Exploring the situational context of criminal assaults and batteries
Social scientists are increasingly aware of the significance of examining crime events and the situational context of crime. This paper extends that research by exploring the physical and social aspects of assaults. Guided by research on masculinity, status threats, and character contests, this study uses police data to examine the situational dynamics of dispute-related assaults; Specifically, this study differentiates two types of dispute-related violence: character contests and noncharacter contests. Numerous situational variables are examined to assess the significance of their relationship with the likelihood of an offense being a character contest; By comparing character contests to other types of dispute-related assaults, this study addresses whether there are significant differences between the circumstances of these two types of violent situations. From the analysis of nearly 200 incidents of dispute-related assaults, I find a common structural basis in these crime events that includes particular sets of offender, victim, and situational character contests and other forms of dispute-related violence. This study explores these common structures and the role of character contests in violent situations. Finally, the implications for future research are discussed.
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