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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
This study by Felson and Steadman examined the processual development and interactional dynamics of violent situations, with a theoretical base in symbolic interactionism. Its aim was to determine the situational factors involved in criminal homicides and assaults that were not committed in conjunction with other offenses.
METHODOLOGY:
A quasi-experimental cross-sectional design was employed, using secondary analysis of information about a non-probability sample obtained from a population of males incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities in 1977 and a few months of 1978. Subjects were chosen if they had been convicted of felonious assault, manslaughter or murder, and whose case files offered a detailed description of the offenses. The final sample of 159 incidents involved 84 adults and 75 youths. The authors obtained details of these incidents from presenting reports, based upon accounts from police, eyewitnesses, offender and victims. A detailed scheme was established to code the various interactions, with two independent coders achieving an interrater agreement of 76%. Analysis included frequencies of types of actions, log-linear analyses and correlations.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The authors found that three stages were involved in the commission of homicides and assaults: (1) verbal conflict, with attacks on identities and attempts to influence the antagonist; (2) threats and evasive action, including mediation; and (3) physical attack. Retaliation was found to be the key principle, in that particular aggressive actions on the part of the victim were associated with the commission of same types of behaviors by the offender. Offenders were more likely to kill victims who were intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, and in both homicides and assaults, third parties were more likely to participate as antagonists than as mediators. It was concluded that the victim's role in these incidents was highly complex, with each participant's actions being a function not only of the other person's behaviors, but also of the implications of those behaviors for defending one's honor and well-being.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors believe that their systematic method for recording events could be applied to other crimes of violence or to incidents that vary more widely in the severity of their outcomes.
EVALUATION:
The use of a systematic method for recording various types of incidents is a useful contribution to this style of research. However, this study is limited firstly by its restricted sample, and secondly by its use of secondary analysis. The sample consisted only of those incidents that were serious enough to result in incarceration, so there was only a limited range of outcomes to investigate. Only those incidents with a detailed description were included, again potentially losing many important cases. The sample was rather small, and the threat of coder error was present. And the use of secondary analysis presents the problem of incomplete or inaccurate data - it is difficult to know if the report that one reads is a true account of what happened. No alternative explanations of the findings were given, and the results of the study are not easily generalizable to any population outside of the one under investigation. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - New York
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Symbolic Interactionism
KW - Theory
KW - Homicide Causes
KW - Physical Assault
KW - Male Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Male Violence
KW - Juvenile Male
KW - Adult Male
KW - Male Inmate
KW - Juvenile Inmate
KW - Adult Inmate
KW - Incarcerated
KW - Situational Factors
KW - Verbal Aggression
KW - Verbal Violence
KW - Third Party Behavior
KW - Adult Homicide
KW - Juvenile Homicide
Language: en |