Status Defense Myths

Status Defense Myths: Understanding How Power and Privilege Go Unpunished investigates the role of status in the decision to punish or permit violence in society. Whether sexual, racial, political or financial, powerful factors work to maintain the status quo, heaping retribution on low-status perpetrators and delivering leniency to those with high-status. The model of status defense myths identifies four factors that are used to justify violence or absolve perpetrators of blame: evidence, devia