Donald Black papers

Donald Black was a world renowned theoretical sociologist and University Professor Emeritus of the Social Sciences at the University of Virginia from 1985-2016. Born in 1941, he received his bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1963, his master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1965, and his PhD in sociology from Michigan University in 1968. Before coming to the University of Virginia in 1985, he was at both Yale University as a post-doctoral Russell Sage Fellow from 1968-1970, and then taught at Harvard University in their Sociology Department and Law School. In 1989 he attained the position as a University Professor, allowing him to teach in any department or school at the University including the Law School. From 1986-1989 he also served as the Department Chair of Sociology.

Black was known for his study of the sociology of ideas and scienticity (the degree to which ideas are testable, valid, and original). His most important early work included "The Behavior of Law" (Emerald Publishing 1976), which advanced what is still the only general sociological theory of law--"behavior of law"—which is what people do in the name of law, including illegal acts as a way to manage conflict and assert grievances, particularly when legal protections are perceived as failing. He created the theory of "Pure Sociology" which explains social life by studying deviant behavior as a system of social control rather than a set of rules. It is different from psychology because it makes no presumptions about an individuals experience. His work, particularly "Crime as Social Control"(American Sociological Review 1983), argues that crime can be a form of "self-help" to achieve justice, and it explains the variation in legal responses (like arrests) through social structures such as too much intimacy or lack of intimacy related to conflicts. Unlike most sociologists, he rejected psychological approaches and drew on anthropological and historical materials and modern data, allowing him to explain variation in social behavior in all societies and across time. He extended his work to the larger universe of conflict management—including violence, avoidance, and toleration—which culminated in his major midcareer work, "The Social Structure of Right and Wrong" (Academic Press 1993). Black broke still more fresh ground with a third major opus, "Moral Time" (Oxford University Press 2011), which presented a radically new general and testable theory of the causes of conflict. He authored a series of brilliant publications, including the "The Manners and Customs of the Police" (Academic Press 1981), "Sociological Justice' (Oxford University Press 1993), “The Geometry of Terrorism” in Sociological Theory (2004), and "The Epistemology of Pure Sociology".

He was a fellow of the American Society of Criminology and the American Anthropological Association. In 2013, he received the Law and Society Association Harry Kalven Jr. Prize for outstanding scholarship. He received several awards from the American Sociological Association (ASA) and its Sections. In 1994, he received both the ASA Theory Section’s Theory Prize and the Section on the Sociology of Law’s Distinguished Book Award, for "The Social Structure of Right and Wrong". He was also the recipient of the ASA Section on the Sociology of Law’s Distinguished Article Award in 1997 for “The Epistemology of Pure Sociology” (Law & Social Inquiry 1995) and the recipient of the ASA Section on Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity inaugural Outstanding Published Book Award in 2012 for "Moral Time". In addition, several of his books have been translated into other languages. He was invited to lecture in numerous countries abroad, including Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Holland, France, Scotland, England, Poland, and Japan. He was on the editorial board for scholarly journals and edited his own series on "Studies on Law and Social Control" for Oxford Press.

Black was also a charismatic teacher who influenced many students of sociology. According to Mark Cooney, "His classes were an intellectual treat for he saw teaching as an opportunity to develop new ideas." Beyond the classroom, he was an inspiring mentor ready to offer advice and encouragement, especially to younger scholars. He retired from the University of Virginia in 2016 and died in January 2024.

The collection also includes the papers of Roberta Senechal de la Roche, (spouse of Donald Black) and an American historian, sociologist, retired professor from Washington and Lee University, and poet born in western Maine and raised in upstate New York. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine and the University of Virginia, where she received a doctoral degree in history. As a historian and sociologist, she specialized in studying theory on collective violence and social history. Her first major publication, originally titled "The Sociogenesis of a Race Riot", was later renamed "In Lincoln’s Shadow: The Springfield Race Riot of 1908". The book examines the two-day race riot in Springfield, Illinois, which resulted in the displacement of thousands of Black residents, destruction of their businesses and homes, and brutal killings of two African Americans. Her work won two distinguished prizes, cementing her contribution to the field. She taught courses on the American gilded age, the history of violence in America, the history of women in America, and a seminar on modern terrorism.

Roberta was inspired by the sociological approach in "Salem Possessed", which used detailed social profiles to uncover community conflicts during the Salem Witch Trials. As a graduate student at the University of Virginia, she sought a similarly researchable topic in the field of collective violence. She chose the Springfield riot for its historical significance as Abraham Lincoln’s hometown and its underexplored status in academic literature. Over eight years, she meticulously analyzed the dynamics of the riot, profiling both the perpetrators and victims and uncovering patterns that challenged prevailing social strain theories of violence. Her long standing interest is in non-state unilateral collective violence, such as rioting, lynching, terrorism, and vigilantism.

She is also a poet of Miꞌkmaq and French- Canadian descent. Her poems have appeared in the Colorado Review; Vallum; Glass: A Journal of Poetry; Yemassee, Blue Mountain Review, Sequestrum, and Cold Mountain Review, among others. She has two prize-winning chapbooks: Blind Flowers (Arcadia Press) and After Eden (Heartland Review Press, 2019). A third chapbook, Winter Light, and her first book, Going Fast (2019) are published by David Robert Books.

Sources: Cooney, Mark. "Donald Black" Member News & Notes. American Sociological Association, May 2024. https://www.asanet.org/member-news-notes-may-2024/#obituary

Roberta Senechal de la Roche's website. https://www.wlu.edu/profile/senechal-roberta