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Criminal conflict as collective punishment

Author

Listed:
  • Keisuke Nakao

    (University of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii, USA)

  • Sun-Ki Chai

    (University of Hawaii, Manoa, Hawaii, USA)

Abstract

Political conflicts have been extensively studied by political scientists, but criminal conflicts have received much less attention, especially by theorists in the field. Focusing on the latter type of conflict, we address why an individual crime across an ethnic or tribal border can lead to large-scale violence. Building on rational choice theory, we present three hypothetical mechanisms which may account for criminal conflicts: (1) Avengers penalize suspects in the culprit’s social group because they cannot identify the culprit; (2) avengers inflict vicarious punishment because such punishment can be more severe for the culprit than a penalty on the culprit himself; (3) by demanding collective responsibilities, avengers urge the target group to police itself and to suppress deviant behavior against outsiders. Drawing on historical incidents and recent case studies, our third mechanism appears the most compelling.

Suggested Citation

  • Keisuke Nakao & Sun-Ki Chai, 2011. "Criminal conflict as collective punishment," Economics of Peace and Security Journal, EPS Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 5-11, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:epc:journl:v:6:y:2011:i:1:p:5-11
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    File URL: http://www.epsjournal.org.uk/index.php/EPSJ/article/view/120
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nakao, Keisuke, 2015. "Indirect Policing: Its Theory, Mechanism, and Application to Combatting Elusive Perpetrators," MPRA Paper 67218, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Philipp Chapkovski, 2021. "Strike one hundred to educate one: Measuring the efficacy of collective sanctions experimentally," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-21, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Peace; security; crime;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War

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