NCJ Number
232627
Editor(s)
Wim Bernasco
Date Published
2010
Length
343 pages
Annotation
Stemming from papers presented at a 3-day workshop held October 8-10, 2008, at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, the 15 chapters of this book discuss research methods that can be used to maximize the validity of what offenders tell researchers about their offending.
Abstract
The chapters are grouped in five sections. Part 1, "Setting the Stage," contains three chapters that provide an overview of the book's content; a review of threats to offenders' accounts of offending (misinformation, misunderstanding, and misleading statements); and the impact of law on offender-based research. Part 2, "Prison Settings," contains three chapters on interviews with inmates. Topics addressed are "pitfalls and promises" in interviewing inmates, validity issues in self-report research with inmates, and complementing and validating accounts of incarcerated violent offenders. Part 3, "Field Settings," contains three chapters that focus on field work with offenders in the field, with attention to methods for obtaining data on offense dynamics and offending motivations among urban minority youth and "hard-to-reach and hidden" offender populations. Part 4, "Social Categories of Offenders and Researchers," contains three chapters on the impact of gender on the content and methods of offender interviews, methodological considerations for research on offenders involved in Chinese human smuggling, and a comparison of the profiles of "blue-collar" and "white-collar" criminals and how these profiles influence interview methodology. Part 5, "Learning About the Act," contains five chapters that focus on interview methods that facilitate obtaining information on the criminal methods and decisionmaking of property offenders. 16 figures, 3 tables, chapter references, and a subject index