“Wild Justice” - The Anarchist Library

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“Wild Justice”
CrimeasanAnarchistSourceofSocialOrder
Bob Black
BobBlack
“WildJustice”
CrimeasanAnarchistSourceofSocialOrder
Spring2012
theanarchistlibrary.org Spring 2012

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
TheSourcesofSocialOrder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
LawandAnarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CrimeandPriorRelationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CrimeasSelf-Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SocialControlfromBelow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Vengeance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
VendettasandFeuds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
RisksandCostsofCriminalSelf-Help . . . . . . . . . . . 21
IsCriminalSelf-HelpJust? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
WhichIsBetter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3

cisBaconputit,whereyouhadoneenemy,nowyouhavetwo.And Introduction
thestateisbestofallatprotectingthestate.Underanarchy,there
willbeonlyoneenemy,andyou,andyourfriends,andthefriends We’ve all heard the phrase “law and order” — as if they go to-
of anarchy will deal with the common enemy, feeling a sense of gether.Thesloganassumesthatlawpromotesorder,andthatcrime
solidarity,justlikeDurkheimsaid! subvertsorder.“Anarchistsbelievethephraselawandorderisone
What Bacon called wild justice is better than no justice at all. of the great deceptions of our age.”1 I’m going to discuss just one
I like my justice to be a little wild. For all its drawbacks, taking of the reasons why this slogan is a lie. One reason is that law it-
thelawintoyourownhandscanbeasourceofsatisfaction,even selfmaycreateorperpetuatedisorder.Thisisafamiliaranarchist
exhilaration,thatyoujustcan’tgetbyworkingthroughthesystem. theme2whichIwillnotgointohere.Anotherreason,whichisnot
Iearlierinsisted,andIstilldo,thatvengeanceisn’tjustareflexive, familiar,isthatoftencrimepromotesorder.Crimecanbeasource
emotional lashing-out. But neither is vengeance just the result of oforder—especiallywherethelawisn’t—andthisissurprisingly
a cold cost-benefit analysis. It has an emotional dimension, and common.Ifcrimeiseverasourceofsocialorder,itcanonlybean
whynot?It’sexpressiveaswellasinstrumental.Vengeancecanbe anarchistsourceofsocialorder.Thiswillbemythesishere.
empowering. Along with the justice of vengeance, there’s the joy Untilrecently,socialscientistsonlynoticedonewaythatcrime
ofvengeance.Andisn’tanarchismtheonlypoliticsofjoy? promotesorder.AsÉmileDurkheimputit,“Crimebringstogether
  upright consciences and concentrates them.”3 The community
1“IntroductionbyHowardZinn:TheArtofRevolution,”inHerbertRead,
Anarchy & Order: Essays in Politics (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971), xv. “Law and
orderisthehistoricalillusion;lawversusorderisthehistoricalreality.”Stanley
Diamond, “The Rule of Law versus the Order of Custom,” The Rule of Law, ed.
Robert Paul Wolff (New York: Touchstone Books, 1971), 140; see also Edgar Z.
Friedenberg,“TheSideEffectsoftheLegalProcess,”ibid.,45.
2See, e.g., “Law and Authority,” Kropotkin’s Revolutionary Pamphlets, ed.
RogerN.Baldwin(NewYork:DoverBooks,1970),216–17&passim.Inthetime-
lesswordsofChicagoMayorRichardDaley:“Thepolicearenotheretocreatedis-
order;they’reheretomaintaindisorder.”QuotedinGertrudeBlock,“Language
Tips,”NewYorkStateBarAss’nJournal83(5)(June2011),57.
