Criminal Behaviour in Context: Space, Place and Desistance from Crime

by Nick Flynn

Overview

This book examines the extent to which criminal desistance – 'the change process involved in the ending of criminal behaviour' – is affected by personal and social circumstances which are place specific. Grounded in criminological spatial analysis, as well as more general social scientific investigations of the role of space and place in contemporary social, economic and cultural life, it examines why large numbers of prisoners in the United States and the United Kingdom appear to be drawn from – and after release return to – certain urban neighbourhoods.

In doing so Criminal Behaviour in Context assesses the effect of this unique life course experience on the pathways and choices open to ex-prisoners who attempt to give up crime. Including new data on the geographical distribution of offenders, interviews with serving prisoners, and drawing on theories about social context, identity and subjectivity, it discusses the implications of the evidence and arguments presented for prisoner reintegration policy and practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781843928119
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/10/2010
Series:	International Series on Desistance and Rehabilitation
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Nick Flynn is Senior Lecturer in Applied Criminology at De Montfort University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xi

Participant list xiii

Glossary of terms and phrases xviii

Introduction: A common frame of spatial reference 1

Local life in the global economy 5

Space, place and criminality 8

The spatial dimensions of criminal desistance 10

The structure of the book 11

1 Criminal desistance in context 15

Introduction 15

From margins to mainstream 16

Untangling personal and social factors 19

The role of place and community 23

Assessing local circumstances 27

2 From A to B and back again: the revolving door between place of residence and imprisonment 32

Introduction 32

'We know who you are and we know where you live' 32

Offender residence in the contemporary city: the case of Greater London 40

Cosmopolitan boundaries and neighbourhood relations 45

3 Place, the community and the offender 50

Introduction 50

Free will versus determinism: explaining divergent theories of crime and place 51

The concept of community 54

Place, rationality, behaviour 56

Social disorganisation 60

Institutional malfunction 64

Structural inequality and racial segregation 65

Culture and dependency 71

Neither one thing nor the other: the criminal and the community 74

Area-based social rehabilitation 76

Ordering devices and prevention techniques 80

Morals and responsibilities 82

Fortress cities and warehouse prisons 84

Conclusion 86

4 The hidden limitations and possibilities of everyday life 88

Introduction 88

Social practice 89

Cultural dispositions 92

Consumption 94

Boredom and desire 97

Everyday life in prison 99

Reform and rehabilitation 104

Social work 106

Social capital 109

5 'On the up': pre-prison experiences 114

Introduction 114

The family home 115

Neighbourhood 123

'More like high jinks than crime' 127

The importance of being violent 132

'What you need' 136

Leaving home 142

6 'On the in': the impact of imprisonment 149

Introduction 149

First-timers 150

'Pals from road were there' 154

Gangs and landings 157

Places of 'de-communication' 160

Drugs and crime 168

Prison as home 170

'A law-abiding and useful life' 174

7 'On the out': after-prison experiences 180

Introduction 180

Returning home 180

Somewhere to live 187

On the corner 189

Friends (dis)reunited 193

'Placelessness' 196

'Social services' 200

Finding a job 203

8 Implications 209

Introduction 209

Prisoner reintegration: recent policy and practice 211

Relationships 214

Area-based initiatives and social exclusion 216

Partnership working and information sharing 219

Constraints and capabilities 225

Appendix: A note on the methodology 229

Bibliography 237

Index 273