Rethinking the Situational Context of Aggressive Exchange

Saturday, February 13, 2016: 3:00 PM-4:30 PM
Hoover (Marriott Wardman Park)
Mark Berg, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
We examine victim-offender overlap, focusing on how personal traits and situational dynamics affect violence and conflict escalation. We argue aggressive people do not abide by norms of social interaction and that the nature and social settings of their conflicts are different. We test this using data from inmates and non-incarcerated controls. Our results have implications for violence prevention, including retaliation, and interventions that teach non-violent conflict management strategies.