Adolescents' attitudes to law and law-related issues: The case of Hong Kong students

Psychologists have often been interested in the way individuals respond to and interact with the law. Socio-legal scholars have had a similar interest. This led to a stream of research that sought to identify the ‘legal consciousnesses’ of individuals as they experience legal ideas and situations. The study reported here sought to identify the ‘legal consciousnesses’ of a sample of Hong Kong adolescents in a unique socio-political context. The findings suggested that these young people possessed a ‘bounded’ legal consciousness indicated by their consistent support for obeying the law even when human rights were at stake. Nevertheless, they could envisage the possibility of questioning the law. Developmental and gender differences were identified in these attitudes. Copyright © 2009 Symposium Journals Ltd.