3ÉmileDurkheim,TheDivisionofLaborinSociety,tr.GeorgeSimpson(New
York:Macmillan,1933),102.“Crimehastheusefulfunctionofmaintainingthese
totheresultsobtained.Ontheotherhand,individualsarenolongersubjectto [collective]sentimentsatthesamedegreeofintensity,fortheywouldsoondi-
anyothercollectivecontrolbuttheState’s,sinceitisthesoleorganizedcollec- minishifoffensesagainstthemwerenotpunished.”ÉmileDurkheim,TheRulesof
tivity…WhiletheStatebecomesinflatedandhypertrophiedinordertoobtaina SociologicalMethod,ed.GeorgeE.G.Catlin,tr.SarahA.Solovay&JohnMueller
firmenoughgripuponindividuals,butwithoutsucceeding,thelatter,without (8thed.;NewYork:TheFreePressofGlencoe,1964),96.Asimilarviewhasbeen
mutualrelationships,tumbleoveroneanotherlikesomanyliquidmolecules,en- attributedtoGeorgSimmelbyLewisCoser,TheFunctionsofSocialConflict(New
counteringnocentralenergytoretain,fixandorganizethem.”EmileDurkheim, York:TheFreePress,1956),127;seeGeorgSimmel,Sociology:Inquiriesintothe
Suicide:AStudyinSociology,ed.GeorgeSimpson,tr.JohnA.Spaulding&George ConstructionofSocialForms,tr.&ed.AnthonyJ.Blasi,AntonK.Jacobs&Mathew
Simpson(NewYork:TheFreePress,1951),389. Kanjirathinkal(Leiden,Netherlands&Boston,MA:Brill,2009),1:29(referringto
32 5
comes together against the common enemy: the criminal. But pleself-acting,individuallyorcollectively,forself-protectionhave
recentlyanothersociologist,DonaldBlack(norelation)hasargued beenunderrated.Peoplearealreadyoperating,usuallyapartfrom
that some crime is really self-help social control. You can fight thelaw,andoftenagainstthelaw,invariouswaystoresolvetheir
crimewithcrime.Youcanalsousecrimetodealwithharmfulacts conflicts. This is what we should try to convince people of. They
which aren’t crimes. This is a lot more common than you might shouldbeinformedthat“anarchyisfoundinallsocietiestosome
think. degree.”65Andthattherewouldbeeffectivewaysinanarchistsoci-
etytodealwiththedisputes,whichmayalwaysbewithus,which
arise in everyday life, and also — more severely — ways to deal
The Sources of Social Order
withchronicpredatorsorpeoplewhojusthavenoself-control.
I am not convinced that there so many chronic troublemakers,
We already live in a mostly anarchist society, in the sense that
even now, that enough of them couldn’t be convinced, cured, or
the state plays a relatively minor role in controlling antisocial be-
havior. This is a classic anarchist argument,4 but I think that the contained; or shamed and shunned; or run out of town; or as a
last resort — and I accept this, as all primitive stateless societies
anarchistshaven’tmadeasmuchofitastheycould.DonaldBlack
haveapparentlyacceptedit—evenkilled,ratherthancompromise
writes that “the more we study law, indeed, the more we realize
howlittlepeopleactuallyuseittohandletheirconflicts…”5 the anarchism that everybody else wants to live, or try to live, if
everybodyelseeverwantstolivethisway,oratleasttogoalong
withthoseofuswhodo.IndiscriminatetolerancedidintheFlower
“theimportanceofacommonopponentfortheinnercohesionofagroup”)&1: Children.IfthechoiceisbetweenHannibalLechterandanarchy,I
279ff.
preferanarchyminusHannibalLechter.
4See,e.g.,AlexanderBerkman,WhatIsCommunistAnarchism?(NewYork:
But, this issue is more silly than serious. One of the greatest
Dover Publications, 1972), 186; Rudolf Rocker, Anarcho-Syndicalism (London:
PlutoPress,1989),19. ironiesofstatesocietyisthatthestateismuchworseatprotecting
5“SocialControlasaDependentVariable,”inTowardsaGeneralTheoryof usthanitisatpreventingusfromprotectingourselves.66 AsFran-
SocialControl,ed.DonaldBlack(2vols.;Orlando,FL:AcademicPress,1984),1:
3.MyargumentowesagreatdealtoDonaldBlack,“CrimeasSocialControl,”in
TowardsaGeneralTheoryofSocialControl,2:1–27. concluded,ifThomasSzaszthinksmentalillnessisamyth,heshouldmeetmy
Halfofallcrimesarenotevenreportedtothepolice.JamesF.Ander- upstairsneighbor!
