Age-Graded Transitions and Turning Points in Polish Offenders’ Criminal Careers from the Standpoint of Life Course Theory

Abstract

Both juvenile and adult criminal careers show regularities in the origins of delinquency, the dynamics of the criminal pathway, and the turning points that lead to desistance/persistence in crime. Research shows that family, education, and friendship environments contribute significantly to the individual choices that create criminal biographies. Our aim was to apply core aspects of life course theory (LCT): trajectory, the aged-graded process, transitions, institutions, and ultimately how desistance/persistence factor into explaining the criminal careers of Polish offenders. The research is based on in-depth interviews (130) carried out with both offenders (90) and experts (40). The offenders were divided into two groups: 30 were juveniles, and 60 were adults of whom half were sentenced for the first time (30) and half were recidivists (30) located in correctional institutions or released. The experts group (40) includes psychologists, educators, social rehabilitators, and prison and juvenile detention personnel working with offenders. We used triangulation of researcher, data, and methodology. Our data revealed that similar biographical experiences characterized by an early socialization, family and friends-based circles laid the groundwork for their entry and continued participation in criminal activity. Juvenile and adult first-time sentenced offenders led criminal careers significantly different from those of recidivists, who faced problems with social adaptation caused by lack of family and institutional support.

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“…Because we carried out these interviews in correctional facilities, authorities did not permit us to use recording equipment. Following others, we employed an open-ended biographical-focused questionnaire that was subject-driven (Chomczyński 2018;Fleetwood 2015;Noaks and Wincup 2004;Pękala et al 2021aPękala et al , 2021bSilverman 2011). Some interviews were prearranged while others occurred by a chance meeting and discussion with a dealer that we encountered in our fieldwork.…”

“…Ricardo, a dealer, received training from peers and older adults. In informal discussions, lowprofile dealers revealed that their entry began by observing those more experienced at the trade through learning and imitation (Akers et al 1979;Pękala et al 2021aPękala et al , 2021bTarde 1962). The main difference in our findings and those cited above is our subjects' unwillingness to acknowledge their activity as deviant (Becker 1963).…”