The Social Dimensions of Interpersonal Dispute Resolution: A Test of a General Theoretical Framework with Survey Data.

The article examines the social dimensions of interpersonal dispute resolution. Although the concept of social control is a primary concern of sociologists, it is rarely considered as a dependent variable. Instead, researchers and theorists alike generally attempt to describe the functions and relative merits of the various forms of social control in terms of such constructs as efficiency or effectiveness. By framing the research question in these terms, variation in the construct of interest, social control, is not explained. There are several problems with the existing dominant approach. First, most studies evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of various forms of formal and informal social control. A large body of literature addresses the issue of deterrence. General deterrence studies usually evaluate whether the presence of police, a high arrest rate, or a high crime clearance rate drives down the subsequent rate of crime. A second problem with the existing paradigm is that its focus is often on explaining rates of crime or victimization at the aggregate level. The most serious problem with this is that definitions of crime vary both across time and across social space.