son&LaronistineDyson,CriminologicalTheories:UnderstandingCrimeinAmer- Alongwithamutualfriend,“CalCrusher,”Iharassedtheneighborwith
ica(Lanham,MD:UniversityPressofAmerica,2002),37.Thisstatisticrefersto threateninglettersfromanimaginarylawyer.Thiswas,inpractice,whatanarcho-
the seven “index” crimes — all felony “street” crimes — in the Uniform Crime leftists, in theory,call solidarity,direct action, and mutual aid — but which, in
ReportscompiledbytheFBI.AccordingtotheNationalCrimeSurvey(basedon practice, they don’t practice. We practiced direct action and mutual aid. How
self-reports),in1982(theannualvariationisslight),39%ofaggravatedassaults, manyofmyanarchistenemiescansaythesame?IfIrecall,thepersecutorcom-
42%ofrobberies,45%ofrapes,and49%ofburglarieswerenotreportedtothe mittedsuicide.
police.MichaelR.Gottfredson&TravisHirschi,AGeneralTheoryofCrime(Stan- 65Black,BehaviorofLaw,124.
ford,CA:StanfordUniversityPress,1990),19.Nogovernmentagencyregularly 66“IthasoftenbeensaidthattheStateisasintrusiveasitisimpotent.It
compiles data on corporate or white-collar crimes, which are almost never re- makesasicklyattempttoextenditselfoverallsortsofthingswhichdonotbe-
portedtolawenforcementagencies.Noonecompilesstatisticsonmisdemeanors longtoit,orwhichitgraspsonlybydoingthemviolence.Thencetheexpenditure
eveniftheyarereported. ofenergywithwhichtheStateisreproachedandwhichistrulyoutofproportion
6 31
Weneedtoconfrontthepopularfearofanarchismhead-on,and Itisn’tbecauseofthefearofpunishmentthatmostpeopledon’t
useeveryhonestargumenttodispelit.Mostofthetraditionalan- kill,orsteal,oruseheroin,orrunredlights.It’susuallyforother
archist answers still have some validity — although they need to reasons. They may just not go in for those things. They may be
becriticallyrevisedandmodernized.Buttheseanswershaveobvi- influencedorinhibitedbyeducation,orbymoralvalues,orbyforce
ously failed to convince more than a few people — as, indeed, all ofhabit.Mostimportantly,6 theymayberesponsivetowhatother
ourargumentshavefailedtoconvincemorethanafewpeople. peoplethinkofthem.
The supposed protections of the law are overrated, and anar- No doubt law imposes some order, for better or for worse. But
chists have overlooked some of the evidence of this.63 The preda- in addition to social order enforced by law, there’s a much larger
torypredilectionsofsomepeopleareexaggeratedbythelaw-and- amountofsocialorderbroughtaboutapartfromthelaw.Andthat
orderestablishmentandtheiracademiccampfollowers,although, includesorderbroughtaboutagainst thelaw.
weshouldn’tpretendthattherearen’tsomebadguys,orthatthey InMaxWeber’sfamousdefinition,thestate“isahumancommu-
will all respond well to love and therapy.64 The capacities of peo- nitythat(successfully)claimsthemonopolyofthelegitimateuseof
force withinagiventerritory.”7 Hedidwelltoplace“successfully”
But,whoaretherealcriminals?Criminalsaretherealcriminals.AmI in parentheses, and to speak of a mere “claim.” No state has ever
beingsimple?Sure.Bettertobesimplyrightthansimplywrong.
succeededinmonopolizingtheuseofforce.Fewifanystateshave
63Forexample,oneoftherareexamplesofexperimentalresearchincrimi-
eventriedto.Thereissomedegreeofanarchyineverysociety.8
nologyisreportedinGeorgeL.Kelling,TonyPate,DuaneDieckman,&CharlesE.
