Like
rational choice theory
Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour. The theory originated in the eighteenth century and can be traced back to political economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. The theory postula ...
,
conflict theory
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
, or
functionalism, pure sociology is a sociological
paradigm
In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field.
Etymology
''Paradigm'' comes f ...
— a strategy for explaining human behavior. Developed by
Donald Black as an alternative to individualistic and social-psychological theories, pure sociology was initially used to explain variation in
legal behavior
In sociology, legal behavior refers to variations in the methods and degree of governmental social control of behavior.
Background
In 1976, theoretical sociologist Donald Black introduced a general sociological theory of law in his book ''The ...
. Since then,
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
and
other pure sociologists have used the strategy to explain
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
,
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
,
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
, and other forms of
conflict management
Conflict management is the process of limiting the negative aspects of conflict while increasing the positive aspects of conflict. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and group outcomes, including effectiveness or performance i ...
[Black, Donald. 1998. The Social Structure of Right and Wrong. San Diego: Academic Press.] as well as
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
,
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, and
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
.
Epistemology
Pure sociology explains social life with its
social geometry Social geometry is a theoretical strategy of sociological explanation, invented by sociologist Donald Black, which uses a multi-dimensional model to explain variations in the behavior of social life. In Black's own use and application of the idea, ...
. Social life refers to any instance of human behavior—such as
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
,
gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling.
Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...
, or
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
— while the
social geometry Social geometry is a theoretical strategy of sociological explanation, invented by sociologist Donald Black, which uses a multi-dimensional model to explain variations in the behavior of social life. In Black's own use and application of the idea, ...
of a behavior, also called its
social structure
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...
, refers to the social characteristics of those involved—such as their degree of past interaction or their level of wealth. To some extent this approach draws from aspects of earlier
sociological
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
work, ranging from
Durkheim's emphasis on social explanations for individual behavior to later work in the variation of police (and other legal) behavior.
Differences
Virtually all sociology explains the behavior of people—whether groups or individuals—with some reference to their mental constructs (
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
) or the purposes of their action (
teleology
Teleology (from and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology" In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Appleton ...
). But pure sociology reconceptualizes human behavior as social life—something that does not exist in the mind, is not explainable by the aims of actions, and is supraindividual. Pure sociology, then, can be distinguished from other sociological paradigms by what is absent from it: psychology, teleology, and even people as such. Pure sociology's focus on a unique social reality may sound
Durkheimian, but Black views the approach as "more Durkheimian than Durkheim."
Explanations
I
''The Behavior of Law', published in 1976,
Donald Black introduced the first example of pure sociology—a general theory of law, or governmental social control. This theory seeks to explain variation in law, and one aspect of
legal variation is the amount of law attracted to a case of conflict. A conflict is a situation where one person has a grievance against another, such as where an assault has occurred or a contract has been broken, and the offended parties may or may not appeal to the police or to the civil courts to resolve it. Cases may attract law or not, then, and when they do attract law, there may be more or less of it. When the police make an arrest in an assault case, for instance, there is more law when there is merely a call to the police, and when someone is convicted and sentenced there is more law than when there is merely an arrest. The pure sociology of law explains this variation by identifying a number of sociological variables that are associated with variation in the quantity of law. These include various forms of social status (such as wealth, integration, culture, conventionality, organization, and respectability) as well as various forms of social distance (such as relational distance and cultural distance). These are aspects of the social structures of cases, then, and so cases where the disputants are both high in status have different social structures—and are handled differently—than cases involving low-status disputants. Whether the disputants are socially close to or distant from one another also determines the amount of law the case attracts. For example, one of the theory's predictions is that within a society, law varies directly with relational distance. Relational distance refers to the amount and intensity of interaction between the parties, so the theory predicts that there is more law in conflicts between strangers than in those between intimates. This aspect of the theory explains numerous facts, such as why those who kill strangers are punished more severely than those who kill intimates and why women who are raped by strangers are more likely to report it to the police.''
Since the publication o
''The Behavior of Law'' Black and other pure sociologists have applied the theoretical strategy to numerous other subjects. Most notably, Black has developed a general theory of social control that goes beyond law to explain more generally the handling of all human conflicts.
