The Seductions of Conformity: The Criminological Importance of a Phenomenology of Exchange

Abstract:     
Following the emotions and exchange theories of Edward J. Lawler, the paper suggests that: civility can be viewed as a collective action problem; contributions and withdrawals in respect of this public good depend in some measure upon reciprocity; civility can therefore be represented as a structure of exchange; processes of exchange can engender emotional commitment to the object of the exchange, and a perception of joint enterprise in efficacy between self and exchange partners; this emotional commitment is stronger when the exchange relation is characterised by a voluntarism in attachment; and conformity to exchange norms therefore has considerable phenomenological seductions.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 35

Keywords: Crime, criminology, emotions, exchange, reciprocity, phenomenology, existentialism

Accepted Paper Series