NCJ Number
199312
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 122-140
Date Published
2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Through an examination of a random sample of assault incidents, this study analyzed the victim-offender relationship by considering the context in which the assault occurred.
Abstract
Under the conceptual framework of this study, assault consists of transgressing the physical and emotional boundaries associated with bodies. Assault includes assessments of personal integrity; the privacy of one's physical and symbolic body; and personal freedom, which is the ability to do as one pleases with one's physical and symbolic body. Data for this study were obtained from a municipal police force in a medium-sized Western Canadian city. Only those assaults that involved one offender and one victim were included in the sample; the sample consisted of 549 incidents (251 common assaults, 197 assaults that involved bodily harm, and 101 aggravated assaults). Victim-offender relationships were divided into five categories: intimate or lover, other immediate family, extended family and friends, casual acquaintances, and strangers. After dividing the assault events into their respective victim-offender relationship categories, cases were examined from the perspective of the personal integrity/personal freedom conceptual framework used in the study. The author notes that the five victim-offender relationship categories represent varying degrees of social distance, with intimates being least socially distant and strangers most socially distant. Decreased social distance between intimates suggests that the conflicts that occur between intimates are a negotiation of privacy and personal integrity. On the other hand, the greater social distance between strangers reflects an emphasis on personal freedom and a negotiation of what is "mine." In assaults among strangers, transgressions of the rules of the public realm are at issue. Such transgressions emphasize personal freedom. In discussing the contexts for assaults in the various relationship categories, findings are presented for the contexts of adultery, partner expectations, property and money, breaking up, interactions in bars and other drinking establishments, conflicts while driving a motor vehicle, and sexual demands. 1 figure and 29 references