Most conflicts are handled without appealing to the legal system, and the theory thus explains not just law but
avoidance,
gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling.
Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...
,
therapy
A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis.
As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...
,
feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...
ing, and numerous other forms of non-governmental social control. In addition to extending the subject matter, this later work also extends the theory to focus not just on the social characteristics of the initial disputants in a conflict, but also of third parties (all those with knowledge of a conflict). For example
Mark Cooneyexamines how third party behavior shapes
violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...
. Whether and how third parties involve themselves in a conflict can determine not only the likelihood of violence, but also the form the violence takes. For example, social configurations characterized by close and distant group ties are conducive to feud-like behavior where violence occurs back and forth between groups over a long period of time. In this situation, third parties are members of groups, and they are relationally close to fellow group members but distant from others. When conflicts between groups occur, they thus support one side and oppose the other, and they may join in retaliatory violence against members of rival groups. Other social configurations are conducive to other forms of violence or even to peace. For example, where there are cross-cutting ties, such as where people are relationally close to members of other groups, third parties are more likely to promote peace.
Recently, Black has moved beyond the study of how conflicts are handled to examine the origin of conflict itself.
''Moral Time''identifies the causes of clashes of right and wrong in human relationships. In doing so, this theory invokes a new explanatory concept—the idea of movement in ''social time'' — and thus extends the pure sociological approach.
Black and others have also moved beyond conflict and social control to develop explanations of ideas, predation,
welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
,
research
Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
, and other forms of social life. For example, Black's theory of ideas explains the content of ideas with their social structures. Just as each conflict has a social structure that consists of the social characteristics of the disputants and third parties, every idea—every statement about reality—has a social structure consisting of the characteristics of the source, subject, and audience. For example, the subject of an idea may be intimate or distant from the source: People have ideas about family members and friends as well as strangers. The subject may also be high or low in social status: People have ideas about
senators and
businessmen
A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...
as well as
skid row
A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...
vagrants. But ideas vary depending on their social structures. Black's explanation of voluntarism and
determinism
Determinism is a philosophical view, where all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and consi ...
, for example, states that ideas about high status subjects are more likely to be voluntaristic (to invoke
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
). The theory would predict, then, that people would offer voluntaristic explanations of
senators and
businessmen
A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...
and deterministic explanations of
skid row
A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...
vagrants.
Practitioners and scholars
A number of sociologists have used at least some elements of
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
's theoretical strategy in their work, including Professors M.P. Baumgartner, Marian Borg, Bradley Campbell
Mark CooneyAllan HorwitzScott JacquesMarcus KondkarJason Manning Joseph Michalski
Calvin MorrillRoberta Senechal de la Roche an
Criticism
While prominent sociologists such as
Randall Collins
Randall Collins (born July 29, 1941) is an American sociologist who has been influential in both his teaching and writing. He has taught in many notable universities around the world and his academic works have been translated into various langu ...
Karen A. CeruloDavid Sciulli and
Jonathan H. Turner have praised aspects of pure sociology, the approach has also been criticized. Kam C. Wong criticizes pure sociology's scientism, David F. Greenberg its use of covering-law explanations, and
Thomas J. Scheff Thomas J. Scheff (born 1929) is an American Professor, Emeritus, Department of Sociology at University of California, Santa Barbara. His fields of study are the emotional/relational world, mental illness, restorative justice, and collective violen ...
its attempt at disciplinary purity. In a 2008 symposium
Douglas A. Marshall offers an extended critique of the system. Marshall argues that, contrary to Black's stated goal of making sociology more scientific, his approach is actually antithetical to modern scientific values and practices—a theme reiterated by
Stephen Turner in the same symposium.
Response to criticism
Mark CooneyAllan Horwitz and Joseph Michalski have responded to some specific criticisms of pure sociology, while
Donald Black, in "The Epistemology of Pure Sociology" as well as other writings, has responded generally to critics' claims and provided an extensive defense of the pure sociological approach.
Noting the ideological nature of many of the attacks,
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
says that his theory is in fact "politically and morally neutral."
