Turk’s theory of norm resistance describes how authority relations can be structured in ways that hold different probabilities of overt conflict between subjects and authorities. The theory is premised on social norms of deference. Turk’s argument is developed by advancing hypotheses about how deference by race and age reinforces or undermines the positional authority of police and the affects the probability of conflict with citizens. Domestic disturbance cases where police-citizen conflict occurred are compared to a similar sample where no conflict was recorded. The findings show that resistance is more likely when race and age deference norms counter the positional authority of officers. Notes and references