Where Is This Story Going? A Critical Analysis of the Emerging Field of Narrative Criminology

Abstract

Over the past decade, a growing body of literature has emerged under the umbrella of narrative criminology. We trace the origins of this field to narrative scholarship in the social sciences more broadly and review the recent history of criminological engagement in this field. We then review contemporary developments, paying particular attention to research around desistance and victimology. Our review highlights the most important critiques and challenges for narrative criminology and suggests fruitful directions in moving forward. We conclude by making a case for the consolidation and integration of narrative criminology, in hopes that this movement becomes more than an isolated clique. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 4 is January 13, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Student motivations for studying criminology: A narrative inquiry

“…‘Narrative environments’ (such as the home, school and earlier lives of our students) and the ‘narrative occasion’ (namely the recollection of stories in the context of an interview) serve to ‘mediate the shape of the story being told’ (Gubrium and Holstein, 2008: 247–248). A key challenge is that narratives are ‘moving targets’; they evolve and change as the self is constantly re-written and responds to key events (Maruna and Liem, 2020: 8.11). The stories people tell post hoc for the reasons a change occurred, may be different to the stories and reasons people put forward before those changes were made (Presser and Sandberg, 2015b).…”

It's about time: investigating the temporal in socio‐legal studies through unstructured interviews

“…Recent examples of this approach can also be found in the flourishing field of narrative criminology. 62 For example, Crewe and colleagues have drawn on in-depth interviews with people serving life sentences to foreground an understanding of time based on prisoners' stories about how they pass time and how they think about time when faced with the prospect of life in prison. 63 Jovchelovitch and Bauer explain the increasing popularity of narrative by specific reference to the growing awareness of storytelling as being shaped by, accounting for, and also shaping social phenomena such as time.…”

Excusas, justificaciones y experiencias. Los estresores en las narrativas de varones que ejercieron violencia de género

“…En su teoría de la neutralización ambos autores afirmaron que las personas que delinquen utilizan en sus narrativas mecanismos o dispositivos lingüísticos para dar sentido a sus comportamientos y justificarlos moralmente, lo que les permite aliviar los sentimientos inculpatorios y mantener una identidad positiva. Estas verbalizaciones "preceden al comportamiento desviado y lo hacen posible" (1957, p. 666), por lo que guardan un estrecho vínculo con la etiología de la delincuencia y su reincidencia (Maruna & Liem, 2021). Los autores clasificaron las técnicas de neutralización en cinco grupos: (1) negación de la responsabilidad -"Se abalanzó sobre mí mientras yo sujetaba el cuchillo y se lo clavó"-; (2) negación del daño -"Tan solo le di un bofetón, eso no es nada"-; (3) negación de la víctima -"Se lo merecía, ella me maltrató psicológicamente"-; (4) condenación de los condenadores -"Me metieron preso, porque los jueces me usaron de chivo expiatorio"-; y (5) apelación a lealtades mayores -"Estaba protegiendo a mi madre de los insultos que ella le profería"-.…”

“…La Criminología narrativa se ha desarrollado durante las últimas décadas como una disciplina encargada de estudiar la influencia que ejercen las historias sobre la delincuencia, el daño y la violencia (Maruna & Liem, 2021). Esta perspectiva considera que los relatos que los individuos conocen y elaboran condicionan su acción; es decir, el relato crea el delito (Garrido, 2020;Presser & Sandberg, 2015).…”