the legal socialization of the individual, people, nation and international society in general. This necessitates the need to continue considering the requirement and relevance of the legal policy of public education, its role, the dominant role of the younger generation in the education and the harmonization of value stereotypes of people with an established system of axiological attitudes.
Modern legal socialization, with its characteristic educational components, should be aimed at the establishment of democracy and the universal development of humanism. The establishment of human rights and the guarantees associated with them is the immediate task of the state (Pozigun Reference Pozigun2021). The success of legal socialization is evidenced by the formation of such personality traits as friendliness, tolerance, active public position, the priority of universal values, respect for the law and promising social responsibility. We consider legal socialization and public education to be important prerequisites for the development of modern society.
Conclusion
Legal socialization is a complex and long-term process, the content of which covers the legal development of the individual through the formation of a person’s beliefs about the need for lawful behaviour, value and legal orientations of the person, learning social and legal experience and legal culture. The need to study the legal socialization of the individual is confirmed by the exceptional practical significance of this process for the formation of civil society and the rule of law.
Manifestations of the transformation of legal globalization affecting the legal socialization of the individual are manifested in the following: the systematic, continuous, rapid renewal of legal knowledge; obtaining legal information through the latest and classic channels; the complexity of legal knowledge and practical skills of implementation, interpretation of legal norms; and the integrativeness and multiculturalism of legal communication. Citizenship legal education is a priority means of proper legal socialization. The set of legal guarantees to ensure the proper level of public education can be represented in the following mandatory components:
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preparing at the international and national levels regulations (programmes, decisions, recommendations) on legal education, creating available resources and effective methods of public education and citizenship education, in order to ensure legal awareness of the population in building a powerful information (involving the media) and target research base;
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implementing a comprehensive level (from preschool to higher education) educational standard that provides competencies aimed at forming a holistic system of scientific worldview, ideas about the nature of legal phenomena, skills of legal instruments, legal analysis in the field of legislation, interpretation of laws and other legal acts, qualification of this act, delimitation of legal relations and offences, practical skills of protection of rights and freedoms;
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ensuring the quality of administrative resources that provide organizational and management processes in the field of legal education, the adequacy of the planning process of the educational process and the level of material and technical resources;
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measures to encourage the public to legal activity, membership in public organizations, movements, assemblies, public activities, etc.;
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encouraging the participation of citizens in the exercise of public power during the election process, political and party life, through appeals to the authorities, monitoring and expertise of public authorities, electronic and other petitions;
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patriotic upbringing of the younger generation, inculcation of skills in monitoring the political and legal processes of society, activation of human citizenship, stimulating the protection of the territorial integrity of the country and ensuring the security of society.
Promising areas of future research are establishing the role of each agent of legal socialization (civil society, government, educational institutions, families, etc.) in forming a positive attitude to the legal system and identifying priorities for their functioning in modern legal reality.
Availability of Data and Materials
Data available on request.
Authors Contributions
Authors’ contributions are equal.
Funding
The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. No funding was received for conducting this study. No funds, grants, or other support were received.
Consent to Participate
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare they have no financial and competing interests.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
About the Authors
Olena Paruta is Associate Professor in the Department of Theory of Law and Constitutionalism, Institute of Law, Psychology and Innovative Education, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine. She holds the academic degree of PhD in Law. Dr Paruta’s thesis is dedicated to the problem of the person’s legal identity. Her research interests include legal socialization, the legal status of a person under conditions of crisis, and globalization of legal relations. Dr Paruta is the author of more than 60 research papers.
Taras Harasymiv is Full Doctor of Law, Professor in the Department of Theory of Law and Constitutionalism and Deputy Director for Scientific and Pedagogical Activities at the Institute of Law, Psychology and Innovative Education at Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine.
Iryna Lychenko is Full Doctor of Law, Professor and Head of the Department of Civil Law and Procedure, Institute of Law, Psychology and Innovative Education at Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine. Dr Lychenko defended her Doctoral thesis in 2015. It was dedicated to the protection of legitimate interests of Ukrainian citizens in the sphere of property by means of administrative law. In 2019, she was awarded the academic title of professor. She is the author of more than 150 publications, including 11 monographs, eight textbooks and training manuals, 20 educational and methodological works.
Oleksandr Kotukha is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Lviv University of Trade and Economics, Lviv, Ukraine. He holds the academic degree of PhD in Law. In 2011 he defended his PhD thesis on indirect material and legal presumptions in sectoral legal regulation. Dr Kotukha’s research interests include sectoral legislation, state sovereignty, a person in the political and legal space, human socialization, and the information society. He is the author of 80 research papers.
Viktoriia Chornopysk is Full Doctor of Law and Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Law and Procedure, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine. In 2021 She defended her Doctoral thesis on administrative and legal guarantees of religious organizations in Ukraine. Her research interests include administrative law, financial law and informational law.
