Informal Social Control: A Randomized Experiment

• In Event: Choice, Deterrence and Violence in Context

Abstract

A longstanding sociological literature investigates informal social control: under what conditions can community members disrupt criminal events or prevent the crime from occurring altogether? The focus of this macro-level literature is community-level characteristics that are postulated to facilitate (e.g., homeownership) or detract from (high rates of residential turnover) a community’s capacity to exert effective control of crime and disorder. We complement this literature by studying micro-level interaction between community members and would-be offenders with the aim of isolating the circumstances under which private citizens can be effective in deterring the would-be offender, and what are the characteristics and motivations of citizens who are willing to play this role? With the help of a lab experiment we can make the socially most important effect visible: the risk that a community member might intervene on behalf of the victim induces a person to refrain from stealing.

Authors

• Christoph Engel, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods

• Daniel S. Nagin, Carnegie Mellon University