Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Narrative criminology prioritizes personal narratives for explaining past behaviours and shaping future decisions. Using this perspective, we rely on data from a photo-ethnography with people who use peyote in religious ceremonies to understand how their discourses about peyote shape their experiences with it. We find that participants define peyote as an 'earth medicine' that helps with healing (physical, spiritual and psychological) and thus should be respected. This narrative dictates how and when they use it (e.g. with intention and not recreationally), distances from other drugs (which are regarded as harmful) and directs their physiological experiences. Findings suggest that the symbolic meaning associated with specific drugs justifies using it and directs and encourages continued use. Thus, understanding drug use requires examining how discourse about specific drugs are incorporated into personal narratives.

Returning to the community after incarceration can be a difficult challenge. These issues are exacerbated for sex offenders, who reenter society carrying strong stigmas and who are subject to a variety of both legal and extralegal restrictions. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 24 incarcerated, soon-to-be released sex offenders, this study examines their perceptions and expectations of reentry challenges and opportunities. Analysis shows that sex offenders have very limited understandings of reentry legal restrictions. In addition, offender accounts revealed sex offenders generally held positive expectations for community reentry. They reflect the belief that they will be able to draw upon personal, familial, and social resources to avoid the consequences of stigmatization.

In ethnographic research, expectations and guidelines presented in textbooks often differ from the practice of researchers in the field. This is especially true when studying criminals in general and drug dealers in particular. Based on qualitative interviews with 15 ethnographers studying drug dealers, we discuss seven important methodological issues that emerge when doing this type of research. These issues include approach/recruitment, enticing consent/payment, drug use of both participants and researchers, the use of audio recorders, physical and legal security, ethical dilemmas, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) problems. We argue that ethnographers need to make "standing decisions" about how to address issues about recruiting participants, enticing them to consent, recording interviews, consuming drugs or alcohol, addressing ethical dilemmas, and dealing with IRBs. Having these standing decisions will facilitate more methodologically rigorous and ethically sound decisions, and produce higher quality research.

pt. 1. Situating qualitative research in criminology and criminal justice -- pt. 2. Traditional and unorthodox qualitative research strategies -- pt. 3. Collecting and interpreting qualitative data -- pt. 4. Qualitative research on crime and criminals -- pt. 5. Qualitative research on the justice systems

Social deviance does not involve just criminal behavior-it's any behavior that violates a cultural norm, and that can involve something as minor as consistently and deliberately wearing lively mismatched socks. Moreover, whether a crime, a sin, or simply unique taste, what's considered deviant at one time and place can change, as when extensive tattooing and ""body art"" evolved from a sideshow carnival spectacle to a nearly universal rite of passage within U.S. culture.Drawing contributions from across the social and behavioral sciences, including sociology, anthropology, criminology, polit

The first book to examine identity theft from the offender's perspective.