Dr. Mark Cooney
(Curriculum Vitae) Dr. Mark Cooney, Associate Professor of Sociology, has been at the University of Georgia since 1991. He received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Virginia in 1991. In addition, Dr. Cooney holds a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from Harvard Law School, received in 1988.
His speciality areas include sociology of law, social control,
criminology, and deviant behavior.
Dr. Cooney's work addresses conflict management, especially law and violence, primarily from the theoretical perspective known as pure sociology (developed by Donald Black). He has a particular interest in the role of third parties in fomenting and settling conflict. His work tends to be theoretical in nature and cross-cultural in focus: he draws on anthropological and historical materials as well as on data from modern societies. Dr. Cooney's writings on violent conflict, for example, devote attention to both pre-modern forms of violence, such as feuding and dueling, and to contemporary homicide and assault. His most recent book similarly analyzes the morality of murder across all human societies, focusing on the remarkable case-by-case variation in the response to those who kill other people, including lynching, feuding, compensation, imprisonment, and praise. The ultimate goal of Dr. Cooney's work, as of all pure sociology, is the exploration of social space and the discovery of its organizing principles, principles that exist independently of biology and psychology.
Dr. Cooney’s book, Is Killing Wrong? A Study in Pure Sociology, is the most thorough analysis by a sociologist of the case-level response to any behavior defined as deviant. It is also the most comprehensive assessment of pure sociology yet attempted. The book shows that, sociologically, right and wrong are neither absolute nor relative, but geometrical: they vary with the location and direction of behavior in social space.
Selected Honors, Awards, and Grants
2003. M. G. Michael Award, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia.
Selected Publications
Cooney, Mark. 2009. Is Killing Wrong? A Study in Pure Sociology. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
Cooney, Mark and Callie Harbin Burt. 2008. "Less Crime, More Law" American Journal of Sociology 114: 491-527.
Phillips, Scott and Mark Cooney. 2005. "Aiding peace, abetting violence: third parties and the management of conflict." American Sociological Review, 70:334-354.
Cooney, Mark. 1998. "The dark side of community: moralistic homicide and strong social ties." Sociological Focus 31:135-153.
Cooney, Mark. 1998. Warriors and Peacemakers: How Third Parties Shape Violence. New York. New York University Press.
Contact Information
Department of Sociology
208 Baldwin Hall
Athens, GA 30602-1611
706-542-3209 (office)
706-542-4320 (fax)
mcooney@uga.edu
