Legal Conscience of Teens from the Centennials Generation: a Prognostic Assessment

Abstract

Adolescence is a sensitive period for setting the groundwork of one's legal conscience on the way to the legal culture of an adult. The article analyses the projected risks for shaping the legal conscience of people for the next 10-20 years using the approach of the modern theories of generational cohorts. For the purpose of "detailed portrayal" of the anticipated image of an adult from the 2030-2040 this article contains the results of 11 studies (on centennials, iGeners, homelanders, digital natives etc.). The disputable traits of the typical representatives of these generations (that can potentially have impact on the formation process of their legal conscience) are compared: the idea of authority, the new forms of communication and education, hedonism, multitasking, planning horizon, family values etc. A number of features of the modern generation are compared with the fundamental elements of the structural and functional model of legal conscience (Ratinov A.P), particularly from the viewpoint of some systems: cognitive, regulative and evaluation. The postulates of the generation theories are critically assessed. We also analyse the general tendencies for the interaction of generations from the perspective of legal socializing.