[Black, Donald. 1995. "The Epistemology of Pure Sociology." Law and Social Inquiry 20:867.] But according to
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, it nonetheless attracts politicized hostility due to its unconventionality:
"My work is shocking not because it is politically incorrect
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
, but because it is epistemologically incorrect. It violates conventional conceptions of social reality in general and legal and moral reality in particular. It therefore shocks — epistemologically shocks — many on whom it is inflicted. If I disturb your universe I may be worthy of contempt. I may appear to be your favorite political enemy, a conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
if you are radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
, a radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
if you are conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
."
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
also discusses the aims of the approach. While it is unconventional
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
, it is conventional
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
, striving to provide
simple
Simple or SIMPLE may refer to:
*Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple
Arts and entertainment
* ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track
* "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018
* "Simple", a song by Johnn ...
, general,
testable
Testability is a primary aspect of Science and the Scientific Method and is a property applying to an empirical hypothesis, involves two components:
#Falsifiability or defeasibility, which means that counterexamples to the hypothesis are logicall ...
, valid, and
original
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...
explanations of
reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
. And it is by these criteria alone,
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
maintains, that it should be judged:
"If you wish to criticize my work, tell me you can predict and explain legal and related behavior better than I can. Tell me my work is not as testable as something else, tell me it is not as general as something else, tell me it is less elegant than something else, tell me that it has already been published, or just tell me it is wrong. Tell me something relevant to what I am trying to accomplish — something scientific."[Black, Donald. 1995. "The Epistemology of Pure Sociology." Law and Social Inquiry 20:847.]
References
Further reading
Baumgartner, M.P.
* 1978. “Law and social status in colonial New Haven.” Pages 153-178 in Research in Law and Sociology: An Annual Compilation of Research, Vol. 1, edited by Rita J. Simon. Greenwich: JAI Press.
* 1984. “Social Control from Below.” Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 1: Fundamentals, edited by Donald Black. Orlando: Academic Press.
* 1984. “Social Control in Suburbia.” In Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 2: Selected Problems, edited by Donald Black. Orlando: Academic Press.
* 1985. “Law and the Middle Class: Evidence from a Suburban Town.” Law and Human Behavior 9(1):3-24.
* 1987. “Utopian justice: the covert facilitation of white-collar crime.” ''
Journal of Social Issues
The ''Journal of Social Issues'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues along with ''Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy'' and '' Soci ...
'' 43:61-69.
* 1988. The Moral Order of a Suburb. New York: Oxford University Press.
* 1992. “War and Peace in Early Childhood.” Pages 1–38 in Virginia Review of Sociology: Law and Conflict Management, edited by James Tucker. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press Inc.
* 1992. “Violent networks: The origins and management of domestic conflict.” Pages 209-231 in Aggression and Violence: The Social Interactionist Perspective, edited by
Richard B. Felson and James T. Tedeschi. Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.
* 1993. “On the Overlegalized Conception of Modern Society.” Contemporary Sociology 22(3):336-337.
* 1993. “The myth of discretion.” Pages 129-162 in The Uses of Discretion, edited by Keith Hawkins. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* 1996. “A Better Place to Live: Reshaping the American Suburb.” Contemporary Sociology 25(2):222-224.
* 1998. “The Moral Voice of the Community.” Sociological Focus 31(2):??-??. (editor)
* 1999. The Social Organization of Law. San Diego: Academic Press.
* 1999. “Introduction.” Pages 1–8 in The Social Organization of Law, edited by M.P. Baumgartner. San Diego, Academic Press (second edition; first edition, 1973).
* 2001. “The sociology of law in the United States.” The American Sociologist 32(Summer):99-113. Thematic Issue: The Sociology of Law, edited by A. Javier Trevino.
* 2002. “‘The Behavior of Law’, or How to Sociologize with a Hammer.” Contemporary Sociology 31(6):644-649.
Black, Donald
* 1970. “Production of Crime Rates.” ''
American Sociological Review
The ''American Sociological Review'' is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of sociology. It is published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the American Sociological Association. It was established in 1936. The editors- ...
'' 35:733-748.
* 1971. “The Social Organization of Arrest.” ''
Stanford Law Review
The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces six ...
'' 23:1087-1111.
