VÄGEN IN I EN KRIMINELL LIVSSTIL En kvalitativ intervjustudie om före detta kriminellas gestaltningar av vägen in i kriminalitet

Abstract

The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of former criminals' own experience of their entry into criminality and to identify and analyze the factors they use to explain their path into criminality. To study this area, a qualitative method has been applied with five semi-structured interviews of ex-criminals from an organization that works to help and support people who have previously been involved in crime by offering employment, education, and rehabilitation in order to be further integrated into society again. To analyze the respondents' stories about their way into criminality, the theory of social bond by Hirschi has been applied and contribute with insights in later criminal acts as well as the theory has been problematized to some extent. Today, there is a lot of research on different aspects that can explain the way into criminality in different aspects, on the other hand, research has largely been measured with a quantitative approach with statistics and self-reported data. This study therefore intends to apply a qualitative approach, where ex-criminals themselves describe their path into criminality. The result thus shows that several aspects play into the ex-criminals' stories of the way into criminality, where divorce, lack of emotional support, parental absence, domestic violence, family finances, living area, drug addiction and criminal influences have been portrayed and emphasized in the respondents' characterizations of their way into criminality.