NCJ Number
209818
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 44 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2005 Pages: 185-205
Date Published
May 2005
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study examined offenders' accounts of themselves, their lives, and their criminal behavior.
Abstract
Offending was examined from the perspective of the views, thinking, attitudes, and behavioral patterns of the offender. Participants were nine men and nine women, ages 19 to 50, who were attending treatment programs operated by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland as a condition of a current probation order. Participants' convictions were mainly for property offenses (theft, fraud, and burglary). The primary means of data collection was a semistructured interview. Study methods included data collection, grounded analysis of interview data, and multiple case-study analysis. Two primary and interconnected themes emerged from the study. The first theme is called "crime orientation." Crime orientation has two major components: an evaluative component that pertains to feelings, values, and attitudes about offending; and an identity component, which relates to the role of crime as a part of the offender's life and identity. A positive crime orientation involves the acceptance of crime as a way of life, a positive evaluation of the criminal pursuit, and a sense that it is an expression of the offender's identity. A negative crime orientation consists of a sense of conflict between the offender's criminal behavior and his/her image of who they are and what they value. A neutral crime orientation was also found, in which an offender feels neither strongly positive nor negative about their crimes, but seems to be detached from crime as a part of their lives. The second theme that emerged pertained to the state of an offender's "social relations," i.e., variables related to connections with family, friends, work activities, educational experience, income dependencies, and criminal justice contacts. 4 figures, 3 tables, and 31 references