Lois Presser

The narratives of offenders

Although criminologists have long used the offenders own story to shed light on crime and its possible causes, they have not plumbed its potential as an explanatory variable. This article considers the way narrative has been conceptualized in criminology and the way that it might be re-conceptualized, following scholarship in other social sciences and in humanities, as a key instigator of action. The concept of narrative is useful for the projects of contemporary criminology because it: (1) applies to both individuals and aggregates; (2) applies to both direct perpetrators and bystanders; (3) anchors the notion of (sub)culture; (4) circumvents the realism to which other theories of criminal behavior are bound; and (5) can be readily collected by researchers, though not without confronting the problematic that is the socially situated production of discourse.

Values and Evaluation: Assessing Processes and Outcomes of Restorative Justice Programs

Increased interest in the restorative justice programs is accompanied by concern for whether they work andthrough what basic processes. Yet the task of evaluating restorative justice programs is a daunting one because they are so diverse, pursuing unique andmultiple objectives. Restorative justice is guidedby values that emphasize healing andsocial well-being of those affectedby crime. These values must guide program evaluation. The authors explore ways to conceptualize andmeasure program inputs and outputs for the purpose of assessing both processes and outcomes of restorative justice programs.

Strange Bedfellows: Is Sex Offender Notification a Form of Community Justice?

Nationwide legislation requires that the names of convicted sex offenders living in communities be made public. The social movement that drives sex offender notification uses the rhetoric of community justice. The authors consider whether notification is truly a community justice initiative. The logic of notification is compared with that of restorative community justice. Implicit and explicit understandings of community, victims, offenders, and social control are examined. The article concludes that the principles of notification are largely inconsistent with those of community justice. The success of the notification movement highlights the urgent need for effective interventions that address sexual violence.

Collecting and Analyzing the Stories of Offenders

The stories of offenders are invaluable for detailing the meanings that people give to their own violations. One would expect a broad knowledge base of methods for collecting and analyzing such stories, but no such thing currently exists. This article attempts to fill that gap, drawing on my own and others’ research experiences. Research practice depends on the way that a researcher conceptualizes both narrative and offender, so I pay careful attention to these conceptualizations. I then offer practical advice on best practices of narrative research in criminology.

Getting on top through mass murder: Narrative, metaphor, and violence

This paper makes a case for narrative criminology by describing the storied nature of mass murder by Jim David Adkisson in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Drawing on interviews with and writings by David, I suggest that his narrated identity was central to his violence. The ways in which he conjured himself, his personal and political situation, and despised others, animated his felt compulsion to do harm. In David’s story he simultaneously asserted (1) the license to harm and thus triumph over a depersonalized enemy and (2) harm’s inevitability. A narrative approach can explain the particulars of crime including its particular seductions.

Remorse and Neutralization among Violent Male Offenders

Expression of remorse by an offender to his or her victim represents healing in the aftermath of a crime. Thus, it is important to consider what may influence or impede remorse. This article analyzes interviews with 27 men who committed serious violent crimes to examine their talk about victims, responsibility, and remorse. Most of the men excused or justified their crimes using cultural discourses about violence and blameworthy victims. They spoke of feeling sorry for themselves, not for their victims. Men who expressed remorse perceived their victims as morally blameless. They humanized their victims, and their victims humanized them.

Restorative justice and offender screening

Abstract A principal goal of restorative justice programs is to right the wrongs done to crime victims. Dialogue is the recommended mechanism to begin the process of righting wrongs, though it also involves risk of emotional trauma to victims. Offenders deficient in particular social, cognitive, and psychological characteristics are those who might interfere with victim healing. Current methods for screening offenders for restorative justice are generally inattentive to offender traits, and methods used by correctional treatment programs are driven by risk of offender recidivism, which is not the focus of restorative justice. This article argues for a victim-centered offender screening tool.

Criminology and the narrative turn

This paper situates narrative criminology within criminology and the academy at large. Narrative criminologists ask how narratives, particularly narratives of the self, influence criminal and other harmful action. The idea that our stories shape our experiences is well developed in the humanities (literature, philosophy) and in the social sciences (anthropology, history, psychology, sociology). However, criminologists have caught on to that idea only recently, which is especially curious given abundant evidence of the impact of storied ideology on mass violence. This paper therefore addresses two critical questions: what is new and important about narrative criminology, and why has criminology only recently taken the narrative turn that other academic disciplines took decades ago?

Justice Here and Now: A Personal Reflection on the Restorative and Community Justice Paradigms

The unique contribution of the restorative justice perspective is its emphasis on present, interpersonal practice. Restorative justice pursues, but does not necessarily achieve, mutually respectful and empowering speech. This emphasis on communicative engagement is paramount. It informs the other differences that Paul McCold (2004, this issue) identifies between restorative justice and community justice: for example, the necessary involvement and decision‐making authority of particular persons affected by a crime, in restorative justice programs. If justice is practice, then restorative justice programs should be evaluated phenomenologically.

Third Party Policing and Insurance: The Case of Market-Based Crime Prevention

This paper examines a relatively new trend: market-based crime prevention. The insurance firm is an exemplary agent of this new type of crime prevention. Although the traditional focus of insurance has been on losses sustained after a crime or other catastrophe, we explore the shift from reactive to proactive crime management by the insurance industry. This trend is part of a more general decentralization of policing, from state-controlled agents to community- and market-based third parties. New ideologies support these shifts, including an actuarial logic about crime and a view of the prudent person.