Some people believe law changes human behaviour. Do you agree/disagree?

Everyone knows that laws are the rules laid by the government on the citizens of their respective country. It helps in the smooth functioning of the nation by governing the behaviour of people. It is disagreed that laws can change the behaviour of a person. It can only assist in creating a disciplined environment for society and controlling the crime to some extent but not eliminating it.

Firstly, imposing laws has created a sense of fear among people of getting punished. For instance, damaging the historical monuments, books, paintings, sculptures or other forms of art is considered a crime and is punishable under vandalism law. This example shows that a person with moral responsibility will take care of other’s assets, but a person who is not worried about the consequences will deface them. Thus, we can say that human’s action can be regulated by laws but cannot be changed completely.

Also, in our day to day life, we follow the rules without even realizing them. Traffic law is an example of this. Today, most of us follow the traffic signals out of habit. We stop at a red light, start an indicator before a turn and wear a seat belt when we are on the road.

Thus, we can say that laws embed some changes in human behaviour to some extent. However, we are still facing road-accidents which clearly show that rules and regulations have controlled the behaviour of humanity without altering them completely.

In my opinion, laws are meant for restraining people’s illegal behaviour that might be harmful to society. Although laws cannot reform human nature, they can influence people’s most profound thoughts. Thus, I partially agree with the issue statement.