LAW AND THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES: IS THERE ANY THERE THERE?

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Abstract
Despite tremendous growth in the field, there have been many challenges to law and the behavioral sciences. The most colorful expression is Abel's charge that “questions and answers have begun to sound a comfortable, but rather boring ‘clackity‐clack.’” On one hand, the achievements of the field cannot be ignored by those who want to think about law seriously. On the other hand, all approaches to the field are flawed and are likely to remain that way. Help in solving the problems of the field might come from a thorough interdisciplinary approach, calling on the contributions of all social sciences while recognizing the limitations of each; knowledge of a minimum amount of law and legal method, but with full awareness of how legal thought may distort definitions of problems; and knowledge of the questions posed by broader social theories in light of an empirical refining of their large explanations.

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