Japanese People's Attitudes Toward Children's Legal Status

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H06699
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Fundamental law
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Saito Hiroharu 東京大学, 大学院法学政治学研究科(法学部), 助教 (20779392)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-08-26 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 法社会学 / 子ども法学 / 子どもの地位 / 法の実証分析 / 法意識

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, I uncovered the reality and the structures of people’s attitudes toward children’s legal status in Japan. I conducted an attitude survey of legal ages (e.g., voting age, age of marriage, and age of juvenile law). The survey mainly asked ideal legal ages for various issues and also measured relevant social attitudes. Quantitative analyses of the survey data revealed the structures of people’s attitudes. In particular, I found the existence of a group of people who have clearly discriminatory attitudes toward children. Furthermore, based on the empirical analyses, I suggested a foundational legal theory of children’s legal status.

Free Research Field

法社会学