Legal capability and inaction for legal problems: knowledge, stress and cost
Legal capability and inaction for legal problems: knowledge, stress and cost
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法律能力和对法律问题的不作为：知识、压力和成本
DOI：
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发表时间：
2014
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
J. People
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
H. McDonald;J. People
法律行为能力不足可能会限制一个人有效解决法律问题的能力。本文考察了受访者提供的三个原因，即“不知道该怎么做”，认为“压力太大”，认为“成本太高”，对法律问题不采取行动，表明法律能力不足。研究结果表明，法律能力是由法律问题和人口特征决定的。也就是说，特定类型的人更有可能因为特定原因和特定类型的法律问题而受到限制，无法采取行动。细致入微地了解为什么有些人倾向于对某些类型的法律问题不采取行动，这对于制定克服不作为的策略是必要的。重要的是，尽管之前的研究发现人们明显不太可能忽视实质性的法律问题，但值得注意的是，本文的研究结果表明，当受访者未能对实质性的法律问题采取行动时，他们明显更有可能因为三个不作为的原因而这样做。这表明，法律能力的缺陷可能会对更实质性的法律问题产生“瘫痪”效应。调查结果进一步支持采用“整体”司法方法和一套混合模式的法律援助服务，以促进整个社区获得司法救助。
Deficiencies in legal capability may limit a person's ability to effectively resolve legal problems. This paper examines three reasons provided by respondents for taking no action in response to legal problems that are indicative of deficiencies in legal capability, namely 'didn't know what to do', thought it 'would be too stressful' and thought it 'would cost too much'. The findings suggest that legal capability is patterned by legal problem and demographic characteristics. That is, particular types of people are more likely to be constrained from taking action for particular reasons and for particular types of legal problems. Nuanced understanding of why some people tend to take no action for certain types of legal problems is necessary to inform strategies to overcome inaction. Importantly, although previous research has found that people are significantly less likely to ignore substantial legal problems it is notable that the findings of this paper indicate that when respondents fail to take action for substantial legal problems they are significantly more likely to do so for each of the three reasons for inaction examined. This suggests that deficiencies in legal capability may manifest a 'paralysing' effect for more substantial legal problems. The findings provide further support for a 'holistic' approach to justice and a mixed-mode suite of legal assistance services to further access to justice across the community.