This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Geiger, B. Articles by Fischer, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Geiger, B. Articles by Fischer, M. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Family Issues Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Naming Oneself Criminal: Gender Difference in Offenders’ Identity Negotiation

Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Western Galilee Campus, P.O. Box 2125, Acre 24121, Israel geigerb{at}netvision.net.il

Michael Fischer

Justice Studies, Pittsburg State University, Russ Hall, 1701 South Broadway, Pittsburg, Kansas 66762, USA mfischer{at}pittstate.edu

This qualitative research examines gender differences in offenders’ability to negotiate a positive identity once the pejorative labels of criminal, prostitute, drug dealer, and incompetent parents have been imputed onto them. In-depth semi-structured focused interviews were conducted with a purposeful information-rich sample of eight male and eight female offenders. Content analysis reveals that males were much more adept than female offenders at juggling with conventional and street norms to justify and/or resist stigmatizing labels in order to construct a favorable identity. Appeal to such personal strengths as know-how, competence, loyalty, and a code of honor allowed male offenders to challenge the boundaries between conventional and delinquent worlds. Concomitantly such an appeal gave rise to a sense of efficacy perception and an optimistic explanatory style. In contrast, even though female offenders were able to justify the labels of drug dealer, prostitute, and thief by appeal to higher loyalties and reject that of insane, all their justifications collapsed when having to negotiate the identity of incompetent mother. Female offenders’ negative internal attributions and deprivation of the normative center-motherhood resulted in apathy, anomie, and lack of confidence in their ability to do something worthwhile. Rehabilitation guidelines would build female offenders’ personal strengths while redirecting those exhibited by male offenders into lawful enterprises.

Key Words: gender differences • offenders • accounts • attributions

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 49, No. 2, 194-209 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X04270552


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. Cechaviciute and D. T. Kenny The Relationship Between Neutralizations and Perceived Delinquent Labeling on Criminal History in Young Offenders Serving Community Orders Criminal Justice and Behavior, June 1, 2007; 34(6): 816 - 829. [Abstract] [PDF]