Brown,TheKansasCityPreventivePatrolExperiment:ASummaryReport (Wash- Stilllesshasthestate(anystate)eversucceededinmonopolizing
ington,DC:ThePoliceFoundation,1974),availableatwww.policefoundation.org. the“legitimate”useofforceeither,ifthismeansthatthosesubject
Preventivepolicepatrol—thatis,policedrivingaroundlookingfortrouble,or
tothepowerofthestate,consciouslyacceptitspower—notonly
pretendingto—wassystematicallydiscontinued,withoutnoticetothepublic,in
that they accept it as a brute fact, but that they accept it as right.
oneneighborhoodafteranother.(Thepolicestillansweredservicecalls,asthe
firedepartmentdoes.)Thewithdrawalofpreventivepolicepatrolprotectionhad Usually, all that we have evidence of is that most people, most of
noeffectonreportedcrimerates.Ithadnoeffectoncitizenperceptionsoftheir thetime,acquiescein,theyareresignedto,thepowerofthestate,
safety.Policepatrolisthususelessforcrimecontrol.Needlesstosay,nopolice which is not necessarily the same as endorsing the state or its le-
departmenthas,onthebasisofthisdiscovery,discontinueddriving-aroundpa-
gitimacy or its justice. Much criminal violence is seen by its per-
trol(withstopsfordoughnuts).SeealsoHerbertJacob,TheFrustrationofPolicy:
PoliceResponsestoCrimebyAmericanCities (Boston,MA:Little,Brown&Co.,
1984).
64Irecalltheexperienceofafriendofmine,“ZackReplica”(apseudonym),
my collaborator in Dial-a-Rumor (see Bob Black, “Tales from Dial-a-Rumor,”
Friendly Fire [Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1992], 71–89). Zack, who is handi- 6“Notthefearoflegalpenalties,butthefearoflossofstatusinthegroupis
capped,livedinBerkeley,CaliforniaatthesametimeIdid.Zackhadbeenrather theeffectivedeterrent…Regardlessoftheofficialmethodsofdealingwithcrimi-
sympathetictotheargumentsoflibertarianpsychiatristThomasS.SzaszinThe nalsweshallretainthismethodofcontrolbygrouppressure.”EdwinH.Suther-
MythofMentalIllness:FoundationsofaTheoryofPersonalConduct (NewYork: land,PrinciplesofCriminology(NewYork:Lippincott,1947),374.
Harper&Row,1961).Butonehastohavedoubtsaboutapsychiatristwhosewife 7“PoliticsasaVocation,”FromMaxWeber:EssaysinSociology,ed.&tr.Hans
committedsuicide.Zackhadabelligerentupstairsneighbor(Iforgethisname), Gerth&C.WrightMills(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1958),78(emphasis
a paranoid schizophrenic who was threatening Zack with violence for no rea- intheoriginal).
son. It takes a big bad brave man to threaten somebody in a wheelchair. Zack 8DonaldBlack,TheBehaviorofLaw(NewYork:AcademicPress,1976),124.
30 7
petrators—reasonablyornot—aslegitimatesocialcontrol.9They Hebelievedtheirdangertobe,asIdo,greatlyexaggerated.But
thinkthattheirviolenceislegitimate,too. (hegoesontosay)“delinquency”will“certainlynotdisappearfol-
lowing a revolution, however radical and thoroughgoing it may
turn out to be.” Therefore: “It is worthwhile and indeed necessary
Law and Anarchy
thatanarchistsshouldconsidertheproblemingreaterdetailthan
theynormallydo,notonlythebettertodealwithapopular‘objec-
Donald Black’s definition of law is simply that law is govern-
mentalsocialcontrol.10 tion’butinordernottoexposethemselvestounpleasantsurprises
and dangerous contradictions.”61 Sage advice: but anarchists have
All other social control is nongovernmental social control and
is therefore, by definition, anarchist.11 Black has also formulated usuallyslightedthematter.62
somepropositionsaboutlaw,includingthisone:Themorelaw,the 61“CrimeandPunishment,”Malatesta:HisLife&Ideas,comp.&ed.Vernon
lessnonlegalsocialcontrol,andviceversa.12 Thus“Crimesofself- Richards(London:FreedomPress,1977),105.Foranexample,ananarchist,“Scott
helparemorelikelywherelawislessavailable.”13Whenthereisno W.,” who recently, in “The [sic] Anarchist Response to Crime,” laid out a post-
revolutionaryanarchistcrime-controlscenario—completewithpolice(renamed
law,andthereisonlynonlegalsocialcontrol,that’sanarchy.And
“militias,”assistedby“forensiccollectives”and“detectivecollectives”)andpris-
Blackdoesn’thesitatetocallitthat.Heisfamiliarwith,anddraws
ons,andheexplainedthatwewillneedafewgenerationstoeradicatecrime.Then
uponthehistoricalandethnographicevidenceofviableprimitive itwillwitheraway,perhaps.Theterm“collective”isapparentlyunlimitedlyelas-
anarchist societies. And he even anticipates a gradual evolution tic,inclusive,andapproving,ifevendetectivesandcrimelabtechniciansareokay,
solongastheyareorganizedintocollectives.Scott’sessay,andmyrejoinder,“An
9Black,“CrimeasSocialControl,”2:13.Myargumentdoesnotdependupon AnarchistResponseto‘TheAnarchistResponsetoCrime,’”areavailableonline
theassumptionthatthosewhoinflictunilateralviolenceonothers,thinkingthat atTheAnarchistLibrary.
