Persons convicted of sexual crimes represent a heterogeneous group, differing both in terms of committed crimes, and risk of recidivism (Hanson et al., 2017). So far, research on recidivism has been conducted mainly within a quantitative research paradigm. In-depth qualitative research is scarce in this field and highly needed in order to understand the uniquely individual aspects of sex crime recidivism.
The overarching question this study aims to answer is:
Persons who have served a sexual offence (SO) prison sentence in a Norwegian prison at least once before, and who are currently imprisoned for SO again, represent the recruitment base for this study. The study is qualitative and based on semi-structured interviews, using sections from the McAdams life story interview to illuminate how and why offending started and continued. Theoretical concepts known to influence recidivism, such as social support and sense of self will be of particular interest. Also, “primary human goods” (PHG) from the Good Lives Model and how these PHGs might have changed through the criminal career will be investigated. Through thorough analysis of the participants’ life stories, inspired by narrative criminology (see e.g. Presser & Sandberg, 2015), the researcher will explore subjective perspectives on offending careers and recidivism. Instead of asking the classic question of rehabilitation “what works” (in general), this study is asking “what did not work” for the respective participants, and why?
The current study can generate new knowledge about the mechanisms of recidivism as subjectively perceived and thus be of societal importance in terms of future preventive measures upon release from prison. Hence, such research is also a central piece in the puzzle of how to end sexual abuse.
