Corona crimes: How pandemic narratives change criminal landscapes

Abstract

The epidemic psychology of pandemics creates an atmosphere of panic and fear that can expedite new laws and facilitate criminogenic narrative arousal. Using narrative criminology, we discuss crimes that emerged from pandemic narratives in the early phases of the disease in Mexico. We show how pandemic master narratives have unexpected criminogenic effects; can be negotiated to make them criminogenic; and are opposed by more fundamentally criminogenic counter-narratives. We also show how pandemics repurpose justifications for traditional crimes and offer an opportunity for narrative repositioning of “criminals”. Societal crises intensify the continuous narrative negotiation that always underlies the meaning of crime. Pandemics can therefore act as a prism through which social scientists can see how crime is an ongoing narrative accomplishment.

The Glasgow miracle? Storytelling, violence reduction and public policy

“…Approaching David's story, and the wider story of the VRU, through the lens of tragedy, redemption and rebirth, demonstrates the affective payload that such story arcs can carry on their wings. As Sandberg and Fondevila (2022: 226) note, ‘[s]tories instigate actions’. The example of David's story suggests the need to pay attention to the role of storylines more broadly, as well as storytelling authority and who has the power to to speak (Annison and Condry, 2022; Mackenzie et al, 2023).…”

“…As such, the role of storytelling and narrative emerged unexpectedly as a prominent theme, leading to subsequent recoding and re-analysis. Drawing on Sandberg's delineation of narrative analysis, we draw primarily on performative and structural dimensions (Sandberg, 2022).…”

Economic Strain Adaptation Policy to Solve Crimes During the Pandemic in Indonesia

“…Especially during the pandemic, when the urge to commit crimes is higher because of the economic urgency of the community to fulfill their lives. In Mexico, for example, the soaring price of fuel and transportation at the beginning of the pandemic prompted some people to plunder in several places (Sandberg & Fondevila, 2022). Looting was carried out en masse and continuously in several shops and supermarkets (Animal Politico, 2020).…”

To become ‘ndrangheta in Calabria: organisational narrative criminology and the constitution of mafia organisations

“…Narrative criminology was introduced by Presser (2009) who highlighted how stories are constitutive of both crime and harm. Narrative criminology is a social constructivist approach even though as Sandberg and Fondevila (2021) notice, studies using narrative criminology as a framework, have not always paid much attention to changes in formal state definitions and popular public understandings of crime. In our case, the state definition of mafias in Italy is particularly important to shape narratives and has been shaped by narratives too: mafia and antimafia languages are ontologically interdependent (Sergi 2017).…”