4. Moral Habilitation and the New Normal

Imageries of Self: Guilty Plea Statements in Sexual Violence Cases at the ICTY

“…Yet, once offenders get prosecuted and convicted, or subject to justice campaigns, a large apparatus goes to show that they are deviant, different, monsters—feeding into the hierarchy of violence that constructs CRSV as a particularly heinous crime (Meger, 2016). By avoiding reference to a type of violence that, once established, is expected to merge their character with their offense (Baaz & Stern, 2013, p. 13; Victor & Waldram, 2015), the silencing of sexual violence in defendants’ statements creates a narrative space that allows defendants to re-present themselves as now moral, rehumanized individuals, “fit to be among us,” detached from the offenses that is expected to essentialize them in the eyes of others.…”

“…12 The combination of defendants’ silences and judges’ and prosecutors’ essentialization of defendants based on their crimes resonates well with literature that claims available cultural discourses about sexual violence refuse the perpetrators their humanity. It makes sense that the defendants avoid detailing their crimes, if their crimes are seen to reflect inherent, evil characteristics (Victor & Waldram, 2015).…”

“…Facing not only the court but also family members, peers, victims, and domestic audiences—indeed, world public opinion—defendants’ testimonies and statements amount to especially important stories in and of their lives, about who they are and have been, and about why they are now facing criminal charges. Particular to sex crime cases, defendants charged with their direct involvement in the offense must answer to “a public discourse about sexual offenders that is essentialist in nature…and that [suggests their] aberrant or evil behaviour is an intrinsic part of [their] selfhood” (Victor & Waldram, 2015, p. 97; see also Kruse, 2020). The international legal discourse about perpetrators of sexual violence coalesces their character, who they are, with the characterization of their offenses.…”

The Symbolic Boundary Work of Incels: Subcultural Negotiation of Meaning and Identity Online

“…However, research within narrative criminology has shown how women sex workers experience gender violence, intersecting forms of subjugation and oppression (Boonzaier 2019), and how alternative narratives can instigate and sustain sex work (Poppi and Sandberg 2020). Narrative criminology has also highlighted the importance of stories in managing shame for sex offenders who try to make sense of themselves and their victims (Ievins 2019) while attempting to habilitate themselves after participating in treatment programs for sexual offenders in prison (Victor and Waldram 2015). Stories of sex and gender dynamics are essential for incels, and narrative criminology is especially helpful in unraveling their narrative worldview.…”