theyarejustified,arejustifiedbymoralstandardsprevailinginothersectorsof 62Theproblemof“delinquency…hasnotoccupiedagreatspaceinanar-
society,orevenintheirown.Formostofmyreadersitmaybealmostunthinkable, chisttheory,PeterKropotkinbrushingitasidecontemptuously.Inafreesociety
forexample,thatwife-beaterscanthinkthatthey’rejustified,butusuallytheydo therewillbenocrime.”StuartChristie,“Publisher’sForeward”toLarryTifft&
thinkso.LookingbackonAmericanhistory,therewasvigilantejustice,which DennisSullivan,TheStruggletoBeHuman:Crime,Criminology,andAnarchism
wasenforcedbyself-appointedgroups(usually,ofthebettersortofpeople)where (Sanday,Orkney,Scotland:CienfuegosPress,1980),xiii.Christiewasright,but
lawenforcementwasconsideredtobecorruptorineffectual.It’sdifficulttojudge, unfortunately,theTifftandSullivanbookaddsnothingtoananarchisttheoryof
today,howfairthatjusticewas,ifbyfairnessismeant,convictingandpunishing crime.Itismostlyjustliberalhumanistmoralisticwhiningandwhimperingto
theguilty.ThentherewaslynchlawintheSouth,which,sofarasweknow,was, theeffectthatthestateistherealcriminal.That,besidesbeingself-contradictory
in that sense, almost never fair — but then it was always carried out with the nonsense(crimeisdefinedbylaw,whichisproducedandselectivelyenforcedby
connivanceoflocallawenforcement.Iwouldbethelastpersontosaythatsocial thestate),legitimizestheconceptofcrime,whichpresupposeslaw,whichpre-
controlisalwaysagoodthing.Iamonlysayingthatithappens,andnotonly supposesthestate.Abetter,andbetterwritten,andbrieferversionofarelated
fromstateaction.Wenolongerhavevigilantesorlynchmobs.Self-helpcriminal argumentisinAlexComfort,AuthorityandDelinquencyintheModernState:A
socialcontrolisnowalmostalwaysindividual.Inanarchistjargon,itisstill“direct CriminologicalApproachtotheProblemofPower (London;RoutledgeandKegan
action,”butit’susuallynot“mutualaid.” PaulLtd.,1950).Dr.Comfort(yes,he’stheauthorofTheJoyofSex)arguesthat
10Black,BehaviorofLaw,2 wherethereexistsastate,predatorsandpsychopathsarelikelytostaffitindis-
11Black,“SocialControlasaDependentVariable,”1:2 proportionatenumbers.Notonlydoespowercorrupt,powerattractsthealready
12“Lawvariesinverselywithothersocialcontrol.”Black,BehaviorofLaw, corrupt.That’sfine—asfarasitgoes.IfAKPressorPMPresshadevenaslight
107. interestinreprintinggenuineanarchistclassics,theyshouldreprintthisone.But,
13Black,“CrimeasSocialControl,”2:17. sincetheydon’t,theywon’t.
