Offenders on offending (publication)
Offenders on offending", edited by Wim Bernasco and with a foreword by Michael Tonry, provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and possible solutions to the problems posed by offender-based research. It includes contributions from a variety of scholars from the Netherlands and abroad, including NSCR researchers Henk Elffers, Scott Jacques and Marie Lindegaard.
Offenders on offending
Learning about crime from criminals
Edited by Wim Bernasco
Foreword by Michael Tonry (University of Minnesota)
There are many things about crime that we can only learn from offenders. It is, however, not at all easy to find them and persuade them openly and truthfully to discuss their crimes. Most are difficult to reach, and many are unable or unwilling to provide the answers we need. Nevertheless, the offenders' perspective is vital to knowing and understanding crime: How did a person learn to commit an offence? How precisely was a specific crime enacted? What made the person commit the offence?
Offenders on Offending provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and possible solutions to the problems posed by offender-based research. The book focuses strongly on issues of methodology and what we can do to maximise the validity of what offenders tell us about their offending. It addresses the strengths and weaknesses of various methods used to elicit information on offending behaviour from offenders, and discusses strategies to obtain the collaboration of offenders and to maximise the validity and reliability of the data.
Leading authorities from around the world present their experiences and insights of work among various types of offender populations. Each contribution deals with some central issues:
- How can offenders be motivated to participate in research?
- How can offenders be motivated to tell the truth on their offending?
- How can the information that offenders provide be checked and validated?
- What can we learn from offenders that cannot be accessed from other sources?
- With the aim of obtaining valid and reliable information, how, where and under which conditions should we observe offenders and talk to them?
This valuable new collection demonstrates that offender-based research is a thriving field where exciting developments are taking place. It will be essential reading for a wide audience, from experienced researchers to students who are starting to find there way in offender-based research.
The contributors
Wim Bernasco, Fiona Brookman, Heith Copes, Ric Curtis, Henk Elffers, Matthias Gaderer, Frank van Gemert, Andy Hochstetler, Ben Hunter, Scott Jacques, Shane Johnson, Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard, Jody Miller, Carlo Morselli, Claire Nee, Veronika Polišenská, George Rengert, Neal Shover, Lucía Summers, Pierre Tremblay, Richard Wright, Sheldon Zhang, Birgit Zetinigg.
Full reference
Bernasco, Wim (2010). Offenders on offending; Learning about crime from criminals. Cullompton, UK: Willan. 328pp. ISBN-13: 978-1-84392-776-1
More information or order
http://www.willanpublishing.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781843927761