Richard B. Felson

Impression management and the escalation of aggression and violence

Impression management theory is used to derive hypotheses about the escalation of incidents involving aggression and violence among samples of the general population, ex-mental patients, and ex-criminal offenders. Respondents were interviewed about incidents they had been involved in at four levels of severity: incidents in which they were angry but did nothing about it; verbal disputes; incidents involving physical violence but no weapon; and incidents in which a weapon was used. The findings generally support impression management theory: (I) respondents were more likely to express their anger when they had been insulted, particularly when they were males; (2) the probability of physical violence was lower when participants gave accounts for their actions; (3) conflicts involving same-sex participants were generally more severe when an audience was present; and (4) instigation from third parties resulted in more severe incidents while third party mediation resulted in less subsequent aggression.

Aggression and violence: Social interactionist perspectives.

Grievances - Development and Reactions, James T.Tedeschi and Mitchel Nesler A Control Theory Interpretation of Psychological Research on Aggression, Michael R. Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi Disputes and the Efficacy of Control, Mark C. Stafford and Jack P. Gibbs Aggression as Procedural Choice in Social Conflict, Dean Pruitt Reciprocity of Coercion and Co-operation Between Individuals and Nations, Martin Patchen Aggression - Interaction Between Individuals and Social Groups, Amelie Mummendey and Sabine Otten Illusions of Anger, James Averill Good Violence and Bad Violence - Self-Presentations of Aggressors Through Accounts and War Stories, Hans Toch Violent Networks - The Origins and Management of Domestic Conflict, Mary Pat Baumgartner Sexual Coercion - A Social Interactionist Approach, Richard B. Felson.

Aggression as impression management.

This paper suggests six propositions from impression management theory to account for interpersonal aggression where there is no material gain, and reviews evidence supporting these propositions. This approach suggests that initial attacks are often inadvertent and that retaliation may be an attempt to reinstate a favorable situational identity when one has been attacked. The approach is particularly useful in: (I) explaining why perceived intentional attack elicits aggression; (2) recognizing the importance of role relationships for interpersonal aggression; (3) handling the processual nature of aggressive encounters; and (4) clarifying the relationship between interpersonal conflict and aggression.

Gender differences in mathematics performance

We examine the standard socialization explanation of gender differences in mathematics performance using data from children in Grades 5 through 12. We argue that gender socialization processes must be more specific if they are to explain why boys outperform girls on some tests while girls outperform boys on others

The control motive and marital violence.

The role of the control motive in marital violence is examined using data on current and former marriages from the Survey of Violence and Threats of Violence Against Women and Men. The findings indicate no support for the position that husbands engage in more marital violence than wives because they are more controlling. In former marriages, we observe statistical interactions between gender and control: former husbands who were controlling or jealous were particularly likely to be verbally aggressive and to engage in violence. The controlling husbands (present and former), however, are not particularly likely to engage in violence that is frequent, injurious, or unprovoked. The evidence suggests that husband and wives may differ in their methods of control but not their motivation to control.

Aggression and violence between siblings

Two theoretical models are discussed as explanations of why verbal and physical aggression between youthful siblings is so frequent. The sibling rivalry model suggests that aggression between siblings reflects jealousy and nonrealistic conflict. A realistic conflict model, on the other hand, suggests that sibling conflicts arise over tangible goods and the performance of disvalued tasks because proprietary rights and the division of labor within the household are often unclear. These conflicts are likely to become overt if interventionz from parents is anticipated because then younger siblings are willing to fight their more powerfil older siblings. This suggests that siblings fight less when parents take a laissez-jiaire approach because the younger sibling is forced to submit. Recall data collectedfrom college students provide support for the realistic cotnflict model but not the sibling rivalry model.

Motives for Rape

We develop a socio-sexual model and a punishment model of rape, borrowing from the theoretical literature on other forms of violence. Preliminary tests of these models are performed using victimization data from the National Crime Survey. In support of the socio-sexual model, younger women are more likely to be raped than older women during a robbery, suggesting a preference for younger women even when opportunity is controlled. In addition, nonstrategic violence is less likely during rapes involving younger offenders and victims, suggesting that these crimes are more likely to be sexually motivated. There is also evidence for the punishment model: Injury is more likely when the offender and victim are an estranged couple, suggesting that some men use rape and violence during rape to punish the victim for some grievance. Further, in contrast to robbery, offenders with weapons are more likely to injure victims, suggesting the nonstrategic use of violence.

Parental Punishment and Sibling Aggression

We suggest that powerful third-party mediators tend to support weaker antagonists in conflict situations and that this support inadvertently may encourage aggression. These principles are used to help explain aggression between fourththrough seventh-grade children and their siblings. We find that parents are more likely to punish older siblings than younger siblings for fighting, and that they are more likely to punish boys when theyfight with their sisters. This tendency to punish the more powerful sibling results in more frequent aggression, while a laissez-faire approach results in less frequent aggression. The results also show that aggression against siblings is more common when the age difference is three years or less, that girls are just as aggressive with their siblings as boys, and that physical aggression is more likely between siblings of the same sex.

Routine Activities and Involvement in Violence as Actor, Witness, or Target

This research examines the effects of an active “night life” on involvement in interpersonal violence as either an actor, a witness, or a target. The results show that males with an active night life are more likely to witness as well as participate in violent encounters, whereas an active night life is not a risk factor for females. The fact that night life affects witnessing violence, and engaging in nondomestic but not domestic violence, supports a routine activity approach over other explanations. The results also show that young men, and men without family obligations, are more likely to be involved in nondomestic violence, in part because they go out at night more frequently.

The Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Violent Versus Other Offending

The role of alcohol intoxication in different types of criminal behavior was examined using data from a nationally representative sample of inmates (N = 16,698). An attempt was made to isolate the effects of intoxication on violent criminal behavior by controlling for chronic alcohol use and prior offending. The results suggested that intoxication plays its strongest role in homicide and physical and sexual assault but that it also plays a role in robbery and burglary. Dosage effects also provided supporting evidence: The more intoxicated the offender, the greater the effect. However, alcohol played a role in homicide and physical assault even when offenders drank in moderation. The evidence was most consistent with the idea that alcohol has stronger effects on offenses that involve personal confrontation and are therefore more risky. Evidence also suggested that alcohol effects are stronger for dispute-related violence in part because victims are also likely to be intoxicated.