8 29
Conclusion toward a possible future anarchy — on the other side of modern
statesociety.14
My argument is just this: that, in a statist, law-ridden society You might not be comfortable with the term “social control.”
like ours, social order isn’t only, or even mainly, imposed by law. Black’sdefinitionisthatitrefersto“anyprocessbywhichpeople
Ithasothersupports.TheoneI’vesingledoutiscrime,fortworea- define and respond to deviant behavior.”15 You might not like
sons:(1)becauseit’sbeenlargelyoverlooked,and(2)becauseit’sa the word “deviant” either, since you may suspect that you are
genuinelyanarchistsourceoforderwhichisofsomeimportance. one. You might say it another way, but Black is only saying that
Ithinkthatthisargumentshouldbeaddedtotheexistingargu- when some people do things that other people don’t like, the
ments why anarchy doesn’t mean chaos. It’s consistent with the other people may do something about it, or at least react in some
otherarguments.ItisanticipatedbyKropotkin’sclassicargument way. That’s inevitable. You can abolish law, but you can’t abolish
thatcollectiveself-help,“mutualaid,”isamajorsourceofsocialor- consequences. Since society itself is interpersonal interaction
dereveninstatesocieties,60 althoughKropotkinmadelittleifany when it assumes definite forms,16 it is implicitly limiting, as an
referencetomutualaidasameansofdisputeresolution.Anarchists extreme anarchist individualist such as Renzo Novatore seems to
also argue that in a cooperative, egalitarian society, there would haveseen,anddeplored.17
be much less crime (and virtually no property crime). What’s left Someanarchists,suchasTolstoy,haveadvocatednonresistance;
wouldbehandled,wheneverpossible,inalesspunitiveandmore but none, to my knowledge, has advocated nonreaction. Even go-
conciliatorymanner. ing limp is a reaction. Even turning the other cheek is a reaction.
Inananarchistsociety,aconflictisn’twrenchedoutofitsinter- They are attempts to shame the victimizers or to win over public
personalcontext—ifithasone—as,wesuppose,inadecentralized opinion:theyarepowerploys.Socialcontrolisnotnecessarilyco-
anarchist society, it usually will. There doesn’t have to be a judg- ercion. It may just be influence.18 Certain people may have to be
ment of guilt or innocence. Anarchist methods work best where beaten into polite behavior, but for others, persuading, mocking,
the law is at its worst, where the conflict or grievance involves a shamingorshunningsuffices.There’snoreasonwhyananarchist
dispute, not impersonal unilateral aggression, and arises out of a societycan’treduceoverallsocialcontrolasiteliminateslegalso-
priorrelationship.Theevidenceofanthropologysupportsthosear-
guments.Itsupportsmyargument.
Thepopularfearofanarchismaboveallconsistsofthefearthat, 14Black,BehaviorofLaw,123–137.
without military and police protection, people would be helpless 15Black,“SocialControlasaDependentVariable,”1:n.1,5.But“Deviant
against violent predation. Errico Malatesta saw this, as he saw behaviorisconductthatissubjecttosocialcontrol…”!Black,BehaviorofLaw,9.
Thisapparentcircularityneednotdistractusfromthemainpointthatextralegal
many things, clearly: every anarchist “is familiar with the key
conduct,includingcrime,hassomeofthesocialeffectsclaimedforlaw.Criminol-
objections:whowillkeepcriminalsincheck?”
ogistsask:Whydopeoplecommitcrimes?Blackasks:“Whydopeoplecommit
socialcontrol?”Black,“SocialControlasanIndependentVariable,”1:14.
16Simmel,Sociology,1:23.
17RenzoNovatore,TowardtheCreativeNothing (n.p.:VenomousButterfly,
60PeterKropotkin,MutualAid:AFactorofEvolution,ed.PaulAvrich(New 2000)(notpaginated).
