In Their Own Words Criminals on Crime

by Cromwell, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780195330540
• ISBN10: 0195330544
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In Their Own Words is a collection of ethnographic or field accounts of crime and criminals, providing a rare opportunity for students to view the world from the perspective of offenders. Few students ever encounter a real criminal during their education, and this anthology is designed to provide an accessible look at the criminal mind. Brief introductions precede each reading, providing internal cohesiveness and structure to the book. In this reader, students will encounter gang members, burglars, shoplifters, pimps, prostitutes, killers, robbers, fences, addicts, rapists, drug smugglers, and white-collar offenders--all of whom discuss their motives, perceptions, decision-making strategies, and rationalizations for crime. In each article, the researcher places the offenders' words into a theoretical context and then provides analyses and conclusions. The fourth edition features fourteen new articles, which explore the following topics: * Why inmates consent to interviews * The motivations and antecedents of armed robbery * Street life and the rewards of auto theft * The dynamics underlying a decision to commit a burglary * The planning, enactment, and aftermath of carjacking events * The lifestyles and motivations of illegal telemarketers * Serial killers and FBI profilers discuss the planning and act of sexual homicide * The various avenues burglars use to dispose of stolen property * Collective and normative features of gang crime * Gender and victimization risk among young women in gangs * Drug trafficking from the dealer's perspective * Risks and pressures on middle-class cocaine sellers * Analyzing the factors for desisting from crime * The motivations for quitting marijuana use

Table of Contents

Section 1

A Snowball's Chance in Hell: Doing Fieldwork With Active Residential Burglars

Researching Crack Dealers: Dilemmas and Contradictions

Why I'll Talk: Motives for Participating in Qualitative Research, Heith Copes and Andy Hochstetler

Section 2

The Socially Bounded Decision Making of Persistent Property Offenders

The Reasoning Burglar: Motives and Decision-Making Strategies

Women, Work, and Crime

Stick-Up, Street Culture, and Offender Motivation

Section 3

Streetlife and the Rewards of Auto Theft

Deciding to Commit a Burglary

Managing Fear to Commit Felony Theft

The Five-Finger Discount: An Analysis of Motivations for Shoplifting

Section 4

Dubs and Dees, Beats and Rims: Carjackers and Urban Violence

Serial Killers: Antecedent Behaviors and the Act of Murder

Convicted Rapists' Vocabulary of Motive

Creating the Illusion of Impending Death: Armed Robbers in Action

Section 5

Crime on the Line: Telemarketing and the Changing Nature of Professional Crime

How Doctors Defraud Medicaid: Doctors Tell Their Stories

Neutralization and Deviance in the Workplace: Theft of Supplies and Medicines by Hospital Nurses

Section 6

Fencing: Avenues for the Redistribution of Stolen Property

The Second Step in Double Jeopardy: Appropriating the Labor of Female Street Hustlers

Dealing Careers

Managing the Action: Sports Bookmakers as Entrepreneurs

Section 7

Homeboys, Dope Fiends, Legits, and New Jacks

Collective and Normative Features of Gang Crime

Gender and Victimization Risk Among Young Women in Gangs

Section 8

'E' Is for Ecstasy: A Participant Observation of Ecstasy Use

The Drugs-Crime Connection Among Stable Addicts

Inside the Drug Trade: Trafficking From the Dealer's Perspective

Perceived Risks and Criminal Justice Pressures on Middle-Class Cocaine Dealers

Section 9

Getting Out of the Life: Crime Desistance by Female Street Offenders

Aging Criminals: Changes in the Criminal Calculus

An Examination of Decision Making and Desistance From Marijuana Use

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