Family Relations and Criminal Career
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
Ellensburg
Event Website
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source
Start Date
18-5-2020
Abstract
The objective of this research project is to delineate the mechanisms through which ex offenders’ criminal identity and familial relations interact. Three in-depth interviews with three individuals who have a criminal record are analyzed. There are two major findings. First, family influence is vital for an individual to start a criminal career. Through “altercasting,” a process in which a person’s identity performance is to signal and respond to others’ behavior, the interviewees assimilated to their environment full of hardships, which eventually led to a criminal career. Second, behavioral change often follows a conscious decision to stop a criminal career as anticipated by an identity theory of criminality. That is, only after a person entertains identity change can identity behavioral alteration begin. For the three interviewees, the change of the criminal identity was often (or believed to be) reinforced by social relations, particularly familial connections.
Recommended Citation
Schimmelfennig, Marcus; Brown, Lindsey; and Gardner, Mackenzie, "Family Relations and Criminal Career" (2020). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 123.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2020/COTS/123
Department/Program
Sociology
Additional Mentoring Department
https://cwu.studentopportunitycenter.com/2020/04/family-relations-and-criminal-career/
Family Relations and Criminal Career
Ellensburg
The objective of this research project is to delineate the mechanisms through which ex offenders’ criminal identity and familial relations interact. Three in-depth interviews with three individuals who have a criminal record are analyzed. There are two major findings. First, family influence is vital for an individual to start a criminal career. Through “altercasting,” a process in which a person’s identity performance is to signal and respond to others’ behavior, the interviewees assimilated to their environment full of hardships, which eventually led to a criminal career. Second, behavioral change often follows a conscious decision to stop a criminal career as anticipated by an identity theory of criminality. That is, only after a person entertains identity change can identity behavioral alteration begin. For the three interviewees, the change of the criminal identity was often (or believed to be) reinforced by social relations, particularly familial connections.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2020/COTS/123
Faculty Mentor(s)
Cynthia Zhang and Dominic Klyve