Criminal Homicide as a Situated Transaction

Abstract

I will examine the organization and development of seventy transactions ending in murder. In all seventy cases, murder was the culmination of an interchange between an offender and victim, resembling what Goffman termed a “character contest,” a confrontation in which opponents sought to establish or maintain “face” at the other's expense by remaining steady in the face of adversity. The transaction took a sequential form: the victim issued what the offender deemed an offensive move; the offender typically retaliated with a verbal or physical challenge; a “working” agreement favoring the use of violence was forged with the victim's response; battle ensued leaving the victim dead or dying; the manner of the offender's exiting was shaped by his relationship to the victim and the moves of his audience.