* 1972. “The Boundaries of Legal Sociology.” ''
Yale Law Journal
The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...
'' 81:1086-1100.
* 1973. “The Mobilization of Law.” Journal of Legal Studies 2:125-149.
* 1973. “Introduction.” Pages 1–14 in The Social Organization of Law, edited by Donald Black and Maureen Mileski. New York: Academic Press.
* 1976. The Behavior of Law. New York: Academic Press.
* 1979. “Common Sense in the Sociology of Law.” American Sociological Review 44(1):18-27.
* 1979. “A Note on the Measurement of Law.” Informationsbrief für Rechtssoziologie, Sonderheft 2:92-106.
* 1979. “A Strategy of Pure Sociology.” Pages 149-168 in ''Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology'', edited by Scott G. McNall. New York: St. Martin's Press.
* 1980. The Manners and Customs of the Police. New York: Academic Press.
* 1981. “The Relevance of Legal Anthropology.” Contemporary Sociology 10(1):43-46.
* 1983. “Crime as Social Control.” American Sociological Review 48:34-45.
* 1984. Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 1: Fundamentals. Orlando: Academic Press. (editor)
* 1984. “Preface.” Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 1: Fundamentals, edited by Donald Black. Orlando: Academic Press.
* 1984. “Social Control as a Dependent Variable.” In Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 1: Fundamentals, edited by Donald Black. Orlando: Academic Press. (editor)
* 1984. Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 2: Selected Problems. Orlando: Academic Press. (editor)
* 1984. “Preface.” Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 2: Selected Problems, edited by Donald Black. Orlando: Academic Press.
* 1984. “Crime as Social Control.” Pages 1–27 in Toward a General Theory of Social Control, Volume 2: Selected Problems, edited by Donald Black. Orlando: Academic Press.
* 1984. “Jurocracy in America.” The Tocqueville Review – La Revue Tocquevelle 6:273-281.
* 1987. “Compensation and the Social Structure of Misfortune.” ''
Law & Society Review
''Law & Society Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of law and society, which is part of the larger field known as the sociology of law. It was established by the Law and Society Association in 1966 and is published by Wiley- ...
'' 21(4):563-584.
* 1987. “A Note on the Sociology of Islamic Law.” Pages 47–62 in Perspectives on Islamic Law, Justice and Society, edited by Ravindra S. Khare. Working Papers, Number 3. Charlottesville: Center for Advanced Studies University of Virginia.
* 1989. Sociological Justice. New York: Oxford University Press.
* 1990. “The Elementary Forms of Conflict Management.” In New Direction in the Study of Justice, Law, and Social Control, prepared by the School of Justice Studies, Arizona State University. New York: Plenum Press.
* 1991. “Relative Justice.” Litigation 18:32-35.
* 1992. “Social Control of the Self.” Pages 39–49 in Virginia Review of Sociology: Law and Conflict Management, edited by James Tucker. Greenwich: JAI Press Inc.
* 1993. “La Mobilisation du Droit: Autobiographie d’un Concept: (The Mobilization of Law: Autobiography of a Concept”). Pages 376-378 in Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de Théorie et de Sociologie de Droit, under the direction of André-Jean Arnaud. Paris: Librairie, Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence.
* 1995. “The Epistemology of Pure Sociology.” Law and Social Inquiry 20:829-870.\
* 1997. “The Lawyerization of Legal Sociology.” Amici (Newsletter of the Sociology of Law Section, American Sociological Association) 5:4-7.
* 1998. The Social Structure of Right and Wrong. San Diego: Academic Press.
* 2000. “On the Origin of Morality.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 7:107-1191.
* 2000. “The Purification of Sociology.” Contemporary Sociology 29(5):704-709.
* 2000. “Dreams of Pure Sociology.” Sociological Theory 18(3):343-367.
* 2002. “The Geometry of Law: An Interview with Donald Black”, by Aaron Bell. ''
International Journal of the Sociology of Law
The ''International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering criminology and various legal disciplines, including criminal law and the sociology of law. It was established in 1973 as the ''Internati ...
'' 30:101-129.
* 2002. “Terrorism as Social Control. Part I: The Geometry of Destruction.” American Sociological Association Crime, Law, and Deviance Newsletter Spring:3-5.
