Legal socialization of youth (exemplified by university students)

The article deals with the issues of legal socialization of youth. Based on a survey of university students, it analyzes the level of their proficiency in legislation, points out the main channels for obtaining legal information, identifies the role of the family, the system of education and self-education, law enforcement agencies, political parties and public organizations in forming legal awareness. According to the results of the study the institutions of the family and education have preserved the leading positions in the formation of the legal culture of the younger generation. Students attach great importance to the system of self-education and the Internet, which are closely interrelated. The study identifies gender, territorial and professional specifics of legal socialization: men assess the level of their knowledge in the main branches of law higher; the educational system for formation of legal consciousness is most important in large metropolitan areas, whereas the importance of family for legal socialization is higher in district towns of the region; legal acts official sources of publication are more popular among law students.