York:NewYorkUniversityPress,1972),esp.chs.7–8. 18Black,“SocialControlasaDependentVariable,”1:5
28 9
cial control entirely.19 What’s more, nongovernmental social con- Which Is Better?
trol is less punitive than law. It tends instead to be conciliatory,
compensatoryortherapeutic.20 Inalaw-riddenstatesocietysuchasours,neitherlawnorcrime
isalwaysthebestwaytodealwithdisputes.Derivingastheyboth
dofromthestate,lawandcrimecompetetobethelesserevil.There
Crime and Prior Relationships
isn’t any general answer. It all depends on the nature of the dis-
pute, the social status of the disputants, what the law actually is,
Thepolicearen’talwaysineffectual.Theyoftencatchcriminals
theavailabilityorunavailabilityofthirdpartiessuchasmediators
insuchcasesasbankrobbery,counterfeiting,andthreateningthe
or arbitrators or judges, and the facts of the case.59 Nobody has
President. But it’s possible to identify areas where they are least
even tried to measure to what extent social order in this society
effective. One of them is where the victim and the criminal have
depends on law enforcement, or on crime, or on activity which is
somesortofcurrentorpriorrelationship.
neither law enforcement nor crime, or on other influences. That’s
Most so-called street crime isn’t committed by strangers. It’s
impossible.Nobodycouldquantifythesefactors.Butnobodywho
committedbyfamily,friendsandneighbors.Thetypicalrapeisn’ta
iswell-informedcanminimizetheimportanceofanyofthem,with
womanbeingdraggedbythehairintoanalleybysomelust-crazed
thepossibleexceptionoftheenforcementofthecriminallaw.
bruteofaman.Thetypicalrapeisdaterape.Bynowthatshouldn’t
surprise anybody. But some other research findings probably will
surpriseyou.
59Black, “Social Control as a Dependent Variable,” 2: 7–8. I have not dis-
ButbeforeIreportthem,Iwanttogiveyouanexampletothink
cussed herethe thirdfactor — the forms of dispute processing as such (concil-
about. A loans his bicycle to his friend B. B originally meant to iation,negotiation,mediation,arbitration,adjudication,etc.)astheyhavebeen
return it, but he never did. A finally goes over to B’s apartment classifiedby,e.g.,Nader&Todd,“Introduction,”9–11;FrankE.A.Sander,“Vari-
and,findingthedoorclosedbutnotlocked,walksin.Heretrieves etiesofDisputeProcessing,”inTomasic&Feeley,eds.,NeighborhoodJustice,26–
29.Amusingly,Sanderdismissesseveralevidentlylessrespectablemechanisms,
hisbike.BtriestostophimbutApusheshimaway.Somepeople
includingself-help,as“notofcentralconcernherebecauseoftheirlimitedutil-
wouldsaythatAwasjustified.OtherswouldsaythatAhadalegit-
ity or acceptability,” ibid., 29 — although a community study in the same vol-
imategrievancebutwenttoofar.Fewpeoplewouldconsiderthis umefoundaprimaryrelianceonself-help,SuzannR.Thomas-Buckle&Leonard
tobeahighlyseriousincident. G. Buckle, “Doing onto Others: Disputes and Dispute Processing in an Urban
AmericanNeighborhood,”ibid.,79–80.WithrespecttoAmericancriminalprose-
Buttothelaw,Aappearstohavecommittedtwomajorfelonies:
cutions,onlyadjudicationmatters—theattemptstoinserttheotherdisputing
burglary(becauseofwhatis,technically,abreak-inatadwelling)
procedures into the legal system have been few and far between and usually
androbbery(becauseheusedforceinretakingthebike).It’slegally “court-annexed,”i.e.,theyarejustwaysforprosecutors(whomustapprovethese
referrals)tounloadsomeofwhattheycallgarbagecases.Ontheriseandrapid
19Blackdeniestheargumentofsomeofhiscritics(acriticismwhichalso fallofthesefailedreforms,seeRomanTomasic,“MediationasanAlternativeto
occurredtome)thathistheoryimpliesthatthereisafixedlevelorquantityof Adjudication: Rhetoric and Reality in the Neighborhood Justice Movement,” in
socialcontrolinallsocieties.Black,“SocialControlasaDependentVariable,”1: NeighborhoodJustice,215–48.Bailreform,pretrialdiversion,sentencingreform,
15n.20.Surelythereare,orhavebeen,societieswithlesssocialcontrolthan,say, andspeedytrialrulesareamongotherfailedreforms.MalcolmM.Feeley,Court
NorthKorea. ReformonTrial:WhenSimpleSolutionsFail (NewYork:BasicBooks,1983),chs.
20Black,“SocialControlasaDependentVariable,”1:8–12. 2–5.
10 27