* 2002. “Terrorism as Social Control. Part II: The Geometry of Retaliation.” American Sociological Association Crime, Law, and Deviance Newsletter Summer:3-5.
* 2002. “Pure Sociology and the Geometry of Discovery.” In Toward a New Science of Sociology: A Retrospective Evaluation of The Behavior of Law, by Allan V. Horwitz. Contemporary Sociology 31(6):668-674.
* 2004. “The Geometry of Terrorism.” In “Theories of Terrorism,” symposium edited by Roberta Senechal de la Roche. Sociological Theory 22:14-25.
* 2004. “Violent Structures.” Pages 145-158 in Violence: From Theory to Research, edited by Margaret A. Zahn, Henry H. Brownstein, and Shelly L. Jackson. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing Company.
* 2004. “Terrorism as Social Control.” In Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Criminological Perspectives, edited by Mathieu Deflem. New York: Elsevier Ltd.
* 2007. “Legal Relativity.” In the Encyclopedia of Law and Society: American and Global Perspectives, Volume 3, edited by David S. Clark. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
* 2010. “How Law Behaves: An Interview with Donald Black,” by Mara Abramowitz. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 38:37-47.
* 2010. The Behavior of Law (Special Edition). Bingley, England: Emerald.
* 2011. Moral Time. New York: Oxford University Press.
Black, Donald and M.P. Baumgartner
* 1983. “Toward a Theory of Third Party.” Pages 84–114 in Empirical Theories about Courts, edited by Keith O. Boyum and Lynn Mather. New York: Longman.
* 1987. “On Self-Help In Modern Society.” Dialectical Anthropology 12:33-44. Also, pages 193-208 in The Manners and Customs of the Police, by Donald Black. New York: Academic Press.
Borg, Marian J.
* 1992. “Conflict Management in the Modern World-System.” Sociological Forum 7(2):261-282.
* 1998. “Vicarious Homicide Victimization and Support for Capital Punishment: A Test of Black's Theory of Law.” Criminology 36:537-567.
* 2000. “Drug testing in organizations: applying Horwitz’s theory of the effectiveness of social control.” Deviant Behavior 21:123-154.
Borg, Marian J. and William P. Arnold III
* 1997. “Social Monitoring as Social Control: The Case of Drug Testing in a Medical Workplace.” Sociological Forum 12(3):441-460.
Borg, Marian J. and Karen F. Parker
* 2001. “Mobilizing Law in Urban Areas: The Social Structure of Homicide Clearance Rates.” Law and Society Review 35:435-466.
Campbell, Bradley
* 2009. “Genocide as Social Control.” ''Sociological Theory'' 27(2):150-172.
* 2010. “Contradictory Behavior During Genocides.” ''Sociological Forum'' 25(2):296-314.
* 2010. “Review of ''Is Killing Wrong?''” ''Social Forces'' 89(2):720-721.
* 2011
“Black's Theory of Law and Social Control.” I
''Oxford Bibliographies Online: Criminology'' edited by Richard Rosenfeld.
* Forthcoming. "Genocide as a Matter of Degree." ''British Journal of Sociology.''
Cooney, Mark
* 1986. “Behavioural Sociology of Law: A Defence.” ''
The Modern Law Review
The ''Modern Law Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of Modern Law Review Ltd. and which has traditionally maintained close academic ties with the Law Department of the London School of Economics ...
'' 49(2):262-271.
* 1989. “Legal Secrets: Equality and Efficiency in the Common Law.” ''
American Journal of Sociology
The ''American Journal of Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed bi-monthly academic journal that publishes original research and book reviews in the field of sociology and related social sciences. It was founded in 1895 as the first journal in its disci ...
'' 95(2):536-537.
* 1992. “Racial Discrimination in Arrest.” Pages 99–119 in Virginia Review of Sociology: Law and Conflict Management, edited by James Tucker. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press Inc.
* 1993. “Why is Economic Analysis So Appealing to Law Professors?” ''
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''The British Journal of Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1950 at the London School of Economics. It represents the mainstream of sociological thinking and research and publishes high quality papers on all asp ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pure Sociology
Sociological theories
Rational choice theory